I belong to a forum of business owners that meets for a few hours once a month to share stories, solve problems, and keep each other accountable. During last week’s session, the forum leader asked: What three business problems are keeping you up at night?
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In praise of saying yes to freelance jobs
A Google search of “saying no to freelance jobs” currently coughs up 9.2 million hits, while “saying yes to freelance jobs” clocks in at half that—and a quick look shows that most of the latter results are really about saying no. I don’t disagree that it’s important to turn down work that waves a red flag in your face. At the same time, that’s not the philosophy I take into the business arena. As Tom Robbins noted in Still Life with Woodpecker, “There are only two mantras…yum and yuk. Mine is yum.”
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Is your freelance client serious? Here’s the test
Dr. Freelance: I have a prospective freelance client — an author who needs his book edited — and he appears to have the money and desire to hire me. He keeps pressing me for a price estimate, but I haven’t seen the manuscript, just one sample chapter that I edited. I’m concerned about extrapolating, because it’s a long book and I’m not sure of the overall quality. What’s my next step?—Hurry Up and Wait [Read more…]
The 1 simple question you must ask every new freelance client
After all these years, I like to believe I’m pretty skilled at avoiding red-flag clients.
Alas, I’m writing today to confess an unforced error, because I recently neglected to ask the 1 simple question you must ask every new freelance client:
What’s your past experience working with freelancers? [Read more…]
Marketing webinar for freelancers
UPDATE 8-26: Please note, the Sept. 14 freelance marketing Q&A webinar has been filled to capacity. Based on demand, we’ll conduct another session later in fall 2015. Please add yourself to the notification list here, and we’ll contact you with the details when they’re announced. Thanks for your interest!
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When it comes to my own education on topics from sales to social media, I’m a big fan of the webinar format, which is why I’m pleased to announce the first Dr. Freelance marketing webinar for freelancers: “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Freelance Marketing…But Were Afraid To Ask.” [Read more…]
Fear of overcommitting
Dear Dr. Freelance: I have a freelance client that I’ll describe as a “phantom client”—I’d had some challenges with him, but he recently paid me for everything he owed. He’d been a steady source of work, so I was reluctant to just sever the relationship. While I was waiting, I was contacted about another project, but I had a fear of overcommitting: If the phantom client came back, I was going to be stuck without enough time to do either job right. I ended up sending the polished, customized resume and letter very late, and it was pretty much moot since the potential #2 client had already submitted a bid to the end user. How do I strike the balance between getting good projects, ensuring quality, and not driving myself crazy?—Rachel
Rachel, I look at occasionally being “too busy” as part of the reason I’ve succeeded in my freelance business—in fact, I have a chapter titled “Why I Love Emergency Clients” in The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid. [Read more…]
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