The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer
Jennifer Escalona tells it like it is
[SpecialtyBuzz] Education Writer Melissa Taylor
In: SpecialtyBuzz
12 Nov 2009Freelance writer? Heard that specialties are where it’s at and exploring the idea of a freelance writing niche for yourself? Then my weekly SpecialtyBuzz segment is for you. Every week I post an interview with a specialist freelance writer who shares what they know about the ins and outs of their particular area of expertise.
Melissa Taylor
Today’s expert is Melissa Taylor, a subject matter who writes about education and parenting. Feel free to ask her question in the comments!
What is your specialty and how did you get started in that particular area?
My specialty is education and parenting. My M.A. is in Global Education, my B.A. in English and I hold a teaching certificate from the state of Colorado. I worked as a teacher and literacy trainer for many years. Now, I’m earning my parenting experience as a mom of two very surprising and clever kids.
What are three things a writer needs to know before choosing to specialize in your area of specialty?
1. The foundations of literacy
2. How to teach and/or parent individuals, because children differ. One does not learn like another. One does not motivate like another. Look at the child and know the child.
3. How to make learning fun – in any and everything.
Does writing in your specialty require any particular training or could a layperson pick it up?
You need a background in education to write about education. With parenting, you need some experience with children, but it would be easier to pick up than education.
Are there any potential pitfalls associated with specializing in your area?
Yes. There is no money in education!
What is the current market for writing in your specialty? Who is buying and who is selling?
I find that I can sell articles to parenting magazines on education. I’m still figuring out other clients.
What do you enjoy most about your specialty?
I love the topic! Anything to help kids learn, to be successful, to become who they are meant to be, all of that, I just LOVE! I could blather on for days about any number of things related to education and /or parenting. I love getting paid to do so.
What do you enjoy least about your specialty?
Nothing.
How would you suggest networking within your specialty?
Get to know editors – stalking is frowned upon, but try to meet editors in person, offer them something that they need – your expertise. I network all the time – it’s good to be open to all possibilities. I like the chamber of commerce, entrepreneur groups, LinkedIn and all the forums I can manage.
What advice would you give to freelance writers interested in specializing in your area?
I’m probably too new at freelancing (9 months) to be helpful here. I would get a writing coach like Yolander Prinzel – she’s really good and is steering me in the right direction.
Melissa is an expert parenting and education writer with a M.A. in Education from the University of Denver. As a classroom teacher for many years, she lived the educator’s life. Now, as a mom, she knows and experiences education from a parent’s perspective. Daily life, research and continuing education developed Melissa into the parenting expert she is today. Melissa’s school district, Douglas County Public Schools, awarded her Outstanding Teacher four years in a row. (She’s still waiting for the mother of the year award and thinks this might be her year.) In May 2009, she created Imagination Soup — a blog about fun ways to learn at home in math, science, reading and writing. Melissa’s writing portfolio is online at http://melissatayloronline.com.
Wrestling Story Ideas with H. M. Cauley
11 Nov 2009If my posts this week haven’t yet convinced you that you should attend writing conferences, check this out. During H. M. Cauley’s “Writing Naked” seminar, I nailed down an idea for a story to submit to – of all places – AARP Magazine, and since then I’ve been brainstorming ideas like crazy. In other words, Cauley’s seminar, while it also dealt with the basics of freelancing, opened my mind to new avenues in my freelancing career and I haven’t been able to latch it shut since.
Bash ideas with a trash can lid if you have to!
This was probably because she made submitting to magazines sound deceptively easy. Cauley writes for all kinds of publications, including The Sunday Paper, an Atlanta alt weekly where I’ve noticed her byline before. She writes all types of pieces, too, from food criticism to human interest pieces to travel guides. Her seminar reminded me of the reason why I wanted to be my own boss in the first place – control over my own work.
Cauley is also a hustler. (In a good way. Not in a Paul Newman way, or a corner of Peachtree & 8th way.) Many freelance writers have the luxury of a spouse to foot half the bills and, hopefully, snag the health insurance, but Cauley made a career all on her own as a single mom. Go girl!
My big takeaway from Cauley’s seminar was to stay constantly on the lookout for ideas, and wrestle them down when they come along. For example, she once saw a sign pointing to a chapel here in Atlanta at Hartsfield Jackson Airport. Her curiosity about a chapel in an airport turned into a story about the airport’s full time chaplain. Who knew they even existed? Few people. Which is why it was a great story.
So, follow in H. M. Cauley’s footsteps. You probably see and hear dozens of story ideas every day. When one pops up, knock its legs out from under it and take it down!
…If you promote it right, that is.
But first, welcome to day two of “Why Should Freelance Writers Attend Writing Conferences?” Like I said yesterday, I’m a devoted advocate of industry related networking opportunities, and writing conferences offer not only networking opportunities, but learning opportunities, too. That’s a whole lot of opportunity right there.
When attending the Red Clay Writers Conference sponsored by the Georgia Writers Association and held in Kennesaw, GA last Saturday, I met a delightful author named J. Steve Miller who’s seminar was entitled “Sell More Books! (Cheap, Unobnoxious Tactics that Actually Work for Shy Authors and Non-Celebrities).”
Miller had quite a lot to say about strategies for book publicizing, and just like with Karen Denovich yesterday, I’m not going to give away all the maestro’s secrets here. I will talk about my favorite take away:
When publicizing your book the right way, you are NOT self-promoting. You are providing a service to people who need it.
Wow, so simple, yet us self-promotion shy folks would never have thought of it quite in that light. And we’re not just talking about books here. Like many of you, I used to (okay, sometimes still do) see a lot of public relations techniques as sheer self-promotion. But when I stop to think about it, the work I’m promoting is awesome, right? Shouldn’t I share that awesome with others who want to learn all about the awesome I have on offer? Now substitute words like specialization, expertise, information, your book, your article, your manuscript, etc. for “awesome” and you are in the mindset to promote yourself.
Shy promoters, put that in your pipe and smoke the next time you hesitate to send out that blog post, press release, or query. Of course, be sure you really are promoting your work to people who need to see it. Otherwise, yes, you’re obnoxious.
For more about J. Steve Miller, check out his freelance writing blog or head over to Amazon to browse “Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It, and Give It,” the personal finance book he is currently “unobnoxiously” promoting. And, as always, come back tomorrow for more insider secrets I managed to glean at the Red Clay Writers Conference this weekend.
Last Saturday I attended the Red Clay Writers Conference in Kennesaw, Georgia. For those of you who have never attended a writers conference, it’s generally a mixture of booths and seminars of some type. The Red Clay was a general writing conference, meaning that workshops ran the gamut from how to write poetry to how to publicize your own book. So why did I attend?
Let’s pretend I don’t attend graduate school at the university where the conference was held. I went because I wanted to meet other people in my field and network with them. I met two other freelance writers, a book publicist, a poet, an online connection I’d never met in person, and a potential client who ask about my ghostwriting services. Truthfully, meeting the potential client was an added bonus. I really got (relatively) dressed up and spent my lovely Saturday afternoon in doors to network with others in my industry.
While at the conference, I was able to sit in on four really amazing seminars. I was very impressed with all the speakers, and so I thought I would give each one of them props throughout the week.
First up, freelance writer Karen Denovich.
I’ve never seen anyone illustrate the freelance writer’s double life quite like Karen Denovich. I won’t give away her joke, but I will recommend that you attend her next seminar for a laugh. Ah, there’s nothing like freelance writing humor.
Denovich presented a basic overview of the freelance writing life. As an experienced freelancer, I did not learn anything that was totally new and foreign to me, but I did learn about a few things in more depth. For instance, did you know you can comfortably say about 75 words in 90 seconds in a television commercial? On the other hand, I attended this seminar with a friend who is interested in becoming a freelance writer, and she took copious notes and learned a ton of basics. Denovich is definitely your woman if you need a funny and credible overview of the freelancing life.
As Denovich described some of her most interesting projects, I realized that she’s a marketer as much as a freelance writer, and that reinforced something that I’ve noticed lately: the most successful people in our profession do more than just put fingers to keyboard all day. In fact, much of what she said reminded of the latest SpecialtyBuzz interview on this site. Like Denovich, Jennifer Mattern is an experienced copywriter, and both give similar advice.
Denovich’s most important advice to freelancers was to get out of the house and meet as many people as possible. As the president of the Marietta Business Association (for you non-locals, Marietta is one of Atlanta’s largest suburbs), Denovich has found a great way to network and meet all kinds of contacts to further her business. While she didn’t specifically say to go out and run for a Presidency of join a Board of Directors, it sure sounded like the connections had aided her in her business. I’m going to follow her advice and attend a Networking in Atlanta event ASAP because I really, really, really need a few good web designers and graphic designers to call on when my clients need extras.
Come back tomorrow for my review of J. Steve Miller’s seminar on effective yet non-obnoxious ways to publicize your book.
Are you a freelance writer looking for your own little niche in the freelance writing stratosphere? Then this weekly SpecialtyBuzz segment is for you! Every Thursday I post an interview with a freelance writer who specializes in a particular subject matter or style of writing. Feel free to pick each SpecialtyBuzz writer’s brain about the interview and any questions you may have about getting started in his or her particular specialty.
Jennifer Mattern
Today’s SpecialtyBuzz specialist is Jennifer Mattern. Jenn is a business and public relations writer, and is perhaps best known in the general freelance writing world as the founder of former “Worthy Wednesday” pick AllFreelanceWriting.com.
Here’s Jenn on the basics of what you need to know about business and PR writing:
What is your specialty and how did you get started in that particular area?
My specialty area is business and PR writing. I have an educational background in that area which helped, but before going full-time as a freelance writer I ran a small PR firm. The writing aspect of that work (press releases, features, business blogging, media kits, etc.) led to the bulk of my business writing work when I decided I wanted to focus on the writing side and drop the consulting. Right now my primary services are blogging and press release writing. The vast majority of my work involves writing for the Web.
What are three things a writer needs to know before choosing to specialize in your area of specialty?
1. Copy and content are not the same thing. I’m always amazed at how many content writers just assume they can jump into copywriting without any training (and often without any understanding about what copywriting really is). You need a solid foundation in marketing and consumer psychology to be truly successful in any kind of marcomm writing (even if you’re self-taught).
2. You have to understand the true role of SEO. It’s not a be all and end all, but you have to understand the principles and you have to be able to apply them to anything from blog posts to press releases to Web marketing copy. It’s important that you pick up this information from top notch sources though — not e-books or most SEO blogs out there. A lot of the most common SEO advice given is actually terrible advice in the marketing / PR area, and you can’t sacrifice your marketing / PR value solely for SEO (if anything, keeping the focus on them nearly always improves rankings better than traditional SEO “tricks” — the fundamentals work for a reason).
3. You’re not going to get rich overnight. I see new writers wanting to jump into copywriting because they assume it’s where the big money is (and it is!). But you can’t do it just because you want the money. The money won’t always come quickly. For the record, you can earn quite well in Web content writing also, so if you truly prefer that style of writing then stick with it. Either way, it’s up to the writer to decide what to charge, who to target, and when to ask for more.
Does writing in your specialty require any particular training or could a layperson pick it up?
If you were willing to extensively research those marketing and PR fundamentals and you had a solid grasp of basic business you might be able to pick it up. Then again I’ve seen amazing marketing professionals who can strategize with the best of them but who can’t spit out converting marketing copy. In the end, while there are aspects you can learn (formally or not) you’ll either have the instinct for it or you won’t. Marketing and PR writing is about persuasion and influence. Blogging on the other hand could be picked up by just about anyone who can write informative or provocative content and who knows how to value themselves (biggest problem with wannabe professional bloggers is that they sometimes get sucked into believing that bloggers should earn far less than other types of writers – simply not true).
Are there any potential pitfalls associated with specializing in your area?
I can’t think of a single pitfall. It’s an excellent area to work in if you can cut it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
What is the current market for writing in your specialty? Who is buying and who is selling?
Frankly, just about everyone is buying and selling. That’s the point. What company isn’t trying to sell something (whether that is a product or even an idea)? They need business, marketing, and PR writers to make that happen. It’s not just large corporations either. I actually focus on small and online businesses, some established and many just starting to build their Web visibility. The growth is phenomenal as more and more small to mid-sized companies enter the online playing field.
What do you enjoy most about your specialty?
I enjoy educating my clients actually. I’m so often impressed by how many of them don’t just want to hire a PR writer — they want to understand what PR tactics can really do for them. They’re open to learning. They’re open to trying new things. You can’t say that about every market or specialty, so in that sense I’m very lucky.
What do you enjoy least about your specialty?
While I shouldn’t complain about getting regular gigs (as in larger monthly contracts versus many smaller one-off projects), I’ll admit that sometimes some projects can feel a bit repetitive.
How would you suggest networking within your specialty?
First of all, writers need to remember that it’s not about being where other writers are. You need to be where the clients are. For me that’s relatively easy — I stick to webmaster and small business communities where those online and small business owners hang out. I’m not an association-joining, conference-going type. I find those things to be more distracting than anything else, and my networking (both in the PR industry and my client market) never suffered for it. My networking is done almost entirely online since I prefer Web-based work. In the end the absolute best networking tool though is your own writer platform — you visibility (your professional site, your blog, etc.). Then your network grows rapidly with little effort on your part. Clients and colleagues come to you.
What advice would you give to freelance writers interested in specializing in your area?
Focus on those foundations of business, marketing, and PR. Real world experience in those areas is priceless. If you want to get into PR writing you might also want to spend some time building your network of media contacts. Most importantly though, forget the hype and techniques everyone else is using (directory submissions, article marketing, SEO’d to death press releases, etc.) and focus on your client’s ROI. That’s how you’ll set yourself apart – not by jumping on any bandwagon.
Jennifer Mattern is a professional business writer and blogger, sharing no-nonsense business advice for freelance writers at All Freelance Writing and The Query-Free Freelancer. You can learn more about her business and PR writing services at ProBusinessWriter.com or follow her on Twitter @queryfreewriter.
This Week’s State of the Freelance Writing Union
In: Links
30 Oct 2009While I’ve had my head buried in a 20 page paper trying to prove that flash fiction is short story at its most distilled, many of my friends and colleagues have been up to much more interesting things. (More interesting than literary criticism?! I know, I couldn’t I believe it either.)
NaNoWriMo Word Counters
First, a little gift for the NaNoWriMo crowd. Jennifer Mattern over at AllFreelanceWriting.com has released not one but two new word counters for all your novel writing needs. In the spirit of stripped down, quick and dirty NaNo, one word counter is a simple tool with no bells and whistles to distract you from your furious typing. On the other hand, if you’re like me and like to procrastinate with shiny new toys, you can check out the super duper word counter that not only counts up, but counts down, tracks your progress toward a goal (like weight loss) or just generally takes care of all of your counting needs.
Scary Freelancing Story Contest
Further, in the spirit of the Halloween season, this week’s SpecialtyBuzz specialist Jake Ponier has started a Scary Freelancing Stories Contest over at FreelanceWriterville II, the Freelancewriterville.com Social Networking community. Submit your tale of “vampirish clients, very unfortunate events, or deadliest deadlines” for a chance to win a $10 Amazon.com gift card.
Don’t forget to sign up for FreelanceWriterville II while you’re there.
Days of Gratitude eBook Released
Just in time for Thanksgiving, someone I am very thankful for, my friend Vanessa Lowery, released an ebook calledDays of Gratitude. The book consists of 30 gratitude exercises that will only take 5 to 10 minutes per day, so you could probably squeeze it in around Nano, writing, business management, family, and Thanksgiving no sweat. Earlier in my freelancing career, Vanessa helped me immensely, so I can testify that she won’t steer you wrong!
Everybody have a safe and happy Halloween weekend!
[SpecialtyBuzz] Corporate Copywriter Jake Poinier
In: SpecialtyBuzz
29 Oct 2009Thursday is SpecialtyBuzz day on The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer, and that means that I’m once again posting an interview with a freelance writing specialist. Whether you are a new freelance writer who hasn’t yet decided on a specialty or an old timer looking for a new niche, the weekly SpecialtyBuzz segment allows you to get a feel for what it’s like to practice a particular freelancing specialty.
Jake Poinier
Today’s writer is corporate copywriter Jake Poinier. Feel free to use the comments to pick his brain about corporate copywriting, and don’t forget to read his bio for a little something extra to help us all with our freelance writing businesses.
What is your specialty and how did you get started in that particular area?
During a decade in the editorial world, I had always done a bit of freelancing on the side – ads, magazine articles, annual reports, resumes. While in year three of a stint at a custom publishing job (that was rapidly reaching a dead end), I figured I could cobble together enough freelance jobs to make a go at it full time. Corporate copywriting was a natural fit since I had a background in several industries, from travel to banking to high-tech to healthcare, and had dabbled in various elements of advertising, sales and public relations. In August, I celebrated 10 years of being in business for myself, and I like it more than ever.
What are three things a writer needs to know before choosing to specialize in your area of specialty?
1) The breadth and depth of your general business knowledge is absolutely critical, because your clients aren’t just looking for nice-sounding words. They need content that communicates their image and drives business. If your client succeeds, so do you.
2) Relationships are paramount. Treat your best customers like gold and they will chat you up to other people. The best of those referrals will become gold, too. Rinse and repeat.
3) Be very wary of depending on one client for the bulk of your work. Each of us has to define what “too big” is, but I have friends who were forced back into corporate jobs because Sugar Daddy cut off the funds unexpectedly.
Does writing in your specialty require any particular training or could a layperson pick it up?
Much as they were frustrating, my 10 years in Cube World were invaluable training for understanding how business works–I couldn’t have succeeded at this right out of college, regardless of a degree in English or writing skill. Obviously you need to be a solid writer who has an ear for different styles and formats, but it’s equally important that you have an eye and a brain for sales/advertising/marketing, both for your clients and your own business.
Are there any potential pitfalls associated with specializing in your area?
If you focus on a single type of industry, topic, or medium, you may struggle to get enough business at first. Once you’ve grown your business, that risk flips around: You can get pigeonholed. If you love a particular topic, or exclusively write for print rather than web, perhaps you’re OK with that…but it scares me to death.
What is the current market for writing in your specialty? Who is buying and who is selling?
Despite the overall economic sluggishness, 2009 has been a decent year – not every industry is in bad shape.
1) Education and healthcare, particularly long-term care, are among the strongest in my portfolio at the moment.
2) Interestingly, the several mom & pop graphic design firms that I work with have remained busy, perhaps a testimony to the fact that businesses still need to market and advertise, and that small agencies offer a more cost-effective way to do that.
3) Clients in industries that have been hit hard, like construction and leisure travel, have been less active as budgets got slashed. I still maintain close relationships, however, so that they’ll call me first when things pick up.
What do you enjoy most about your specialty?
Too many to name, but I’ll name two. One, I get bored incredibly easily, which is why the editorial staff world eventually wasn’t for me. The best cure for my “undiagnosed ADHD” is to do something different every day – a typical week might include work on a web site, a magazine ad, copy for a video, and a newsletter. Companies always have interesting problems to solve, and I dig being a part of that process. Two, I thrive on the freedom of having my own business. I get to do things I enjoy to help people I genuinely like. What’s better than that?
What do you enjoy least about your specialty?
Call me a Pollyanna, but I have no complaints…or at least none that aren’t self-inflicted. OK, OK, I hate past-due collections and I’ll admit that the occasional non-payment gets under my skin. If you’d lose sleep without a steady paycheck, freelancing isn’t a good choice.
How would you suggest networking within your specialty?
For me, organized groups are in the eye of the beholder. I’ve got several dozen freelance writer and editor friends that I talk with, but I’m not a part of any formal writer’s groups; I find it more interesting to hang out with designers at the local chapter of AIGA. I was one of the charter members of a group in the Phoenix area called “Creative Connect,” a group for all disciplines that recently launched new chapters in Minneapolis and Salt Lake City. I’ve worked with the Editorial Freelancers Association and they have a great reputation.
I know it’s technically not “networking,” but nothing beats cold-calling when it comes to unearthing new clients. The good news is that, if you do a bang-up job of it starting out, you might never have to do it again.
What advice would you give to freelance writers interested in specializing in your area?
Freelancing sometimes gets a bad name, because it can connote flakiness or someone who is killing time between jobs. By positioning yourself as an independent business, including developing connections to other highly skilled creatives, there are countless companies that understand your value and will be willing to pay for it.
Jake Poinier was born and raised in Boston, moved to Phoenix in 1992, and is currently in the middle of a one-year stint in New Brunswick, Canada–living, breathing, freezing proof that you can maintain your freelance business anywhere there’s an Internet hook-up. Visit his company website at BoomvangCreative.com and his Jake’s Take blog, which delves into a variety of topics in freelancing and entrepreneurship. Jake invites all freelancers–and clients who hire freelancers–to participate in Freelance Forecast 2010. The second-annual survey will begin on December 1, but you can sign up to be notified here. (All participants receive a free copy of the final results.) A pdf of Freelance Forecast 2009, including freelance and client survey results, can be downloaded at his blog or web site.
When Mr. Escalona and I were relative newlyweds, we embarked on a road trip. At a rest stop one afternoon, I emerged from the bathroom to find the gregarious, friendly and helpful Mr. Escalona engaged in conversation with a middle-aged female stranger.
“I need a ride a couple miles down the road, but your husband said I had to ask you,” the stranger said.
A glance at Mr. Escalona gave me no clues as to what he wanted me to do. The lady seemed nice, they had been in what sounded like a friendly conversation in Spanish (considering that most Spanish sounds like yelling to me, this seemed positive), and both were looking at me expectantly, so I said, “Sure.”
If you don't implement POLICIES, she could kill you
After we let the stranger out – she didn’t kill us, as us for money, or come out with any freaky indecent proposals – my husband said, “Why did you do that? She could have killed us!”
“I thought you wanted me to!” I said, wounded.
Oops! Our lack of communication had led us to engage in a dangerous behavior neither of us really wanted to perform.
Boy, you know what would have prevented that situation? If we’d agreed beforehand on a “No Hitchhikers” policy.
Of course, you can’t be ready for everything that comes your way in life. How on earth was I to know that I would need a “No Hitchhikers” policy when navigating South Florida? But luckily, with your business, you have a little more warning when it comes to situations that may arise. And the best way to be prepared for those crazy situations is to have a firm policy in place. That way, if a client asks you “Hey, do you write copy and pick up my laundry?” you are ready to answer with a firm, “Nope, copywriting only.”
Of course, not all situations you’ll run into in your business are as easy as that one. None of us pick up laundry, right? Right? Most situations that warrant a policy are sticky. Here are some examples:
1.) Late Payments – If you do not have a policy in place regarding collecting late payments, a late or non-payment situation can go downhill really fast. Maybe the client is stringing you along, promising a check that’s never truly in the mail. Or perhaps they are arguing with you about the terms of your contract—long after the work was completed and delivered. This is where it’s important to have a plan in place for dealing with late payers, even if you’ve never experienced this particular phenomenon. (Lucky you.) A sample policy might include tacking on a late fee to payments late over 30 days, calling the client bi-weekly for the next two weeks after that, and then taking the client to small claims court if they still do not pay after 60 days. Any time you don’t get paid is a stressful time. Having a policy in place can actually prevent you from going crazy as all those bill deadlines pass and you still don’t see a paycheck in your account.
2.) Setting Fees – You’re talking to a potential client. Discussions are going well. You are both excited about the project and ready to get started. Then the client drops the bombshell that he can only pay half of your going rate. Because you are a savvy freelancer, you have already set your going rate based on what it takes to live, save for rainy days, save for retirement, and maintain the lifestyle to which you are accustomed. If you take this project, no matter how exciting it sounds, you are going to have to short something else in your life. This is where it’s vital to have a firm fee policy. No matter how exciting the project sounds, it’s not as exciting as not having to dine on cat food when you enter your dotage.
3.) Taking On Work – Despite my firm anti-cheating stance, I have been contacted directly at least three times about writing term papers for college students. A No-Helping-Your-Sorry-Ass-Cheat Policy was one of the first policies I implemented in my business, but I can see where other people might fall down that slippery slope of fast, easy money for term papers without thinking through the consequences of their actions. The same goes for other jobs, such as using black hat SEO tactics or writing for someone you consider a merchant of death. If you have a firm policy in place about not taking on certain types of work, it will be easier for you to turn down the devil when he comes calling with piles of cash.
4.) Emergencies – Obviously, nobody plans for an emergency, but you can implement an Emergency Policy for when one does occur. After all, the last thing you want to be wondering while watching your house burn down is “What am I going to do about my clients?” Implement an emergency policy and be ready with a form email, a list of contacts to notify, and perhaps even another freelancer to back you up while you recover.
By no means are these the only freelance writing situations that require a policy, but they are a start. If my husband and simply said to one another “No hitchhikers, honey” then we wouldn’t have had to try and read one another’s minds when it came to the friendly hitchhiker in Florida. And if you cement your policies firmly in your mind, you won’t have to hesitate when someone asks you to forgive his late fee, pick up his laundry, or write a white paper while your house burns down.
Are You a Grammar Nazi?
In: Writing Craft
26 Oct 2009…Then maybe you’re just a snob.
Check out this article on Salon.com about class warfare in language and think about your intentions next time you slap someone upside the head for a dangling participle.
- (11) Comments
- Tags: Writing Craft
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/1st 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.”
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- SpecialtyBuzz (22)
- Uncategorized (4)
- Worthy Wednesday (13)
- Writing Craft (12)
- Writing Jobs (3)
- Writing Life (6)
- Jenn Escalona: I'm so glad you enjoyed the tips! I hate it that you couldn't make it to the Atlanta Blog Live event [...]
- Emily: Thank you for sharing all these jobs, Jenn! Unfortunately I was out of town for the blogging event, [...]
- Jenn Escalona: I guess, as someone who gets frustrated with crazy pay myself, I'm giving her the benefit of the dou [...]
- Gina Gareri-Watkins: Agreed, but $25 might have been too high an offer, considering the prospective editor can't spell "p [...]
- Jenn Escalona: I've had one instance of bad grammar ruin whole articles or books for me! Sometimes ignorance really [...]
- Writing, Editing and Social Media Jobs, Friday 3/5/10
- Writing, Editing and Social Media Jobs, Tuesday 3/2/10
- Writing and Social Media Jobs, Sunday 2/28/10
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- Best Craigslist Headline Ever
- Write2Market’s 2010 Writing Trends Report
- Educate Someone About Apostrophes with Oatmeal
- Freelancing: Who’s Buying and Who’s Selling? Find out with the Freelance Forecast 2010 Survey
- Right On, Anonymous Compadre!
- 10 Ideas for “Buying Local” This Holiday Season (And Why We Should In the First Place)