Q: From Amy, a freelance translator: “I definitely need a smarter, more compelling sales pitch. “I struggle with clients who see translators as interchangeable, or think that one translation is as good as another. Some are even okay with having ‘bilingual’ employees do their translations in-house. “It’s especially frustrating when they don’t realize that […]
Do those swell testimonials on your website do any good? I have no idea. Do clients even read them? Do clients know what they say even before they read them? Does it help if testimonials have many exclamation points? I don’t know. I know it gives us a warm feeling to have those customer […]
How should you charge for your work? This is an age-old question. Should it be by the pound, by the day, by the project? What’s the framework? Then, how much should you charge? Is there a formula? A rationale? Do you even need a rationale? There are plenty of ways to think about all […]
I know. This should be obvious. It should also be as easy as sneezing. Working without a boss is, after all, what we signed up for. It’s why we went freelance in the first place. So we wouldn’t have someone leaning into our cubicle all day, telling us what to do. We wanted to call […]
Bear with me, because I’m about to get all sales and markety for a minute. But just for a minute. I’m talking about Way Smarter Freelancing, the first ebook from the editorial staff here at The Freelancery. (Me, mostly.) It’s 178 pages of real-world help that will make you a lot savvier about freelancing, right away. […]
You may have to, if you want the work. The annoying thing is, you see most of this paperwork silliness with the larger, busier clients: big corporations, universities, big publishers, big agencies, tech firms. They have money, they have work, so they have paperwork. I am talking about NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements, or Confidentiality Agreements) and Vendor […]
Ann writes: “I’m in the beginning stages of trying to go out on my own. But there are two big chains around my neck. I’m currently employed at a small agency as a director-level specialist, with more than 15 years in my field. I’ve a had a few stealth meetings with outside clients to develop […]
Yes. Specialists always do better. There is no debating this. I can’t think of any freelancer who made it big as a handyman. The world already has plenty of all-purpose copywriters, versatile translators, general web designers and utility infielders. Don’t jump into that haystack. You will be lost forever. It sounds paradoxical, but the longer your ‘list of services’, […]
Years ago there was a cranky old freelancer I looked up to. He was an artist and illustrator who had made his own way since the days of Mad Men. He did brilliant work. Made piles of money. He was in demand. He answered to no one, drank too much and smoked like a diesel. […]
You and me, we are working the simplest business model there is. Let’s not complicate things more than necessary. First, the tax people want to know how much money clients gave you, and how much you spent on business expenses. The easy way is to get those numbers from your 1099s and bank records. That’s […]