Sometimes you can’t find freelance work to save your soul. Sometimes it’s there, but either the timing is off or you’re missing some of the must-haves the client is looking for. Or the client and you are not a good match. Sometimes everything that could possibly align in the right way does. And you still…
Seismic Shift
It’s cliché to say it, but there’s no more accurate way to describe it: It feels like it just happened. Not 18 years ago. Not nearly two decades. Right now. I was sitting at my desk at the magazine, answering emails and scheduling interviews. A coworker from the graphics department popped her head into my…
Freelance Files: How You Appear to Clients
Thanks to a few recent interactions, I’ve come to realize that some freelance writers aren’t really presenting ourselves as freelancers. In public-facing situations, there are some pretty major missteps that some freelancers are making that could be causing potential clients to look the other way. Maybe you’re doing it too and don’t realize it. Let…
Free Advice Friday: This Job, NOT That Job
Let’s just say that the seriousness that seems to settle in around September does not translate to all things. Take job postings, for example. Occasionally, I will look through places like Craig’s List job ads for this post. Not for potential work for myself, no no. I’ve not cruised a job board for that in…
The Big Freelance Buckle Down
Jeezuz. Where did that summer go? Kids are back to school. Vacations are over. So what time is it? Time for you to buckle down and get that freelance writing business growing. Maybe you struggled all summer to find work. Maybe you coasted, knowing you had a fallback income from a significant other. Maybe you…
Idea File: Study, Study, Study
So you’re sitting here at the ass-end of August, and you’re wondering where to find work. Magazines, my writerly friend. Turn to magazines. I love magazine work. Since I started my college days in the journalism department, I’ve loved creating articles. Maybe you love article writing, too. But the ideas — they don’t always come…
What Freelance Writing Has Taught Me
It’s Friday, and I’m traveling. So let’s keep it lighter. I was witnessing an acquaintance’s meltdown recently over a minor (seriously minor) issue. Instead of just getting it together (there was a slight snafu in their presentation), they became flustered. Then more flustered. Then they declared it was “such a disaster.” It wasn’t. It was…
The Art of Not Putting All Your Freelance Eggs in One Basket
Sometimes life hands you lessons that, thankfully, you don’t have to learn firsthand. It was December 28, 2001 or 2002. I was at my desk at the magazine. I’d just finished an article that quoted heavily this firebrand company that had opened its doors a few years prior and had risen to household-name status (well,…
Marketing to Other Freelancers: You’re Doing it Wrong
“Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem pleasantly. “I’m Charles Baker Harris,” he said. “I can read. ” “So what?” I said. “I just thought you’d like to know I can read. You got anything needs’ readin’ I can do it….” “How old are you,” asked Jem, “four-and-a-half?” “Goin’ on seven.” “Shoot no wonder, then,” said Jem, jerking…
How Freelance Writers Get Sucked into Low-paying Work (and how to stop it)
Imagine getting this email: Hi (your name): Just wanted to let you know I’ve moved to a new company, and we’re looking for writers. I recommended you since we’d worked together when I was at the last company. Do you have time to chat on the phone? So you call. The conversation goes something like…