When Julie Andrews sang that song in Sound of Music about her favorite things, it’s obvious her character wasn’t a freelancer. Either she’s an eternal optimist or she’s never waited months for payment. And while there’s a place in the world for optimism (a very large place), there’s also room for a little skepticism and,…
Quelling the Beast
What sends fears, chills, and anxiety right into your bones? For me, it’s when a client wants to talk about my project results, but not the same day. It’s not even that they say it’s bad – it’s that they say nothing. That’s when the voices in my head scream “They hate you! You suck!”…
Stepping Back
I had an interesting interaction with an interview source recently. The project the source was helping with belonged to my client, whom the source knows quite well. Maybe that’s where communication went wonky. There was an issue after the interview that I referred directly to the client. The solution was worked out, or so we…
List Maker
Last week was pretty busy thanks to lots of ongoing work and a larger project due. This week is a little better, but one ongoing client is now sending two projects a day instead of one, which makes payday that much sweeter. And it makes a list almost essential for me. I’m busy today, so…
Hourly or Not?
I make my living writing, but I should get paid for talking. I do a lot of it. One freelance friend and I commiserate regularly (yes, that’s the right word) on the ills that befall the profession. We also chat up ideas and tips, including this most recent one – don’t quote an hourly rate….
Worthy Tip: Man Up
Ladies, this post is for you. I’m about to give you a novel piece of advice that could save your business reputation – man up. Here’s what I mean. We women tend to be – how shall I say it? – a bit weak in several business areas. Negotiations get us clammy and worried. Client…
The BS Litmus Test
I slept in this morning – for me that means getting up at 7:30 instead of 6:54 (I’m punctual even in my sleep). It felt great. But it was a sleep loaded with odd dreams – foreign countries that looked like my grandparents’ backyard, school buses, Indians in saris, friends shouting, toilets, ex-husbands and guns….
Erasing and Starting Over
I’ll admit it – last week was less than stellar for me. It seemed every time I typed a sentence, I mucked it up. Not major mucking up, but enough that by Friday I was afraid to write on a birthday card. I missed a spell-check-induced error, which switched an acronym to a word, which…
Flipping Off Our Favorite Excuses
Anne Wayman had a great post on her About Freelance Writing blog last week about letting excuses go. Her excuses were ones she’d made in just that week, and they showed just how easily we put excuses in the way of getting something done. And we do that in our careers too, don’t we? We…
Worthy Tip: Show Enthusiasm
I’ll be the first to admit the thought of writing one more workers compensation article appeals as much as root canal without pain killers. But it’s information that people in the industry in which I specialize need pretty badly. So I get enthusiastic about the topic. What about workers comp is interesting enough to become…