Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on October 30, 2009. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing. Have you ever had a “vampire client” — one who seems to suck the life out of you? Maybe they don’t pay enough so you push yourself to the edge of burning out regularly as you cram in countless projects.
In Yo’s last post, she mentioned the ups and downs freelancers face. Today I’m going to share a story that incorporates a bit of both. First, it’s an excellent case of query-free freelancing attracting more than commercial writing clients. On the other hand, it also shows how breaking one of my own rules ended up being a waste of time on a day when when
I haven’t had a “real” vacation in about 12 years. After college it was just about not having the money to go (nonprofit work at the time paid far from well). Then I was going through the startup phase in my business (PR firm them), so there simply wasn’t time. Then it was client issues — when you’re on retainer as a consultant, you have
Today I’m going to give you a quick tip for better query-free freelancing: give things away for free! People love freebies. If they feel they’ll get something for nothing, they’ll often stop and take notice even if they would have otherwise passed you by. Freebies are especially important during growth phases where you’re trying to expand your visibility or reach within your target market. To
Being a freelance writer can be stressful at times. That stress may be because you have a lot of work going on at once, or because work is slow and you’re stressing while you try to find new clients. No matter what the reason is, you have to deal with the stress before it completely consumes you. I’ve been particularly stressed with work lately. It’s
It’s easy to get stuck in a certain way of working. Sometimes our methods can become stale and negatively affect our productivity as writers. So this week’s challenge is about scheduling, and how mixing it up once in a while can keep your work fresh. If you think you’re already working as productively as you possibly can, there’s no need to take part in this