As my favorite freelance writer Yolander Prinzel says, if you are a full-time freelance writer, then you are a business owner first, writer second. It’s very important to stay in that business owner mindset when doing everything from marketing your business to collecting the fees you are owed, but it is especially important to keep that in mind when you find that well-meaning but clueless friends, family members and even strangers decide it’s time to give you advice on how to run your business.

Listening to this crowd of what appears to be either crime fighters or well-meaning 16th century burghers will NOT help your business

I’ve managed to freelance full-time for almost two years without anyone butting in on how I run my business, but recently I’ve been faced with a few “helpful” bystanders armed not only with advice, but actual interference. Here’s how it happens:

You talk with someone about your business. You are excited about your growth, your marketing plan, your next project, your whatever, and it shows. That person, we’ll call her Betty Buttinski, gets excited, too. She wants to help!

Then she helps. Boy does she help. She sends your portfolio to random job postings on Craigslist. She makes appointments with contractors. She poses as a collection agent and calls people who owe you money.

Okay, okay, so I was exaggerating (slightly) with all three of those examples, but you get the picture. When you are passionate about something, it’s easy for those who care about you to become passionate about it, as well. That’s why boundaries are so important when it comes to running your business. Don’t let people assume you can go out to lunch because you “work at home,” don’t let people call you and interrupt your work day, and especially don’t let them interfere in the running of your business.

The ones who love you should be cheerleaders, but ultimately, you should be the one making all the big decisions in your business. After all, what if your friend/Mom/1^st grade teacher helps you and it backfires and costs you and your business? The relationship is damaged. Nobody wants that.

While it’s all well and good to take business advice from people who know what they are talking about, beware of the hangers on who simply want to “help.”