You don’t have to be in the creative biz for long before running into a prospective client who has had a bad experience with a freelance writer, graphic designer or web designer (or all three)—the kind that turn “freelancer” into the other “F” word. Although coming to the rescue may seem a good business opportunity, this once-bitten client also has DANGER stamped on his or her forehead. The reason? Well, as tempting as it is to blame a fly-by-night freelancer, how can you be sure that the freelancer caused a bad relationship? Is it possible that a toxic client caused the issues? You don’t want to become the next casualty. [Read more…]
Test assignment for a copywriting job?
Dr. Freelance, I am a new, part-time freelancer in the midst of interviewing for a copywriting job and was given a 200-word test assignment by the prospective client to complete in order to make it to the next round. The instructions in the email say that “points are given to creativity,” so I’m trying to decide whether to do a simple mock up, even though the job I’m being considered for does not require any graphic design. I am spending the majority of my time before the deadline on writing creative copy, but I just wanted to see what you think about trying to push that creativity into fleshing out the concept.—The Prospector [Read more…]
Freelance link roundup: Get paid, boomerang clients, and more
Busy day to cap off a busy week, so it’s time to break out the ol’ link roundup. (OK, I’ll be honest, I played hooky to be a scorekeeper for my daughter’s golf tournament Wednesday morning.) Without further ado… [Read more…]
Why you need a go to hell fund
A few years back, I wrote a Father’s Day musing — “Is entrepreneurship genetic?” — in an effort to assimilate some of the business lessons my dad taught me. In advance of the upcoming Father’s Day, I want to address one of his principles in more detail: specifically, the idea of having a go to hell fund.
Personal finance gurus will tell you that building up an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months should be a priority, and I agree. You never know what’s going to happen to you, and you need to be able to pay the bills. [Read more…]
Your favorite freelance projects
I met with a local group of freelancers for coffee last night. (Any Phoenician readers in the audience are welcome to join — it’s the Phoenix Copywriter Coffee League on LinkedIn.) At one point, one of my friends asked me a question that, I admit, I’m not very good at answering: “What are your favorite freelance projects?”
I hemmed and hawed, to the effect of “I dunno. No favorite. Anything but public relations.” Like a good reporter, she pressed me, “Well, what about websites vs. brochures? How about healthcare vs. high tech?” [Read more…]
My first freelance work
A few weeks back during tax time, I was cleaning up some old files and came across the check stub from my first opportunity to do paid freelance work.
I was just a lowly assistant editor at a golf magazine when I received a call from someone at Boardroom Reports, publisher of the Bottom Line Personal newsletter, which I’m pleasantly surprised to see still exists 23 years later. The assignment was to put together a quick article about golf gadgets, and I remember being stunned that someone was willing to pay $0.50 a word for writing. (Yes, even way back in 1990, there was no need to take pennies a word — yet at the time, I was pumping out thousands of words a month for just over $18,000 a year. It was a revelation.) [Read more…]
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