The Making of A Good Freelance Job Posting
Have you ever posted a freelance job and wondered why no one applied for it? Or if people did apply for it, were their proposals full of questions? How you write up your freelance job posting has everything to do with how many people apply for it and the quality of people who apply for it. Over the years, I've seen some freelance job postings that were frankly quite terrible. I've seen postings that lack all relevant information needed and I've seen proposals that were so intricate and specific that that they were intimidating to read, let alone apply for. You want to hire someone to get the job done, so let's discuss the making of a good … [Read More...]
Mistakes I’ve Made As A Freelancer Part 1
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time so it's not surprising that as I reflect back on the last 5 years of freelancing online, that I've noticed some mistakes a long the way. I think it's important to take a few hours of time every few months or at least once a year to look back and see if there's anything that you could have done better. Having the "I'm perfect" attitude will only hinder improvement and the ability to admit mistakes will add to future success. My hopes that by admitting my own faults that current freelancers and those who are just starting out can avoid the same pitfalls. First Mistake I've Made As A Freelancer My … [Read More...]
What’s In A Business Name?
When you work as a freelancer, you have a couple of different options for your business name: Work under your real name or choose a business name that's different from your real name. Each option has pros and cons. Personally, I do any writing, content marketing, SEO and other typical freelance projects under my own name. With my photography business, my name is still in there but it's my first name + middle name + "photography". Since my last name isn't included, I had to register a fictitious business name with the state that I live in. I chose this set up for a few different reasons but the main reason is that I am a company of one when it … [Read More...]
Why Freelancers Should Never Work Cheaply
One of the best things about being a freelancer is that you can set your own pay rate. It's also one of the worst things about freelancing. There is a trap that many freelancers get into when they are first starting out that is very hard to recover from and this trap is charging cheaply in order to build your portfolio or for any other reason. Working cheaply does not have one single advantage to it in the long run, even though in the short term, it might seem like a good idea. To be honest, I made this mistake when I was first starting out because like many, I wanted to get work so badly and build my portfolio that nothing else mattered. … [Read More...]
Being a Good Writer Doesn’t Make You a Good Content Writer
When I started out freelance writing, I wasn't a good content writer. Hell, at that point in time I didn't even know what content writing meant or how one would begin to achieve being good at it. In the earlier times of my freelance writing days, if I had to label myself, I would've pegged myself as a technical report writer. I used to write legal briefs and case studies working as a paralegal straight out of college and from there I moved on to the finance industry where I wrote people letters telling them that they'd lose their property if they didn't pay their bills. I was good at finding the details and writing about them and I was … [Read More...]
The Sick Freelancer
It's no secret that people get sick all of the time and it's no secret that when a person does get sick, it can greatly affect their work situation. If you work a normal job and you have health insurance and paid sick time, then you can usually rest easy and still get paid for it. But for those who work at jobs that don't provide sick time or for freelancers, getting sick can certainly put a kink in life. This past week, I became the sick freelancer. Don't get me wrong, I've been sick plenty in the past with the common cold or flu and there have been other times where I have had to take breaks in my work schedule (sick kids, having kids, … [Read More...]
Write Better with Sloppy Copy
My son came home from school last week and informed me that he missed a point on one of his tests because he forgot to put a period at the end of a sentence. My other son chimed in at that point and yelled "sloppy copy!" Knowing what it is, I still asked my son to explain it further to get his input on what exactly sloppy copy is. His definition was simple: "It's when you forget punctuation." It's an accurate way to describe it, but it also got me thinking about my own writing style when working on freelance projects. I usually refer to it as "dirty writing", but it's essentially not worrying about the technical details of the writing and … [Read More...]
Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Animal Rescue Donations
On a serious note, as most of us know, Japan is going through major tragedy right now and I just wanted to pass along information for anyone looking to donate to animal rescues that are taking place there. First, there's the Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue Support and their Facebook page. They have people out in the field now and are reporting back what they find. You can donate to their organization by going here. I have also posted the widget below in case you want to go directly and donate. The paypal donation page is in Japanese, so remember to change it to English so that it changes to U.S. dollars or change it to your national … [Read More...]
