Freelance Writing Blog

Putting Your Professional Foot Down

Posted on February 8, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Night Crawler by Diane ParkinWhat’s on the iPod: One by U2 Yesterday was a day of coordinating interviews and contracts. The only writing I did consisted of a complaint letter. Here’s what happened: Daughter was called for an interview with a company seven states away. She asked for a phone interview. Nothing…

Ups and Downs

Posted on February 7, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Night Crawler by Diane ParkinWhat’s on the iPod: Laundry Room by The Avett Brothers There is no joy in Mudville…. Funny how to the losers, it’s just a game (we keep telling ourselves), but to the winners, what a game! Congratulations to Packers fans everywhere. A well-deserved, hard-fought win. Had a nice…

Shipping Up to Boston

Posted on February 4, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys By the time you read this, I’ll have been in Boston and will be heading back. His mom’s 90th birthday party was yesterday and we were all gathering post-storm in Boston to celebrate. Because it’s Friday and I have a BIG weekend ahead (football…

What’s in Your Freelance Basket?

Posted on February 3, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Night Crawler by Diane Parkin What’s on the iPod: The Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths (Oh, yes I did!) Nice day yesterday. I managed one small project, then had the rest of the day to plan out an article, including lining up interviews and scaring up some experts. The experts part was…

Yes Virginia, You Can Over-promote

Posted on February 2, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Night Crawler by Diane ParkinWhat’s on the iPod: No Good with Faces by Jack Johnson Nice slow day yesterday. Slow in the sense that I had time to breathe a little and think as I arranged interviews for a new project. I took some time to read a little industry news and…

Five Stupid Freelance Moves

Posted on February 1, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: A History of Irish Fairies by Carolyn WhiteWhat’s on the iPod: True Believer by The Clarks A number of years ago today, I looked for the first time into eyes that altered my world forever. A stranger then, he melted me when he latched onto my pinkie with his little hand. He…

Monthly Assessment: January 2011

Posted on January 31, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Night Crawler by Diane Parkin (Yay, Diane!)What’s on the iPod: Where You Are by Rascal Flatts Wonderful weekend full of activity. After spending Friday’s lunchtime digging out the mailbox, I finished up an article and roughed in another. Friday night was spent with our monk, whose company is always welcome. He’s family….

Worthy Tip: Take This Job, Not That One

Posted on January 28, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Laundry Room by The Avett Brothers There’s one good thing about shoveling snow – it’s great cardio and muscle work. I’ve found if you have enough Aleve, you can pretty much shovel your way from one side of town to the other. Not that I want to or intend to –…

Knee Deep

Posted on January 27, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: EZ by Pete Yorn Did I really say I loved snow? I did. Wow. Good thing, because today I’m staring down a long driveway with a ten-inch deep layer that needs to be moved. Maybe I’ll just stay in. Maybe I’ll hope for an early spring, starting today. I got enough…

Doing it Better

Posted on January 26, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Rockstar by Nickelback Good day yesterday. I managed a project, research on another project, a dental appointment, closure on yet another project, and tutoring my Vietnamese student last night. She had to take a test to measure her progress, so I had an hour of uninterrupted reading time in the library….

Eileen

January 26, 2011

The easy way to bring in business, which works surprisingly often: contact former clients or regular clients whom I haven't heard from in a while and let them know I'm booking my calendar for the coming weeks in case they have anything in the pipeline for me.

There have been a few times in my career when I've made a big direction change in my business and need to capture business from a different market segment. When you need to rebuild business from scratch, I don't think you can beat direct mail. I create a custom contact list, and send lumpy mail with a soft offer for a special report. I haven't had to do that in about 3 years, because it works so well.

Devon Ellington

January 26, 2011

Direct mail and then follow up. The follow up usually yields more than the initial direct mail.

Jake P

January 26, 2011

^^What Eileen and Devon said. Ditto.

I'll add this: Sometimes it requires a shift in your internal monologue. Our family jokes about how our dog always gets excited about everything, because she assumes that it's going to involve her (until reality dictates otherwise). Same thing when I contact someone I've done work for in the past — I assume they're at least going to be happy to hear from me, and so much the better if there's work. And even if you're cold calling or direct mailing to strangers, you have to do it with the mindset that you can understand and help them, not that you're selling your services. May sound Pollyanna-ish, but it's what works for me. YMMV.

Lori

January 26, 2011

Great advice, Eileen. And if you're looking for some reasonably priced brochures or mailers, any number of companies – from PrintRunner to VistaPrint – can handle the job. I have a decent inkjet, but it's nowhere near the quality I'd want in a mailer. I did okay with it for years, but I'm trying to get more serious about my business approach. That includes paying for quality printing.

Devon, there's the key – follow up. Without it, your mailer is tossed without a second thought.

Jake, I like learning lessons from your dog. 🙂 Good advice. Approach the contact as a friendly conversation.

becky

January 26, 2011

Funny enough, I got a contract job which keeps me busy and NOW I'm getting more responses from my web site. And referrals from a former colleague.

This nice thing is, I'm busy. So if they don't like my rates, I don't have to worry about it. They'll find someone else. Now if I could have that attitude all the time, it would save me a lot of anxiety.

Wendy

January 26, 2011

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar

You can find tons of ideas to get more work going, but sometimes, you need to kick-start your confidence to get some of them done.

Paula

January 26, 2011

Like Eileen, I contact existing editors or past editors. But I also visit this blog for some extra motivation.

Today it's not my career that needs kickstarting, it's my editor. (Not the Favorite Editor, but not the least favorite, either.) It took three e-mails and nearly five days to get her to provide some contact info needed to work on an article due Friday. Her excuse was she's trying to get their February issue finished. Fair enough. Then why did another writer working with her say they had several e-mail exchanges over the past few days….while I was spinning my wheels waiting for key information?

Sorry, but that did it. This may be my only project this week, but if it's not my editor's priority, it's not mine, either. If I finish on time, great, but I'm not working late or breaking my neck if she can't take two minutes to reply to an urgent request. If I don't make the deadline and she dares to complain about it I won't hesitate to (rightfully) place the blame on her.

Anne Wayman

January 26, 2011

I look first at my own attitude… I can close up somehow and stop the flow. I need to consciously open to income and clients… works every time.