Between lovely company and taxes, it’s been a full vacation. I managed all the tax returns by yesterday, including payments for this year. Fortunately, January through the end of March were fantastic months earnings-wise. The money was there to pay everything with a little left over. Even with company here, I took my time through…
Things I Can’t Stand (Part Two)
A late post, but blame it on April 15th filing deadlines….. Still on vacation, though it’s feeling more like I’ll need a rest afterward! More things I can’t stand. Feel free to add your own: Estimated taxes. I don’t mind paying them, but the entire estimated tax system is based on one thing – your…
Hitting the High Note
Yesterday was about low prices. Today, the opposite – the best you’ve ever had. What’s the top price you’ve ever received? How does that figure out per-hour? Was the job harder? I had one job that paid a phenomenal rate – $12K. It was a collaboration with a company whose big-name client was paying for…
How Low Will You Go?
Still on vacation, so just leaving vapor trails…. We talk endlessly about asserting our worth, realizing our skills are valuable, marketing to clients who value those skills, etc. That begs the question: What are you worth? Maybe a better question is this: How cheaply will you work? What conditions have to be present in order…
Discussion: Favorite Client Attributes
Still on vaca and enjoying the company – We do a lot of lamenting about client issues, so I want to turn this on its ear a bit. Consider your perfect client – they’re out there – what would that client have that will keep you loyal? I’ll start. My favorite clients (I have the…
Things I Can’t Stand (Part One)
I’m off today and all of next week, but I’ll leave you this week with something fun to ponder, discuss, or disagree with. I can’t stand: The use of “Google” or “texting” as verbs. People who use “Google” as a verb, as in “I Googled him” sound like they’re choking on walnuts, for one thing….
Thursday Musings and Madness
I think I’ve accomplished more this week than any week in my career. I have tomorrow and all next week off, so I’ve had to herd the cats. So far, I’ve managed a pile of client captions, two interviews for an upcoming article, four more interviews for a newsletter, four more newsletter articles from those…
Disturbing Trend of the Day
Normally when I get crap in my email I just delete it. However, this particular email disturbed me on a few levels. Let me explain: The offer:They want to sponsor my weblog. This weblog. They want me to earn money, money, money through their sponsorship. What’s in it for me:Money and higher traffic to this…
Convincing Them You Don’t Suck
Ever have one of those clients who is with you all the way…until they show your editing or writing work to a friend, neighbor, pastor, or checkout clerk and suddenly you’re that fool they’re wasting money on? Having had my fair share of those in the past, I’ve amended my contracts to avoid it. If…
How Perfect is Too Perfect?
Lorraine Thompson at MarketCopywriter Blog talked last week about perfection as a time sink. What I love about her post is that she’s tapped into the most common fear we as freelancers have – not getting it right the first time. Her reminder is that the writing process is just the first step, that we…