Posts filed under 'This freelance life'
Feels like I’ve been writing holiday-themed articles for weeks and weeks. (Among my favorites: Survival Jobs You Never Thought You’d Be Thankful For and All I Want for Christmas Is a Layoff.)
With 2009 mercifully in the rearview mirror, I’ve joined the fresh-start bandwagon and have been furiously outlining my freelancing goals for the next 12 months. Not resolutions (habits you want to form or change), but goals (stuff you want to accomplish).
Reason I make this distinction is because while writing about how to stick to your New Year’s resolutions yesterday, I learned that humans are hard-wired to fail miserably if they try to change too many habits at once. So I’ve got one resolution for my freelance career this year: leave part of each Sunday open for work on my personal writing projects (books, essays, stories), something I’m doing with three other freelance writer pals for extra accountability.
As for the other stuff I hope to accomplish this year, I’m calling those goals. In the interest of sharing, I’ll list some of the biggest ones here:
- Give this site a much-needed facelift
- Finish proposal for book #3 by spring
- Pursue more custom publishing work (trade publications and the like)
- Sell an article or essay to the print edition of a certain beloved national paper
How about you? What do you hope to accomplish in this brave new year?
January 4th, 2010
Times is tough. Even if you’re drowning in work, chances are you’ve had at least one steady client cut your rates this year, or worse, cut you off altogether.
Yeah, clients come and go during even the most financially prosperous of times. But in a year when work is harder to come by and the competition stiffer, each little setback can feel like a full-on body blow.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that an Illinois man pocketed more than $470,000 in paychecks from a company he never worked for over the course of four-and-a-half years.
That got me wondering: If a freelance client overpaid you this year, what would you do? Before you say, “Return the money, of course,” really think about it. What if you were about to default on your mortgage? Would you still give the money back?
In an older post, I talked about how years ago a client paid me twice the amount I’d invoiced for. I knew it wasn’t a bonus; it was clear the company had made a mistake. And while I desperately needed money then, I couldn’t get behind lying and keeping the cash. (Admittedly, it wasn’t just integrity at the wheel. Fear of being found out and losing my most lucrative gig helped drive home the decision to refund the money.)
The client in question was an independent book publisher, and the overpayment was just by $1,000 or so. But if a deep-pocketed Fortune 500 overpaid me a piddly amount, I’d return the money just the same.
For freelancers, reputation is everything. You might be able to recover from a botched deadline (just ask my editors). But recovery from blatant disregard for business ethics? Doubtful.
What do you think? Have you ever had to return a stray payment to a client who made an accounting mistake? Or do you fall in the ”Pocket it and play dumb if they call you on it” camp? (No judgment; just curious.)
Related assignments I did on the topic this year:
November 2nd, 2009
Just in time for Halloween, I’m offering a new online class for rookie and veteran freelance writers on how to handle clients from hell.
“Dealing with Nightmare Clients” is a four-week online course — starting this Wednesday, October 21! – sponsored by the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). Although I’ll be delivering the lessons right to your inbox, you can follow along from anywhere, at your own pace, even if your own pace means working through the lessons at 3 a.m. on a weekend.
In this class, I’ll discuss how to tame those beastly clients and editors who seem all too happy to stiff you, mess with your deadlines, and contact you at all hours of the night. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:
- Chase down MIA payments and ensure you don’t get stiffed in the future
- Handle runaway revisions and keep scope creep at bay
- Deal with clients who are always late with deliverables
- Set firmer boundaries with editors, project managers, and creative directors
- Bolster your contracts with clauses that can help prevent scope creep, deadline changes, and late payments
- Determine whether a troublesome client relationship is salvageable
Since we can all learn from one another’s trials and tribulations, I’ll devote the last session of the class to answering all your burning questions about any nightmare clients you’ve been dealing with. Additional details about the class:
When: Wednesdays, October 21 – November 11 (four online sessions).
Where: Your computer. Each lesson will arrive in your inbox (also accessible via Yahoo Groups on the web), which means you can follow along on your own time.
Cost: Editorial Freelancers Association members $135; nonmembers $160.
Register: On the EFA website.
Questions? Feel free to email me.
UPDATE: This class has been rescheduled for February 2010. Details here.
October 19th, 2009
Seattle area folks, want to learn the ins and outs of the freelance writing life, and soon? I thought so. Join me this Monday, October 5 for a little talk with a big name, Learn Your Way Around the Business End of Freelancing and Become a Pitch-Slapping Success, which I’ll be giving with my pal Diane Mapes. In this 2009 SPJ Fall Continuing Ed Series class, we’ll give freelancers of all stages our best tips on making your writing business legit and drumming up a steady stream of print and web assignments.
Stuff I’ll be talking about during the two-hour, practically free class:
• Managing the finances of freelancing (setting rates, paying taxes, avoiding food stamps)
• Covering your behind (insurance, licenses, whether you need to form an LLC)
• How — and where — the heck anyone finds freelance work in this blasted economy
As a bonus, the illustrious Ms. Mapes — whose credits include MSNBC.com, CNN.com, a humor column in the Seattle P-I, and a couple of hilarious books on dating, mating, and living single — will share her secrets for wooing editors and writing winning pitches.
The event deets:
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009
Time: 7 to 9 pm
Location: The Seattle Times’ auditorium, 1120 John St., Seattle 98109
Cost: Free to SPJ members; $10 for nonmembers
RSVP: Email Dana Neuts, SPJ regional director
Perk: Free parking, pizza, and bottled water for attendees!
October 4th, 2009
Newer nonfiction writers often ask their grizzled peers where we get our ideas for all the articles, blog posts*, columns, personal essays, and pitches we’re endlessly cranking out – often on deadline. In an era where computers and phones are exploding with content, links, and commentary galore, this may seem like an odd question to ask. But I thought it would be fun to answer anyway.
On any given week, I’m responsible for turning in at least one career column and three work/life balance blog posts. Then there are the half-dozen or so stories I’m pitching each month to my regular stable of editors, as well as new ones I’m trying to woo. Meaning if I’m not constantly cultivating fresh story and blog post fodder, I’m sunk.
My top sources of content inspiration:
Blog aggregators. YPBLOGS – the Young Professional Blogs Aggregator — is my blog clearninghouse of choice. One, the 225+ Gen X and Gen Y bloggers featured on this site often bring career and work/life balance issues and trends to my attention. Two, all the cool career-oriented bloggers are doing it.
HARO. HelpAReporter.com is the Swiss Army Knife of reporting. Besides being one of the best ways to find sources if you’re in a deadline fix, this e-list gives you a sneak peek at some of the stories other journalists are researching at any given time. And while idea pilfering is pretty unbecoming, sometimes you can riff off someone else’s idea to come up with a brand spanking new story angle of your own.
Google alerts. If you’re not relying on Google’s handy bots to tell you who’s saying what about your pet topics on any given day, it’s time to start. Again, I’m not advocating simply pilfering or rehashing someone else’s brilliant post or story idea. But a Wall Street Journal article about working moms that raises your hackles can make a great springboard for your own post, column, or reported piece.
Twitter and Facebook. I can’t even open Fritter (or would that be Frittbook?) without finding half a dozen links that scream blog fodder during any given hour.
Friends, readers, and real life. I love when I’m at a party and someone tells me about some bizarre work situation they’re experiencing and it’s all I can do to not blurt out, “YOU! MUST! LET! ME! INTERVIEW! YOU!” Likewise, colleagues and readers frequently email me their unique, off-the-wall ideas. If you write about a topic long enough, this will happen to you too. I promise.
So how about you? What’s your holy grail of content fodder?
*No cracks about the infrequent posts on this here blog. Details on what the heck is up to come soon.
September 28th, 2009
…I’d like to interview you for my next ABCNews.com column. The skinny:
If you’re a full-time (or nearly full-time) freelancer or small business owner who keeps a part-time retail, clerical, cashier, dog poop scooping, or other lowish-paying job because of the health insurance, I want to know. I’d like to hear about both your jobs and how much money you’re saving in health care premiums by keeping the part-time mercenary gig. I’m also curious about whether your customers know about your part-time gig at the grocery/shoe/pet supply store — and whether your part-time employer knows that you double as a self-employed designer/copywriter/programmer. Do you ever get the “You’re folding jeans? But I thought you were a bigshot author!” treatment?
Please note: I’m only interested in hearing from self-employed folks working at least 25 to 30 hours a week on their freelance/entrepreneurial gig and making at least half their living from it. Doesn’t matter how many or few hours a week you work at your part-time mercenary gig. It’s fine if you want to be anonymous. If interested, email me here by Monday please. Thanks so much!
September 3rd, 2009
When fitness buff Amanda Furgiuele began teaching pole-dancing classes after work two years ago, she didn’t broadcast it to colleagues at her day job as a television producer.
“Although I know that pole dancing is a legitimate fitness pursuit, most people still refer to it as ’stripping class,’” said the Maui, HI resident, who has never worked as a exotic dancer and does not allow nudity in her classes. “I was kind of worried about the social stigma. I didn’t want to appear unprofessional.”
Despite her discretion, it didn’t take long before Furgiuele’s coworkers found out.
“One of my student’s cousins was my office manager,” she said. From there, it was only a matter of minutes before her evening occupation was laid bare before the entire office.
“After a thorough round of teasing and a few moderately inappropriate comments, it’s mostly smoothed out at my day job,” Furgiuele said. “I’m glad everyone knew me as a person before they knew my ‘other profession.’ I’m not sure they would have been so understanding had they thought of me as a pole dancer first.”
According to a January survey conducted by The Daily Beast, 23 percent of those polled have more than one paying job. Some said their second job was a hobby that had morphed into a money-making operation. Others said they needed the extra income.
So does the fact that we’ve become a nation of cash-strapped moonlighters mean that your employer will support your after-hours vocation? Or could fessing up that you’ve been serving cocktails, driving a limo or designing canine outerwear on the side jeopardize your reputation, or worse, your day job?
The short answer is, it depends. [Read the rest at ABCNews.com.]
July 5th, 2009
Hey, new and aspiring freelancers in Seattle! Curious about how other self-employed professionals in the area got their start and deal with the ups and downs of working solo? On Tuesday, June 30, from 2 to 6 p.m., Seattle tech startup Jackson Fish Market is hosting its first Small & Special conference for current and hopeful small business owners. The conference is sold out, but I’ve got two free tickets to give away. Read on to see how you can win them…
Speakers at the event include Babeland co-founder Rachel Venning, children’s book publisher Oliver Chin, web application developer Steven Bristol, and international wine distributor Jon Rimmerman. You won’t find any venture-capital-hungry bazillionaires here; all the conference speakers bootstrapped their way to profitability.
As for the day’s agenda, according to Donald DeSantis of Jackson Fish Market, “It will be one part inspiration, one part practical advice, and one part meeting new people.” In addition, all attendees will be entered into a drawing to win a custom promotional video for their business, courtesy of lilipip! studios and valued at $8,000.
To register for the conference (a deal at $25.00!), see smallandspecial.com. For more deets about the conference, see smallandspecial.com. If you’d like to throw your digital hat into the ring for one of the two free tix I have to give away, tell me about your business idea and why I should pick you right here in the comments. (Sorry, I won’t have time to collect email responses this week.) Thanks, and enjoy!
June 28th, 2009
Got an email from some mystery reader the other day asking, “Is this site still active? I haven’t seen a post from Michelle in many months.” (Actually it’s been just under two, but who’s counting?) In an upcoming blog post, I’ll explain why I disappeared from the blogosphere for such a long stretch. But first, some fresh content…
Work It, Mom! just ran a new Q&A with me and I wanted to share my favorite question of the bunch:
If you were just starting out as a full-time freelancer and had just enough money each month to pay for ONE of the following things, which would you choose, and why? (1) Hosting for your own website. (2) Mobile web and e-mail on your cell phone/Blackberry. (3) Membership in a paid job listing site like FreelanceSwitch. (4) Four Americanos.
My answer: Easy: web hosting. It’s criminal to not have a website as a freelancer these days. You need your own corner of the digital universe where people can easily learn who you are and peruse your samples and/or client testimonials.
Number one, it makes you look like you’ve joined the twenty-first century (if you forego a site, don’t expect potential customers to be impressed). Number two, it saves you extra time you might have spent explaining your work/approach/MO to a new client. Number three, you can make a one- to four-page WordPress site in a morning. Number four, Web hosting costs less than $10 a month. Number five, in the time you spend scouring those (often crummy, $10/hour) ads on freelancing job sites you could have sent your new URL to everyone you’ve ever met in your life, started schmoozing with other freelancers on Twitter, and drummed up your first client by word of mouth or the power of SEO. I’m a big fan of joining a community and cultivating relationships rather than bidding into the void on projects advertised on job sites, unless it’s a really, really kickass-sounding job.
As for options (2) and (4), I don’t use a smartphone and I don’t drink coffee.
Bonus answer: Yes, you can build a site with an address like http://anti9to5guide.wordpress.com/ for free, but having your own URL is so much easier for people to remember and looks a bit more serious.
Yes, coffee makes the deadlines go ’round, but it’s expensive. If you drink it, brew your own.
Yes, a cool smartphone + data plan will liberate you to work anywhere, but as a new freelancer you should be watching your pennies. Besides, do you really need to be online 24/7?
And yes, some people swear by using freelance job hunting sites like Elance, oDesk, and Guru to land their first few gigs or to supplement their freelance income, despite all the cons they themselves are all too happy to admit (wading through all the crap-pay listings, giving the site a cut of your earnings, the preponderance of bidders willing to work for slave wages). But on freelance email list after email list I subscribe to, people regularly say that they haven’t found such race-to-the-bottom bidding frenzies worth their time.
I can’t speak to the job listings on Freelance Switch specifically; if anyone has a review to share, by all means please do. I’d love to find a job listing site serving multiple freelance disciplines to recommend to new freelancers. As for writers, I hear wonderful things about the publication editors and the freelance listings they post on Freelance Success, which costs about $100 a year.
June 4th, 2009
I did a post this a.m. on Nine to Thrive (my NWjobs blog on work/life balance) about the nastiest work from home scams people have been reporting of late.
Of the many the FBI warns against, my personal favorite has to be those package forwarding or product reshipping jobs listed online. If you’re lucky, your so-called employer will merely neglect to reimburse you for the shipping fees on all those electronic goods you’re repacking and reshipping. But if you’re unlucky, you could get caught up in a criminal investigation, as many of the goods these employers are hiring home-based workers to ship are stolen.
You may think that having viable a freelance skill to sell over the web and in person makes you immune to such scams. “Only rebate processors and envelope stuffers get taken for a ride,” you may tell yourself. “Not writers, web designers, and software programmers.” But I beg to differ. (Seen Craigslist lately? Or those useless “paid in promotion” — aka, PIE — gigs?)
When it comes to listing my most-hated freelance scam, I’m torn between all those “Will pay $50 for a 2500-word article/five-page website/three-city PR campaign” project listings polluting the web and those heartless do-it-on-spec-and-then-see-if-anyone-will-deem-you-the-contest-winner-and-reward-you-ten-bucks-for-it sites. (Exhibit A. Exhibit B.)
Perhaps “scam” is too strong a word here, as these outsourcing practices aren’t illegal, only insulting, not to mentioning damaging to professional freelancers who need to earn a living wage. Still, part me wishes there were some regulatory labor body that required such sites and ads to prominently display a “Hobbyists, Apply Here — Pros Who Want to Eat, Steer Clear” graphic at the top. Then those hiring managers without a clue would more quickly come to the realization that you do indeed get what you pay for.
April 6th, 2009
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