A spirited debate is taking place over at Michelle Rafter’s blog about content mills and rates. I urge you to visit and comment. Surprisingly, both camps have strong defenders. I think I’m now a huge fan of Michelle thanks to her no-nonsense look at the topic and her own thoughts, which echo mine. And naturally,…
When Quality is Your Trump
We’ve talked a lot about sticking to your hourly rate and defending it rather than lowering it. So what happens after you hold firm? Typically, those potential clients not interested in paying for quality disappear. But you know what? That’s a good thing, for it now frees up your time to find clients who appreciate…
A Word to the Cheapskates
Dear cheap startup, viral marketer, and any other “employer” wanting writing for nothing: I keep seeing your ads all over the Internet. And I hope your responses from actual writers are more of the “you must be joking” variety than people actually foolish enough to think you mean what you say. I’d like to bring…
The Scam That Pretends to be You
A break in our usual writerly discussions today – I saw a disturbing segment on The Today Show about a scam has the potential to catch us all. Scammers send you an innocent-looking email, you click on a link, and they have instant access to your email and Facebook passwords as you type them. From…
Lateness on the Edge of Town
I spent Friday afternoon attaching late fees to a few invoices. Mind you, I’ll never see the late fees paid – not one late fee I’ve sent out has ever been paid. Well maybe one, but out of dozens, that’s not too successful. I haven’t pushed it legally yet as the amounts, so far, have…
Bringing Up the Uncomfy
Sometimes they just need to hear it. Sometimes clients need to know exactly why you left, what they can do going forward, and how they can succeed post-you. I’m not talking about the fly-by-nights who want to justify a $1/article job as “exposure.” I’m talking about legitimate businesses making critical mistakes that are chasing away…
Don’t Toy With Me
It seems to be a much-practiced habit – writers who stand up publicly for the rights of other writers, for better wages, for respect, dammit! But then look under the surface and oops! There you are – those projects you don’t want to admit to taking, those projects that you took that you’d be ashamed…
Monthly Assessment – September
Here we go again – another month, another assessment of the marketing and business plan. And once again, I invite you to share your own results, be they good or be they not so good. It was a bit of a transitional month for me. I had just returned from vacation two weeks prior and…
Waving Goodbye
As I pull in a rather lucrative ongoing client project, I wave goodbye to one I’m glad to see going. (I have amended some of the facts so as not to embarrass those who are guilty, though I don’t know why.) I took it with the promise from the client that related projects would pay…
Going to the Vet
Today I start work with a new client – ongoing work. Can you hear me cheering loudly? My goal has always been to work with at least two ongoing clients. Amen that I replaced the last one whose budget dried up. This work, for now, will be steady and lucrative. Travis brought up an interesting…