“Find freelance work on Google.” “Write for greeting card companies.” “Easy way to find magazine gigs.” Know what all of these have in common? Well, besides being tweets I’ve seen recently. Every single one of these statements is a quick way to get work. But each is also a quick way to go down the…
What to Do When an Anchor Client Disappears
Let me start by saying how much I hate the term “anchor client.” Reason: There is no such thing as a sure thing. So, considering someone an anchor of your business is a seriously bad idea. When that anchor breaks away, you’re drifting. Another reason: You tend to moor yourself and your businesses to anchor…
Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job
Oh, FFS. Maybe job posters haven’t read yet about The Great Resignation. Maybe they think that writers are really that damn desperate for work that they’ll work for pennies. Literal pennies. Such is the assumption one hapless job poster has made in this job sent to me by Paula Hendrickson. The assumption is that we’re…
What You Can (& Should) Say to a Freelance Client
A close relative of mine is a stickler for obligations. That’s good. And bad. See, if a doctor’s office hands her an appointment time, she accepts it, even if it means rearranging her entire life to make that appointment. It never occurs to her to say “That won’t work. What other days do you have?”…
Your Freelance Client Magnet
What does a successful freelance writing career look like to you? Ask a hundred freelancers and you’ll probably get that many different answers. Success could be something as lofty as making enough to retire by age 50. It could be making enough to pay the bills and bank a little. Or it could be working…
Countdown to Freelance Success
Maybe it was the poster on a forum who was asking for advice on whether she should update her 19-year-old manuscript before publishing it. Maybe it was the writer I met recently who, despite being a career veteran, couldn’t make ends meet. Maybe it was the Twitter connection who shunned all advice and clung to…
How to Lose –and Win– at Freelancing
I call this post A Tale of Two Writers. A friend of mine knows of a writer who, on the surface, should have made a serious killing the last two years. The writer in question –let’s call her Writer #1 — has a background in healthcare, senior care, aging, wellness, and medicine, among other things….
1 Career-boosting Freelance Shift
In talking with a writer chum yesterday, I realized the difference between successful freelancers and those struggling to get a writing business going in the right direction. Actually, it’s just one difference. There are plenty more, but this one is a biggie. It’s also a difference that had me struggling at the beginning of my…
3 Shifts to Put the ‘Free’ Back in Freelance
Sometimes you come to your breaking point. Sometimes when that happens, you break. Or sometimes you find a way through the stress and you vow to make changes so that you don’t reach that breaking point again. Oh, those best laid plans, eh? We freelancers suck at taking care of ourselves. It’s true. We put…
8 Freelance Writing Biz Hacks
If only I had some quick hacks that could improve my freelance writing business! said every writer everywhere. Today’s your lucky day. As I slow my business pace in anticipation of an eventual retirement, I’ve had some time to reflect on how arrived at this point in my career. And I’ve been happy with what I…