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All Freelance Writing Weekly Roundup – February 3, 2012

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:48:00 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! Today we kick off our new weekly roundup series (similar to our old Freelance Friday series, but more good stuff). Here’s the gist. At the end of each week I’ll publish a list of things you might have missed this week — our writing forum daily discussions, other interesting discussions from the forum, recent posts here on the blog, other posts I’ve been reading from around the Web, and sometimes I’ll highlight a few oldies but goodies that you may have missed or forgotten about.

Happy reading!

From the Writing Forums

From the Blog

Freelance Writers: Stand Up for Your Rates – by LaToya Irby
Messy Subjects and Verbs – by Rebecca Garland

From the Web

Fair Wages for Freelance Writing – Melanie Brooks at Freelance Switch
6 Freelance Writing Fears and How to Overcome Them – Anne Wayman at About Freelance Writing
You Are a Better Writer Than You Think You Are – Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts
Plan a Marketing Strategy for Your Freelance Career – Jake Rocheleau at Freelance Folder
How the 80-20 Rule Affects Freelance Writers – John Soares at Productive Writers
5 Steps to Freelance Awesomeness – Steph Auteri at WordCount
Putting the Customer Back into Customer Service – Lori Widmer at Words on the Page
10 Ways to Ensure No One Will Read Your Blog Content – Ali Luke at Daily Blog Tips

From the Archives

5 Awesome Made-Up Things About Freelancing

Clint Osterholz — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:20:34 +0000

Jenn’s post on 5 Frightening Facts About the Freelance Life really put me in a bad mood, especially since I’m doing so much writing nowadays. In retaliation, here’s some stuff that’s completely untrue about freelancing that you probably never knew!

You Can Get by with One Client

That’s certainly what I did! I get paid a bazillion words to do a monthly column and I don’t see any reason to go find other work because I have it so sweet. Instead, I just write my pithy little columns myself and my editor just eats them up. That poor sucker. He doesn’t even check my work. It’s a sweet deal. Hi-5!

Marketing is Wholly Unnecessary

Because I’m such a big deal, people just sort of line up and ask me to do jobs. Of course I don’t because I only have one client but if I wanted to work other jobs I could. I don’t have a website or platform or anything, I’ve spent nothing on business cards, and I have never marketed myself beyond just being awesome in every way. You’re welcome, everyone.

My Job has Nothing Wrong with It

At all. There’s no such thing as a downside for me. All I do is I come in, like a rockstar, and type away at my column. Next time I write one I’m going experimental–I’m going to write precisely one word. I bet everyone will go nuts for it. I am going to have to clear it with my editor though because I get paid by the word and that would sort of suck to make rent. People don’t get the artistic, sometimes.

Stop Asking Me About My Job

Seriously I am not going to talk about how there’s something wrong. Maybe YOU are the one who has the problem. Stop trying to find things where nothing’s bad. You probably like to sit around and critique other people’s work while your own sucks. Stop being such a dillweed.

I’m Going to Get a Soda

This interview is over. And the soda is likely to be of the Coca-Cola variety although I could be tempted into a Fanta if the price point is right.

If you’ll notice, I lost focus through this article as per usual. You’re welcome. I’m going to take a bow and head out now.

Interview With Business Consulting Buzz

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:56:56 +0000

I just wanted to pass along a quick link. I was recently interviewed for the Business Consulting Buzz blog. Check it out!

In the interview you’ll find out how my crazy work schedule is working out for me (working Monday – Thursday, usually getting up at 4am and working 5am through noon). You’ll also get some tips on query-free marketing for your freelance writing services and my thoughts on getting work as a freelancer in this day and age when you live in a small town.

8 Things Freelance Writers have in Common with Satan

Yo Prinzel — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:16:00 +0000

Good morning my little fiends, how are you today? Well, however you were doing, you’re about to get doing better (huh?) because I’ve decided that it’s high time for all of us to come out of the hellfire and acknowledge just how much like Satan we freelance writers are. Yes, we freelance writers have much in common with that red horned, fork-tailed devil. Don’t act like you’re surprised—I think you’ve known it all along. Consider this:

Freelancer writers are rebels: Rebelling against God got Satan thrown out of heaven and into his own domain—known as Hell. Rebelling against a traditional workplace got us all thrown out of the office and into the driver’s seat of our own business, which really does sometimes feel like Hell. No, not often, but you know as well as I do that there are days… . Like Satan, we are natural born rebels—albeit slightly less evil ones.
Freelance writers tempt everyone with the apples of success, independence and no dress codes: Freelancers are temptation personified. With our free-wheeling schedule, our independent attitude and our total control over our destinies we paint a damn fine picture of life and that tempts everyone around us. And as if our tempting lives weren’t enough, we all spend extra time developing blogs and e-books that encourage others to go for the freelancing lifestyle. Evil boys and girls, just plain evil. And don’t even get me started on the evil temptation work completed by you freelance copywriters. Now that’s just wrong.
Freelance writers can take human or animal form: Okay, maybe not literally, but have you ever heard the cat-like noises I make when a client doesn’t pay me on time? I snarl, hiss, screech and I swear my teeth grow a little longer and pointier. When clients are nice and give good feedback, we all practically purr. And when we market ourselves, we become stubborn bulls. There are all kinds of animal shapes we take each day.
Freelance writers possess others: As ghostwriters we spend much of our days taking the form of other humans. We may not possess their bodies, but we sure do take on a little piece of their soul and attempt to sound like them in our writing.
Freelance writers work magic: Satan can do lots of really cool (although evil) things with magic manipulation. You and I might not cast spells or recite lyrics to Black Sabbath songs while stirring up some eye of newt, but we do wonderful things with words in very short periods of time. That, my friends, is magic.
People worship us: Oh, c’mon. Tell me you haven’t gotten an email, Twitter message, LinkedIn note, blog comment or Facebook wall post from a new freelancer who thinks that you are a God. Sure this worship is based on only knowing what you present to the world and hiding the fact that you have to feast on Ramen noodles when you are between clients, but it is worship nonetheless. These folks want to glom on to our alternative lifestyle the same way Satan worshipers want to glom on to Satan.
We take souls in exchange for money and power: Stop for a second and think about what you do all day. You create an image for someone, through articles, blog posts, press releases and more. And with that image, your client gains two things: Money and Power. Just like that you are giving a person the keys to his favorite kingdom. Now, you don’t actually take his soul in exchange, but if he loses his soul as he becomes richer and more powerful, you are at least partly to blame.
Freelance writers hate to be exorcised: Um… actually we hate exErcising, but isn’t it kinda the same thing? Anyway, we choose a sedentary way of life. We read, research, study and write, all while sitting on our collective behinds. Oh, and don’t leave a bunch of comments about how you loooove to exercise or I’ll throw eye of newt in your eye. I’m betting the majority of you would rather read a book than walk on a treadmill.

There you have it, petite princes and princesses of darkness. You have a lot in common with Satan, so keep that in mind as you go out into the world and try to use all your powers for good… unless someone pays you enough not to. Mwahahahahahahahaha!

10 Things I’ve Learned While Freelancing

Yo Prinzel — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:07:35 +0000

April 17th marked my 1-year anniversary as a full time freelancer. This month marks my 2-year anniversary as any kind of freelancer. During this time I’ve learned a lot of stuff that may or may not be useful to you.

1. The easy way is usually not the best way. Chances are good that if nothing in your career ever excites you, scares you, intimidates you or challenges you then you are doing it wrong.

2. Not all writers are created equal. You are probably better than some writers and worse than others. You may have a great voice for some work, and a terrible voice for other work. You might know a lot about some things and nothing about other things.You may be able to improve in some of these areas with hard work and study. You may not. Either way, it’s not necessarily a career-breaker.

3. Not everyone is going to succeed. Don’t feel guilty if you are one of the writers who does.

4. You need freelance writing friends. I know there are some people out there who are lurking. They read the blogs, work from home, write for a living–but don’t make friends with other freelance writers. I think this is a huge mistake. My freelance writing friends are great sounding boards, terrific resources, awesome motivators and they understand my triumphs and setbacks like almost no one else.

5. Your mistakes will not make or break your career like you think they will.

6. Don’t let fear rule you/ Good enough is never enough. If you are afraid and/or if you allow your career to stagnate you will never know what you could have been, what you were capable of and how far your career could have gone. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, take risks, and really challenge yourself. If you let fear stop you or if you settle for “good enough” then that’s probably the best you will do. Imagine knowing that the career you have right now is the best you will ever, ever do. You will never get better clients, better gigs, better bylines, better money, better fun, etc. Sad, huh? Is that what you really want out of your life?

7. Highlight what you want your potential client to focus on. On my portfolio, resume and cover letter, I focus on my licenses and experience in the financial industry. I do not focus on the fact that I have yet to finish college. There are almost no deal breakers in this business–you just need to adjust your marketing message so your potential clients pay attention to what you want them to see. Kind of like how I always show too much cleavage to distract from my love handles.

8. Don’t be afraid of your voice.

9. You have to create the career you want not just by dreaming about it, but by deciding what steps to take to get it and then doing them there steps. Your career does not make itself–you have to make it. And proactively, I might add.

10. There are no secrets, no formulas, no gurus, no superstars, no guarantees. There is just you, time, your keyboard, your motivation and your determination. And even that is not a recipe for success.

So how about you? What things have you learned?

Late Shift

Jennifer Mattern — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:50:36 +0000

Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on February 9, 2010. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing.

One of the sometimes best / sometimes worst aspects of freelancing is how much time you’ll spend working alone. While it can be nice to avoid the politics and drama of a traditional office environment, there is also no 5pm closure reminding you to go home and no one to talk to on a whim (especially if you’re working in the dead of night). If you live alone on top of working alone, it can be even worse. Maybe you’ll even start talking to yourself. But what would happen if someone else were actually listening in, and you weren’t quite as alone in your head as you thought?

That’s what we’ll explore in this episode from the MadLance series, “Late Shift.” Can you relate at all to Chuck? (By the way, Chuck is played by Clint Osterholz, our very first guest star here at Freelance Theater, so be sure to welcome him!)

Download “Late Shift” (right-click and save the .mp3 file) or stream it now below.

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How do you deal with too much alone time as a freelance writer? Do you have family at home with you? Do you constantly network with colleagues to keep you sane? Do you every find yourself talking to your pets or even yourself? Share your work-alone tips for freelancers in the comments.

If you would like to embed the player for this episode on your own website or blog, please use the embed code below to get the same player you see above in this post:

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Weekend Reading – January 30, 2010

Jennifer Mattern — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:42:25 +0000

It’s a bitterly cold weekend here, so I’m doing quite a bit of reading — always a good excuse to stay in. How about you? If you’re looking for something to do to pass the time, here’s some weekend reading for freelance writers that you might be interested in. As usual, this list includes recent blogs posts discussing freelance writing and blogging issues. Enjoy!

Our Best Freelance Writing Posts of 2009

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:02:42 +0000

To close out 2009, I thought I’d take a look through our stats and see what some of All Freelance Writing’s most popular posts were for the year. Of them, I pulled out those I would consider our best (from me and others on the AFW team). Here they are, in no particular order. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Freelance Writers: 3 Tips for Taking Your Life Back
Top 10 Free Online Tools for Writers — As Chosen by YOU!
Demand Studios Health Insurance: An Objective Overview of FlexShield Benefits
Not Earning Enough as a Freelance Writer? You Have Only Yourself to Blame
10 Costly Money Mistakes Freelancers Should Avoid
How to Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Freelance Writing Business
How Not to Hire Freelance Writers and Bloggers
How to Build a Web Writing Portfolio Even if You Have no Experience
A Real Look at Residual Income
Proving Your Value to Prospective Writing Clients
Exposing Some Myths About Blogging Pay Rates
Getting Started in Magazine Writing with Linda Formichelli
How to Lose a $7000 Freelance Writing Gig Without Even Trying
Freelance Writers: Why is “Work Smarter” so Difficult to Understand?
To Spend or Not to Spend: That’s a Damn Good Question
Two Free Word Count Trackers for Writers
Making it as a Freelance Mom
The Freelancer’s Quick Guide to Accounting and Bookkeeping
How to Get Freelance Writing Referrals Even if You’re New
3 Ways to Find Those Elusive Unadvertised Freelance Writing Jobs

All Freelance Writing will be bringing you lots of new features, products, tools, and freebies in the New Year. I hope to see you then!

Just One More Reason to Hate Odesk

Jennifer Mattern — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:30:54 +0000

Thanks to Thursday Bram for bringing this story to my attention.

I don’t think it’s any secret that I despise oDesk. Why? Because they not only allow, but encourage, clients to cross the employer / client line with their software that lets clients actually watch you work, while you’re working from your own machine in your own home, etc. I’m not going to get into the problem with that here. I suggest if you’re a U.S. freelancer you spend some time learning your rights and doing some research with the IRS as to what clients can and cannot do without taking on the increased burdens of becoming actual employers.

Today there’s a new problem. oDesk is apparently pushing the idea that they’re offering health insurance to freelancers (oh, how original). But before you get excited, read carefully. It has absolutely nothing to do with insurance for freelancers. Instead, their new oDesk Staffing will give freelancers the opportunity to work as employees instead. What’s wrong with that? Not a damn thing if you don’t want to be a freelancer.

OK. So what’s the problem? Well, you see, there’s a little catch. Actually, there are several:

To be eligible for the benefits you have to work for them 30 hours a week. No biggie.
To be eligible you have to work for hourly pay. If you get paid per word, per piece, etc. (typical in freelance writing as well as some other freelance fields), you’re not eligible for the benefits because it’s all based on your hourly commitment.
Wait now, here’s the kicker. Want W-2 employee status? You have to pay them for it! Can you believe that crap? You PAY for the “privilege” of giving up your freedom as a freelancer. You PAY for the privilege of having a job. That my friends is complete and utter bullshit. Why do they charge 20%? To cover their “services” of course! What services you might ask? Oh, just the little things they’d be required to do the moment they choose to take people on as employees instead of having them work as contractors — things like tax withholdings. Say it with me now – “Bull. F*ing. Shit.”

This is really getting ridiculous (and of course, yet again, we have a program being promoted before the company’s releasing all of the details). Folks, look. If you don’t want to be freelancing, then by all means stop freelancing and take an employee job somewhere. But if you freelance, take responsibility for yourself. Get your own health insurance. Get your own benefits of every variety. That’s a part of being self-employed. If you can’t afford those things, then you’re not earning enough and either you need to rethink your rates or you need to rethink your marketing strategy because something isn’t working.

Just do me a favor, please. Don’t get sucked into these promises and “deals” without looking at them thoroughly and critically first. And don’t get your hopes up about anything a company isn’t willing to be completely transparent about up front. If they weren’t ready to release the details, they probably should have kept their mouths shut. And how about some truth in advertising please? From their oDesk Staffing page:

“Access benefits previously unavailable to freelancers, such as group health insurance and 401(k) retirement plans”

Newsflash: those benefits are STILL unavailable to freelancers. If you take on W-2 status in order to be eligible for the benefits, you will not be a freelancer. You will be an employee. Alright. I’m going shut up because if I think about this anymore my head might explode.

Are Your Clients Reverse Nickel and Diming You to Death?

Jennifer Mattern — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:40:00 +0000

When you hear the phrase “nickel and dime” chances are that you think of being a buyer — asked to pay for ridiculous little add-ons to a product of service, greatly increasing the overall price. Can you also be nickel and dimed as a freelancer? Absolutely.

How Freelance Clients Might Try to Nickel and Dime You

As a freelance writer, you probably either give a client your standard rates or a custom quote up front. Either way, you know what’s expected of you and the pay covers that work, and only that work. For example, if you’re writing a feature for a client’s corporate newsletter, you might charge a rate of $1.00 per word for the article. That rate might include two rounds of edits, and you don’t bill the client separately for small charges like phone calls to an interviewee. Your proposed (and accepted) feature might include working with two interviewees.

While these things probably would never happen all at once, let’s pretend for a moment that you have the client from hell. All of a sudden, you’re asked to do other things like:

Add a third perspective to the piece (meaning another interview, more phone calls, etc).
Get transcribed copies of interviews to the client.
Write a separate short summary for the feature (so they can use it as a preview on their website).
Do very minor extra edits because they ran it by a “friend” who felt a need to give their two cents after it was approved by the actual client.
Consult with the client on the phone about the formatting of their newsletter.
Come up with 3 photos for the feature (not originally discussed).

Other than the transcription, each of those things might seem relatively minor. If you’re hoping to turn a one-time gig into a long-term one you might be tempted to just suck it up and do these things without renegotiating the total project fee, especially if the client throws one at you at a time rather than asking for all of these things at once. At the time they seem like relatively simple and innocent favors.

“Favors” Cost You Money as a Freelance Writer

Look, there’s nothing wrong with going above and beyond for a client once in a while. In fact there’s nothing wrong with going a little above and beyond every time you work with them. But you should know what you will and won’t do up front, and you should be willing to say “no” when the requests start to pile up.

I know it’s not easy. Sometimes you just want to be a people pleaser. It’s easier than risking disappointment, right? But this isn’t your bff asking you for a ride to the airport. It’s not your sister asking you to watch her kids for an evening. It’s a client. In that particular relationship you both have responsibilities. Yours include completing everything agreed to. Theirs include paying you for the time invested in their project. If they change the terms, it’s basic business sense — they should pay for the extra time.

How are these little favors the equivalent of a company nickel and diming their customers? Every extra minute, half hour, or hour you spend on the client’s project (essentially unpaid) is time away from other paying projects. Spent an extra two hours on that feature? Charge $75 an hour on average? You just got nickel and dimed out of $150. It’s not like putting that time into running a site of your own (where you might earn revenue and use it as a marketing tool to land new clients). You aren’t likely to get anything out of that lost time that you wouldn’t have gotten anyway for completing the project as planned.

There’s a very fine line between being a good freelance writer to work with and being a flat out pushover. Which are you?