You know that feeling when there’s a big old pandemic that’s ground everything from airlines to client work? What am I saying? Of course you know. You too are living through the train wreck that is 2020. While airlines being grounded is frustrating for a lot of us (I’m missing two trips to Scotland this…
The Rise of the Volunteer Freelance Gigs
In case anyone missed this, we’re in a bit of a tight labor market. Too many workers, not enough work. Unfortunately, that means there is also an equally disturbing increase in job listings aimed at freelance writers that are abominable at best. But there’s an uptick in yet another disturbing facet of the “get writing…
The #1 Client-generating Freelance Marketing Boost
Because I was on vacation last week (and far too busy the week before to get another post up before I left town), I missed all the great comments you’d left on my last post about the notion of a “going rate” in freelancing. So I took the time yesterday to reply to each of…
Friday Frank Talk: The Myth of the Freelance “Going Rate”
Sharon Hurley Hall, who is one of the smartest freelancers I know, said something the other day that made me nod my head in agreement so much I thought I’d sprain my neck. It’s about this notion of a “going rate” in freelancing. This came up in a discussion on a private forum about yet…
4 Untruths About Your Freelance Writing Business
Did you ever see something online that made you scream out loud? Same here. Could be something someone claimed, or one more of those “turn your side hustle into a freelance career!” posts. Could even be something ridiculous you saw that spouted something really inaccurate about freelancing. For me, it’s usually bad advice or guidance. Or…
Friday Frank Talk: Your “Freelance” to “Business” Attitude Shift
On a discussion list I belong to, I was reading through a debate over rates. Yea, that one again. One more time (does it ever change?), freelancers were debating why a writer working in a rural area should charge differently than a writer in an urban area. The debate was pretty lively, just slightly heated….
Dear Freelancer: It’s Not All About You
Dear Freelancer, You may not know me, but I know you. You were the one who showed up on social media with one goal in mind: to get some clients. It’s a good goal. It’s why most of us head to social media. But what happened next, well, that wasn’t so good. I saw you…
How Freelance Fails Can Save You
Weird title to this post, right? But I read something the other day that created one of those lightbulb moments. I’ve been around this freelancing block a few decades, so if it can impact me (the eternal skeptic), I’m thinking it might do others some good, too. It was a motivational snippet that had popped…
3 Easy Freelance Value-Adds (that boost your earnings & reputation)
When I wrote the title to this post, my finger accidentally hit the Caps button. Freelance Value-ADD is not a disorder, but man, what an appropriate Freudian slip. Why? Because we freelancers tend to have attention deficit when it comes to marketing ourselves. We jump from the tried-and-true last thing that got us hired to…
The Freelance Grab – A Cautionary Tale
Totally different topic today, but one that some of the more established freelancers have had to deal with. Someone (a female) in my orbit is right now dealing with a grabber. The grabber in question has adjacent property to hers, and in every interaction over the last year has started with an ask. Each subsequent…