On a LinkedIn forum recently, a friend of mine who moderates the forum posted the reason why the group is moderated. It was just mid-month, and she’d already filtered out nearly a dozen posts that were self-promotional. Some of them weren’t even related to writing, while others were offering work for “exposure” to professional writers….
How Pro Freelancers Score Big (& how you can, too)
Last week was a mishmash of short project deadlines, new projects to prioritize, and social media marketing. From Twitter to LinkedIn, there were a lot of writing mishaps going on. One guy misspelled the name of his own book, another writer was pushing how to improve your Fiverr client quality, yet another was singing the…
Friday Freelance Follies: This Job, Not That Job
Hey, freelance writer — how desperate have you become in trying to get work and paychecks right about now? Hopefully not desperate enough to even consider the job posting just sent to me by Sharon Hurley Hall, who is an ace B2B writer and a writer chum. I read this and realized that these types…
How to Vet That Freelance Writing Gig
A writer friend and I had been discussing a project she’d been approached for. A work acquaintance had approached her with a client who wanted a writer for a long-term gig. The client needed an editor, and the editor would be handling the editing of government agency content for a blog. The list of skills…
Freelance Marketing Mistakes You Need to Drop NOW
Recently, a friend of mine received a LinkedIn connection request. She did what anyone might do — she visited the woman’s profile to see who she was and to see if it was a connection worth having. As she was looking, she received a message from the same woman. “Hi, (NAME)! I’m an editor and…
How to Drop Excuses Out of Your Freelancing
“Yes, the rates are low, but they’re better than content mills.” That was a response I got recently to pointing out that a job listing had abysmal rates. The person responding knew, as I did, that neither of us would ever be accepting the pitiful pay that was stated in the job listing. But where…
Freelance Job Posting Fallacies We Fall For (Almost)
I’m supposed to be writing an article right now. However, I saw something on Twitter that both shocked and saddened me. And then I got a bit upset. Because we are in a pretty tight economic landscape right now, there are plenty of helpful people posting job listings on social media. I applaud that. To…
5 Mistakes that are Killing Your Freelance Writing Biz
When it’s July, my calendar is pretty light. I get to concentrate on marketing, networking, and improving my business. I get to see a lot when I’m out there on social media. Plenty of it is good. Plenty of it sucks, too. I’m not necessarily a judgmental person. I screw up just as much as…
Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job
These lousy job postings for freelance writing gigs are becoming more than a little ridiculous. The fact that I’m posting the fourth one in a few short weeks shows that they’re also becoming prolific. This one comes to us via fellow writer Libby, who said she emailed the poster to get a response on payment….
Freelance Guide to Building a Client List
I don’t know what your writing focus is. I don’t have to. When it comes to finding freelance writing clients, there are quite a few similarities in how most writers market. No matter what marketing mix you use. But first, you have to know who you’ll market to, don’t you? I can’t help you too…