I’ve been working nights for years. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I wasn’t already working days and mornings, too. I’ve mentioned a few (dozen) times already, but I have the two kiddos to get up and out of the house every morning, while I get up and out of the house as well to head to the school where I teach at-risk teenagers.
Do you ever feel flustered under the pressure of your freelance work? Do you have a client who sometimes drives you crazy? Do you fear losing a gig because you don’t know where the next one will come from? Do you constantly worry about money because you aren’t earning as much as you’d like? First: take a step back. Next: breathe. Freelancing, or running any
Starting this month, I resolve to save 5% of my income every month, always, no matter what. If I can consistently pay the IRS, the cell phone company, the electric company, the health insurance provider, etc., there’s no reason I can’t do the same for myself. I do have an automatic savings draft set up, but it’s just $50 a month and I now feel
Do you use Google Analytics on your blog to track your website traffic statistics? If so, have you ever looked at your bounce rate there and wondered “why is this so high?” The problem might have very little to do with your blog and have more to do with the fact that the typical bounce rate metric isn’t always relevant to the blog format. Fortunately
Three different freelance colleagues mentioned using editorial calendars to me within the past week. And it made me wonder — is this a new trend among freelance writers and bloggers or are many of you already using this tool? I don’t have an editorial calendar per se, but I do a fair amount of post planning. I use editorial calendars for special circumstances (like my
Are you looking to get in touch with potential clients from your local area? If so, you may want to think about joining at least one chamber of commerce. This may sound like a lot of work, but once you know what you are doing it can bring in new business on a regular basis. Here are three chamber of commerce networking tips: 1. Choose
I had every intention of writing you a nice, long sales page full of random lies and musings. I was hoping that I could create a really cool, (imaginary) expert name for myself like Dr. Rebecca Frankenfurter, M.D. so that I would have instant credibility through my fake letter when I went to sell you some aspirin in a pretty bottle I colored with my
You know my thoughts on content mills. You know I’m pissed that Google has so far allowed these MFA (made-for-adsense) sites to spam their rankings using tactics that would have smaller independent publishers penalized in a heartbeat (and that’s been the case for years). They didn’t pay attention when we brought up the issues in writing communities. But now that the tech segment is on
Do you ever feel embarrassed as a blogger? Maybe the grammar police came a-calling. Or maybe you forgot to post when readers were expecting something. Or maybe you missed a publicly self-imposed deadline. Here’s what I have to say to that: lighten up! Coming to Terms with Typos Blogging is a relatively casual and conversational medium and yet we sometimes get worked up over simple
Don’t let stereotypes fool you. Financial freedom is not about being rich. In fact, you could be a millionaire and still be a financial slave. You know you’re financially free when you’re not worried about money anymore. The path to financial freedom isn’t much different for freelancers. I’d even say we have the ability to get there faster by making certain business choices. So how
Everyone is willing to give you advice about freelance writing — from non-writers with preconceptions about the freelance lifestyle to professionals who have run successful freelance writing careers for years. In between you’ll find newbies who try to give advice like they’ve found the holy grail of freelancing, former freelancers who couldn’t cut it but still feel qualified to tell you how you can, and some
Let’s face it, most writers aren’t the type to “hard sell” their services. For this reason, face to face networking can often times be a difficult task. There was a day when I felt the same way. Fortunately, I overcame this soon enough. Nowadays, I love getting out there, talking with others, and making new contacts. Tips to Ease the Tension 1. Dress for success.
Let’s face it—almost every writer would love to land the coveted “travel article” in a glossy magazine. Writing about a destination is considered one of the most glamorous things you could do as a writer—but how do you break in? Competition is fierce, and there are some pretty established pros out there doing it, so knowing where to begin is important. The Good News It
Bloggers usually love to receive comments. But as a reader, I sometimes don’t leave them, even if I love the blogger and content. It occurred to me as I looked through my RSS feed this morning that there’s one blog in particular that I almost never comment on. I admire the blogger. I love the content. But I don’t comment. Why? There’s one simple reason
I’m obviously totally awesome at what I do because I’m not completely burned out yet although I do get very, very close at times. In fact, I admire my productivity and economy so much I thought I’d share some real-world tips for saving money while starting up a freelance business any moms just breaking into this madness. This is, after all, a very, very serious
Sometimes we find inspiration in the strangest places. And today I’m going to turn the floor over to my two kitties, Baby and Tubs. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from these little beasties that apply to the freelance writing life: Baby: There’s Always Time for a Nap Sometimes we get so caught up in work and deadlines and finding new projects that we
Sometimes the things I find through Twitter make me want to cry. “How to Retire on Residual Income from Writing Articles” was one such link (although I can’t remember which darling follow felt it was a good idea to share). This is an article about how writing for sites that offer residual income is an option for people who want to retire. In other words,
Marketing your freelance writing services through your network can lead to new business, month after month. While some of the projects you receive from your network will be right up your alley, others may be new to you. Over the past couple of months I have heard the phrase “can you do that for me” too many times! People who have trusted you to do
Maybe you’ve thought about freelance writing but your real interests lie in creative writing. Maybe you find nonfiction writing dull or unrewarding or you’re worried that working with clients will kill the creative side of your work. It doesn’t have to. Here are 11 ways you might be able to turn your creative writing passion into freelance writing opportunities. Some ideas are more traditional, but
When you work as a freelance writer, you’re a service provider. Selling products is technically something different. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other income streams into your business. Sure, you can remain a freelance purist if you really want to. But if you’re looking for new ways to make money with your writing without having to be too reliant on client projects, why
When it comes to unauthorized bank account and credit card charges, the sooner you find out these charges have hit, the better. Checking account and Paypal account fraud are the worst because these charges reduce your available money. Depending on your bank’s policy, you may have to wait until a fraud investigation is complete before you can get your money back. In some cases (mentioned
We talk a lot about how to market freelance writing services effectively. But how do you know when there’s a problem with your existing marketing and it’s time for a change? Here are five signs that your current freelance marketing sucks and that your marketing plan is overdue for a visit. You only attract low-paying clients — those unable to pay the freelance writing rates
Do you offer bulk discounts if clients order a large number of articles at once? Have you ever had a client or prospect pressure you to offer these kinds of discounts, saying they’ll order more if you lower the per-article rate? Many freelancers fall into the trap of offering bulk discounts because they think it will lead to more work. And it might. The problem
Unfortunately freelancers don’t have some special immunity to becoming ill. We can become sick without a moment’s notice, and it can wreak major havoc on our work schedules. I was recently put in that position. Worse, I got sick over vacation. That meant I was already off and away from clients for a while, and I had to extend that time when they were expecting
Time and time again I have talked about how to network your way to another freelance writing gig. While this is something that I strongly believe in, keep this in mind: you must be willing to return the favor. In other words, you cannot consistently look for the next job while never wanting to help anybody else out. During the last week of 2010 I
One of the questions I get asked most frequently about writing for print is when to follow up on a query or submission. Ready for the frustrating answer? It depends. Unfortunately, writing for print is much like the English language itself—riddled with exceptions. Most people will tell you to check the publication to see what their guidelines say. This is all well and good—if they
We are a special breed, yet we often divide ourselves up into groups – presumably so that we can defend ourselves by putting down the others. I’m a working mom, so I’m obviously better than the mom stuck at home – unless she’s a work-at-home mom. Then she gets top billing because she’s able to work at home, make money and teach her children three
One of the things that keeps me out of financial trouble is spending only the money I have on hand. Call me skeptical, but I avoid spending freelance money before I actually have it, even when I’ve already done the work. When you’re a freelancer, you can pretty much count on something going wrong with payments at any given time. Here are some rules I
Some freelance writers make the mistake of putting their marketing plan on the backburner during the holiday season. While there is no denying that you want to spend time with your family and friends, this is one time of the year when networking should come naturally. Do you really want to pass up this opportunity? Here are three ways to connect with your network, as
It’s Christmas! If you’re reading this the day it’s posted, I strongly advise you to go and find your favorite Christmas movie to watch before you have to pack it all up for next year. This post will be here tomorrow. Of course, I’m writing this a few days ahead of time so that I have plenty of time to watch all of my favorite