Every year I try to share my business and writing goals with you here on the blog. And every quarter I post updates about what’s going well (and what’s not). My hope is that it will inspire some of you to focus more on planning and reflection in your own freelance writing businesses. It’s that time again. If nothing else, know this: Sometimes things go
We’ve been talking recently about freelance writer websites and how they can help you attract prospects and convert them into clients. Today let’s focus on a particular element of professional sites — freelance writer blogs. Now, I’m not talking about freelance writing blogs, where you write about freelance writing itself, and where your content is for other writers. The vast majority of freelancers don’t need those, and
In my review of David Rodeck’s professional website, one of the things I suggested was to publish his freelance writing rates (or, at the very least, remove the Rates page that really only had payment terms). I’ve long advocated making your rates public. I’ve never had a newer writer I worked with tell me they regret adding rates to their site after I’ve prompted them
Do you ever feel overwhelmed, and you just need to step away and take some time to yourself? Maybe you still intend to work, but you just want some quiet time away from other people while you do so you can recharge and clear your head a bit. When that happens, what should you do with your professional website? You might be inclined to leave
Earlier this week, we went through my professional site to show you the kinds of plans you might make after conducting a content audit. Yesterday we took a look at Yolander Prinzel’s freelance writer website. And today I’d like to follow up with one more site review, for David Rodeck. David Rodeck is a business and financial writer similar to Yolander, so this is a
When we looked at 5 freelance writer websites done well, I critiqued some professional writer websites to give you ideas about how to improve your own. I also opened it up for review requests for others who wanted public site reviews here on the blog. Yolander Prinzel was the first writer to take me up on that. Yolander is a freelance financial writer, and back
No freelance writer website is perfect. I pointed that out when we looked at five freelance writer websites done well. That includes my own site, ProBusinessWriter.com. And today I’d like to use it as an example to show you the kinds of things you might want to change by picking it apart a bit here on the blog. About a year ago I updated the
A professional freelance writer website serves a specific purpose. It communicates what you do to prospects who visit it. And it should make it easy for those potential clients to hire you. The question isn’t whether or not you need a freelance writer website. These days, you do. Especially if you’re new to freelancing. Instead, the question is what your professional website should include. Below,
Are you happy with your freelance writer website? Does your professional site do enough as a marketing tool to attract prospects and help you convert them into clients? Do you even have a website yet? As strange as it sounds, this post has been a few years in the making. For quite some time I’ve wanted to do a round-up to showcase quality freelance writer websites to
In the last couple of posts we talked about learning new types of freelance writing projects. And I promised I’d release a few new free downloads this month to help you with that. Today I have three of them for you. Below you’ll find links to download a free press release template, and worksheets to help you outline case studies and white papers. These are
This post contains an affiliate link to Peter Bowerman’s Well-Fed Craft course. For new freelance writers, one of the most common challenges I hear about is the fear that sets in when a client asks them to take on a freelance writing project they’ve never done before. For example, perhaps they usually write web copy, and a client asks them to write a case study.
With this month’s focus being on getting started as a freelance writer or revamping your freelance writing business, let’s talk about long-term goals and aspirations. Namely, let’s talk about your freelance writing bucket list. If you’re a planner (and I highly recommend always having a plan to guide you), you probably set yearly goals. They give you direction when tweaking your quarterly, monthly, weekly, and
Especially after this past year, I am left with precisely zero bullshit tolerance. That goes double when you spew nonsense advice in the direction of new freelance writers. They hear so much garbage, half-assed advice it’s a small miracle some of them survive even a year in business. So bring your BS my way, and I’ll leave you shoveling shit while I set you straight. What if
The type of freelance writing most often discussed here is business writing — anything from copywriting to freelance blogging. But there are paying markets for just about any type of writing you can think of — including creative writing like poetry and fiction. That’s what Daniel Cowick wanted to talk about when he submitted this question on freelance writing markets: I write poetry, prose, lyrics,
If you’re still toying with the idea of starting a freelance writing career, but you can’t work normal business hours, this one’s for you. Christian Simmons wanted to start freelancing, but with only weekends free for freelance writing work, they had concerns. Here’s Christian’s situation: How can I have a freelance writing business when the weekends are all I’ve got to write and see clients?
A lot of time has been spent on this blog talking about the basics of setting your freelance writing rates — figuring out how much you need to earn, figuring out how much that means you need to charge per hour, converting those hourly rate goals into project rates, etc. But what happens if you’re still new to freelancing and you have no idea how
Are you thinking about jumping into freelance writing for the first time in the New Year? Or are you thinking about starting over or making major changes in your freelance business? In either case, you still have a bit of time to get prepared so you don’t kick off 2018 feeling overwhelmed. I definitely fall in the latter group this year. To say nothing has
It happened. Again. I opened my feed reader this morning and saw yet another blog post telling readers to stop making goals and resolutions for the New Year. This one happened to be about health-related goals, though I’ve seen plenty specific to freelance writing goals too. But guess what… This is terrible advice for freelance writers. I get where it comes from. When you don’t
The end of any year can be a bittersweet time. You take stock of what you’ve done and how far you’ve come. Maybe you exceeded your expectations and you’re inspired to do even more in the New Year. Or maybe you fell short and you’re feeling discouraged. Whichever is the case for you, the New Year brings the same thing to everyone – an opportunity
When 2017 started, I was feeling ambitious – rebellious even. You see, 2016 was an awful year in pretty much every way for me, and I was determined for 2017 to be different. But it wasn’t. If anything, 2017 was much worse. The politics have had me even more stressed – something I didn’t think was possible at the time. I don’t feel any less
When you work long hours at a desk, it can be more than uncomfortable. It can be downright painful. Hunching forward to see your screen better… always looking down at your monitor… simply sitting too long. None of that is good for you. And it used to leave me with constant back and neck pain. The solution for me was one part yoga and one
I’ve made it no secret that 2017 has been a crappy year for me. Some of that’s work-related, though work has been more affected by problems I’m dealing with rather than causing them. Focus has been hard to come by, and motivation even more so. But that doesn’t mean I get to sit on my hands and do nothing, waiting for things to pass. If
You may be familiar with Peter Bowerman from his Well-Fed Writer book or blog. For years his book has been my top recommended reading material for new freelance writers. So I was thrilled to hear he was launching a new course on freelance commercial writing called Well-Fed Craft. When Peter asked me to review Well-Fed Craft, of course I said “yes.” Is Well-Fed Craft your ticket to a profitable
In all the years I’ve worked with fellow writers, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard colleagues just like you say you struggle with the lack of paid sick time and paid vacations you’d get from an employer. We’ve talked about this here before, but I want to remind you once more that, yes, we do get those things too. Our vacation time,
“Everything is a choice.” That’s what I told a fellow writer yesterday when he said he’d been feeling a bit stuck. More specifically, he said he felt like he had an “inability” to write recently. I pointed out it wasn’t an inability so much as an unwillingness to do what had to be done. Those stagnant moments weren’t a result of him being incapable of doing the work. He’s one
Do you ever look at your fellow freelance writers and wonder how they seem to fit so much into their days? Do you struggle to get through your daily to-do lists? Have you felt forced to work more than 40 hours per week to take care of projects you’ve gotten behind on? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you might be working the
I spent time yesterday afternoon meandering around my gardens, taking in the scent of hyacinths while I looked in on some of my favorite flower beds. It was warm, after a rather chilly morning up here on the hill. And it hit me… It’s spring. Yes. I know it’s been spring for a while now. But with unseasonably late snowstorms flip-flopping with 70+ degree days,
Sitting in front of you is a large block of clay. You’re taking a sculpting course at a local studio. You’ve already learned the basics. You have the skills you need to create something all your own. And that’s what your instructor wants you to do. What do you do? Do you wait for someone to tell you what to create? No. Do you look
For new freelance writers, choosing a niche can seem like a daunting task. You want to try a bit of everything and see what sticks. Or perhaps you don’t feel like you have enough experience to specialize at all right away. Yet you’ve heard there’s more money in freelance writing when you hone in on a niche. What’s a new freelancer to do? That’s what
Can you believe we’re already in the second quarter of the year? A colleague mentioned it yesterday, and I hadn’t realized how much time had gotten away from me. What that means is it’s time for a check-in on writing and business goals for the year. See what’s working. Figure out what’s not. And see where tweaking your original plans might help you get ahead.