You want to have a good year freelancing. Who doesn’t? But how do you do that? What will work? What won’t work at all? I’ve been asking the die-hard freelancers in my circle. Grizzled pros, and annoyingly successful upstarts. They have all had good years, galactically stellar years, and not-so-good years. We debated and swapped […]
My friend Magda asks: When I blissfully escaped working in an office, I jumped into translation. But that’s not where my heart is. I have been “secretly” designing for some time. Recently, I showed some of my work to someone and she wanted to buy them and she ordered for more. I really want to try this out and I’m doing my best to make it work. My big question […]
I once started listing all the things I needed to work on before I could become a rich-ass superstar freelancer. I ended up with a list of sixteen things. It was all brilliant stuff I got from books. “Change mix of agency versus direct clients.” “Expand client prospecting/more regular. Newsletter?” “Target copy-intensive verticals.” “More diligent about […]
Almost never, of course. This is, after all, our living. But when you are deep into a courtship with a new client, someone with work and money, and you’ve shared ideas and your stars seemed aligned, but you need a little something to inch the ball over the goal line. You need to tip the […]
As the story goes, writer Ernest Hemingway always started his day’s work by meticulously and thoughtfully sharpening seven No. 2 pencils. Choreographer Twyla Tharp says that she can unfailingly assure a productive day by waking at 5:30 am, putting on her workout clothes, and hailing a cab to the gym. Once she does that, all […]
Don’t be a vendor. Be a peer. A colleague. A co-conspirator. More money there. More respect. And also, more money. You may have to move up a notch in the client organization. Over the underlings. You are not fawning and begging and bargaining. That’s what suppliers do. Sell a little grander. Instead of delivering documents, […]
We have all heard this at least 87 times: Do what you love. Follow your passion, your obsession, your enduring interest. When you’re passionate, your work is a joy. Plus, you will work harder and longer and with energy. You will build your skills and know-how. You will land more work and have even more […]
“The sure sign of an amateur is he has a million plans and they all start tomorrow.” “When we turn pro everything becomes simple. . . We plan our activities in order to accomplish an aim. . . This changes our day completely.” “When Stevie Wonder sits down in the studio at his […]
It is easy to get too wrapped up in the details of what we do, and the minutiae of what we sell. That’s narrow thinking. Because what clients are buying — what truly makes the money change hands — is usually something else entirely. The richer and happier freelancers understand this. I stole the idea ages ago […]
From my writer friend Ellen: Here’s my problem: A client calls me for a big PR project, or maybe a web site rewrite. It looks like a few weeks work. I assure the client I can get the work done and meet their deadlines. So I do the necessary briefings with the client and begin […]