Everyone who’s been freelancing for a while knows that there are ups and downs in a freelancer’s income. Though I don’t like the decrease in cash flow, I sometimes appreciate the downs because it means I get a bit of a break from working so much. Fortunately, even my “down” months bring in enough income to cover all my expenses, so I’m never depressed about
Remember the days of the five-paragraph essay? We started in elementary school learning about topic sentences and then main ideas. We threw in some supporting details, restated that topic statement and rounded that paper out. It was clean, it was simple, and yet it is fast becoming a relic we need to bring back! When you’re learning to write in a different language or looking
How much do you charge per word? How much should you charge per word? Really, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to freelance writing rates all that matters is your hourly rate and whether or not it’s enough to help you reach your financial goals. Why Per Word Rates Don’t Matter Per word rates aren’t a good tool for comparing writers or gigs for one
Whether you’ve already set your freelance writing goals for the New Year or you’re still deciding what they should be, let’s focus on the big ones today. When you set major goals for your business, how can you keep yourself focused and working toward them all year long? One of my favorite tactics is to take baby steps. I’ll break down a large goal into
Some of my best freelance writing gigs have come from people in my network. These are not necessarily people I have worked with in the past. Rather, they are professionals I have met and kept in touch with over the years. Here are three tips to successfully grow your network: Ask your closest clients and business partners for introductions. If you can get five people
As regulars might know, I’m a work-at-home mom and a work-away-from-home mom, too. I normally teach during the day and then get two boys to bed before settling down for three or four hours of writing most nights at the computer. It makes for a full day, but it’s so nicely organized and routine now it works for me. Today though, in honor of my
I’ll tell you this–you won’t get rich quick writing for print magazines. However, if you are patient and creative, you can build yourself quite a business. You just have to think outside the box a bit. Trying to come up with new ideas all the time can be draining, and sometimes the pay isn’t great per word, or per article. Still, there are some smart
Over the last several years I’ve heard a constant complaint from Web writers — that the digital / global economy makes it hard for them to make a living because overseas writers drive rates down. Now I don’t want to spend time again on the myth of the “global market” in freelance writing, but let’s look at the digital economy in general. Is it really
Earlier this week on my PR blog I shared some thoughts on how social media supports liars, giving some examples of how even colleagues in the freelance writing industry have gotten caught up in it. Commenter J. Toman brought up the concept of “fake it ’til you make it.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. It comes up now and again in the freelance writing
When it comes to running a successful business of any kind, including freelance writing, much of that success comes down to the decisions you make. You make good decisions that help you grow. You make bad decisions that hold you back. Or you might make decisions solely to maintain the status quo. Today let’s talk about making better business decisions when it comes to your
Many freelance writers get into the rut of doing nothing more than sending query letters in hopes of obtaining new clients. While there is nothing wrong with this, at some point you need to leave your office and get into the “real world.” Over the past few months I have spent a lot of time networking with other professionals in person and over the phone.
Anyone who properly cares for children works hard. It’s a world of sacrifices and rewards, but there’s very few mothers who don’t sleep well once the angels are tucked into bed. I’ve never lain around wishing I’d been busier on a particular day. But there does come a time when you realize that having a freelance career, and in my case a daytime career, on
My daughter’s 3rd birthday is in March and I want to have one of those financially-irresponsible birthday parties that suburban housewife moms throw for their kids. And since I don’t have one of those executive six-figure-salary husbands to sponsor the party, I’m saving up for it. I started saving up for Christmas back in August. I save up for taxes and every other big expense
“What does original mean?” my inquisitive, 3-year-old asked me. I had just told her that I wanted to video one of her original dances, instead of a fourth installment of Yankee Doodle. “It means you make something up,” I told her. That’s my layman’s definition of the word. In the blog world, have you ever noticed that you can read the same thing hundreds of
There are six key strategies I teach students as they improve their basic writing skills. As a writer, it’s interesting to me how well these six elements still translate to improving my work at a professional level. When you’re paying attention to these areas of your work, you’ll start to see ways to tweak your work to make it more readable. Learning more about how
Today’s post was inspired by a reader suggestion on Twitter. We’ll talk about how you can replicate the social “water cooler” experience with colleagues in a freelance setting, when you’re not all together working in the same office. The timing is perfect too. I just met fellow freelancer, Lori Widmer, for lunch last week. And yesterday morning I finished drafting the chapter in The Query-Free
Landing gigs by sending query letters is nothing new. Thousands of freelance writers send these letters to editors on a daily basis. With so much competition, it is essential that you do something to set yourself apart. Just recently, I decide to follow-up on a few queries with a quick phone call. While this takes a lot of guts, it is something that has paid
As you grow in your freelance writing career, you will evolve. You’ll evolve as an individual, as a writer, and as a business owner. As this evolution takes place, you will notice that the things you once found satisfying don’t satisfy anymore. At first, this will feel weird and uncomfortable; it may involve outgrowing friends, peers and clients. It may mean that blogs you once
We talked a lot about goals for your freelance writing career this week. And as promised I’m going to share my yearly list. Below you can find my preliminary list of goals and New Year’s resolutions for my business (freelancing as well as my own sites and projects). I may add to the list between now and the end of this year, and I might
It’s that special time of year again! Orders are up slightly, time is decreasing dramatically and best of all – the kids are home! Having the kids home is both a blessing and a curse. The days are great fun filled with ornament making and breaking and dessert-face-stuffing, and the nights are filled with work to make up for the lack of time during the
Recently I posted an evaluation of 2010 professional goals here, including which goals I’ve met, which I haven’t, and those that I might still reach by the end of the year. I always set a lot of goals for myself, and I mentioned in the discussion surrounding that post that I do so for a reason — I know I’ll fail at some. And that’s
We’re going to talk about goals this week. First, I want to take a look back on the goals we set for ourselves for 2010. In later posts we’ll discuss failure and why it’s sometimes okay, and then we’ll close out the week talking about how today’s reflections can help us set new goals for the coming year. Why look back on this year’s goals
Breaking into the magazine market isn’t easy. That said, there are a few tricks you can use to slide on in without doing a full-length feature. One of the things you can do is send fillers. A filler is basically what most people would call a blurb–a bit of information that readers will find interesting or educational. Many magazines have them, and those that do
There was a request in the comments of a previous post about understanding and using more idioms in the English language. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to dig into some of the slang and other odious expressions we bandy about – you know, the crap we say – or the words we speak that really don’t make much sense. A quick warning – if
You have a fairly packed freelance writing schedule. You have client orders lined up for the next several weeks, and things look good. But then something happens. A project is cancelled. A client suddenly becomes non-responsive. You get a request to postpone something. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself with a hole in your schedule — one that needs to be filled now at
It is one thing to send a query letter. It is another entirely to receive an answer – good or bad. Remember this: just because you send a query does not mean the editor has to respond to you. Here are three things you can do to increase your query letter response rate: 1. Address your letter to the right person. This is the number
I had a hysterical working mom experience this week. Others might have found it horribly offensive, but I’m the type to crack up at even the slightly amusing and this went well beyond slightly… The biggest little man in my life brought home some library books from school yesterday. He’s in kindergarten this year with weekly trips to the school library. Like we do every
Whether you’re fresh-faced and excited by the prospect of more independence in your work or you think freelancing is your chance for easy money while you look for a full-time job, you might be in for a few surprises. Yes, those of us who have been at it for a while do tend to go on about how wonderful it can be. After all, if
You know that when it comes to finding high paying freelance writing jobs, I primarily recommend three things: Build your visibility and writer platform so prospects can find you. Build a solid referral network to get referred gigs from colleagues and other clients. Early on, before gigs are coming to you directly, go ahead and target and pitch prospects directly. After all, query-free freelancing is
Earlier this summer, the (U.S.) government passed a law that requires you to opt-in before banks can charge you an overdraft fee. By opting-in, you agree that banks can process transactions that are over your account balance and you agree to pay the associated overdraft fee. You can also opt-out, which means banks won’t process transactions that exceed your balance and therefore your account won’t