finding freelance work | Words on the Page

Up for Bid

Posted on August 31, 2010 by lwidmer

It continues to amaze me when I see writers who have built careers on leading other writers to make smart career choices suddenly decide the money’s the goal. One writer, who shall remain nameless, has decided to offer a book on how to make money on one particular bidding site. By bidding site, I’m talking…

Being Memorable

Posted on August 19, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Nothing – no time to listen! I’m still plunged deeply into the large project with little sight of any finish line. But I managed to get some other client work done before nine a.m. yesterday, which opened up the rest of the day to chunk down this project. Also, I had…

More on Finding Work

Posted on July 27, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Rosalita by Bruce SpringsteenWhat I’m reading: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson I love Allena Tapia’s latest blog post over on About.com. In it, she outlines how to be a profitable freelancer. Given that she herself has just topped the $100K mark, I’m apt to listen….

How and Where to Look

Posted on July 23, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Cherry Bomb by John MellancampWhat I’m reading: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen Great day yesterday. I managed one small project, got an article roughed in, and started lining up interviews for the newly-scored article. And despite my fears, the government agency I had to talk to wrote…

Are You Settling?

Posted on May 27, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Peace Frog by The DoorsWhat I’m reading: Transparent Things by Nabokov (almost finished) Thanks to Devon for sending me a link to this article about newspapers now outsourcing to Demand Studios. Read it and weep. Loudly. While this news is disturbing and may indeed indicate a downward trend in publishing, what…

Nudging the Client

Posted on May 26, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading upstairs: Absalom! Absalom! by William FaulknerWhat’s playing on the iPod: Sometime Around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic EventYou? Toddle on over to Anne Wayman’s site for my latest post. Sometimes when work is slow in coming – like now – I nudge clients. I send out emails. Nothing new there, except what…

Mind the Gap

Posted on May 4, 2010November 15, 2017 by lwidmer

What’s the toughest part of freelancing? Sometimes it’s the work that doesn’t arrive. We talked last week about not playing a waiting game with clients, but this is different. There are times when no matter what you attempt, you can’t find clients or projects. So what then? If you’re a long-time freelancer, you’re used to…

Once Upon a Time….

Posted on April 22, 2010 by lwidmer

I’m about to attempt the difficult – I’m going to try remembering my first days as a freelancer. It’s going to be tough because unlike today’s freelancer, I had no Internet (Say it isn’t so!). Nope. I had a typewriter, then a word processor, a stack of sample magazines, and a library that was six…

Planning Ahead

Posted on April 20, 2010 by lwidmer

I pretty much knew when I went on vacation last week that my monthly income would be adversely affected. I did the math – I’ll be just under $2K off my monthly target. Our goal as freelancers is to grow the business and – this to me is the important part – keep enough work…

More from Less

Posted on January 11, 2010 by lwidmer

The news this morning about the jobless rate and the predictions going forward were less-than-inspiring. Ten percent is bad. Worse, jobs aren’t just drying up temporarily – they’re never coming back or they’re moving overseas. Fewer people are doing more work, and it’s a matter of time before the collective meltdown of overworked Americans occurs….

Devon Ellington

January 11, 2010

I've stuck with some due to misplaced loyalty, but I'm in the process of changing that.

Clare Lynch

January 11, 2010

I think it's worth making the distinction that it's not merely that we freelances don't cost the companies we work for as much as a full-time employee – it's that those costs of employment are directly transferred to us.

My day rate (which has made many a full-timer's eyes pop out) reflects the fact that I have to pay for my own training and development, my own equipment, my own accounting and admin, my own marketing – and so on. All of which full-timers take for granted.

We freelances also have to make provision for our own sickness pay, holiday pay and – should the work dry up – redundancy pay. So not only are we bearing the costs of employment, but its risks – which have their own premium.

When I first started out, I set my price based on the idea that I could survive by working for six months of the year. Of course, I can barely remember when I last took a holiday, but a good chunk of my working week is spent managing my business, not doing billable work. I hope your financial goal for your 37-40 hour work week takes all this into account too!

I'd be very wary of working for a client who doesn't understand the professionalism that freelancing requires. Your client who cut your rate without warning sounds like a completely amateur operation that deserves an amateur service. Good for you for maintaining your professionalism by ditching them.

Lori

January 11, 2010

Clare, very good points. As freelancers, many of us are not blessed with partners who have health care. Even so, we are charged with our own 401(k)s, our own pension planning, and our own sick days, vacation days, etc. We are now charged with our own business insurance, as well. You mentioned risks – we run businesses that are rife with risks. The smart freelancer covers that with insurance and airtight contracts.

Yes, all plans have to take into account our business management. That should be figured into the price we charge. It's why I'm shocked when freelancers say they're able to make a "whopping" $60 an hour writing 6 or more articles in that hour. That's bad business. It's also quite clear that the details of their businesses aren't considered.

I have one client whose rates aren't up to snuff. That's about to change. I'll have several new ones who pay for reliable, compelling writing. This particular client has changed the rules too much for my tastes. I don't tolerate it. I don't have to. Writers too often allow their clients to dictate their business models – a HUGE mistake.

Devon, yours is a sound model. I've watched you set, and enforce your professional boundaries quite well over the last several years.

Katharine Swan

January 11, 2010

I have one long-time client for whom I do some lower-paying work. They've raised my rate several times during the four years I've worked for them, so they've tried, but it hasn't risen as fast as my regular rates. Still, I keep them because the work is easy and fast, they pay immediately, and because I genuinely like the owners of the company. Plus, because I've worked for them for so long and know the topics and what they need, I can work faster on their projects than any other client's, which brings the rate up to a more manageable hourly.

Any other client, though, I wouldn't put up with it. I recently dropped a client because their rates were so much lower than the rest of my clients. I ddin't do much work for them anymore, but I realized that I didn't want to do ANY for them anymore, and that decided that. I haven't missed them. ;o)

Kimberly Ben

January 11, 2010

I have worked with one client since I started freelancing. He doesn't pay as much as I now regularly charge and the scope of the work has increased quite a bit.

I guess this also a case of misplaced loyalty (to quote Devon). I decided last month that when they contact me again I will inform them of my "new" rates and not budge.

Paula

January 11, 2010

Interesting timing, Lori.

Just this morning my sister (freelance graphic designer) and I were commenting on being thankful for some of the older lower-paying clients we were close to axing a year or so ago. For her, it's because she's been struggling to find work in recent months, but a lot of companies aren't updating their collateral materials or doing big marketing pushes that require her level of design service. For me, it's because my lower-paying clients are still good for fill-in work.

Yes, I prefer the 75-cents to $1/word markets, but even 25-cent/word articles help pay the bills, especially when they assign a lot of long articles. (My higher paying markets all assign shorter pieces. Since the bulk of the work is in the research and interviewing anyway, and shorter pieces still require the legwork and more editing, the hourly rate isn't as different as one might expect.) One thing I do make clear to the lower-paying editors: I prioritize my workload by how much the assignments pay. They all seem to understand.

Also this morning, I saw and ad on a job board seeking "ex-pat" writers and editors who live in countries with lower income levels! They pay $7 per hour. Hmmm…I always thought one reason some ex pats chose to live outside the US was because they could afford a better standard of living on their US-level income.

Diane

January 12, 2010

I feel obliged to help folk out that have helped me in the past or who I know will help if I get desperate. However, we'd usually still maintain communication. If they dropped pay without warning, I might just drop them without warning. But I'd replace the work/revenue first.

I'd work for a charity organisation or non profit publication for less money than usual and I might – MIGHT – offer a student a discount when I was typing if they had a lot of work, like a 15,000 word thesis.

Generally, though, I have a bottom whack that I don't go below, and I rarely cut my rates for an existing client. Call me old fashioned, but when you're known to be reliable and come up with the goods even at short notice, the rates should go the other way.

Lori

January 12, 2010

Katharine, sometimes the relationship with the client dictates the way you want to handle it, right? I've worked for people in the past who were just great people, paid on time, and whose work was enjoyable to handle.

Kimberly, I had a situation like that. It's sad when it ends. You really care about that person and his/her business, but you've grown in opposite directions.

Paula, that was me a few months ago. I was thankful for the work, but I felt so stagnant. I couldn't earn more because I was busy with the lower-paying stuff. That's fine if that's all there is. But rarely is that all there is from my experience. Devon knows the struggle I've had with this current client, which is a large group. I've held on because of the guaranteed checks, but it's turned from a job that takes just an hour and a half each day to sometimes three, four hours each day. The workload increased. The pay decreased. And the demands are beginning to smack of employee status rather than freelance. Even one of those conditions is enough. In combination, it's a large, waving red flag.

Diane, I like that – "when you're known to be reliable and come up with the goods even at short notice, the rates should go the other way." Amen. Rarely would they cut the workload, right?