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31 Days of Freelancing: Finding Client Similarities

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Poke by Frightened Rabbit Busy week for me despite just having a few projects. But I did get some invoices out, and I did pretty well considering a holiday caused hiccups in work and what I call work-think from the client’s perspective. How did you do with yesterday’s strategy? Feel free…

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The 31 Days of Freelancing Series

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Picture of Health by We Were Promised Jetpacks Welcome to December! If you’re like every other writer, you’ve found December to be a bit of a challenge — a black hole into which all your clients seem to fall, a month when all work grinds to a halt, holidays take over…

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Tuesday Muse: Things to Do Now for 2017

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara What I’m listening to: Leading Me Now by The Tallest Man on Earth What a nice time away! Did you enjoy your holiday? Ours was spent driving — first, he was off to Boston for a relative’s funeral, then we drove west to visit…

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Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Tillidh Mi (I Will Return) by Runrig Remember the reason you became a freelancer? More free time, more freedom of movement, the ability to call the shots, name your hours…. That last one. That’s the one we forget, don’t we? If you’re like me, you’ve spent plenty of holiday vacations–times when other…

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Free Advice Friday: The Real Secret to Getting Freelance Work

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen Yesterday was proof of why I love my job. My kid needed someone to sit at her house and wait for an appliance delivery. My hand went up — hell, I volunteered. So I packed up my Surface and cell phone and moved my work to…

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Wednesday Take: Who Determines Your Freelance Rate?

Posted on by lwidmer

An interesting week so far. One project ended, another began, and a newer client keeps me busy with plenty of neat projects. Checks too are coming in, just in time for the holidays. On a forum recently, there was a discussion about rates, which also touched on worth. If you’ve read this blog at all,…

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5 Ways to Sell Your Writing Value

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Light as the Breeze by Leonard Cohen Looking back, I’m glad that week is over. I loathe politics, and even more so now. I saw people I thought were decent humans become these taunting, gloating, name-calling animals. I saw posts on Facebook that said “Let’s move on and come together” and…

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Wednesday Take: Professionalism in All Things

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2 It’s over. Amen. I voted. You voted. Rather than go into who won/lost, I’d much rather talk about the day. Here, it was 33 degrees  at 7:00 am (that’s Fahrenheit for my Celsius friends) with clear skies. I stood for an hour and…

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Monday Muse: The Importance of Being Lazy

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Cold Shot by Stevie Ray Vaughan Yowza, what a week! I started last week thinking it was going to be a more relaxed pace. Not a chance — new projects came in, deadlines piled up (all on the same day, of course), and I emerged from the study later than usual….

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Tuesday Take: Declining Freelance Work

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: I Remember Her by Ingrid Michaelson Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! If you don’t know that tradition, read about it here Still recovering from the weekend. Friday, I was happy to spoil my husband for his birthday, so the day was spent baking his favorite cake (carrot) and taking him to dinner at…

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  1. Sharon Hurley Hall Avatar
    Sharon Hurley Hall

    Great scripts writers can build on, Lori. Sometimes you just have to say no. I’m with you on the resumes. I did them for a while and now I can’t stand them, either.

    Reply
    1. lwidmer Avatar
      lwidmer

      Thanks, Sharon. I think we complicate the “no” scenario entirely too much.

      I wrote resumes for nearly seven years — I’d rather not anymore. I liked it when I started, but I think there’s a burnout point, and I surpassed it.

  2. Paula Hendrickson Avatar
    Paula Hendrickson

    I had to turn down a nice assignment from a regular client when I was neck deep in a huge project for another fairly regular client. They were similar jobs, and unfortunately the one I had to turn down paid quite a bit more. My editor understood and a couple weeks later—after she knew that killer deadline had passed—she assigned an even larger and more lucrative project. I’m working on that now.

    And guess what? I’m using a lot of the skills I once used as a resume writer to help condense the entries for the project. Sometimes things can come full circle in a good way.

    Reply
    1. lwidmer Avatar
      lwidmer

      LOL Paula, I’m glad those resume skills came in handy. 🙂

      Great story, too. Imagine if you hadn’t turned down that first one — you’d have denied yourself a raise!

  3. Krista Avatar
    Krista

    Have been freelancing for going on 10 years. Until I had my son two years ago, my viewpoint was “work more, earn more.” I rarely turned down work, even when I was already overbooked. Sometimes I would work 15-16 hour days for weeks on end. When he arrived, I decided to work 25-30 hours a week. I have three days of childcare each week, so my mindset shifted to “I need to make as much as possible in the hours I have available.” I have turned down a ton of projects that I felt didn’t pay enough. I’m less burnt out and (hard to believe) have had my two best years of freelancing. I finally feel like I have the right to say no and, I gotta say, it feels great. 🙂

    Reply
    1. lwidmer Avatar
      lwidmer

      Not hard to believe at all, Krista. I learned too that the minute you charge more, you get better clients and your workload is much more manageable.

      It does feel great, doesn’t it? 🙂 Now if you’re crazy busy, it’s because you want to be, not because you have to be. 🙂

    2. Krista Avatar
      Krista

      Yes, exactly! I’m LESS stressed now that I have a toddler–go figure. 🙂

    3. lwidmer Avatar
      lwidmer

      LOL! Funny how that happens. 🙂

  4. Weekly translation favorites (Oct 28-Nov 10)

    […] Blogging Tools to Avoid Writing Embarrassment Confessions of a Book Editor A Tale of Two Book Fairs Declining Freelance Work Tweeting to Learn: The Educational Value of Twitter […]

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