tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1468280608402856552024-03-13T17:35:43.406-03:00Jake's TakeMusings on freelance writing, entrepreneurship and the creative processAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-34685256520692771702013-09-25T19:21:00.000-03:002016-04-21T22:25:36.383-03:00The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil48lrFlMIprc0tCn54JD_giZafcEL0PGqxxazEgyCZbpBJad36Yf7hA07yqgX5GvS8F696c98CaxLJuroCmPPn_-Xrt4PPHFEWO5wNbhqx3Lm4YQfgq7-ZFg4MBR9vv40GEMJqw6v-ckX/s1600/ScienceArtVoodoo-cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Freelance pricing guide" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil48lrFlMIprc0tCn54JD_giZafcEL0PGqxxazEgyCZbpBJad36Yf7hA07yqgX5GvS8F696c98CaxLJuroCmPPn_-Xrt4PPHFEWO5wNbhqx3Lm4YQfgq7-ZFg4MBR9vv40GEMJqw6v-ckX/s1600/ScienceArtVoodoo-cover.jpeg" title="The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I try to keep this blog from being too self promotional...but I'm a businessman and ya gotta do what ya gotta do. So, I'm happy to announce that my first book for freelancers has just been published: <i><a href="http://amzn.com/0615872255">The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
This freelance pricing guide covers a wide range of pricing and estimating strategies, including different formats in which to present your bid (and the #1 most persuasive strategy to get clients to buy without haggling on price); why you should never discount your price as a first step in negotiating, and what you should do instead; eight reasons to increase your prices—and four ways to do it without client pushback; and much more to negotiate better and to price your freelance services more profitably.<br />
<br />
You can find out more about this freelance pricing guide on my book publishing website, <a href="http://morecowbellbooks.com/">More Cowbell Books</a>, or go <a href="http://amzn.com/0615872255">straight to Amazon</a>, where it's available in paperback and Kindle versions. Any blog links, tweets, Facebook or Google+ posts are much appreciated! And if you have specific questions pertaining to freelance pricing, head over to my <a href="http://doctorfreelance.com/">Dr. Freelance freelancing advice</a> blog any time and drop me a note.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-50125521932499086332013-04-22T13:01:00.001-03:002013-04-22T13:57:35.091-03:00"Hey Jake, It's Okie"I can't believe I'm never again going to pick up my phone and hear the words, "Hey Jake, it's Okie."<br />
<br />
Rowing has been a part of my life since my senior year of high school in the fall of '84, those long, skinny shells connecting me to the water in a way that I never had before. Then, during college and when the boats started to go faster and with more success, crew connected me to friends in a way that I never had before. Once again, in the 2000s when Tempe Town Lake sprung up in the middle of the Phoenix metro desert, coaching got me back in the sport, and enabled me to understand motivation and how people learn in a way that I never had before.<br />
<br />
Joe "Okie" O'Connor was the person who has kept me in the game during that last stretch. For several years on his coaching staff and putting on regattas, I got an education in leading by example. No one I've ever known worked harder in order that other people could grow, challenge themselves, and have fun. Quite often, "Hey Jake, it's Okie" meant that I was going to be busting my butt for a few hours and coming home filthy and/or exhausted. And I wouldn't trade those memories—dropping and pulling buoys, moving docks, rescuing abandoned shells, interminable meetings—for the world.<br />
<br />
During this sad, awful week, there are a million tales being told about Okie and what he meant to each of us. But indulge me to share just one more, because it has nothing to do with rowing or the lake, and everything to do with who Okie was.<br />
<br />
At our family's annual holiday party a few years back, we had shoveled our two dogs Baloo (age 11) and Bagheera (a puppy) into the garage to keep them out of trouble. At some point, Baloo escaped into the party. And at some point, someone tapped me on the shoulder to let me know the old boy had fallen over on his side and was having a seizure on the kitchen floor.<br />
<br />
It wasn't the first time this had happened in his later years, but I could tell the situation wasn't good. Someone brought out his bed. Okie was one of the people who lifted 90-pound Baloo gently onto it, then grabbed one of the four corners of the bed so we could carry him into the bedroom and away from the din of the crowd.<br />
<br />
Crouched down on the bedroom floor as if he were comforting his own dog, Okie held one of Baloo's big paws in his hand, and turned to me. "His paws are really cold, Jake," he said. "Do you have a blanket? I think I'd want a blanket if I were him." The next morning, Okie called to check how he was doing. (Made it through the night, though not to New Year's Day.)<br />
<br />
So, I have to believe Baloo was there alongside St. Pete to greet you, Okie. God's got his hands full with you, but I'm sure you'll straighten him out right quick. And I'm keeping your number in my phone, because I simply refuse to acknowledge that you're not going to "Hey Jake" me for just one more exhausting, exhilarating day down on the lake.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-47794799635676795752013-03-24T13:41:00.000-03:002016-04-21T22:24:39.114-03:00Testing, testing, 1-2-3Having some serious frustration with search engine issues. So, here are a couple of testing examples to see if I can spark some action.<br />
<br />
Basically, it seems like Google is crawling my site, but the most recent cache in search results is a few weeks ago. Because Blogger is a Google property, I thought maybe by posting something here, I could get some juice. For example, when I Google Plus my blog posts, they show up in those results.
<br />
<br />
Anyway.<br />
<br />
If there's some SEO genius out there who has some ideas, I'm all ears. Please comment or contact me through my Dr. Freelance contact page.
Here goes nothin'.<br />
<br />
Some of my recent posts at Dr. Freelance have included:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://doctorfreelance.com/4-basic-questions-a-freelancer-always-needs-to-answer/">4 basic questions a freelancer always needs to answer</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://doctorfreelance.com/the-thicker-the-folder-the-thicker-the-applicant/">The thicker the folder, the thicker the applicant</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://doctorfreelance.com/why-freelancing-is-like-wipeout/">Why freelancing is like Wipeout</a> </li>
</ul>
<br />
Can't believe it's been nearly 2 years since I posted anything here. Time flies...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-76865339378212412992011-04-26T15:30:00.000-03:002011-04-26T15:30:01.977-03:00In praise of VerizonI resisted getting our two teenagers cell phones for as long as possible, before finally relenting a few months back. I pretty quickly regretted my decision when I received a Verizon bill for several hundred dollars for going over the limit on texts. Yeah, call me Naive Dad, Poor Dad.<br />
<br />
But there was a catch — in previous months, when they'd exceeded the allotted number, I'd received a warning from Verizon so I could tell the kids to cool it. This time, the bill came through without a peep.<br />
<br />
I called customer service to plead my case. The first person I spoke to offered a 50% discount. Thanks, but no thanks. Moreover, she basically blamed me for not keeping track of the account usage, and said the warnings were at Verizon's option. I asked to speak to a supervisor, but she was at lunch, so she would call me back later. She didn't.<br />
<br />
A few days later, I called and pleaded my case to a different rep. This guy repeated the same 50% offer, which I declined, but also took the extra step to inform me of a better plan for our usage pattern. I signed up immediately. Again, no supervisor was available, but someone would call me back.<br />
<br />
And again, no callback came. So, this weekend I made one final call and finally hit paydirt:<br />
<ul><li>The rep, Pam, heard me out without interruption or a guilt trip.</li>
<li>She agreed that the situation was not right.</li>
<li>She apologized that I had received poor customer service from previous reps.</li>
<li>She immediately put me on the line with a supervisor.</li>
</ul>The conversation with Vonda the supervisor lasted about 2 minutes. I gave her the Reader's Digest version, she was profusely apologetic, and credited my account as I'd been requesting since Call #1. I thanked her and let her know that she had renewed my faith as a longtime and loyal Verizon customer.<br />
<br />
Was I disappointed that it took so long to resolve my issue? Sure. But I'm a cheap SOB and <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2011/04/embrace-your-inner-honey-badger.html">nothing if not persistent</a> when it comes to a couple hundred bucks! The customer service lesson in here is a familiar one: <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/05/customer-relationship-lesson-for-want.html">Ask the person what he or she wants</a>, and solve the problem on the first call if you can.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-86228964526924017862011-04-06T16:06:00.000-03:002011-04-06T16:06:16.171-03:00Embrace your inner honey badgerThe following video is 100% utterly not safe for work (NSFW), so don't say I didn't warn ya. But amongst the rough language and ewww-disgusting imagery...well, there are a few lessons for freelancers, just as there were in the analogy of <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-am-macgyver.html">"I am MacGyver."</a> I say, embrace your inner honey badger!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="293" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4r7wHMg5Yjg" title="YouTube video player" width="360"></iframe><br />
<br />
Freelancing isn't risk free — it's some pretty rough terrain on which to stake your livelihood. So what's the takeaway from the wacky antics of this lovable little creature?<br />
<ul><li>Sometimes, you've got to be a bad***, whether it's chasing away jackals or digging into a bee's nest.</li>
<li>Once in a while, you're going to do all the digging, and some other creature will benefit unfairly from the fruits of your labors. "Thanks for the web content, Stupid!"</li>
<li>You need to have broad shoulders, and thick skin helps, too.</li>
<li>Don't give a s*** about being bitten by the occasional cobra. Take a nap and get back to work.</li>
</ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-15782494027110097412011-03-22T11:34:00.000-03:002011-03-22T11:34:29.058-03:00Where can I find high paying writing freelance jobs?I usually refrain from promoting my Dr. Freelance entries here, but I'm making an exception for a guest poster, <a href="http://allfreelancewriting.com/">All Freelance Writing</a>'s Jennifer Mattern: <a href="http://deardrfreelance.com/2011/03/where-can-i-find-high-paying-freelance-writing-jobs/">"Where can I find high paying freelance writing jobs?"</a><br />
<br />
Her sage advice applies not only to freelancers who focus on writing and editing, but any creative field, as well as entrepreneurs of any stripe. If you hope to find gigs that pay well, you need to go beyond the publicly available listings of what's available out there — and Jenn's provided some excellent, practical thoughts on exactly how to do that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-1883076594165358922011-03-04T18:26:00.000-04:002011-03-04T18:26:47.845-04:00Go ahead, go on strikeThe Huffington Post blogger brouhaha has descended from farce into...whatever the heck is one step stupider than "farce."<br />
<br />
Here's the most recent bit: "<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/arianna-huffington-go-ahead-go-strike-no-one-will-notice-25230">Arianna Huffington: 'Go Ahead, Go on Strike -- No One Will Notice.</a>'" (Practical question: Can you really go on strike from a job that you weren't even paid for?)<br />
<br />
Sorry, bloggers-for-nothing: You've been pwnd. You voluntarily chose to work for free, in the naive hope of getting famous. Nobody forced you to do it. Your boss-owner may not be the most gracious person in the world, but she made a zillion dollars, and you'll see none of it, regardless of the lamentations of <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/28/arianna-huffington-urged-to-end-exploitation-of-journalists/">The Newspaper Guild</a>, <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/freelancer-union-launches-facebook-campaign-aimed-at-huffington_b22260">California Media Workers Guild</a>, and <a href="http://www.nwu.org/aol-buys-huffpo-%E2%80%93-can-you-spell-backpay">National Writers Union</a> of how unfair it all is.<br />
<br />
You cut your own deal, and it was an epically crappy one from a business perspective. And quite frankly, you pretty much piss me off, since your lack of business acumen devalued what freelancers do.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-59198748937721917432011-02-22T17:17:00.000-04:002011-02-22T17:17:07.953-04:00I'm sorry, Jake. I'm afraid I can't do that...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRX9UEkUBI8HwK57c7BflIuaknoTfZW2m0hl-wtStqJiIcO9heILV3qFSfC4qPL36zFLcsP-LGA2D6Nuyjkg9wJrarv6zaLxAl0wviSuuGJtMG7sJa7V47iI9ytQ9ixsYVpzYAgtxdnE1/s1600/time+machine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRX9UEkUBI8HwK57c7BflIuaknoTfZW2m0hl-wtStqJiIcO9heILV3qFSfC4qPL36zFLcsP-LGA2D6Nuyjkg9wJrarv6zaLxAl0wviSuuGJtMG7sJa7V47iI9ytQ9ixsYVpzYAgtxdnE1/s1600/time+machine.jpg" /></a></div>Apple <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/time-machine.html">Time Machine</a> saved my business last night. It also saved all of the digital photos my family has taken in the past decade, all of the music we've accumulated (including painstaking rips from vinyl to MP3s), our tax records since the early '90s, and a thousand other items I won't belabor.<br />
<br />
Here's how it went down. 6:03 p.m., I'm about to wrap things up for the day. I quit Firefox, or rather *attempted* to quit Firefox. But instead of shutting down, I got the little <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_wait_cursor">Spinning Beach Ball of Death</a>. Calmly, I tried to force quit the application, and in the back of my head I hear HAL from 2001 intoning, "I'm sorry, Jake. I'm afraid I can't do that." It doesn't work, which has never happened to me. So, I power down the computer.<br />
<br />
But when I tried to reboot, I got the flashing question mark folder instead of the Apple. I tried the usual schtick: Reset the PRAM. Nothing. Safe reboot. Nada. I hop on the laptop, do a quick search describing the symptoms, and conclude the hard drive is kaput.<br />
<br />
At some level, nagging people to "back up your computer" is a bit like anti-smoking or anti-obesity ranting. It's something that we all know. Either you heed the warnings or you don't, devil take the hindmost. The fact that I'd protected myself allowed me to sleep last night...knowing that a new $79 hard drive and a click of the "restore" button would bring me right back to where I left off, semi-panicked, last night.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-62017259584128082372011-02-01T17:48:00.000-04:002011-02-01T17:48:27.627-04:00Welcome to 1984, but lamerMy 8th grade daughter came home from school the other day and informed us that they're not allowed to use the word "dice" in school anymore. In a political-correctness-run-amok moment, they're now known as "number cubes."<br />
<br />
I wish I were joking. I am not.<br />
<br />
Heck, by the time I was in 7th grade, <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/06/fathers-day-musing-is-entrepreneurship.html">my dad</a> and I had a weekly nickel-dime-quarter poker game with my best friend and his dad, and I have taught my kids everything I know about poker, blackjack and craps strategy. Indeed, I consider it one of my core parental responsibilities, based on the old gambling saying that "If you're at the table for 5 minutes and can't spot the sucker, it's you." As in cards, so in life. <br />
<br />
And if the schools believe that they're somehow going to deter kids from gambling with a P.C. word construction as lame as "number cubes," they are simply delusional. Ignorance is not strength, no matter what the Ministry of Truth might want you to believe.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-48485193079654754702011-01-27T18:05:00.000-04:002011-01-27T18:05:53.716-04:00Suckerpunched (or Why Friends and Family Make Lousy Clients)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Gustave_Dore_Inferno_Canto_21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Gustave_Dore_Inferno_Canto_21.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dante's circle for unscrupulous businessmen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Tim Berry at <a href="http://timberry.bplans.com/">Planning Startups Stories</a> wrote a nice post earlier this week titled <a href="http://timberry.bplans.com/2011/01/tip-mistakes-are-more-fun-than-tips.html">"Tip: Mistakes are more fun than tips."</a> In that spirit, allow me to share a doozy of a stupid that I committed a few months ago that finally imploded yesterday.<br />
<br />
As a general rule, I don't do paid work for friends and family. My experience is that they expect too much for too little, and emotions play too much of a role — i.e., they're lousy clients. <br />
<br />
But in late fall, during a slow week and as a favor to a family friend, I took on a referral for writing the content for a small website. The owner seemed nice enough, her website was ghastly, and she needed a few business letters written. I offered a modest bid. Which she promptly accepted.<br />
<br />
The two business letters were the top priority, so I promptly and heavily rewrote what she'd sent me, and she signed off on them after a round or two of revisions. So far, so good. I commenced on the website copy, and she seemed to be happy with the initial two pages.<br />
<br />
She's an event promoter, so the remaining items were brief summaries of the various events she handles. And that's where things got sticky. It turned out, there really wasn't any source information on the events other than what she'd posted in previous years, and some of the events had no information at all. So, I asked if I could interview her in order to gather some raw ideas about what she wanted. She was unresponsive. I <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-am-macgyver.html">MacGyvered</a> it as best I could, but she wanted more and fresher information. I reminded her of my offer to do it interview style, and again, she just seemed more inclined to grumble than to help me help her.<br />
<br />
At this point she wanted to know exactly how much her tally was. I provided a summary, subtracting out what she claimed was unusable. She asked me to send an invoice, and I did. <br />
<br />
Then I didn't hear from her. Then I sent a second notice, and a polite email asking when I could expect payment or if she'd like to break it up into two installments. No response.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to yesterday. I called her, and again, as politely as possible, inquired about the status of the invoice. At which point she informed me:<br />
<ul><li>She had to heavily rewrite the letters I'd given her (which was news to me, since she'd approved them)</li>
<li>She had to rewrite the copy I'd provided for the web page (which was an outright lie, based on comparing what I sent her to what's currently posted on the site)</li>
<li>She had shown my invoice to another writer she knows (!) who thought that it was too high (unsurprising, given that the other writer charges her about half my hourly rate)</li>
</ul>I'd been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suckerpunch">suckerpunched</a>. I asserted that she did indeed sign off on the items I'd provided, and she retorted, essentially, "Nuh-uh-no-I-didn't." I stood by the invoice, in which I'd been painfully generous, and she basically spat on it. After a bit of back-and-forth, I simply said, "You know what, Sandy [not her real name], clearly we're not getting anywhere here. I think it's best if you just send me a check for what you believe you owe me. If that's $0, that's your prerogative."<br />
<br />
I've already wasted the time, no sense in wasting further mental energy, and the piddling amount isn't worth pursuing legal action. Even after full-time freelancing for almost 12 years now, evidently I occasionally need to re-learn stupid mistakes in order to remember them. Tattoo it on my butt and carve it on my tombstone: <i>No more friends and family clients.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-48656855142324866142011-01-15T11:50:00.001-04:002011-01-15T16:45:25.897-04:00Freelancer Bill of Rights? No, thanks.My friend Katharine O'Moore-Klopf of <a href="http://www.kokedit.com/">KOK Edit</a> posted an item about the Freelancers Union <b><a href="http://www.freelancersunion.org/advocacy/member-meetings-disqus.html">Freelancer Bill of Rights</a></b> over at the <a href="http://the-efa.org/">EFA</a> Yahoo Groups board, and I couldn't help but toss in my two cents. (Update: As Katharine notes in the comments, she is not affiliated with the Freelancers Union and was only providing information for freelancers to check out. My apologies for not making that clear!) <br />
<br />
I confess I don't particularly groove on the language from their intro page: Freelancers have the right "to empower themselves to demand fair treatment from clients." <br />
<br />
Really? *Demand*? I'd argue that fair treatment is earned, not guaranteed.<br />
<br />
The list itself? Meh. Nothing you haven't heard before. Frankly, you can already do all of the items they outline if you'd like — but I come down in the camp of the commenter who said: "If every time I hired a plumber, electrician, or snow plow guy he came back with a 'Plumber/Electrician/Plow Guy Bill of Rights' I wouldn't do business with him." Bingo. My primary issues are these:<br />
<ul><li>A document such as the Freelancer Bill of Rights positions clients as adversaries rather than business partners. </li>
<li>Do you really want to come across as defensive and difficult to work with? Chill, breeze.</li>
<li>As Lori Widmer riffed in <a href="http://loriwidmer.blogspot.com/2011/01/freelance-nevers.html">"The Freelance Nevers"</a> and <a href="http://loriwidmer.blogspot.com/2011/01/writerly-misconceptions.html">"Writerly Misconceptions"</a> this week, there are no absolutes.</li>
</ul>Call me cynical (trust me, you won't be the first), but I believe this type of initiative actually holds freelancers back: Thinking that there's some sort of magic pill that'll make all the bad clients go away. Thinking a big brother like a union will enforce The Rules to protect you. Thinking that setting a minimum price will <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2009/11/7-reasons-to-reject-lowball-freelance.html">protect you from lowball clients</a>.<br />
<br />
As we discussed on Halloween, it all comes down to <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/11/mean-handshakes-toddler-criminals-and.html">watching your own tail</a>. You choose, every day, what you want to do, who you want to do it with, and how you want to do it. No like? Don't do.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-22064780293873700362011-01-06T10:43:00.000-04:002011-01-06T10:43:12.899-04:00Waterboarding the English languageLast week, I received an emergency story assignment from one of my longtime editors who was heading out the door for vacation. I needed to get a short quote from a few different sources for a piece about improving your finances in the coming year. Easy peasy.<br />
<br />
I was reminded, in the process, that our country is litigating itself into oblivion.<br />
<br />
I'm accustomed to running quotes by my sources, though <a href="http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com/2010/03/35-reasons-why-i-cant-show-you-story.html">there are reasons why I won't show someone the entire story</a>. That said, this particular situation was truly a stunner. One of my sources gave me a two-sentence quote of fairly standard financial advice that needed approval from her compliance department. As it happens, she had received an honor in 2010 as one of the country's top 100 women in her field, and I wanted to mention that as a way of boosting her credentials. The compliance department said that was fine, as long as I included the following disclaimer:<br />
<blockquote>"Source: <i>Magazine X</i>'s Top 100 Women [in her field], [month/date], as identified by <i>Magazine X</i>, using quantitative and qualitative criteria and selected from a pool of over 450 nominations. [People] in the Top 100 Women [in her field] have a minimum of seven years of [experience] and [seriously large amount of money that they manage]. Qualitative factors include, but are not limited to, compliance record, interviews with senior management and philanthropic work. [Specific performance] is not a criterion. The rating may not be representative of any one client's experience and is not indicative of the [specific job title's] future performance. Neither [the source's company] nor its [people in the same job as my source] pay a fee to <i>Magazine X</i> in exchange for the rating. <i>Magazine X</i> is a registered trademark of the [even bigger publishing conglomerate name]. All rights reserved."</blockquote>In case you're not counting, that's about 150 words to disclaim a 8-word phrase that stated a simple fact that someone had received an industry honor.<br />
<br />
How, exactly, those <i>bon mots</i> of legalese would prevent anyone making a foolish decision with his or her money, I am not sure. But, what I *am* confident of is that this little exercise in the waterboarding of the English language — not to mention common sense — surely cost the interviewee's company several hundred dollars in legal fees.<br />
<br />
Fees which the parent company eventually charges as fees to its customers, making life more expensive and retirement ever more elusive...and proving that our lawyer-legislators are ignorant, above all, of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences">The Law of Unintended Consequences</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-25612163669226873932010-12-08T18:11:00.000-04:002010-12-08T18:11:12.211-04:00Why hasn't Apple thought of that?When things are moving fast and furious around here, I tend to be pretty quick on the "SEND" button...which means that I'll occasionally send an email without an attachment. No harm done, and I'll usually just make a joke about it with the client. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I use <a href="http://apple.com/">Apple</a>'s stock Mail program for my everyday correspondence. I have one client, however, who's big on Google chat, so I use Gmail when I email him because it's more convenient. Imagine my surprise when I just went to email a file to him and the following error message pops up:<br />
<blockquote><i>Did you mean to attach files?</i><br />
<i>You wrote "I've attached" in your message, but there are no files attached. Send anyway?</i></blockquote>Sure enough, Gmail had prevented me from a minor faux pas. It ain't rocket science, but it is a nice safety valve for those of us with an itchy "SEND" finger. So, whaddaya say, Apple? You already warn me if I try to send a message without a subject line. Think you might implement a no-attachment-preventer in Mail Version 3.6.1?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-77611577582161281182010-12-03T19:50:00.000-04:002010-12-03T19:50:49.381-04:00Freelance Forecast 2011 surveysIf you're a freelancer or someone who hires creative freelancers for your business, it's time to head over to Dr. Freelance for the details on <a href="http://deardrfreelance.com/2010/12/freelance-forecast-2011-surveys/">Freelance Forecast 2011</a>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-15732180113937288872010-11-17T19:02:00.001-04:002010-11-17T20:55:05.803-04:00Cooks Source gets its just dessertsWhen I blogged today on Dr. Freelance about <a href="http://deardrfreelance.com/2010/11/would-a-magazine-editor-steal-my-story-idea/">"would a magazine editor steal my story idea?"</a>, I had no idea that it would be the day that <b><i>Cooks Source</i></b> editor Judith Griggs announced <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/culturedesk/2010/11/cooks_source_probably_shutting.html">the magazine's demise</a><a href="http://www.cookssource.com/"></a>, precipitated by their stealing a freelancer's story in its entirety. (Certainly a magnitude greater than idea-filching.) If you haven't been privy to the scuttlebutt, <a href="http://www.suite101.com/content/cooks-source-gets-pounded-online-for-copyright-violation-a304678">the background can be found here</a>.<br />
<br />
Heaven knows I'm just piling on by even writing about this, but I'd be remiss if I didn't add my one overriding thought: As businesspeople, freelancers deal in intellectual property, and that's a lot harder to defend than installing an alarm system or pulling out your shotgun on a home intruder. It's nebulous. People don't understand it, or choose to ignore it. We live in a time when music and video file-sharing is considered A-OK by a good percentage of the population. Copy and paste is part of getting through an average person's day, and apparently part of an occasional publishing person's day — one who should have known better.<br />
<br />
I won't shed a tear for Ms. Griggs, who seems focused on enumerating excuses rather than repenting. I can't say if the punishment, the loss of everything she's worked for, fits the crime.<br />
<br />
But perhaps, just perhaps, freelancers owe her a debt of gratitude while they're enjoying a steaming bowl of <i>schadenfreude</i>. If Judith Griggs has served a purpose, let's hope it will be as a deterrent — to make other folks think twice about stealing intellectual property.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATES: </b><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/5691681/the-internet-has-killed-cooks-source">Gawker snarks.</a><br />
TechCrunch says "<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/16/congrats-self-righteous-internet-mob-you-killed-a-magazine/">Congrats, Self-Righteous Internet Mob. You Killed a Magazine."</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-43977820558699628592010-11-01T18:44:00.000-03:002010-11-01T18:44:06.198-03:00Mean handshakes, toddler criminals and watching your own tail<i>I'm the innocent bystander<br />
Somehow I got stuck<br />
Between the rock and the hard place<br />
And I'm down on my luck</i><br />
<i>—Warren Zevon, "Lawyers, Guns and Money"</i><br />
<br />
On back-to-back days this week, I came across articles with the following headlines:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/nyregion/29young.html?_r=2&no_interstitial">4-Year-Old Can Be Sued, Judge Rules in Bike Case</a><br />
and<br />
<a href="http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Candidate-Files-Criminal-Complaint-Over-Handshake-106128614.html?dr">Candidate Files Criminal Complaint Over Firm Handshake</a><br />
<br />
Then, last night, a 5-year-old girl dressed as a lion for Halloween told my wife, "My mom says that you shouldn't have candles in your pumpkin, because my tail is flammable."<br />
<br />
To which my wife replied, "You're going to have to watch your own tail."<br />
<br />
Indeed. I really wish that people would watch their own tails.<br />
<br />
What kind of society do we live in that can sue a toddler for negligence on a bike, in which a politician can gripe over a grip-and-grin, or in which a kindergartener is allowed to scold an adult for having a votive candle burning inside a gourd?<br />
<br />
Now, in the case of the elderly woman who got hit by the runaway cyclist and broke her hip — yes, it sucks. If you're a political candidate, and you get kung-fu gripped, sorry, that's part of the territory. If you're out on Halloween night and you're in a flammable outfit, by all means, please stay away from open flames.<br />
<br />
Stuff happens. Sometimes awful stuff. No one should expect to be entitled to a risk-free life, and there is no way to legislate or adjudicate every single bad thing that occurs. According to a book by Harvey A. Silverglate that's next on my reading list, the average person commits <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594032556/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I23P9LF0R3VYHE&colid=1X402QYKJE4S1">Three Felonies a Day</a></i> without even knowing it. Every year, more laws and more byzantine rules about every aspect of our lives go into the books...and our ability to take personal responsibility and manage happenstance seems to erode. <br />
<br />
And, as a result, I suspect that the young lady in the lion suit has a promising career ahead of her as a personal-injury lawyer. Or if she works on her grip strength, maybe even a politician.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-89580248799186837182010-10-08T20:26:00.000-03:002010-10-08T20:26:57.054-03:00Federal copy editors run amok<i>Cross posted from <a href="http://deardrfreelance.com/">Dr. Freelance</a>. Just because. </i><br />
<br />
There isn't much breaking news in the world of <strong>editorial jobs</strong>, but this article from <em>The New York Post</em>, <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/million_kuj8X4Z2VolVhXnCymfkvM" target="_blank" title="$27 million to change NYC signs from all caps">"$27 million to change NYC signs from all-caps,"</a> is straight from the are-you-freaking-kidding-me file, sure to warm the heart of the most strident grammar pedant.<br />
<br />
At the risk of offending any of my friends or readers who happen to have one of these federal copy editor jobs (Really? Such a position exists? What's the annual salary, I wonder...), I have to say this is asinine. It's worth reading the whole thing to get a sweet taste of the pure, harebrained wastefulness, but here's a quick excerpt:<br />
<div><br />
<div><br />
<blockquote>Federal copy editors are demanding the city change its 250,900 street signs -- such as these for Perry Avenue in The Bronx -- from the all-caps style used for more than a century to ones that capitalize only the first letters.<br />
<br />
Changing BROADWAY to Broadway will save lives, the Federal Highway Administration contends in its updated Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, citing improved readability.<br />
<br />
At $110 per sign, it will also cost the state $27.6 million, city officials said.</blockquote><br />
For starters, when is an editor allowed to "demand" anything?<br />
<br />
Mind you, I am no fan of all caps. It is harder to read. It looks like you're shouting. I'm also no fan of signs that are misleading, misspelled, misaligned or mis-whatever. I'm sure it would be awful to have people looking for "Broadway" and driving right past a sign for "Brawdweigh." Replacing signs at the usual rate of 8,000 a year, OK, whatever.<br />
<br />
But as Jason Alexander's character in <em>Shallow Hal</em> says, let's just cut through the old crap cake here. This is money being spent on an accelerated basis in a weak economy on the weakest of premises. Upper-lower formatting and changing from standard-issue highway font to Clearview is going to SAVE LIVES? SAVE FREAKING LIVES? (Yes, this is me shouting.)<br />
<br />
Maybe I'd feel better if they would simply be honest about this and admit it's a make-work (please don't call it a stimulus!) program to keep starving copy editors and signmakers off the dole. But if they insist on trying to spin it as some sort of do-gooder way of <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-02-older-drivers-usat1a_N.htm" target="_blank" title="older, dangerous drivers">preventing old people from getting into fender benders</a>, I'm having none of it.<br />
<br />
GOVERNMENT. COPY EDITOR. FAIL.<br />
</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-3899848499600671692010-09-30T14:21:00.000-03:002010-09-30T14:21:42.709-03:00Disposing with dignity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jIpFL4oSzWC-72N-wFiw21oG60JsDiQvHWhj2r-FvzoOtB8XwJlTXvftprDY7biOHGMumsipx-pevM-OFX2zjrJ_xCYfCqLaATYnnGb_cJTkfqZ7jzDwm89MGqY9aAgF5trD6k04Rhup/s1600/heftySteelSak_l.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jIpFL4oSzWC-72N-wFiw21oG60JsDiQvHWhj2r-FvzoOtB8XwJlTXvftprDY7biOHGMumsipx-pevM-OFX2zjrJ_xCYfCqLaATYnnGb_cJTkfqZ7jzDwm89MGqY9aAgF5trD6k04Rhup/s200/heftySteelSak_l.png" width="200" /></a></div>Hold on a sec. Not talking about eliminating dignity, here — I'm referring to throwing away things on your own terms.<br />
We recently moved, and part of that process included disassembling my office over THERE and re-creating it over HERE (in a slightly smaller space). As I gazed upon the stuff that had accumulated over the years, I knew that there were a couple of Hefty bags in my future.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to disposing with dignity. With some items -- boxes for electronics past their warranty, faded neon paper that I used for a long-ago direct mail campaign, several miles' worth of USB, Firewire and ethernet cable — it's not a hard decision to pitch. <br />
<br />
But then you get to those things that may once have held some meaning but now just collect dust: stacks of photos that didn't make the cut into an album or onto a wall; silly awards; CDs of stale computer archives; and, perhaps most painfully and poignantly for a freelance writer, stacks of magazines, samples and old clips that are way past their expiration date.<br />
<br />
I threw it all away. The "disposing with dignity" principle is something my wife and I formulated and have employed (usually when moving), and it comes down to this: As the owner/possessor of an item that has some emotional value to you alone, it's best that you are the one to throw it away. Not to go too morbid on you here, but if you were to die tomorrow, this is stuff that would be chucked away without remorse. In fact, it might only serve to annoy the people who wondered why you kept all that crap.<br />
<br />
In any event, purging felt good. I had one final chance to pay my respects and reminisce on those things that I didn't really need anymore. I just heard the garbage truck do its pickup...but I still have my memories.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-66261306527839017192010-09-21T15:08:00.000-03:002010-09-21T15:08:24.227-03:00International Freelancers Day online conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAk02JXMN2Y9Pxrj6h1oGJjvpRvZy_SnU6Xi6U6KCaJ7BzAffj4HhOPt8nhZoqBZFwx-XnsSrKU93kqaCPaZabwOOzH_8L49gs5mYBNqyK61ioHQep2yq9WzYup2PTn9hh7vIVojopTVX/s1600/international+freelancers+day.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAk02JXMN2Y9Pxrj6h1oGJjvpRvZy_SnU6Xi6U6KCaJ7BzAffj4HhOPt8nhZoqBZFwx-XnsSrKU93kqaCPaZabwOOzH_8L49gs5mYBNqyK61ioHQep2yq9WzYup2PTn9hh7vIVojopTVX/s320/international+freelancers+day.png" /></a></div>If you haven't already heard or signed up, the <a href="http://http//www.internationalfreelancersday.com/" target="_blank" title="International Freelancers Day">International Freelancers Day online conference</a> will be taking place on September 24, 2010. A quick look at the agenda and 25 speakers makes it look like a worthwhile confab. It's founded by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia of <a href="http://thewealthyfreelancer.com/" target="_blank" title="The Wealthy Freelancer">TheWealthyFreelancer.com</a>, which is one of my regular RSS reads.<br />
<br />
And it's free, too.<br />
<br />
If you're registered, you'll also be able to watch replays of the presentations, in case you're working on deadline or out of town.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-22750406962386573312010-09-17T11:02:00.000-03:002010-09-17T11:02:36.195-03:00I am MacGyver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVQJsU3ruND_EQsp6mXkc10xcL_wSS-FCQaw2G6osssrefN3p5NKL_eXWOqpKP8jaPGKtcBqFUxUPaAZm_i14z4AIeuOofxdv1481lPPK9fwWYjBYPwhrfeOXuZmLVA1FtaavwYvEIQRa/s1600/freelance+macgyver.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVQJsU3ruND_EQsp6mXkc10xcL_wSS-FCQaw2G6osssrefN3p5NKL_eXWOqpKP8jaPGKtcBqFUxUPaAZm_i14z4AIeuOofxdv1481lPPK9fwWYjBYPwhrfeOXuZmLVA1FtaavwYvEIQRa/s320/freelance+macgyver.png" /></a></div>No, I'm not talking about the mullet I wore back in the late 1980s. I'm talking about the fact that, as a freelance writer, there are going to be times when you're given a piece of dental floss, a stick of gum, and a Bic lighter, and you're expected to create <strike>a nuclear weapon</strike> a brochure or ad campaign or website out of it.<br />
<br />
Earlier this week, I started work on a project for a longtime client. He's a great guy, funny as hell, and I know exactly how he works: It starts with a kind of fuzzy, two-sentence email about what he wants the project to be. That's followed up by me giving him a call to find out the details...only to find out that there really aren't any yet, just kind of a big picture this-is-what-I-want-it-to-be. Next, he sends a couple of links to websites that kinda do what he wants to do, but not quite. Similar, but different.<br />
<br />
Day two, he sends me a follow-up email to<a href="http://deardrfreelance.com/2010/08/freelance-follies-are-you-done-yet/"> find out how it's going</a>. Which prompts another call from me to say I need more information. Now, I click on the digital tape recorder, and play Mr. Reporter for a while, asking as many questions as I can, grasping at threads. The conversation ends, I transcribe the file, and I'm marginally farther along.<br />
<br />
I start writing babble-style, then suddenly the piece starts to take form. Hmmm, not half bad. I shoot him the draft, he shoots a bunch of holes in it (as I mutter to myself, "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?), and I give it a rework. In the end, he's happy, I'm relieved, it's all good, another one's in the books.<br />
<br />
The reality is, I wouldn't put up with these antics if I didn't genuinely like him and know that it's just the way he is. It wouldn't do me any good to try to change his style, either. I simply accept it, and I know I'll provide him a product that does what he needs it to do.<br />
<br />
And the other reality is, it's kind of a kick to strap on my MacGyver mullet-wig, and create something explosive out of damn near nothing.<br />
<br />
Now, where the heck did I put my Bic?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-12922257563280512612010-09-03T15:55:00.000-03:002010-09-03T15:55:49.751-03:00Losing a loyal client or editor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjpWf6KB2ddVBDue5ZK337LknavfkWm2oqpoRtRq2vwPgrG41MyPndKoA1gO95qaUA_GS21aZ1_uiSkuILWVoGn83eW_zTibo-wQZx9QSzLYr0ZXJLSoftQhnPnDcCkPj4wImKtWP0LRJ/s1600/johnny+appleseed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjpWf6KB2ddVBDue5ZK337LknavfkWm2oqpoRtRq2vwPgrG41MyPndKoA1gO95qaUA_GS21aZ1_uiSkuILWVoGn83eW_zTibo-wQZx9QSzLYr0ZXJLSoftQhnPnDcCkPj4wImKtWP0LRJ/s200/johnny+appleseed.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>It happens to all of us eventually: <b>Losing a loyal client</b> or editor to a new position elsewhere. But hey, I'm nothing but an undaunted optimist — in fact, it can be a bit of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed">Johnny Appleseed</a> opportunity, with new work and opportunities in a new company with an old friend. Developing a strong client relationship, always, always, always, is a freelancer's best business strategy.<br />
<br />
More details and thoughts on how to handle a client/editor departure at my newest <a href="http://freelance-zone.com/">Freelance-Zone.com</a> post, <a href="http://freelance-zone.com/blog/advice/losing-a-loyal-client/">"Losing a loyal client."</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-33123721518832732872010-08-30T15:03:00.000-03:002010-08-30T15:03:01.965-03:00Freelance Follies: "How much is it going to cost?"<object width="384" height="304"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XGuisRP7NAM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XGuisRP7NAM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="304"></embed></object><br />
Time's short today...we're moving and I have to install a hardwood floor in my new office before I can transition the desk, computer and filing cabinets over. And in the midst of it all, trying to get all my work done. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, enjoy Freelance Follies, Episode 3: "How much is it going to cost?"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-90480259307051406242010-08-26T13:06:00.000-03:002010-08-26T13:06:13.818-03:00Lessons in self perceptionIt's a bit hackneyed to say that playing a round of golf with people will tell you everything you need to know about what they're like in business: Are they fun? Do they cheat? Are they a stickler for the rules? Do they take stupid risks?<br />
<br />
I'm reminded of all this as I recently returned to playing golf after a 16-year hiatus. I used to be halfway decent; in fact, my first two editorial jobs were with <a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/">Golf Digest</a> and <a href="http://golfillustrated.com/">Golf Illustrated</a>. Today, I have several clients in the golf business, so I've committed to bringing my game to an acceptable standard.<br />
<br />
But coming out of retirement has been a reality check: I am older, weaker, less flexible, and have worse depth perception. On the flip side, I'm also a bit wiser, slower to anger, and more patient -- funny enough, much like I have become in business. Recognizing that I was getting worse with each progressive round, I knew that I needed help, or I might just abandon the game again for good.<br />
<br />
So, I paid a visit to a pro at the local municipal course last night. Before doing anything, she asked me to hit a couple of balls to see what my swing looked like. Stage fright took over, and I hit a series of awful-looking line drives and topped shots that bounded feebly down the range. <br />
<br />
After making a few quick technical adjustments, though, we spent the next hour working almost exclusively on perception vs. reality. What I thought I was doing was pretty different from what I was actually doing. Really, you kind of need to trick your brain into rethinking its understanding of alignment. One hour didn't get me back to 1994, but I was amazed at how much more comfortable I felt. There's hope for me yet.<br />
<br />
Your mileage may vary, as far as using golf (or any activity) as a way of judging personality. But the business lesson for me was very personal: Getting to the end of my rope, and seeking out the help of a skilled third-party professional, was a reminder that we're often terrible self-judges of what we're doing. <br />
<br />
And perhaps more important, that asking for help is not a weakness, it's a strength.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-36162817836668672182010-08-16T17:13:00.000-03:002010-08-16T17:13:05.303-03:00The taxonomy of bad freelancersReading <a href="http://loriwidmer.blogspot.com/2010/08/freelance-screw-offs.html">"Freelance Screw-offs"</a> this morning at Lori Widmer's <a href="http://loriwidmer.blogspot.com">Words on the Page</a> blog, I was reminded of one of the reasons I got into freelancing in the first place: As an editor, I knew quite a few freelancers who weren't particularly skilled writers or adequately responsive to my needs. Missed deadlines, botched assignments, and a bucketful of excuses is no way to go through life, son.<br />
<br />
Yet, they seemed to make enough money to survive. I figured I could do better, simply by operating as a business rather than someone who took assignments for granted and expected a dollar a word for a mail-it-in effort.<br />
<br />
In any case, I highly recommend a click over to Lori's blog, whether to make yourself feel better (you'd never make any of those mistakes, right?) or to remind yourself to hew to a higher standard -- and avoid a place in the taxonomy of bad freelancers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146828060840285655.post-81741058106369375302010-08-13T17:16:00.001-03:002010-08-13T17:18:37.576-03:00Freelance Follies: "When are you going to get a real job?"<object width="384" height="307"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K9SICs8N5r0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K9SICs8N5r0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="307"></embed></object><br />
It's every freelancer's favorite question: "When are you going to get a real job?" (I think I finally stopped hearing that after I'd been in business for myself for about, oh, five years. Your mileage may vary!) Then again, depending on how much someone likes working for The Man, they just may never understand why you'd want to be an independent freelancer.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01701815231353263575noreply@blogger.com0