Deliberate Freelancer

Trigger warnings: pet death, pet euthanasia, pet illness, grief over the death of a loved one, anxiety, bike accident I'm back! Back from my extra-long summer hiatus—longer than I expected or planned for. In this episode, I explain why it took me so long to return and share the grief, anxiety and other mental health struggles I've been dealing with this summer.  If you are dealing with grief or anxiety or similar feelings, scroll down for some links to previous Deliberate Freelancer episodes that deal with these issues, including interviews with therapists. This, obviously, does not replace mental health counseling, and I am not an expert, but you might find these episodes soothing or helpful in dealing with your struggles.  I sought out a new therapist this summer who said something I couldn't believe that I'd never heard before: Anxiety can be a symptom of grief. My cat's death in April, it seems, was affecting me in multiple ways and leading to my newfound anxiety this summer. After a horrible summer 2022, I am ready for a new season. In the U.S., Labor Day signifies the end of summer and gives nearly all of us a “back to school” feeling. So, I am embracing a new season and bidding farewell to a sucky summer. What better way to start off this new season than with a solo business retreat?! In the second half of this episode, I will walk you through what I did—and what I learned—during this week's solo business retreat from my dining room.  I started my retreat with a SWOT analysis. SWOT is a business term that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Corporations and organizations use the strategy, but you can certainly do it as an individual. I find it's a good way to remind yourself what you're great at, and for us, that means what our business should be focused on, as well as where we could improve.  Listing out your weaknesses is not an opportunity to beat yourself up. Instead, it might show where you need to improve or delegate, automate or terminate aspects of your business. See link to episode 26 below for more details on how to do this.  Instead of doing an analysis of Q2 this late in the year, I analyzed where my income came from for the entire year so far. I was going to rate and rank my clients—a tactic I highly recommend—but listing out all my clients showed me that I love all of them this year! Don't roll your eyes. This is not me being too Pollyannaish. It was not a happy accident, either. I have worked hard these past nine years of freelancing to truly analyze what work I accept, who I want to work with, what to charge and when to cut clients loose. And I finally hit a 100% happy success rate!  To rate and rank your client: Make a list of all your clients. Create your own personal ranking system for a variety of things that are important to you, such as great to work with, pays well, pays on time, no scope creep, no phone calls, etc. Then, rank each client on a scale of 1–5. After you rank them, put them in order with the highest ranking at the top. Who's on the bottom? Should you keep those clients that rank so low? How can you get more work from the clients—or the type of clients—that rank the highest?  Feeling so scattered this summer, I wanted to get ahold of my days and weeks again and create the perfect work day and perfect work week. No Meeting Mondays and Half-Day Fridays have been working great for me, so I'm keeping those. It's the Tuesday through Thursday I need to get a better handle on. See episode 19's link below for tips on how to create your perfect work day. Biz Bite: Set a hurdle rate The Bookshelf: “Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting” by Clare Pooley  Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Check out my new podcast! Association Station Book “Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief: A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Healing the Impact of Loss” by Claire Bidwell Smith  Episode #137 of Deliberate Freelancer: I'm Grieving. How Can I Keep My Business Running? Episode #90 of Deliberate Freelancer: Coping with One Year of COVID-19 Lockdown, with Therapist Emily Derouin Episode #70 of Deliberate Freelancer: Techniques to Deal with Anxiety from My New Therapist Episode #48 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Cope with Coronavirus Anxiety, with Therapist Mira Dineen Episode #52 of Deliberate Freelancer: Embracing Self-Care without Guilt, with Acupuncturist Rachel Brumberger Episode #26 of Deliberate Freelancer: Delegate, Automate and Terminate to Improve Your Business Episode #19 of Deliberate Freelancer: Visualize Your Perfect Work Day—Then Create It Episode #42 of Deliberate Freelancer: Tips from My First Solo Business Retreat of 2020 Episode #3 of Deliberate Freelancer: Host a Solo Business Retreat

Deliberate Freelancer is on a summer hiatus and will return toward the end of July. Take this time to listen to some previous episodes or relisten to favorite guests! Or make a playlist of specific topics, like finding clients or financial tips.  The Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group will still be active during this time, so please join us over there for great conversations with other listeners. You can ask for advice and share your experiences.  Also, please consider supporting the show by telling your freelancer friends, sharing episodes on social media, and leaving a rating and review on the Apple podcast app.  You can also support this free podcast financially at Buy Me a Coffee. Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.

In April 2021, Jasmine Smith quit her full-time job to pursue freedom and creativity through self-employment. She is the Founder of SmithCo, an experiential marketing agency, and co-founder of Open Door Concept, a rental space centered around community, conversation and creativity in Washington, D.C. Motivated to share her experience and the experience of other Black entrepreneurs, Jasmine launched the podcast Built To Quit in February 2022. Jasmine centers both her life and business ventures around her personal pillars: builder, connector and human and is adamant about only doing work that's in alignment with each of these areas.  Jasmine had had many side hustles and had been freelancing on the side for a year before she quit her job. She was burnout, exhausted and didn't want to do some of the things she was being asked—like more sales work. Instead, she wanted to explore more of her side hustle work and have more freedom over her time and her work. As an employee, Jasmine was one of only about 5–7 Black people in executive meetings. And she was the youngest Black woman manager. She said it sometimes felt unsettling and uncomfortable. She didn't feel like she could show up as herself, which wasn't healthy. Now, as her own boss, she shows up as her full self and doesn't feel the need to code-switch anymore. She has also found the freedom of creating her own structure therapeutic—how she works, what tools she uses, where she works that day. She has also enjoyed having the time to learn new things. The most challenging part has been continuing to bring in new clients and projects. As she reflects on the past year, she wishes she had paid more attention to her financials. She learned the hard way that there wasn't a lot of work in December and January. Now, she always forecasts and tries to prepare for slower seasons. For those who are considering freelancing but haven't quit their full-time job yet, she encourages you to start freelancing before you quit that job. Line up some work. Structure your business. Be strategic when you choose to leave so you can collect any bonuses and a full final paycheck. Jasmine thinks your first hire should be an accountant who understands freelancing. “If you start with good financial practices up front, then you won't have to worry as much. You'll be a bit smarter and ahead of the game later on down the line.” Jasmine launched a podcast this year called Built To Quit where she interviews Black entrepreneurs about their journey. She wants to explore the many different ways entrepreneurship can work for people. She recognized that Black people come to ownership—of homes, of businesses—differently and may not have the resources that white people have.   Biz Bite: Set Boundaries in Personal and Business Life   Resources:  Jasmine's website, SmithCo Jasmine's podcast: Built To Quit Jasmine on Instagram  Jasmine on Twitter Jasmine on LinkedIn Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group. Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.

In April 2021, Jasmine Smith quit her full-time job to pursue freedom and creativity through self-employment. She is the Founder of SmithCo, an experiential marketing agency, and co-founder of Open Door Concept, a rental space centered around community, conversation and creativity in Washington, D.C. Motivated to share her experience and the experience of other Black entrepreneurs, Jasmine launched the podcast Built To Quit in February 2022. Jasmine centers both her life and business ventures around her personal pillars: builder, connector and human and is adamant about only doing work that's in alignment with each of these areas.  Jasmine had had many side hustles and had been freelancing on the side for a year before she quit her job. She was burnout, exhausted and didn't want to do some of the things she was being asked—like more sales work. Instead, she wanted to explore more of her side hustle work and have more freedom over her time and her work. As an employee, Jasmine was one of only about 5–7 Black people in executive meetings. And she was the youngest Black woman manager. She said it sometimes felt unsettling and uncomfortable. She didn't feel like she could show up as herself, which wasn't healthy. Now, as her own boss, she shows up as her full self and doesn't feel the need to code-switch anymore. She has also found the freedom of creating her own structure therapeutic—how she works, what tools she uses, where she works that day. She has also enjoyed having the time to learn new things. The most challenging part has been continuing to bring in new clients and projects. As she reflects on the past year, she wishes she had paid more attention to her financials. She learned the hard way that there wasn't a lot of work in December and January. Now, she always forecasts and tries to prepare for slower seasons. For those who are considering freelancing but haven't quit their full-time job yet, she encourages you to start freelancing before you quit that job. Line up some work. Structure your business. Be strategic when you choose to leave so you can collect any bonuses and a full final paycheck. Jasmine thinks your first hire should be an accountant who understands freelancing. “If you start with good financial practices up front, then you won't have to worry as much. You'll be a bit smarter and ahead of the game later on down the line.” Jasmine launched a podcast this year called Built To Quit where she interviews Black entrepreneurs about their journey. She wants to explore the many different ways entrepreneurship can work for people. She recognized that Black people come to ownership—of homes, of businesses—differently and may not have the resources that white people have.   Biz Bite: Set Boundaries in Personal and Business Life   Resources:  Jasmine's website, SmithCo Jasmine's podcast: Built To Quit Jasmine on Instagram  Jasmine on Twitter Jasmine on LinkedIn   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.

Trigger warnings: pet death, pet euthanasia, pet illness, grief over the death of a loved one.   On April 25 my cat Bella died. We had to make the agonizing choice to humanely euthanize her. And I was heartbroken and full of guilt. But I still had a freelance business to run. So, how did I do that when I could not think or concentrate clearly?   In this episode, I share what led up to Bella's death and how I coped in the immediate days after when I had several client commitments and deadlines. I also asked for advice on the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group and share some of that advice.   The six tips I learned and that we should all keep in mind when grief strikes:   Take time off. Ask for deadline extensions.   Recognize that you are going to work slower.   Get outside.   Do visualizations or meditations.   Reach out to people.   Honor your pet or the person who died.   Biz Bite: Make a to-do list of things that don't earn your business any money.   The Bookshelf: “Bewilderment” by Richard Powers   Resources:   Article “The Fog of Grief” by April Reese   Conversation about grief on the Deliberate Freelance Facebook page   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.        

Today's guest is Susie Jackson, a finance and pricing mentor for freelancers from the U.K. Susie helps freelancers figure out how much to charge and how to manage the financial side of our businesses so we can earn a decent living doing what we love. Susie is also a freelance copy editor and a Spanish-to-English translator specializing in academic texts for the social sciences. Susie likes that she's able to build her business around her energy levels. She also builds in one weekday per month to get out into nature, which is critical for her mental health. A few years ago Susie became a financial and pricing mentor. Her dad was in banking, so she grew up with healthy conversations and lessons about money. She began offering her “Charge with Confidence” group program in 2020. Susie doesn't like the approach that many people take: setting their rates based on industry averages or what other people charge. There's no guarantee that those rates will cover your needs, which can result in a feeling of helplessness and defeatist attitude. And that often means that clients are dictating what they can charge. Susie believes we as service providers should be setting our own prices—and do so based on what income we need, not what we think our customers can afford. Not every client is going to have the budget to pay your rate. That's normal. If you're never hearing ‘no,' you could probably be charging more. Value and affordability are two different things. Susie recommends including two options when submitting a quote or a proposal. One quote should align with their brief, but then include a second quote at a lower rate, which requires them to compromise on something. “A negotiation is a compromise.” Providing two (or more) choices is much better than saying, “I'm open to negotiation,” which Susie never recommends saying to a potential client. Before pricing a project, we need to do some groundwork. The first thing is to understand your financial needs for both your business and personal expenses and then know what your minimum financial goal is—and then also set an aspirational goal. You also need to figure out how many hours you can realistically do paid work without burning out. We tend to overestimate our available hours, and the only way to beat this is by tracking time, which helps us see what is realistic and sustainable. Susie also talks in detail about when and how we should think about increasing our rates. She also gives advice on what language to use with clients when raising your rates. Susie chimes in to the debate of whether we should put our rates on our websites. Susie recommends a “profit first” system, which is based off the book “Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine” by Mike Michalowicz. The book wasn't written for freelancers, but Susie goes into detail of how she's adapted this philosophy for her business. Susie also talks about how to track our proposals, projects and finances. Susie does not believe that people are inherently bad with money. When people say, “Oh, I'm just bad with money,” she replies, “How can you expect to be good with money if you've never been taught how to manage it?” Biz Bite: Use a Task Prioritization Grid Resources: Susie's website Susie's free resources, including a budgeting spreadsheet, virtual Finance Fridays office hours, blog posts and more. Blog post “Task Prioritisation and the System I Use to Manage My Workload” Susie on Instagram “Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine” by Mike Michalowicz. Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group. Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Take Charge of Your Finances, with Pamela Capalad Episode #91 of Deliberate Freelancer: #91: All Things Pricing: Project Rates, Day Rates, Retainers and More, with Jennifer Duann Fultz  

On today's show, five Deliberate Freelancer listeners are sharing their tips. Specifically, they share the systems, processes and tools they use that have helped them create a successful freelance business.   Some of these listeners are previous guests. See the resources below for links to their previous guest appearances.   You will hear from: Amy Ragland Treasa Edmond Poornima Apte Danna Lorch Clare Hastings   I hope you find their experiences helpful!   Biz Bite: How to easily record phone calls   The Bookshelf: “Into the Drowning Deep” by Mira Grant   Resources:   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Episode #115 of Deliberate Freelancer: Time Tracking Lessons from Deliberate Freelancer Listeners   Episode #59 of Deliberate Freelancer: Parenting while Freelancing (with or without a pandemic), with Amy Ragland   Episode #129 of Deliberate Freelancer: A Script for Tough Client Conversations, with Treasa Edmond   Episode #118 of Deliberate Freelancer: Crash Landing and Being Forced to Restart Your Business, with Danna Lorch  

How did your first quarter of the year go with your business? I'm recapping my Q1 in this episode, but I'd love to hear about your Q1 also. Please share in the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group your successes, challenges, lessons and any questions you have for your fellow Deliberate Freelancers.   As I talked about in January, I had a slow start to the year because my mental health was struggling. I was definitely languishing. Things perked up in February and March, so I began to do a bit more work and have more energy.   Accounting for vacation time in Q1, I worked 299 hours over 11 weeks, which averages out to about 27 hours a week. Interestingly enough, without me keeping track of my weekly hours from week to week, that number is close to my average of 28 weeks last year. Therefore, that seems to be my mental lode in a good week. That's what my energy level can take.   When I analyzed how I spent my hours, I was happy to see that although my paid work was way down, I was meeting or exceeding my secret hourly rate for my work, which I often bill as project rates or per-word rates.   In looking at the breakdown of my hours, I spent 50 hours on administrative work. What in the world was I doing in all that time? In quarter two, to keep better track of those little minutes here and there that I slot into “admin work,” I'm going to write down on a sheet of paper next to my desk what types of “admin” I'm actually doing when I choose that in my time tracker app.   I did not consistently hit my monthly financial goal, particularly since January was a slow struggle. However, this is where my savings account and cash flow are really important. I wasn't panicking because I knew I had money in the bank.   In addition, I knew I could make up that income throughout the year. I also often tally two months' income together and divide by two to see if I hit my monthly goal that way. A good cash flow allows me to do that. (For example, I went from billing only $4,000 in January to billing for $12,000 in February!)   A good cash flow also allows me to prioritize my mental health—and not beat myself up for not marketing, not looking for new work, for not working that much at times. This mindset was way healthier for me in quarter one.   I did a bunch of outreach in early March and even did a three-hour mini retreat to plan that outreach and brainstorm on some big decisions for my business.   During my mini retreat, I created a simple Excel client tracking sheet. I had one in the past but didn't keep it updated, so I started over.     I also sent individual, personalized emails to about seven clients I hadn't talked with in awhile, asking for new work or referrals. I think we sometimes forget how critical email outreach is. Surveys and studies consistently show it's the No. 1 marketing tool, yet we sometimes focus way more time on social media—which might have a much lower return on investment.   I also sent out a mass email to my contact list (current, past and potential clients I had talked to at least once, plus colleagues and other freelancers). This was not a cold list. These were people I have built some sort of connection or relationship with.   That mass email netted two referrals to potential new clients, and I got work already in one of those cases. One of those individual, personalized emails also prompted someone I had talked about working with before to say, “let's do this.”   Later this year, I want to create a new list of cold contacts and start emailing and tracking those people.   I also made four big decisions related to my business: dropping one of my anchor clients, no longer using a virtual assistant, changing my Deliberate Freelancer newsletter from weekly to quarterly, and going on a podcast hiatus this summer. Hear more about these decisions in the episode.   Biz Bite: Separate your work and your schedule into head work and heart work.   The Bookshelf: “The Book of Cold Cases” by Simone St. James   Resources:   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Episode #126 of Deliberate Freelancer: A Real Talk About Mental Health—and Languishing   Episode #123 of Deliberate Freelancer: My 2021 Business Review and Questions to Help You   My marketing strategist, Emily Broderick (I hired her for a VIP Day in fall 2021.)    

On today's episode, I want to be open and candid about a failure I had this year. Here are three main thoughts or lessons around failure that I'm trying to always keep in mind: #1. Failure is not necessarily a bad word. There can be times when you completely mess something up, but there can be times when something just didn't work out or the client failed, but you feel like a failure anyway. It sounds cliché, but I think it's important to learn from our failures. Do a candid debrief with yourself: How did this happen? Why did this happen? How can I prevent this in the future? #2. When I set an overarching goal for my business—and I remember to stick to that goal—I'm less likely to fail. Here's what I mean: My overall goal is to be a go-to and respected writer and editor in the membership association industry. While it's important sometimes to go out of your comfort zone, I also do better when I stick to my goal and choose projects and clients related to my goal. #3. Stick to Katherine Reynolds Lewis' 3 P's model. As she explained in episode 132, when Katherine is deciding whether to take on a project, an assignment or a new client, she always considers the 3 P's: pay, portfolio and passion. Following this model helps you know your WHY and can keep you on track. In this episode, I outline a failure I had with a client this year and the lessons I learned from it. I also talk about previous failures in episode 71 (link below).   Biz Bite: Establish a personal board of advisers.   The Bookshelf: “Hell of a Book” by Jason Mott   Resources: Record and email me a voice memo about your organizational tips, processes and systems to melanie@meledits.com for a future podcast episode.   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Episode #71 of Deliberate Freelancer: 3 Failures and the Lessons They Taught Me   Episode #132 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Choose Projects Using the 3 P's Model, with Katherine Reynolds Lewis  

Today's guest is Katherine Reynolds Lewis, an independent journalist based in the DC area. After Katherine was laid off in 2008, she started freelancing in the middle of the Great Recession. What does Katherine love about freelancing? Being self-sufficient, being able to write on a variety of topics and having control over her schedule. Katherine shares her 3 P's model that she uses when assessing whether to take on a project: pay, portfolio and passion. Any project or assignment we say yes to should fulfill at least one of those P's and ideally all three. As you work on the project, always keep in mind why you are doing the work, which P it falls under. At the end of the work, this model will also help you decide whether it was worth taking on the project or client—and help you assess future projects. A few years ago, Katherine was setting new goals for what she wanted to do in her career. One of those was to write a long-form journalism narrative article for a big magazine. So, she started looking for opportunities. If successful, the article would be a key piece in her portfolio, that could lead to fellowship opportunities, writing a book or receiving awards. Katherine tracks her time diligently, and for that particular goal she committed to using some unpaid time to do the research and reporting needed for that article, before she could sell it. The final article called “What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong?” was published in Mother Jones magazine and remains its most viewed online article.   That success led to a literary agent and a book proposal with multiple offers. That launched her paid speaking career, and she won awards on her eventual book, “The Good News About Bad Behavior.” Researching and writing the book also led her to connect with authors and other people she had admired. Katherine also talked about the mindset it takes to be a successful freelancer: We are business owners. We have to be accountable to ourselves and know how we're spending our time and our money. Time is our most valuable resource. Katherine says, “The biggest myth that I hear is ‘Well, something's better than nothing.' It's not … because any time you take a gig that pays poorly or it's not exactly in your lane, you are moving yourself further from your goal and you are using up that most valuable resource—your time.” Katherine also encourages freelancers to shift their mindset from supplicant asking for work to thinking of yourself as a valuable partner that your clients need.   Biz Bite: Streak (Gmail plug-in)   Resources:   Katherine's website and book   Katherine's Mother Jones article: “What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong?”   The Center for Independent Journalists   Episode #128 of Deliberate Freelancer: New Organization Supports Freelance Journalists of Color, with Chandra Thomas Whitfield and Katherine Reynolds Lewis   Katherine on Twitter   Katherine on Instagram   Katherine on Facebook   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.

Please email me your favorite organizational tips, tools, systems and processes for an upcoming episode!   What are the processes and systems that you have implemented that have improved your business? What tactic or app or software program can you not get enough of? Let's share with each other and help each other out!   Here's all you need to do: Use the voice memo app on your smartphone to record a short message, maybe 1–7 minutes, explaining your favorite system or process or app or software and how it has helped you in your business.   Then, just email that file to me at melanie@meledits.com. That's it! I'll use your name and your voice memo on a future episode.   Resources:   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.              

Today's guest is Portia Wofford, an award-winning nurse, writer and content marketer who lives in Alabama. After dedicating her nursing career to creating content and solutions for employers, Portia now runs a content marketing agency, The PW Agency.  Her agency empowers health and nursing brands to grow their communities through engaging content that connects and converts. As part of her mission to help nurses earn extra income, beyond the bedside, Portia teaches nurses how to get paid and published by showing them how to land their first paid freelance writing gig. Nurses can learn more about her courses and training packages at http://pwenterprises.co/nurses-who-write. Portia began freelancing in 2018, leaving her home health care nursing career. She created The PW Agency in 2020, so she could bring on more nurse writers and help more health care brands. Nurses are used to writing in a more academic style, so Portia started teaching nurses how to write blog posts for consumers or a health care audience. Portia's agency hires other nurses as freelancers to write for her clients. She also trains nurses how to write, whether they choose to leave nursing or write as a side gig. She has seen an uptick in interest during the pandemic as more nurses leave nursing. A few lessons Portia has learned that has helped her freelance career: Never stop learning and learn how to take constructive criticism of your work. Portia says some freelancers rely too much on social media to get clients. You need to get uncomfortable and reach out to potential clients. Understand you're going to get a lot of “no”s. If a potential client says no, Portia likes to ask if there's a reason they said no or if there's a better way she should approach them. Their feedback can be helpful in how she approaches other prospects. That doesn't mean Portia doesn't believe in social media, but it's only one aspect of marketing. She positioned herself as an expert in content marketing (not a freelancer) and a go-to thought leader in her industry. Good marketing requires a lot of research. Portia researched specific brands, then went to their websites to try to find the decision makers. She then uses LinkedIn to contact them. Portia's research focuses on finding out who the decision-maker is, instead of the gatekeeper. If a contact says no, Portia will reach back out in 60-90 days and asks “How's your business doing now? or “How's your content doing?” Portia's social media strategy as a freelancer was to offer a lot of content marketing tips to her potential clients. She doesn't focus on sales. She always includes a call to action, which could be something like “if you have any questions, contact me at …” She'll also say, “drop ‘freelancer' in the comments if you understand.” When you create or revise your content marketing strategy, start with your goals and consider what avenue you want to use (certain social media platforms, a blog, etc.). Having a niche also makes it easier to zero in on who your clients are. Don't just think of your clients. Think of the end reader—your client's customers. Who are they? Where are they? Portia walks us through how she thinks about pricing and what she recommends for nurses. Portia gives each client a content brief to fill out to gain plenty of information to be able to price the project properly and prepare to work with them. In this episode, she provided a long list of questions to ask clients. Portia also recommends having a minimum rate. You can tell each client upfront by email: “My minimum rate is $XXX. Are you prepared to invest in this service?” That weeds out clients whose budgets aren't large enough for your services, without either of you wasting time on a discovery call. In The PW Agency, Portia has a virtual assistant and several nurses who are sub-contractors, not employees. She has been an LLC from the beginning of her freelance career, which made the transition to an agency smoother. When she switched to an agency model, she told established clients: “I enjoy working with you. My business has expanded; I've brought on some other writers, and I would love for them to be able to take over some of your pieces.” Portia believes that her strong reputation and rapport with her existing clients reassured them that the agency work would remain high quality. She trains all of her nurse writers in her writing style, and now clients can get more content pieces in a faster amount of time. Portia recently hired an editing team that reviews the content. She also reviews every piece of content herself before it goes to a client. But the writers get the bylines. All of her subcontractors sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and a contract that covers confidentiality and other issues. She has protections written in so subcontractors cannot “steal” her clients. Portia found a local attorney who understands freelancing and whom she can meet with in person and establish a relationship with. Hiring an attorney is an important investment in your business to protect yourself. Hiring a diverse range of nurse writers is important to Portia. Diversity improves the content she creates for her clients too. She tells her clients she won't work with clients who don't believe in diversity and promoting health equity. She's transparent about her values upfront.   Biz Bite: Don't Procrastinate. Break down a project into bite sizes and do a little bit a day at a time.   Resources: ThePWAgency.com TheWriteNurse.com Portia's courses for nurses Portia on Twitter Portia on Instagram   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.    Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.   Episode #88 of Deliberate Freelancer: Positioning Yourself as an Agency and Partnering with Other Freelancers, with Reggie Holmes   Episode #68 of Deliberate Freelancer: Yes, You Need to Build a Personal Brand, with Hilary Sutton

Today's guest is a freelance editor from Durham, N.C. Laura is the owner of Archer Editorial Services. She exclusively provides editing to university presses. She also develops and conducts training for editors and publishers.   As defined by the Success Alliance, mastermind groups offer a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability and support to sharpen your business and personal skills. A mastermind group helps you and your group members achieve success. Members challenge each other to set strong goals and, more importantly, to accomplish them.   A mastermind group is not a class, group coaching, mentoring or networking, although it can have aspects of each of those things.   Laura became a certified life coach several years ago, which is where she was introduced to mastermind groups. Her mastermind group, called The Quad, started organically via a Facebook chat when she connected with several cool people she kept meeting at conferences. She later realized her group had been functioning like a mastermind group.   The Quad currently has seven members (despite the name) and was formed in 2015. Most of their communication is still through Facebook chat, but they also created a secret Facebook page to share resources.   The Quad has helped Laura with her business goals. Some of the benefits of her mastermind have been honest feedback, being challenged by the group, fresh ideas, accountability, a “kick in the pants,” brainstorming sessions, celebrations of each other's wins, and support in tough times.   Because of the mastermind group, Laura and Erin Brenner teamed up to buy Copyediting.com, which they reinvigorated. The business broke even and then started making a small profit. After three years of owning it, they sold it to ACES–the Society for Editing.   The Quad is all editors, all freelancers except for one, and all women. A mastermind group could be all people in your industry or could be people from various industries. You would get different benefits from each group.   It's important that everyone in the mastermind has the same intentions for what the group is and a similar scope of what they want to achieve.   The Quad has held in-person and virtual retreats together since 2016. At the in-person retreats, they invited a well-known person in their industry to have dinner with them.   For their retreats, the members collect data about their own business so they can measure how it's going. They analyze whether they hit their goals, where things need to change, what they learned.   The Quad's retreats include a “technology showcase,” where they teach each other certain tech skills. They also do “power hours” of administrative tasks and have one-hour “CEO time sprints,” focusing on the bigger goals.   To start a mastermind, look around you—who do you think is cool and interesting? Just start reaching out to people you want to get to know better. First, see if you “click.” You don't have to immediately ask them to join your new mastermind group.   To communicate with your mastermind group, you could consider Facebook chat, Slack, Discord or Zoom. It's important to talk through the format and your communication goals and expectations.   When you are thinking about joining a group, ask about the structure, member expectations, and communication timeline and format.   Biz Bite: Schedule CEO Time   Resources:   Archer Editorial Services Inc.   Laura's training and courses   Laura's book, “Juggling on a High Wire: The Art of Work-Life Balance When You're Self-Employed”   Episode #22 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Create a Better Work-Life Balance, with Laura Poole   Laura on Twitter   Laura on LinkedIn   Laura on Instagram   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.  

In today's episode, writer Treasa Edmond walks us through several client scenarios many of us struggle with—scope creep, treating us like an employee, not paying us on time—and gives us the script for what to say and how to say it. This episode is like Treasa is handing us all templates on great client management.   Treasa is the owner of Edmond Editing and Writing. She is a ghostwriter and content creator in Missouri. She gets straight A's for knowing how to communicate with clients—as Melanie witnessed in a writers' Facebook group. So, she's here today to teach us her wisdom. In addition, Treasa is currently writing a book about client management and how to have these tough conversations, so Deliberate Freelancer will keep you posted on her book, which may be published within the next year or so.   Is the customer (or client) always right? Treasa learned from her business owner parents the importance of standing up for your business. She combines customer service with client management.   A problem Treasa sees often is freelancers who allow clients to manage them or “run the show” for the project. But the freelancer is the one who needs to take charge. Other challenges include not setting boundaries or not communicating well.   To improve communication with clients, you need to first focus on your mindset and see yourself as a business owner. View client relationships as partnerships, and use the word “partner” as a verb and noun when talking with clients.   Miscommunication and conflict come from an attitude of “you and me,” not a partnership. Instead, use the “royal we” or inclusive “we/our” language. For example, when there's a problem, you could say: “It looks like we're having an issue here. This is how I think we can resolve it. Does that work for you?”   Treasa sets boundaries early on—when she agrees she's going to have that initial discovery call. She emails the potential client a questionnaire before the call. If they don't fill out that questionnaire, that's a red flag. Another red flag is not telling you their budget, even if it's a range.   Treasa believes in taking control of the client relationship from the beginning of the discovery call. You could say: “I'm very glad you're here today; we have some great things to talk about. My first goal is to learn more about your project.”   Treasa walks us through several situations and suggests how we might respond. Listen to the episode for her suggested language.   Biz Bite: Bonsai client management system for freelancers   Resources:   Edmond Editing and Writing   The Writing Mindset (about writing your book)   Treasa on Twitter   Treasa on Instagram   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.      

The Center for Independent Journalists, aka The CIJ, is a new organization—launched in September 2021—to provide advocacy, education and support to freelance journalists of color and those from other underrepresented groups in the media. Programming is open to anyone, and white journalists can also join the organization.   It's open to all freelance journalists, not only writers. Currently, membership for the first year is included when you register for The CIJ's March 11–12 virtual conference. The CIJ has received grants to support the organization and continues to explore other revenue models that won't require higher registration fees.   CIJ Co-founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis lives in the DC area and is an award-winning journalist and author who writes about education, equity, mental health, parenting, science and social justice for publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Parents and The Washington Post. Katherine's 2015 story on the school-to-prison pipeline became Mother Jones' most-read article ever and led to her bestselling 2018 book, “The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever—And What to Do About It.” Her current long-form narrative project on racial justice in education is supported by the O'Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism and the MIT Knight Science Journalism fellowship.   CIJ Co-founder Chandra Thomas Whitfield, who lives in the Denver area, is a multiple award-winning freelance journalist. As a 2019–2020 Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Journalism Fellow, she hosted and produced “In The Gap,” a podcast for In These Times about how the gender pay gap affects the lives of Black women. A former Atlanta Press Club and Atlanta Association of Black Journalists “Journalist of the Year” awardee, she has been honored by the Association for Women in Communications, Colorado Association of Black Journalists and Mental Health America. She is an alum of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, Education Writers Association, Ted Scripps Environmental Journalism, Soros Justice Media, Kiplinger Public Affairs and Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism fellowships. Her Atlanta Magazine feature made the Atlanta Press Club's “Atlanta's Top 10 Favorite Stories of the Past 50 Years” list and is widely credited with contributing to a change in Georgia law and a teen's early release from a 10-year prison sentence.   The Center for Independent Journalists' first virtual conference will be March 11–12. The early-bird rate of $49 expires on February 18. You get 14 sessions, including 10 panels and two keynote speakers. The keynotes are Denene Millner, a six-time New York Times best-selling author, Emmy Award-nominated TV show host and award-winning journalist who has written 31 books, as well as David J. Dennis Jr., a senior writer at The Undefeated and author of “The Movement Made Us.”   Katherine and Chandra started The CIJ after forming a group on Zoom for freelance journalists during the pandemic, where people unexpectedly became vulnerable very quickly, sharing their struggles and isolation. Katherine and Chandra realized that if this accomplished group of journalists was struggling, then other freelance journalists must be struggling too—financially, emotionally, with work, etc.   Katherine also recognized she had a lot of advantages that other freelance journalists don't and was called to give back.   Racial diversity in newsroom leadership has been a longtime challenge, and while there's been a lot of focus on it, there's very little progress. Humans learn through story, so we need diverse storytellers to have a robust and thriving media ecosystem.   It's crucial to a democracy to have a healthy freelance ecosystem. The freelance world is the least powerful part of journalism, and The CIJ aims to strengthen it.   As newsrooms struggle and cut positions and lay off staff, there's a sentiment among freelancers of color, women and those from other underrepresented groups that they're the first to be let go. There are also those who are willingly leaving journalism because of microaggressions, office politics and lack of advancement. The CIJ is there to support those journalists in building a freelance career.   Want to be an ally? First, listen and respect the experiences that people are sharing. Don't try to debate it with them: “Oh, maybe you misunderstood. Oh, that wasn't their intent.”   Also, those of us not from underrepresented groups should question the lack of diversity in the room. We need to be the ones speaking up about diversity.   Both employees and other freelancers can make the effort to find and hire or refer people from underrepresented groups. Those on the “inside” need to find people on the “outside” and offer them opportunities.   Those who want to be allies—including freelance business owners—can also educate themselves through reading more about racism, prejudice and diversity; recruit diverse panels and speakers; recommend, refer and introduce people; hire a diverse array of subcontractors; diversify your own personal network; and support diverse organizations financially. And don't be afraid to mess up and say the wrong thing. Just apologize, learn from it and keep trying.   Resources:   Register for The Center for Independent Journalists March 11–12 virtual conference for only $49 before the February 18 early-bird deadline.   The Center for Independent Journalists   Chandra's In the Gap podcast (how pay discrimination affects Black women)   Episode #61 of Deliberate Freelancer: 6 Ways to Be an Ally with Your Freelance Business   Episode #83 of Deliberate Freelancer: A Conversation about Practicing Anti-Racism in Freelancing, with Eva Jannotta   Episode #89 of Deliberate Freelancer: Being the Only Black Man at a TV News Station, with Mario Boone   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.    

Atlas Katari is the owner of Katari Creative, a B2B organic content marketing agency focused primarily on LinkedIn marketing with some SEO and content creation.   Atlas is a self-described “LinkedIn nerd” and walks us through the latest LinkedIn offerings and how to best use LinkedIn for our businesses. They say that LinkedIn has an incredible organic reach you can use to promote your content.   So many people have only posted their profile on LinkedIn (ages ago) and haven't looked at it much since. LinkedIn has changed a lot in recent years and offers a lot of new services.   LinkedIn is focusing heavily on creators these days so it's a great way to show and practice your writing chops, talking about what you know and what you love.   In 2021, LinkedIn rolled out several new services that are a part of its free tier. LinkedIn introduced newsletters for users to create and now has “creator mode,” which allows you to highlight on your profile that you are a creator, choose topics to display in your profile as hashtags, and highlight your original content.   Last year, LinkedIn also fully launched Service Marketplace, which allows people to advertise for short-term projects geared toward freelancers.   If the thought of being more active on another social media platform feels overwhelming, Atlas recommends at least updating your profile — before you comment or create content. Look at fellow freelancers in your industry to get inspiration for your profile style and format.   In your profile, update your headline. Focus on your title; don't use phrases like “I help this person do this.” LinkedIn is a search engine, so think about keywords. And think about what keywords potential clients are looking for, such as “freelance tech writer.”   Add a strong profile photo (consider a brightly colored, solid background) and focus on your banner image. The banner image should have a purpose and not just be a plain stock image. You can brand it with your photo, business name, a short URL (not clickable) and a call to action.   The About section (previously called the Summary) is also prime space to tell your clients what your services are. And leave a call to action, even if it's just “email me at XXX.”   Beyond your profile, if you plan to be active on LinkedIn, it's important to be consistent, rather than perfect. Atlas recommends reviewing your LinkedIn profile quarterly, maybe making small tweaks in your headline or switching to a new URL you want to promote. This could be a good time to add pieces to your portfolio or update your call to action.   Atlas puts their Calendly call scheduling link in their “Featured” section, providing another way people can easily contact them.   Asking for a LinkedIn recommendation can be part of your client offboarding process.   Atlas uses LinkedIn only through the free tier, but they walked us through the paid premium tiers and what each one offers (tiers: Career, Business, Sales Navigator and Recruiter).   Atlas believes LinkedIn Groups will improve and become more popular. Right now, group posts don't show up in your feed and you don't get notifications.   LinkedIn Live is a live video option, but you have to apply to be able to use it. Atlas says the criteria are fairly easy though.   Melanie shared how she culled her LinkedIn a few months ago from about 900 connections to 400. Atlas supports these type of “purges” (at least every year) to keep your feed relevant and you focused on your goals.    To also keep your feed relevant, you can follow hashtags and influencers in an industry you want to connect more with. Comment strategically—and provide value through your comment—on popular posts.   Biz Bite: Create a strict boundary for daily time spent on each social media platform.   Resources:   Katari Creative   Linked Into Freelancing course and Substack newsletter subscription   Atlas Katari on LinkedIn   Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.

Today's show is all about how I'm feeling right now—that blah feeling of languishing. If you feel like that too, or are dealing with any mental health challenges right now, please listen to this episode and then join us in the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group, where we'll be talking about this and solutions that might help each of us. Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group. Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. New York Times article: “There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling: It's Called Languishing” Psychology Today article: “COVID Left Us Languishing. Here's Why We Should Care” Episode #52 of Deliberate Freelancer: Embracing Self-Care without Guilt, with Acupuncturist Rachel Brumberger Episode #48 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Cope with Coronavirus Anxiety, with Therapist Mira Dineen Episode #90 of Deliberate Freelancer: Coping with One Year of COVID-19 Lockdown, with Therapist Emily Derouin Episode #70 of Deliberate Freelancer: Techniques to Deal with Anxiety from My New Therapist Episode #31 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Get Motivated to Work When You're Feeling Blah    

Today's guest is Molly Rose Speed, founder of Virtual Assistant Management, which provides trusted virtual assistant (VA) solutions and flawless tech execution for busy entrepreneurs. Molly Rose is the go-to professional for some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the speaker/author and content creator industry. She is also an awarded military spouse and solo world traveler who believes in creating a career and a life that allows you to do more of what you love. Molly's company trains and places virtual assistants, the majority of whom are military spouses. It's time to consider hiring a VA when you are sacrificing income because you're spending time on lower-billable or unpaid work such as administrative tasks. It's also important to spend time working ON your business (building and improving your business), not just IN your business (client work). Also, keep note of your energy level. Are you exhausted trying to do everything yourself? Are you dreading each work day—on a business you created for yourself and should love!? There are a wide variety of other freelancers who might call themselves virtual assistants; they might offer high-level skills such as web design, copy writing or course creation. However, general virtual assistants are akin to executive assistants in the corporate world. VAs might help with scheduling, booking, answering phone calls and emails, managing a blog, creating social media. To find a VA, ask your network and share on social media, being specific about what type of work you need help with. A VA agency can also pair you up with someone. Before you look for a VA, be very clear about what you want the person to do but also think about whether time zone matters and the personality types that might work best for you. Do you want a leader in your business or someone more behind the scenes? Ask potential VAs for references. You may also want to consider giving them a paid test in the area you need help with—such as asking them to create five social media posts or draft an email. One misconception is that you have to hire a VA for 20 hours or so each week. But VAs—like you as a freelancer—often have multiple clients and aren't available for that many hours. Instead, you can negotiate hours with a VA. Molly recommends hiring them for at least 5 hours a week, or 20 hours a month, and creating a retainer agreement. You can also hire virtual assistants for one-time projects or at a specific time when you need extra help. Molly always recommends creating a contract with a VA and paying the VA's retainer at the end of the month. That way, if they go over their hours (which you have both agreed to that month), you have the flexibility to pay them more at the end of the month based upon an already agreed-upon rate. Be sure to also have a privacy agreement as part of your contract and a separate non-disclosure agreement to help secure client information, as well as your passwords, banking info, etc. What about freelancers who say they don't want to give up the control or take the time to hire a VA? Molly believes that person won't hire a VA until they're fully ready, but she tells them: Teaching a VA might take you a “painful hour,” but then it's going to save you, for example, five hours a month. She also recommends shooting a Loom.com video to show a VA how to do something and then let them “run with it.” Make sure you establish good communication with your VA from the beginning. Molly recommends a Monday check-in and setting up checks and balances. Make sure they have access to the tools they need, along with passwords, before they start. It's also important to establish and agree upon the style of communication between the two of you. Ask your VA for a list of their “favorites” so you can send them appropriate, thoughtful gifts. Don't take your valuable VAs for granted!   Biz Bite: Use Asana project management tool   Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group. Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Molly's business: Virtual Assistant Management “Are you ready to outsource?” free resource guide Learn how to become a VA Molly Rose on Instagram Loom.com video   Voxer walkie talkie app

On today's show, I talk about my word (phrase) of the year and what I'm hoping to do in 2022. Then, I talk about the importance of habit formation and give several strategies to build better habits.   As I begin to work on developing better habits this year, I want to point out that if you try to introduce too much change into your daily life, you're setting yourself up for failure. Humans are not great at reorganizing their entire day all at once. We have to start small (so don't make 10 New Year's resolutions and expect success).   You know those people who talk about willpower? Well, willpower is a crock. Willpower does not often get you to where you want to go. It's habit formation that gets you to your goals, and willpower only causes most of us to feel like failures.   Gretchen Rubin, author of “The Happiness Project” and co-host of the Happier podcast, developed a concept and wrote a book about it a few years ago called “The Four Tendencies.” This framework is based on how a person meets inner and outer expectations. The four types are Upholders, Questioners, Obligers and Rebels. (Take the free quiz to learn what type you are.)   I'm a questioner, which means I have questions and need justifications before I'll commit to doing something. It also means outer accountability doesn't matter to me. It's why I don't care about joining a mastermind group or having an accountability partner. And I won't stick with a class just because I paid for.   But that type of accountability works well for obligers, who need accountability to meet inner and outer expectations. These are the people who, when they pay for that yoga class or tell a friend they'll exercise with them, it works. They do not want to let anyone down so they will show up. You can see how knowing your tendency will help figure out what you need as you start to create habits and try to commit to better habits or new goals.   In his book “Atomic Habits,” James Clear talks about making tiny, tiny habits, just a 1% change each day. So, want to start running? On that first day, just run around the block and come home. Don't push yourself. Don't go farther. It'll take 2 minutes.   That may sound ridiculous, but you need to focus on the process, routine and the change in your routine. Don't focus on the running; focus on the habit creation.   Starting is the hardest part. Katy Milkman is an economist who studies change behavior at the Wharton School. She was on Dan Harris' podcast Ten Percent Happier about how to change your habits. Katy talks about this problem of getting started. It's not about willpower. It's about the struggle to get started. And that requires habit formation.   Katy also talks about something called the “fresh start” effect—that time when we start a new job, or move to a new city, or when the school year starts in September when it feels like a fresh start. That's the perfect time to implement new habits.   January and the new year also feels like a “fresh start” to people and can be a perfect time to start new habits. We just have to be careful not to try to start too many at one time.   Gretchen Rubin would say before you start thinking about techniques to use to develop new habits you need to know yourself. That's why I recommend taking her Four Tendencies quiz. But, in addition, think about the kind of person you are. Are you a night owl? Then, you're never going to get up at 5 a.m. to exercise! Accept it and aim for a better habit that works for you.   A few habit formation strategies to try:   Pairing Pair the new habit with something you're already doing, preferably something you like. For me, that is walking while listening to podcasts—what I like to call Bod and Pod.   Accountability As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't work for everyone, but if works for you, try to build more accountability into your daily life. Maybe find an accountability partner who is also a freelance business owner.   Scheduling it Sounds obvious, but sometimes we just forget to work on our new habits, so put it on your calendar and to-do list and set timers.   Commit to a streak Start a 30-day challenge where you're going to do the new habit every day for 30 days.   Make it difficult or inconvenient Delete apps. Use the Freedom app to block social media websites.   Hide bad cues and display good cues. Put your phone in another room. Hide junk food. Keep your vitamin bottle visible. Put your water bottle near the front door.   Think about your future self. Future Melanie will be happy this summer if I already have a regular exercise routine established.   Biz Bite: Embrace hygge   The Bookshelf: “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith   Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.   Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.   “Respair” tweet by Susie Dent   Book “The Four Tendencies” by Gretchen Rubin   Take The Four Tendencies quiz   Book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear   Katy Milkman and her book “How to Change” and podcast “Choiceology”   Katy Milkman on Ten Percent Happier podcast: How to Change Your Habits   Yoga with Adriene   National Novel Writing Month   “A 180 in 365: My Year of Walking” by Alicia Chantal (blog post)   Episode #78 of Deliberate Freelancer: Building Your Community as a Newish Freelancer, with Alicia Chantal  

In today's episode, I look back at my time tracking for 2021's Q4 briefly and then I dive into analyzing the entire year. At the end, I share some questions that can help you evaluate last year and plan for this year. My average weekly time in Q4 was similar to the previous quarters. I was really proud of myself that I stuck to my “absolutely no work” plan Dec. 23-Jan. 3. And I took at a four-week podcast hiatus. All of that was restorative and rejuvenated my creativity. The biggest surprise for me was I earned more money last year than I ever had in the past—by a wide margin! I do track my money each month, but I wasn't really adding up those monthly figures to see what I was making for the year. While I'm thrilled with how much I earned last year, I'm not sure it's sustainable. That's not just pessimism talking. Two big projects I landed in 2020 continued into 2021, but ended or were cut back before the end of the year, and I cannot expect that income this year. I analyzed where my work came from in 2021. Referrals are always my biggest source of work. In 2021, 37% of my income came from referrals. These percentages are based on income, not number of clients. I want to know where I'm earning the most money. After referrals, 21% of my income was from my involvement in the group Associations, Media & Publishing Network, specifically the Associations Council. The majority of my clients are associations, so I've gone where my clients are. Where are your clients? There's probably an organization out there where you can start to get involved and subtly show your expertise in the industry that you serve. Next up, 17% of my income came from cold networking; 13% from letters of introduction; 12% from former jobs. I also analyzed the type of organization I worked for. I want to focus on membership associations, but did my income reflect that? Yes, it did. I'm pleased to say that 77% of my work came from membership associations last year. I also analyzed if what I want to do matches up with the services that bring in the most money. It hasn't always matched up in the past, but I've been more purposeful about going after the work I love—managing editing—versus the work I “like”—copy editing and proofreading. I'm happy to say my numbers in 2021 did match what I had tried to do. 59% of my income came from managing editing work, while 29% came from writing and only 12% came from editing and proofreading. I encourage you to consider time tracking. I consider it a game changer. Analyzing your time tracking at the end of a big project—that you charged a project rate for—can tell you whether you met your secret hourly rate or whether you undercharged.   Questions to ask yourself: What services do you love to do? Is that where you're focusing your marketing? How can you take your business in a new direction? What can you improve upon in your business in 2022? What did you learn in 2021? What worked really well for you and your business? What didn't work for you last year? Do you need to drop clients, raise your rates, change your services? And be honest with yourself: Did you do anything last year that you're frustrated by or disappointed by? What do you need to work on personally? Where have you felt stuck in your business? How can you start to make a plan to get unstuck?   A solo business retreat in January is a great way to reflect on these questions and work ON your business, setting yourself up for success this year.   Biz Bite: Create a Success Jar The Bookshelf: “Miracle Creek” by Angie Kim   Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. 50 Powerful Questions To Help You Reflect Episode #65 of Deliberate Freelancer: The No. 1 Way I Find New Clients Episode #119 of Deliberate Freelancer: Why and How to Pare Down Your Network Episode #113 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Build Relationships, Not a Network, with Anna Hetzel Episode #3 of Deliberate Freelancer: Host a Solo Business Retreat Episode #42 of Deliberate Freelancer: Tips from My First Solo Business Retreat of 2020 Episode #115 of Deliberate Freelancer: Time Tracking Lessons from Deliberate Freelancer Listeners Episode #86 of Deliberate Freelancer: What I Wish for Your Freelance Business in 2021 Episode #76 of Deliberate Freelancer: Embrace These 7 Core Principles for a Successful Freelance Business Episode #40 of Deliberate Freelancer: Reflect, Analyze and Plan Now for the New Year Episode #26 of Deliberate Freelancer: Delegate, Automate and Terminate to Improve Your Business Episode #23 of Deliberate Freelancer: Five Questions to Evaluate and Diversify Your Services Episode #19 of Deliberate Freelancer: Visualize Your Perfect Work Day—Then Create It

This episode is all about books! And it's the last episode of the year. My next episode will be January 6, 2022. Happy holidays! As of December 5, I read 51 books this year. I will likely finish book #52 this week, but I probably won't hit my goal of 60 books in 2021, which is OK. I set a goal just because I have fun tracking my books along the way. In this week's episode, I rank my top 10 books of the year — all were published in 2021. I then give you two extras that I loved this year that were published in 2020. I also mention a few other 2021 books that I haven't read and that don't seem like my cup of tea but that you might want to check out. And, I mention a few 2021 books that I really want to read but haven't gotten to yet. Then I finish up by listing a few 2022 books that I'm looking forward to. Listen to the episode to hear my top books of the year in ranked order — what will be my #1?! However, all of the books I mentioned in this episode are in the list below.   Fiction Writers & Lovers by Lily King The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir The Martian by Andy Weir The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain What Could be Saved by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell The Push by Ashley Audrain The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams Matrix by Lauren Groff Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Hell of a Book by Jason Mott My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle The Family Plot by Megan Collins   Non-fiction The Promised Land by Barack Obama Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa (memoir) Know My Name by Chanel Miller (memoir) All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung (memoir) The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch (memoir) Four-Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain The Premonition by Michael Lewis The Big Short by Michael Lewis Moneyball by Michael Lewis The Blind Side by Michael Lewis Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (memoir) How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith   2022 Books I'm Anticipating: Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades (publishes January 4) A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (publishes January 11) Nine Lives by Peter Swanson (publishes March 15) The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James (publishes March 15)   Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #104 of Deliberate Freelancer: Best Books of 2021 So Far—and New Releases This Fall Episode #87 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Most Anticipated 2021 Books (and Fave 2020 Books) Episode #69 of Deliberate Freelancer: 9 Nonfiction Books that Improved My Freelance Business Episode #17 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Favorite Books of the Year So Far (2019) American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) fall membership drive. Use the code: 2021FALLDRIVE ASJA Membership FAQs

On today's episode, Ashlee Sang talks about how you can work with purpose-driven solopreneurs and service providers. She also explains how you can base everything you do in your freelance businesses around a set of core values—and how that will help you make decisions, find the right clients and grow your business. Ashlee lives in Central Illinois. She owns Ashlee Sang Consulting, where she works with visionary founders who want to grow their impact and their business in a way that's rooted in values and propelled by purpose. Before doing brand messaging strategy and consulting, she worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including a human rights education non-governmental organization (NGO) in Senegal and a local branch of Habitat for Humanity. The common thread has been sharing messages that matter. Ashlee began working with purpose-driven founders after learning about the conscious consumerism movement. She wants to work with businesses that have a mission and impact in the world. Ashlee always keeps that goal in mind as she selects clients. She has taken plenty of projects in the past that didn't align with her values and she realized she always dreaded the work and the client. Now she focuses on attraction marketing—walking the talk and standing up for her values as a way to set herself apart. Before living in Illinois, Ashlee lived in Senegal for four years. Moving there was the most formative decision of her life. She was studying anthropology, French and linguistics as a study-abroad student and ended up meeting her future husband. So, after graduation, she moved to Senegal and landed a job with an NGO. In Senegal, she learned a lot about herself, about interpersonal and organizational communications, and about viewing different cultures from various perspectives. The years in Senegal shaped how she now views the world and supports her goal to provide empathetic accountability because she has met and spoken to so many different types of people. For example, it has helped her develop clients' audience personas because she can better get into other people's heads and hearts. Ashlee believes in making value-based decisions. She has a set of core values that she operates from. The list includes intentionality, progress, open-mindedness. They guide who she works with as well as her offerings. Making value-based decisions impacts both your marketing and your operations. For example, it helps with knowing what to post on social media, who to pitch to, how much to charge and who to hire. Ashlee recommends sitting down and creating a list of values and periodically reevaluating that list. This way of working supports prioritization and hedges “shiny object syndrome.” It shows up in the everyday work and in the big decisions. The benefit of basing decisions on your values is alignment: If it feels better for you, it feels better for your clients. Ashlee supports the nonprofit 1% for the Planet and highlights this on her website. As part of this, she has committed to giving 1% of her revenue to an environmental nonprofit of her choice. She also lists her brand values on her website, but living your values is more important than just listing them. When you take the time to do this foundational work—your personal vision, your business mission, your list of values—it makes decision-making throughout your life and business easier.   Biz Bite: Turn Off Email Notifications   Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. To help you get clear on your values and how to apply them to your marketing and decision-making, download Ashlee's free book “Stand Up To Stand Out Workbook.” AshleeSang.com Ashlee Sang on LinkedIn Ashlee Sang on Instagram 1% for the Planet American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) fall membership drive. Use the code: 2021FALLDRIVE ASJA Membership FAQs  

On today's episode, I'm leaning in to the theme of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and sharing seven things I am thankful for in my business. Beyond just telling you about these things, I'm sharing why I'm thankful and asking questions to you that I hope will prompt you to think about how to improve your business life. Thinking about my business this way got me thinking about how I should be building a joyful business in all things that I do. So, as I go through my list, I hope it helps you think about things you are thankful for and perhaps want to change moving forward so you can build a more joyful business.   #1. Complete freedom. When I decided to go freelance, I looked forward to being my own boss more than anything, but I didn't fully grasp the complete freedom I would have as a freelancer. Work is still work. But, I have a lot of control over my business—who I work with, when I work, how I work, where I work and what I work on. I worry that some freelancers haven't fully embraced this freedom or forget about it every now and then. I see way too many people working too many hours. Why are we freelancing if not for the freedom in it? You are in charge of your business, for the most part. Shouldn't freedom be the goal in everything we do? Are you working with clients you want to work with? Are you working on projects you enjoy? If not, why not? If you are working with clients you don't love or in an area that doesn't fascinate you, maybe it's time to at least start planning on how to find better clients or change your services or niche. Freedom! That's what I'm really, truly thankful for.   #2. My clients. I am at a place where I'm really happy with the mix of clients I have. It has always been my goal to work with kind people, fun people, people I respect and who respect me. That is really important to me. I have no time for people who are passive-aggressive, make snide remarks, throw me under the bus, demand unreasonable requests. Again, freedom. Why would I want to work with those people? Maybe kindness is important to you, but maybe there are other aspects of clients that are really important to you. What types of clients would you like to work with? What is it about your greatest clients that you really love? Now is also a good time to think about how to thank your clients. Do you send holiday cards or gifts to your best clients? I've done this from time to time, and though I usually do it at this time of year, I also love the idea of doing it at surprising times, like sending a thank-you gift after a big project or just randomly in mid-summer—Christmas in July! If you can find out a bit about your client, you can find more personalized gifts, but I have a few go-tos when I'm not sure what to get people. See the links in Resources below.   #3. Great sources or subject matter experts. Because I've really honed in on my niche and I love my niche, I love the sources I get to interview. I'm almost always interested in what they have to say and often quite fascinated.   #4. Interviewing. I'm very thankful that my job requires me to interview people. I can't believe I get paid to talk to people and have the honor of telling their stories! I absolutely love the process of interviewing. I love the discovery process of when a source says something that leads me to ask a new question or go down a different path or ask them to expound or explain. I don't think I'll ever get tired of having fascinating conversations with medical professionals so I can then write great stories. I'm thankful every day that interviewing is a large part of my work. What do you absolutely love to do in your work? Do you get to do enough of it? How can you make changes in your business so you get to do more of that?   #5. The ability to change my mind and to scale back. As an employee, projects or new ideas were often thrusted upon me, and I couldn't just quit them whenever I wanted. But in my business, I can change my mind all the time! I didn't fully appreciate this when I started out. I had this idea that I was going to offer these certain services and that was it. And while I stopped providing social media services early on, I still don't think I realized at that time that my business could have multiple evolutions over the years. I can do whatever I want! At some point, I also realized I could scale back. It's OK to be a “company of one,” as author Paul Jarvis calls it in his book. His book and podcast really validated the fact that I didn't want to have employees or multiple subcontractors. I didn't want to become an agency. It also helped me this past year as I thought it was time to create courses. I realized I really don't want to create courses right now. Maybe in the future, but I'm not feeling that urge right now. I'm just not interested. And that's OK! I can change my mind, scale back, stay at status quote, not push myself to grow and grow. I'm really thankful for that. I think it's important for freelancers to realize we don't have to work all the time and constantly add new services.   #6. This entrepreneurial mindset. I never anticipated this when I went freelance, but I love that I'm constantly brainstorming, analyzing and thinking of new ideas for my business. I never imagined or thought of myself as an entrepreneur before I launched my own business. But I absolutely love the business side and entrepreneurial side of freelancing. I love considering where I want my business to go and how I'm going to make it happen. I love coming up with new ideas and trying them out. I'm thankful that I have such wide parameters that give me the freedom to go in almost any direction. I love being an entrepreneur. It sparks my creativity and keeps me energized.   #7 My freelance community. Thank you to my podcast listeners. Thank you to my larger community of writers, editors and other freelancers. Perhaps I could still be a successful freelancer without my community, but it would be much harder and very, very lonely. My community is there when I have questions, need to vent with people who will understand or want to run ideas by them. I get to nerd out with other editors and share great moments in writing with other writers. When I became a freelancer, I didn't fully grasp how important relationship-building and having my community would be. It has been important both to my work—people send me referrals and give me great advice—but it has also been important to my spirit and my mental health. So, I am very thankful for you.   Biz Bite: Schedule breaks for 2022   The Bookshelf: “Never Saw Me Coming” by Vera Kurian   Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) fall membership drive. Use the code: 2021FALLDRIVE ASJA Membership FAQs Episode #98 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: The Benefits of Selling Strategy and Outcomes, with Austin Church Austin Church's Fix Your Pricing Masterclass Fairytale Brownies Bookshop.org Sugarwish.com Company of One, the podcast “Company of One” by Paul Jarvis (book)

On today's show, I want to talk about simplicity and how to pare down your network. I talk a lot about building business relationships, which is a different way of considering how to build your network. Former podcast guest Anna Hetzel talked about this also, how to build community intentionally. By definition, a community will be smaller than a network. A network is often vast and you can't make personal connections with everyone in your network. A community should be made up of people you actually know and who are invested in your success—and you are invested in theirs. There have been times in my freelance journey where that large network is overwhelming. I've done things related to that network that are exhausting or a waste of time. So, as my business became more successful, I saw what was helpful and were I wanted to invest. I started to intentionally set the rest of it aside. And every now and again, after I try new things and new groups and new resources, I have to remind myself again to pare back. Here are some examples of potential overwhelm where you might need to pare back:   LinkedIn I purposely started using LinkedIn more and also more strategically this year. I know my client base is more likely to be on LinkedIn than Twitter, where I usually live. However, I was noticing that a lot of the posts I was seeing were from people I didn't remember ever connecting with. And when I would look at my list of connections, there was image after image of someone I didn't remember. I might have met this person once at a social gathering or a conference, but if we've never really communicated since, why am I connected with them? I had over 900 connections on LinkedIn! I felt like they were cluttering my feed and preventing me from truly making connections. After two rounds of culling my list to people I actually know and actually communicate with now and again, I am down to about 400 connections. Since then, I have noticed a definite difference in my feed. The posts now relate to my business in some way, and I recognize the original posters.   Online community groups This may mean Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Slack channels, tweet chats or private forums. I think a lot of us looked for new groups to join, or even started our own online communities, when the pandemic hit, so we could feel connected to other humans while in lockdown. But most of us aren't in full lockdown anymore, and either way there are probably some groups you outgrew. It's OK to join groups and leave them later. These don't have to be a permanent fixture in your life. What online communities are you a part of? Where do you spend the most of your time? Two more questions: What groups are you in that you just don't participate in? You can easily leave or delete those. Next: How do those groups make you feel? Are you overwhelmed? Do they create anxiety? Do they contribute to your imposter syndrome? If these groups are creating negative emotions, I highly recommend cutting back or eliminating them from your life. Ask yourself: What if you could only be a part of three online communities? What would they be? Rank what you love and stick with those. And delete the rest.   Smaller, more intimate groups Maybe these are ongoing text chains or regular Zoom chats with small groups. These can be amazing for your business, your mental health, for getting support and having camaraderie. I'm not encouraging you to get rid of all these smaller communities, but it's worth at least considering each one individually and asking yourself: What do you get out of them? Do they lift your spirits or do they overwhelm you? Also, please remember that you should never feel obligated to be a part of these communities. You can tell people, at any time, that you are feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities and the amount of time available in each day and that you need to cut back on some things. A few more things to consider: Email newsletters Magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Membership organizations and committee involvement. Biz Bite: Put subscription deadlines on your calendar. The Bookshelf: “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. Resources: Jennifer Duann Fultz's Hope You Get Rich course. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #113 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Build Relationships, Not a Network, with Anna Hetzel Episode #91 of Deliberate Freelancer: All Things Pricing: Project Rates, Day Rates, Retainers and More, with Jennifer Duann Fultz Episode #112 of Deliberate Freelancer: How and When to Say No Amy Knightly tweet  

Today's guest is Danna Lorch from Brookline, Massachusetts. Danna has been a freelance writer for 11 years, mostly focusing on journalism. She has covered the visual arts, design, architecture, the trades and parenting. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Architectural Digest and many other publications. Before becoming a writer, she managed nonprofits in the Middle East and Africa. Then, she covered the emerging art scene in the United Arab Emirates for seven years before “crash landing” back in the U.S. for health reasons, with her husband and young son. Most recently, Danna pivoted to working for higher education clients and now does about 30% journalism, 70% higher ed. About four years ago, Danna's husband became really sick and they had to quickly leave their home in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to move to the U.S. so he could get the treatment he needed. (He is now stable but with some lingering health issues.) Soon after, Danna discovered she had an autoimmune disorder. All of this has led her to restart her freelance business five times. The current iteration, which she restarted after the pandemic affected her business, has been her most successful. In the past, she's felt embarrassed to talk about the need to stop and start her freelance journey, especially with so many people sharing their successes on social media. But now, she's very public about how her personal challenges have affected her business. After landing an essay in The New York Times after the pandemic hit in 2020, she aimed for several more prestigious bylines to build a strong portfolio. Then, she used that to pivot to higher education. She used the articles she'd written about design, art and architecture as a “bridge” to focus on higher ed clients that have strong niches in those areas. Danna shifted her mindset to thinking of herself as a business owner. She set values and goals for her business. Now she values finding recurring, reliable work and working with kind clients. She would like her work to be meaningful. And if it can't be meaningful, it has to pay well. Danna's imposter syndrome is often high. She's had a lot of challenges and taken adventurous leaps and says “when you live your life like that, it's pretty hard not to sometimes question yourself and feel incompetent.” Imposter syndrome as a freelancer pops up when people ask, “Oh, are you still writing?” as if it's a hobby. Danna is also the mom of a young child and says people don't take “mom businesses” as seriously.  She was also scared to share some of her personal challenges because she didn't want to be seen as unreliable. Danna also talks about needing to set boundaries, which she didn't do in business much before having a child. Now, she sets boundaries as a mom, as an observant Jew and as someone managing an autoimmune disease. She recommends a “tech Sabbath” for everyone!   Biz Bite: Send Handwritten Thank You Notes   Resources: Episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer: You Need to Set Boundaries Episode #14 of Deliberate Freelancer: Freelancing with a Chronic Illness, with Christy Batta Episode #67 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Fight Imposter Syndrome, with Kristen Hicks www.dannalorch.com Danna on LinkedIn Danna on Twitter Danna on Instagram Writers' Co-op podcast SCORE.org and free business coaching Y Combinator Startup School    

It's time for my third quarter roundup. Each quarter I review and analyze my time tracking, hours worked, money earned and client mix. My hours in Q3 were similar to Q2. I worked an average of 28 hours a week in Q2 and an average of 27 hours a week in Q3 when you take out my vacation. However, I made less money, so I have to analyze that a bit more. Nothing like time tracking to show you when you are not committing to being unplugged during a vacation. I really wanted to take a full week or two off from work when I visited my parents at the end of August. But, like so many times before, I had a few projects I had to finish or things I had to check in with. Sometimes it's just easier to finish up a couple of projects when I'm at my parents' house, rather than stress myself out by finishing them before my trip or waiting until after. So, while visiting my parents for 11 days, I worked for three of those days. During my last week there, I only worked for four hours. Then, when I returned home, I took off the entire Labor Day weekend. So, not too bad. One of my goals in the near future is to figure out a better system to manage and create my podcast on time. Time tracking showed me that I work, on average, four hours a week on my podcast. That was 18% of my time in the third quarter, larger than any one project. The next closest chunk was administrative work at 13%. As I said earlier, Q3 was my slowest and lowest-paying quarter, even though I was working more hours. But, a lot of those hours were volunteering to speak at conferences, networking and, again, my podcast. All unpaid. I am definitely rethinking what speaking gigs I accept. It's ridiculous that most of the opportunities that come my way are unpaid. So, I have vowed to be more strategic about what I say yes to. Either pay me or put me directly in front of my ideal client base. In Q3, I didn't do as much marketing or networking as I usually do. In fact, I spent 30 hours networking and marketing in Q2. That dropped to only 17 hours this past quarter. I definitely felt the buzz word of this past year: “languishing.” I'm sure a lot of you can relate. This is one of the reasons I researched and found a marketing strategist that I hired for a full VIP day. It was a great investment. It helped me regain some inspiration and excitement with my business, and I walked away with a personalized marketing strategy. I'll talk more about what I learned and what I am implementing in future episodes. Back to money. So, May remains my highest-grossing month. August came in second highest, but that's misleading because the month before, in July, I only earned $3900. So, I really have to combine those months and take the average of the two. This is where cash flow is critical. You can't always count on projects and payments working out to your timeline. Projects get delayed; payments get delayed and lost. Building up a client base, and focusing on getting anchor clients, so that you can build up a savings and have a consistent cash flow is critical to running a successful freelance business. One of the things that is frustrating about my business in 2021 is the lack of consistency. People aren't sure about their budgets or when they might be able to start a project; they're taking baby steps into projects, not committing to big things or long term. This is happening everywhere during the pandemic as it's hard to plan ahead, and I feel that in my business too. Besides implementing my marketing strategy and figuring out a better podcast system, I'm working on two other goals for this fourth quarter: doing better with my goal to only work half-days on Fridays and getting back on the healthy eating wagon. Biz Bite: Schedule an admin week The Bookshelf: “Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America” by María Hinojosa Resources: Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #103 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Time Tracking and Client Analysis for Q2 Episode #94 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Time Tracking Audit for Q1—I Need a Better Schedule Episode #78 of Deliberate Freelancer: Building Your Community as a Newish Freelancer, with Alicia Chantal New York Times article: “There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling: It's Called Languishing”  

I'm replaying this January 2021 episode to hopefully motivate you, inspire you and encourage you to do some of these things if you haven't already yet this year. The year is starting to wind down, incredibly enough, so let's embrace these concepts and set up our businesses for success now. This episode might also be a good reminder of how to think like a business owner and how now to take time to improve your business. This episode goes through seven areas that I would love for you to improve upon, if you haven't already. They are: 1. Embrace a business owner mindset This idea is what this podcast is based on. Think of yourself as a freelance business owner and all that that entails. Words matter, and the words you tell yourself and others can help to change your mindset. 2. Raise your rates The pandemic has been a hard year economically too, so raising rates for all clients might not be doable. But there are some clients who fared well, and it may be time to raise your rates. It's certainly time to raise your rates for potential clients — they don't know what your past rates were! Also, if you have a secret hourly rate — which helps you determine project rates and/or is the amount you aim to earn every hour you are working for clients — I encourage you to raise it by at least $25 an hour. And don't ask your client about raising your rates. Remember, you are a business owner and costs go up. So, you can send an email and say “I wanted to let you know that my rates are going up as of such and such a date. My new rate will be this.” 3. Don't put all your eggs in one basket It's important to have anchor clients, but when you commit too much time to an anchor client or become too comfortable with that gig and that income, it can hurt you if you lose that client. Ideally, I would consider not having one client that is more than 35% of your income. When I talk about don't put all your eggs in one basket, I also mean your services. This can mean your services and/or your industry. Do you need to expand your niche to have niches that are similar? Can you use your skills to add more services for clients? 4. Don't compare yourself to others Sometimes you do this without even thinking about it. You look at others in your field, even friends of yours who are freelancers, and see their amazing careers or their clients or the big achievements they've reached. I can fall prey to this just like anyone else. We have to stop comparing ourselves to others. You are a unique individual, and your business is unique. You have different strengths and weaknesses and values and responsibilities and desires. First, social media. What social media platforms are you on often and how do they make you feel? Are you happy when you scroll through Instagram and see what people are doing and read motivational quotes? Or does it make you feel lazy or like a failure or that you need to do more? Maybe it is time to get off Instagram! This goes for all social media platforms. Take a critical look at how your viewing and interaction with these platforms make you feel. Another suggestion: Start a gratitude practice. Perhaps you want to start a gratitude journal to write down one to three simple things that you are thankful for that day. I embrace the word “savor” and try to remember to savor all the little things throughout the day. Another way to express gratitude in your life is to acknowledge and thank other people. You can still do that as a freelancer. You can let your direct client know if a staff member is really helpful on something. Complimenting and acknowledging people is like volunteering; it makes you feel good to make other people feel good. One more way to stop comparing yourself to others is to be alert for the word “should.” Anytime you say you “should” be doing something, catch yourself or have your partner or a friend call you out on it. “Should” often comes with shame and guilt. It makes you feel bad and does little to improve any situation. So stop shoulding yourself. 5. Set boundaries Boundaries tell you and those around you what is acceptable, appropriate human behavior. They vary from person to person. Knowing what your boundaries are and setting them is critical to building healthy, respectful relationships in your life. So, please check out episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer for tips on setting boundaries. 6. Get ahold of your finances For many of us, 2020 blew up our financial goals and plans. Now that the dust has settled a bit, if you haven't already, I highly encourage you in this first quarter of 2021 to get ahold of your finances. This could be a variety of things — it will be different for everyone, If you need help with your finances, I highly recommend episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer, with my guest Pam Capalad. Pam is a certified financial planner and a whiz when it comes to this stuff. 7. Take a vacation or staycation Plan time off now! Some freelancers tend to be bad in general about taking time off. My argument is always: If I'm going to take only 2-3 weeks of vacation a year or less, when I'm my own boss, than why am I my own boss? I shouldn't treat myself worse than an employer would. Freelancing means freedom. If you don't schedule vacations, staycations and days off, they often won't happen. Even if you can't really go anywhere because of the pandemic, you can play a staycation or other days off. I want all of you to get into a regular habit of planning and taking vacations — and DO NOT check email or do or check in on client work. That's not a vacation. It can be done. Remember, you're your own boss. You tell your clients you're going to be away. Depending on how regular the work is you may have to work ahead to get stuff done or hire a subcontractor to fill in. Or, take advantage of slow work times. You can also create working vacations, like I do in Indiana for two weeks most summers. The freedom to work anywhere gives you the flexibility to go places and keep in touch without having to completely log off work. Biz Bite: After/then habits The Bookshelf: “Behold the Dreamers” by Imbolo Mbue Resources Episode #1 of Deliberate Freelancer: Change Your Mindset: You Own a Freelance Business Episode #39 of Deliberate Freelancer: Raise Your Rates—Without Emotion Episode #23 of Deliberate Freelancer: Five Questions to Evaluate and Diversify Your Services Episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer: You Need to Set Boundaries Episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Take Charge of Your Finances, with Pamela Capalad https://tinyhabits.com/design/

Today's guest is Emma Siemasko, the founder of Stories By Us, a content marketing business. Emma, who lives in San Jose, California, also offers freelance writing coach and is co-host of the Freelance Writing Coach podcast.  Emma has been a solopreneur for six years. She is an expert on writing case studies to promote our businesses. She created the DIY Case Study Kit and has created dozens of case studies and customer stories for tech companies and solopreneurs. Emma's clients include Figma, Grammarly and Salesforce. A case study is “the story of a customer's transformation because they used your product or services.” Case studies go beyond testimonials and LinkedIn recommendations. Case studies allow you to get more specific about what it was like to work with you, plus you can share results. Melanie thinks of case studies as being sprinkled around solopreneurs' websites. But there are several ways you can use case studies. Case studies can be emailed as pdfs as part of your sales pitch or during onboarding. You can also pull out a quote from a case study and post it as a testimonial on your website. When choosing which clients to write case studies about, you may want to develop a case study for each one of the services you offer or each one of the niches/industries you cover. Your case study should tell a great story. This includes sharing your customer's challenge, how you solved it and the results. The best case studies require getting a client's permission and interviewing them about the relationship and project. Have a good set of questions written down. But if you feel uncomfortable or awkward doing that interview, you can outsource the interview part. Once you write the case study, send it to your client for review. Emma explains how to write a case study if you're “only” writing an article or doing a straightforward project that doesn't seem to lend itself to case studies at first—or you aren't privy to metrics. Results don't have to be metrics. Results can be how you made their job easier and what you were like to work with. Be creative in how you think about results. What was the value of working with you? Emma also talks about the nitty-gritty details: length, format, design.   Biz Bite: Use minimal viable systems. The Bookshelf: “Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire” by Lizzie Johnson   Resources: Emma's Go-To Case Study Interview Questions   Case study examples: The Core Centers How NFI Used WorkStep Retain to Improve Frontline Retention How Laura Got a 711% Return on Her Ad Spend How Kira Hug Helped Business By Design Drive Almost $500,000 in One Launch How Weebly Saved “a Million” Hours on Content Production and Achieved a 3X ROI   Emma's website, Stories By Us Emma on Twitter Emma on LinkedIn Freelance Writing Coach podcast Emma's DIY Case Study Kit to purchase—use the Code PODCAST to get 20% off. Emma's Case Study Email Templates to purchase    

Today's show is all about the benefits of time tracking. But it's not about my experience today. Instead, five Deliberate Freelancer listeners sent in audio files about their time-tracking experiences and explained the various ways time tracking has helped their freelance business. Information is power. I believe if you know how you're really spending your time—rather than making assumptions or incorrectly guessing—you can begin to figure out where you want to make changes and make better use of your time. I hope you find my guests' tips helpful today. And thank you to these lovely guests and listeners for participating!   Biz Bite: Download potential clients' lead magnets. The Bookshelf: “What Could Be Saved” by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz   Resources: Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #10 of Deliberate Freelancer: Think Like a Marketer to Grow Your Business, with Megy Karydes Episode #91 of Deliberate Freelancer: All Things Pricing: Project Rates, Day Rates, Retainers and More, with Jennifer Duann Fultz Episode #59 of Deliberate Freelancer: Parenting while Freelancing (with or without a pandemic), with Amy Ragland  

Today's guest is Courtney Chaal. Courtney is an American now living in Vancouver in Canada. Courtney helps creatives, coaches and consultants stop being broke and start getting more clients by creating an irresistible service that they can eventually turn into a scalable offer. End goal? Freedom! Courtney is a copywriter turned business coach obsessed with making complex concepts (like business models and sales copy) simple and tangible to help regular people get big results. Over the past 10 years, her business has evolved from her writing custom proposals to now launching digital products and programs, including her high-ticket coaching program, called Yay for 100K. Courtney was diagnosed in July 2020 with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). Before her diagnosis, she was struggling with managing her business: “I was dropping a lot of balls; I thought I was really organized and I just kept forgetting things. I was struggling with feeling like I should be more on top of things than I was.” Some ways ADHD manifested in Courtney was that her house was messy, she would forget things—one time, she bought two plane tickets to the same conference. When her mom first suggested she might have ADHD in 2020, Courtney first took a short online quiz, which found she had a high correlation with ADHD. One she was formally diagnosed, she said, “I never felt so validated in my entire life. … I thought I had 100 different small problems and what this showed me was that every single thing I was struggling with in my life was one thing.” Melanie shares that her husband also has ADHD and was only diagnosed a few years ago in his 40s. Courtney believes the name of ADHD is misleading because people with ADHD don't often have a lack of attention; they have a lack of control over where their attention goes. In fact, people with ADHD often hyper-focus on something they are interested in at the moment, forgetting many other responsibilities. Courtney also doesn't like the word “disorder.” Her ADHD is just a neutral quality of how her brain functions, with both pros and cons. As Courtney explains, an ADHD brain is wired for interest over importance. Until something becomes an emergency, it's not important for ADHDers to deal with. Courtney long knew there were certain things she wasn't good at in her business—following through, organization—but her diagnosis allowed her to let go of trying to be good at those things. It gave her permission to hire a full-time operations manager. ADHD has both negatives and positives. Courtney sees her ADHD as her superpower. If she didn't have ADHD, she would also be giving up her creativity, her out-of-the-box thinking, her problem-solving, her big picture thinking skills, her humor and being quick on her feet. No one person gets to have all the good qualities and none of the challenges. Instead of developing “coping” strategies, Courtney lets go of other people's strategies. For example, she tries not to buy the planners at the beginning of the year because she knows that she won't use a planner. Outsourcing has helped her tremendously with areas of friction. She outsources her laundry, orders groceries online, hires a cleaning person and uses meal prep services. You can also find smaller, simpler strategies to help in areas of friction for you. For example, whenever Courtney prepares to leave the house, she always says the mantra “wallet, keys, phone,” so she can be sure not to forget one of those things. She also recently had keyless entry installed on her apartment. She also hates hanging up coats on hangars, so she makes sure to have hooks instead, which she'll use, and that they're in the right place. Biz Bite: Do a brain dump: When you fall into an overwhelming “pit of despair,” stop and write down everything swirling in your brain that you have to get done.   Resources: CourtneyChaal.com Courtney on Instagram Courtney on Twitter Courtney's Rebel Productivity Facebook group A Guide to ADHD ADDitude magazine    

Today's guest is Anna Hetzel, from Columbus, Ohio. Anna is the owner and founder of Strange Birds, a business they started five years ago in which they convert copywriting and strategy for websites and community design and strategy.   Anna works with service providers and entrepreneurs who are trying to expand their reach and figure out how to talk to their ideal clients and build more scalable offers through paid online communities.   Hear the fun story about how Anna named their business Strange Birds.   A lot of freelance advice is about how to grow your network. But Anna approached it differently. From day one, they approached it based on relationships: “I didn't give two hoots about how many people I was connected to. What mattered to me was did I have good relationships I was connected to.”   The value of that relationship building showed up when the pandemic hit. Instead of having just a lot of names of people Anna had met, they had real relationships.   Melanie talks about how she hates the traditional cocktail hour networking event where she doesn't know anyone. Anna offers a tip: Anna's goal at those events is to make one friend—not one contact, but one friend. That helped them filter out the noise and overwhelm.   At networking events, we may feel pressured to meet 12 new people and begin to develop opportunities. But opportunities take time. Focus on making one new friend instead.   There's a difference between a network and a community: “It's the difference between a list of contacts versus a group of people that are mutually invested in each other's success.”   Your social media following or your email list is a network. They are not a community; they are your audience.   It can be hard to make friends as an adult! Find what you're good at—like writing or photography—and read related social media posts and comment thoughtfully. Give your energy in that space.   As for virtual events, it's OK to decline those and set boundaries. Do what makes you feel comfortable. That includes not turning on your video during Zoom calls.   Anna uses the five love languages to build relationships in their business too. The love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, gift giving and physical touch. Anna modifies the “physical touch” love language for the business world to think of it as “human to human.” Add a human touch, such as by sending gifs of people or a video of you reacting to an email.   Biz Bite: Before tomorrow, write out what an amazing day means to you (both in work and life) and build your business ferociously around those guidelines.   Resources: Sign up for Anna's email list at StrangeBirds.land and receive a quick guide to match your unique skills and simple-to-implement scalable ways to move away from transactional contacts and into real relationships.   Anna on Instagram   Episode #112 of Deliberate Freelancer: How and When to Say No   “Hoatzin: the Strangest Bird in the Amazon?”   Loom (send quick video messages)   What Are the Five Love Languages?  

I am really good at saying no. Today, I'm going to walk you through nine common scenarios freelance business owners experience and tell you how I say no to these questions and situations. Even if the language I use doesn't resonate with you, I hope it will get you thinking, encourage you to say no more often and help you figure out how to say no in your own words. “No” is a complete sentence. You've heard that, right? But in business there usually needs to be a bit more finesse than that. And there are a lot of different ways to say no depending on the situation. Whenever you are considering anything—whenever you are trying to decide whether to do something, always keep in mind: You are a business owner. You are in charge of your business, your life and your career. YOU choose who you work with, just as much as they are choosing you. YOU choose what you are worth. YOU set the parameters. Everything can be negotiated. You are a business owner. Words to stop using: Just Unfortunately I'm sorry (except in rare cases, like when you actually make a mistake).   Don't qualify your answer. Don't apologize for how you run your business. And stop over-explaining things when you say no.   Scenario #1: You don't want to do the project. My answer: Thanks for reaching out, but this project is not the right fit for me.   Scenario #2: You don't have time. My answers (here's where it might be OK to say “I'm sorry” if that makes you feel better): I'm sorry, I am fully booked for the next month. I'm sorry, I am fully booked for the three weeks. Is there any flexibility with the deadline?   Scenario #3: You are asked to sign an onerous contract (non-compete, insurance requirement, indemnity clause). My answers (first, try to negotiate): Can we strike the indemnity clause from the contract? Indemnity clauses put all legal risk on my solo business and I cannot sign contracts with them. or, offer to replace the clause: I cannot sign a contract with an indemnity clause. Indemnity clauses put all legal risk on my solo business. I will guarantee my work, though. Can we replace the indemnity clause with the following guarantee: The writer guarantees that the articles she writes will not contain material that is consciously libelous or defamatory, to the best of her ability.   If I'm asked to sign a non-compete, the answer is always no. That's non-negotiable as a freelancer, so I'll say: As a freelance business owner with multiple clients, I cannot sign a non-compete.   The end. They can take that or leave it. The same goes for insurance (for me, personally).   Scenario #4: The pay is too low. My answer: This is much lower than what I charge. I charge XX per XX. Is that within your budget?   If they say no, or if they can't negotiate to an acceptable rate, I usually respond with something like: I'm unable to do the project at this rate. Thanks for thinking of me and I wish you luck.   Scenario #5: Vague requests or “can we get on the phone?” or “what are your rates?” My answer: Could you email me a bit more about what you're looking for and what your budget is so I can determine if I might be a good fit?   Scenario #6. Can you lower your price? My answer: No. In an email, I might say: No, I can't lower my price.   Scenario #7: The client asks for something beyond the scope of work. My answer: I'm happy to to do this work. However, the original proposal included XYZ and was based on a maximum of XXX words/pages/parameters, which is what I provided. I can do this extra work at an additional rate of $XXX/hour. I would estimate approximately 2-3 more hours would be needed.   Scenario #8: Can I pick your brain? My answer—I may not answer an email at all if I don't know them. You don't have to respond to people. It's not the law. I will also point people to relevant podcast episodes instead—you can do that with a blog or other articles too. Or I say: I'd be happy to talk with you. My consulting fee is XX per hour. or I offer a 30-minute coaching call for XX dollars.   Scenario #9: Someone asks you to volunteer or speak at an event and you cannot. My answer: I'm sorry, I don't have the capacity to add anything else to my plate right now. or I would love to, but I'm completely booked right now and can't commit to any more volunteering opportunities. or What is the payment for speaking? (or What is the compensation?) or I don't do unpaid speaking. Do you have a budget in mind?   Biz Bite: Save a script of how to say no.   The Bookshelf: “The Nothing Man” and ALL the books by Irish crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard   Resources: Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer: You Need to Set Boundaries Episode #102 of Deliberate Freelancer: Freelancer Survival Skills + a Pep Talk about Boundaries, with Sarah Townsend Episode #91 of Deliberate Freelancer: All Things Pricing: Project Rates, Day Rates, Retainers and More, with Jennifer Duann Fultz  

Today's guest is Madalena Sanchez Zampaulo. Madalena lives in Southern California and owns a boutique translation agency called Accessible Translation Solutions, which she opened in 2010. She continues to do freelance translation work as well, specializing in medicine and life sciences. Madalena shares her knowledge and years of research to help freelance translators and interpreters improve their online presence—from their websites and LinkedIn profiles to SEO and copywriting. She does this through her blog, as well as courses, webinars and coaching and as co-host of the podcast Smart Habits for Translators. I asked Madalena to come on the podcast after I saw how she revamped her website earlier this year. I was impressed with all the services and products she offers other freelancers and how she organized them all into a Resource Library. Today, Madalena talks about blogging, creating courses and becoming a coach for other freelancers.   Madalena translates from Spanish and Portuguese to English. She explains the difference between a translator (written) and an interpreter (spoken). Madalena is a six-figure freelancer. She offers two ways to get there: Diversify your services and work with the right clients—those who see you as a partner and pay well. Madalena started marketing her services through a blog and then created an email list to send out new blog posts and other content. She commits to posting on her blog every other week—weekly seemed too cumbersome—but she also takes breaks and vacations when she needs to. Three areas that have helped her market her business are her email list, social media and word-of-mouth. In fact, the latter is probably the biggest driver for her business. Public speaking also drives a lot of people to her blog, email list and social media. Madalena breaks down the type of courses she has offered to freelance business owners and how that has evolved over the past few years. She now offers monthly office hour for her course students over Zoom, modeled after a professor's “office hours.” She sets a block of time she's always available and students can hop on Zoom to ask any questions. She also has a community for her course students in Slack. Before you start creating courses, consider what you can offer that fills a need in the space. What are the motivations people have for taking your course? What is the transformation your students want from your course? When creating your course think about how to relay complex information in a logical way.  When considering coaching, Madalena said: “I listened to what people were asking me for and decided ‘is this something I can offer well and offer successfully?'” With coaching, you don't have to have all the answers or offer advice. Coaching often means offering people a new perspective and new ideas they didn't think of. You are helping them figure out how to get unstuck or providing encouragement or reassurance. Before you offer coaching, consider what you can offer that fills a gap for people. There are coaches for every topic. What is it that you can provide that people really need and how can you meet them where they are? How can you be different from what's already available? Delivery of coaching is important. Consider whether you want to coach—or your clients want coaching—that is face-to-face, via Zoom, or via phone, text or email. Giving people options can be helpful. If you're going to become a coach, think it through. Take the pulse of the people who will actually pay for your services. Try it out. Once you commit to coaching someone, it may be long-term. You can't just quit it immediately. People are expecting you to show up. Creating is exhausting. You can be more productive if you give yourself a break. Go for a walk. Do some chores and just let yourself think. That's part of the creation process—giving yourself enough space to think something through.   Biz Bite: Do something today that your tomorrow self will thank you for.   Resources: Madalenazampaulo.com Accessible Translation Solutions  Madalena on Twitter Madalena on Instagram Smart Habits for Translators podcast MemberSpace for courses Loom for video messaging Vimeo for videos Contentstudio for social media management Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.

This week is a short episode because I'm supposed to be on vacation. Tune in to hear how this part-working vacation, part unplugged real vacation is going so far.   Biz Bite: Schedule a Monthly Self-Care Reminder   The Bookshelf: “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir   Resources: Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.

On today's show I go over 33 ways you can find new clients. This is a replay of episode #43, which came out January 23, 2020, before we knew what was in store for us. A couple of my recommendations refer to in-person conferences and in-person networking, which is not happening for most us right now during the pandemic. However, just imagine that I'm saying “virtual conference” every time because I've found virtual conferences these page 18 months to be great for networking, providing presentations to a wide audience, and education. So, consider what you can do with virtual conferences to gain new clients. But before you embark on a project to find new clients, do a little prep work. First, consider what type of work you truly want more of. What do you love to do? What work pays well? Focus on that. Next, raise your rates. Then, be crystal clear on what you want to say to those potential clients. Focus on how you can help them and what they want. Now, you're ready to find new clients. Here are my tips (scroll down to the Resources section for a printable pdf of this list): Ask current clients for new work. Ask current or past clients for referrals. Go to industry conferences. Maximize your LinkedIn profile and add keywords. Send a ridiculous number of letters of introduction (LOIs). Follow up on past LOIs or with people you've met in real life. Add a new service. Apply to speak at conferences as an expert in your field. Reach out to your contacts who are at new jobs. Write a guest blog post in your industry. Ramp up your social media game. Go old school and mail out postcards to a select group. Join organizations and make sure to fill out your profile in the online directory. Apply to win awards in your field. Be active in Facebook groups and/or Twitter chats. Create a private Twitter list of potential clients. Launch or revive your blog. Create an email list. Create a newsletter. Create a freebie. Set up keyword searches on Twitter. Ask for testimonials from happy clients. Ask for LinkedIn recommendations. Try Facebook Live or Instagram Stories. Be a guest on a podcast. Revamp your website. Update your online portfolio. Consider partnerships. Answer job ads. Go to local events. Connect with a co-working space. Tell everyone you meet what you do. Fire a client. Biz Bite: Stop reading and listening to things that make you angry. The Bookshelf: “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid Resources: 33 Ways to Find More Clients printable pdf Episode #23 of Deliberate Freelancer: Five Questions to Evaluate and Diversify Your Services Episode #18 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Set Higher Rates Episode 22 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Create a Better Work-Life Balance, with Laura Poole Episode #6 of Deliberate Freelancer: Make the Most of Conferences Episode #24 of Deliberate Freelancer: Networking Tips, Especially as an Introvert Episode #20 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Use LinkedIn Better to Find Clients, with Phaedra Brotherton

Today's guest is Suzy Bills from Utah. Suzy  is an editor and author and a faculty member in the editing and publishing program at Brigham Young University (BYU). She was previously a lead editor for the Joseph Smith Papers, and she's owned a writing and editing business for more than a decade. Suzy's book, “The Freelance Editor's Handbook” is being published this fall by the University of California Press. She is also starting to offer business consulting and coaching for freelancers. Suzy began freelancing on the side in 2006 while working as an editor full-time. She became a full-time freelancer in 2011. She started at BYU as an adjunct professor and was offered a full-time position in 2017. She continues to maintain her writing and editing business. Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that causes people to strive to be flawless. That causes them to set really high standards and be quite critical in how they evaluate their performance. It often leads people to think they shouldn't make any mistakes. Perfectionism can be destructive, but it can also have positive qualities. Suzy saw perfectionism in herself and worked to turn it into a positive attribute. Perfectionism can lead to obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, eating disorders and more. There are two types of perfectionism: adaptive/constructive and maladaptive/destructive. With adaptive perfectionism, people set high standards and are motivated to reach them in encouraging and exciting ways. This can lead to happiness, a sense of meaning and satisfaction with life. With maladaptive perfectionism, people set high standards but aren't optimistic they can achieve them. It leads to self-criticism, stress and low self-esteem, which often leads to burnout. And too much stress on yourself can actually lead to lower performance on a project or task. Overcoming perfectionism is mostly about changing our thinking. We can be working on the exact same project but look at our goals and success in different ways. Perfectionism causes some people to not even start their freelance business. It causes freelance business owners to not reach out to new clients, to not start new services, to discount projects and give refunds over small mistakes. Humans, including copy editors, aren't perfect. Industry standards say 90% accuracy in editing is achievable and acceptable. Copy editors are not always going to be 100% accurate. (This is also a good reason to hire a proofreader later on.) How can we recognize and manage perfectionism? Practice being self-aware and catching yourself when you're in a perfectionism spiral. Are you using your perfectionism in a healthy way? Perfectionism might manifest as being cruel to yourself. At that point, put your thoughts on trial. Stop being the prosecutor and be the objective judge or jury. Find and evaluate the evidence that shows what you are thinking is not accurate (for example, success on a last project, this client rehired you). You may also identify an area of weakness. That's OK. If that happens, create a plan about improving that weakness. Ask yourself: Where was the breakdown that led to that mistake? It is a process issue, overwork, lack of sleep or lack of skills? To encourage a positive mindset, create a mantra that works for you and repeat it multiple times every day. It might feel silly at first, but you will start to internalize it and believe it. Accountability partners can also help reassure you when you're being too hard on yourself. It's also important and helpful for people to talk about their mistakes and weaknesses to normalize that we are not perfect. Write down your thoughts, especially because people tend to ruminate on the bad thoughts and situation. Writing can help get it out of your mind and allow you to move past it. Keep a record of positive feedback, whether in an email folder, a smartphone “boost bank” folder or in a praise jar. If you do discover you made a mistake, you are likely to react physically. So, change that physical reaction. Take deep breaths, move your body to relax it. Walk around. Go for a longer walk. Next, take responsibility for a mistake with a client. That actually increases respect for you. Then, create an action plan to prevent that type of mistake in the future.   Biz Bite: Set Aside Professional Development Time Every Week   Resources: Suzy's book, “The Freelance Editor's Handbook” http://writingandeditingbysuzy.com Suzy Bills on LinkedIn ACES–the Society for Editing Episode #70 of Deliberate Freelancer: Techniques to Deal with Anxiety from My New Therapist Episode #71 of Deliberate Freelancer: 3 Failures and the Lessons They Taught Me  

For the past several years, I've chosen a word (or words) of the year in January, a theme to keep me focused on a particular goal or area. In 2021, my word was simplicity. I think I needed that after 2020. Plus, in January 2021, things were still looking a bit bleak. COVID numbers were high, I hate winter, a bunch of traitors tried to destroy our U.S. Capitol and harm lawmakers. Whew.   “Simplicity” was quite different from my planned 2020 words of “Explore + Act” (that changed once the pandemic hit) and my 2019 word, “leap.”   But in 2021, I vowed I was going to lean in to simplicity. Well, now it's August and I'm fighting with myself over that word. I feel like different sides of my personality are battling with each other. Simplicity is lovely and relaxing. But simplicity is also status quo and holding off on big ideas.   I want to explore—and act—on the big ideas I have for this podcast, not sit back and contemplate. But then there's the other side of me that likes living a calm, simple life.   Several of my podcast guests have talked about setting big goals and not sticking with the status quo. While I get excited about that in theory, what I don't say to them is: That sounds like a lot of work. And I don't know if I want to work more. I don't know that I want to set that big goal and have to put in all the extra hours to achieve it. I like working less than 30 hours a week and not on the weekends.   Is that my fear talking? Am I just lazy? Am I just scared of leaving my comfort zone?   Is it OK to just stay the same with my business? Is it OK to just be comfortable?   Of course it is. But how can I embrace simplicity when I want to explore—and act—on those big ideas?    After almost eight years of freelancing, I'm thinking about scaling up more than at any other time. For me, this involves two sides of my business: MelEdits and Deliberate Freelancer.   Let's talk about scaling up. It's a buzzy, jargony, marketing phrase. And I think when we hear it as freelance business owners, we often think that means becoming an agency, or at least hiring a few subcontractors and doing more strategy work, rather than the doing the actual implementation.   But scaling up does not have to mean becoming an agency. And being successful in your freelance business does not mean the next logical step is becoming an agency. You can remain a company of one forever. Hiring virtual assistants and subcontractors as needed can be great, but you don't even have to do that if you don't want to. I, for one, want to keep doing the writing and editing.   So, are there other ways to grow your business? What about this idea of passive income? Selling books, courses, templates and other products. (Of course none of this is really passive because you have to create it and then continue to market it.)   I am now thinking of Deliberate Freelancer not just as a podcast, but as a business—as the freelance knowledge and community side of my business.   What if Deliberate Freelancer could build and foster a community—a community of you all, freelance business owners? And what if it could then offer you services to help you grow your freelance business?   Listen to this podcast episode for all the ideas swirling around in my head and stay tuned for how Deliberate Freelancer will be expanding. This free podcast will remain, but there will be new opportunities and offers for you soon.   Have new ideas for Deliberate Freelancer and where it should go? Please let me know! Email me at melanie@meledits.com or tweet me or DM me on Twitter @MelEdits.   So, how can you scale up, or create a new arm of your business, or make more money—but doing that by doing what you love? What big, bold idea gets you excited?   Creating an agency isn't for everyone. Taking on more work isn't always the right call. Think creatively and do what ignites a fire in your belly.   Biz Bite: Don't Do Everything Right Now   The Bookshelf: “Falling” by T.J. Newman   Resources:   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.   Episode #105 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Procrastination Struggle and Potential Solutions   Episode #95 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Dream Bigger and Transform Your Freelance Business, with Cathy Wilkes   Episode #98 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: The Benefits of Selling Strategy and Outcomes, with Austin Church    

Today's guest is Sarah Greesonbach from Richmond, Virginia. Sarah is a B2B content marketing writer and has been freelancing since 2013. She operates the B2B Content Studio, a freelance consultancy that helps agencies and Fortune 500 technology companies in the HR, retail/e-com and higher education space develop B2B content marketing assets such as white papers, thought leadership articles, case studies and more.   Sarah is also the founder of B2B Writing Institute, which is developing a workforce of highly trained and certified B2B writers to meet the B2B marketing content needs of the future.   Sarah talks about two kinds of doubt: creative doubt and doubt as a freelance business owner. She worked to overcome the doubt for years, but then she realized that being a freelancer means you are going to experience doubt from time to time as clients and projects and income fluctuate.   Sarah talks about how we sometimes say “yes” to work even though we should have stopped because our calendar in that month was full.   “When I look at my calendar and see that it's not physically possible to do what I've said I'll do, that just creates this stress and anxiety that doesn't go away very easily.”   Doubt can pop up during those times when you're too busy, which also can make you start to feel burnt out. Sarah asks herself a couple of questions in those moments to help get her back on track: How is my cash flow? Fear often pops up as a cash-flow problem, so Sarah tries to keep at least 1–3 months of income in the bank, which causes less stress and for her to say “no” more often. Sometimes she'll start to look at employee job postings and daydream about being an employee again. That's when she asks herself: What am I really missing right now? She considers what she likes in a healthy work life. For her, it's often purpose, security and community. So, she asks what she's missing and how can she fix it.   Sarah talks about how to fire clients, including clients where she liked the people but was bored with the work. She listens to her gut when she doesn't want to do a project anymore. She tells those clients that she is shifting her business.   In one case, she wrote a long letter explaining the situation but then she did not send the letter. You don't have to share all the details and make it dramatic. It's just business.   In freelancers who are struggling, she sometimes sees that they have a scarcity mindset—thinking there's not enough work. But, she sees an overwhelming need for freelance writers in her work.   Sarah has set some parameters around her schedule recently that have transformed her business. Because her work requires a lot of phone interviews, her day was getting taken up by all these 30-minute calls with only short breaks in between—not enough time to do focused work. She began to reserve only a couple of days a week for phone calls—right now she is not doing phone calls on Mondays or Fridays.    Getting control of social media “check ins” was also important. Now, she doesn't get on Slack or social media until 2 p.m. on work days. She thought she had been keeping in touch and staying “on top of things,” but she hasn't missed out on anything by waiting until after 2 p.m.   Biz Bite: Comment Back (you never know who will respond!)   Resources:   Sarah's B2B Writing Institute   Sarah's podcast: B2B Craftworks   Sarah on LinkedIn   Sarah on Twitter   Freedom app (to block certain websites and social media)   Boomerang app in Gmail (to schedule when emails are delivered to her)   Book “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” by Greg McKeown

Today's guest is Anita Kwan, from Columbus, Ohio. Anita is the owner of a video production company called Reel Hoot. Her mission is to hold a safe and inclusive space in video production while having fun. She helps women, people of color and LGBTQ+ businesses thrive with video strategy and marketing content.   Connection is important to Anita. She co-runs an online community called PB&Qs, which stands for Professional, Business and Queers. This community hosts monthly events for women, trans and non-binary professionals looking to network and grow professionally. Look for a link   Anita started Reel Hoot Productions about five years ago after getting laid off. When her business took off quickly, she stopped looking for a full-time job.   Because she is focused on live video, Anita's business took a big hit when the pandemic arrived in the U.S. in spring 2020. However, while the pandemic took away her ability to film, she quickly pivoted to provide services to client. She could still use her editing skills, and she embraced her creativity, using stock images or whatever assets a client had, such as photos or short videos on their phone.    Now, in summer 2021, she's been able to meet in-person with more people and also embraces shooting outdoors as needed.   Videos are some of the best ways to reach your audience because they are an automatic attention grabber. It's a great way to take your audience on your journey and build a connection.   Anita encouraged us to ask ourselves: When is video right for my business and why? Who is my audience? You need to be able to answer those questions before you decide to create a video.   Anita says, “I can create a great video for you, but if you don't have a plan, if you don't know who your message is going to reach, if you don't know who your audience is, then it's just going to be a video with no eyes on it.”   Anita talks us through the array of platforms—Instagram, Facebook Live, YouTube, etc.—and how to choose between them.   Choosing social media video options depends on who you want to reach and on your personality. Some people love doing live video while others prefer to record it first.   Consider how you can repurpose your videos. You can “chop up” a longer video into shorter bits to share on time-limited platforms such as Instagram Reels or Tik-Tok. Anita explains the difference between Instagram photo posts, Stories and Reels and how each works best. Stories is often more the day-to-day sharing and a way to build consistent content. Stories only lasts 24 hours, so don't worry about the production too much.   Anita believes we should be authentic online and in videos. The “professionalism” demeanor some freelancers think they have to uphold at all times does not mean they can't talk about their personal lives or how they are feeling about their business or life. For example, businesses and people who were only posting about business during the pandemic came across as “non-human.” They were not connecting to people and recognizing how difficult life was for most people.   The type of video will depend on your goals and your messaging. Anita walked us through a couple of types: branding videos to introduce your business; behind-the scenes videos to show your personality and/or process to build trust and credibility; educational or how-to videos to share your expertise.   A common misconception about video is that it's easy to create a video, but Anita says a lot of videos are too long, don't have a direct storyline, are boring, or have poor lighting. A well-produced video follows a three-step process: pre-production (planning), production (filming) and post-production (editing).   The good news is that video is more affordable than ever. And production quality isn't the top priority for your audience, as we learned during the pandemic when everyone had to make their own videos at home.   If you're uncomfortable with being on video, Anita says we need to be easier on ourselves. It's OK to fumble your words, to not look perfect. Get comfortable with being authentic and vulnerable. We are often our own worst critics.   Anita also talks about audio and lighting options and best practices.   To brainstorm on what videos to create, watch a lot of other videos. See what you like about them and draw inspiration from those.   Biz Bite: Find a community to get involved in.   Resources: Anita's business, Reel Hoot Productions: www.reelhootproductions.com   Anita and Reel Hoot on Instagram   Anita's community: Professionals, Business, & Queers (PB&Qs)   PB&Qs on Instagram   Dollar Shave Club's 2012 hilarious and low-budget branding video   How Dollar Shave Club used video to grow to a $1 billion exit (2020 article)  

On today's episode I am talking through my embarrassing business secret: procrastination. It's my biggest struggle in my business and the thing I hate the most about my business self. I feel like it makes me look lazy or unreliable.    I'm a big fan of time tracking, and time tracking has showed me that I don't get a lot done on most Fridays unless I have a meeting scheduled or a deadline. But, because I have every intention of doing some work on Fridays and then it doesn't happen, I end up doing it on Sunday. And I hate that feeling of the work hanging over my head on Sunday.   Here are some reasons why we procrastinate:   Fear of failure I don't think this is behind my procrastination most of the time. But is it behind yours? We put off things we don't know how to start or we don't feel good enough to work on. When you are afraid of failure, you are often overgeneralizing things about yourself or being too hard on yourself. But remember: Your client would not have hired you if you didn't have some skills.   It can be helpful to give yourself a pep talk: Remind yourself of projects you've done similarly that you have succeeded in. In episode 102 of Deliberate Freelancer, guest Sarah Townsend recommended, as her Biz Bite, keeping a Boost Bank, which is when you take a screenshot of all the compliments, good reviews and positive testimonials you have received and then put them all in one photo folder on your phone to look at now on again.   Not interested in the task Are you procrastinating simply because you don't want to do that task? We have all probably experienced this at some point. When this is an issue, I like the idea of “eat the frog,” which means doing the thing you don't want to do. Just do it first thing at the start of your work day and get it over with. Or, batch several “eat the frog” tasks and do them all at once. It feels so great when you get those annoying things off your to-do list and can quit thinking about them.   ADHD or depression Procrastination can also be a sign of having ADHD or depression. This is when it might be time to see a doctor or therapist.   None of these are reasons for my procrastination right now. I think I just have a lack of motivation. I should listen to my own podcast! Back in episode #31, I talked about how to work when you're feeling blah.   This could be a big neon sign that I need to start taking my afternoon walks again and/or meditate in the morning. I may also need to see my acupuncturist.   One thing I did recently is take a hard look at my schedule and how and when I work. I tried to really think outside the box about what I could be doing differently that would be better for me.   Two good things I'm already doing: I take advantage of morning peak productivity time and I don't schedule meetings or anything else on Mondays.   But, I had a little debate with myself about whether I should just accept working on Sundays and stop treating it as a Sunday or refuse to work Sundays. I am also debating whether to work half-days on Fridays.   The problem with Fridays is two-fold: I'm lying to myself that I can do things on Friday when I know full-well that by Friday afternoon I'm brain dead and I get very little done. The other problem is that I sit at my desk Friday afternoon and fritter the time away when I should just back away from my desk.   But what if I really worked on switching my mindset? I could declare to myself that I will not work Friday afternoons and I will not work on the weekends. This just needs to be a new mindset shift. And a lot of mindset is how you talk to yourself. What is your self-talk?   Right now, I've been telling myself that I do work Fridays and worse, “well, I always have Sunday to catch up.” I hate that feeling, it's not helpful, and I need to stop.   I also think that a two-day break might be just the thing I need to refresh me and help me not procrastinate during the week. (That person who invented weekends might be on to something!) Maybe working on Sunday is bumming me out, which leads to me procrastinating from lack of motivation during the week—which then causes me to have to work on Sundays! A perpetual cycle. Mind blown.   Before this revelation, I asked some freelancer friends on social media what I should do about procrastination, and I got a lot of good ideas to try out. Here are a few:   Rethink your entire schedule and set new office hours that fit you better. Block your time and batch tasks—do like-minded tasks at the same time. Or, even create solid days of a certain task, like Tuesday is reserved for writing and never meetings. Try Caveday.org, an online accountability Zoom call with strangers. Create strict boundaries that you know will keep you on task, like going to a coffee shop. (I always focus better when I put on my noise-canceling headphones—even with no music!)   Accountability partners.   Biz Bite: Put Times with Your To-Do List   The Bookshelf: “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid   Resources:   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.   Episode #102 of Deliberate Freelancer: Freelancer Survival Skills + a Pep Talk about Boundaries, with Sarah Townsend (talking about a Boost Bank as the Biz Bite)   Episode #31 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Get Motivated to Work When You're Feeling Blah   Episode #103 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Time Tracking and Client Analysis for Q2   Episode #52 of Deliberate Freelancer: Embracing Self-Care without Guilt, with Acupuncturist Rachel Brumberger

Today's episode is all about books and reading! I talk book podcasts and tell you about a great book list app. I also recommend the seven best fiction books and one best nonfiction book I've read so far in 2021.   My new favorite book podcasts, which I also support on Patreon to get the extra podcast content, are:   Sarah's Bookshelves Live   From the Front Porch podcast (from a bookstore called The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia)   The Currently Reading Podcast (Love their Indie Press list Patreon partnership with Fabled Bookshop & Cafe in Waco, Texas)   I'm also a huge fan of the Book of the Month Club.   The app I use to track my books: Reading List   The best books I've read so far in 2021: The Dry by Jane Harper The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James Sea Wife by Amity Gage Writers and Lovers by Lily King When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins   Nonfiction: The Premonition by Michael Lewis   A disappointing book of 2021: Survive the Night by Riley Sager   Worst book I've read so far in 2021: The Whispering House by Elizabeth Brooks   My most anticipated books for the second half of 2021: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby Falling by T.J. Newman False Witness by Karin Slaughter   A few more books that are getting great reviews this year:   Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston The Guncle by Steven Rowley Seven Days in June by Tia Williams   If you love the following authors, here are new books coming out this fall:   Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander series) by Diana Gabaldon Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult     Biz Bite: Reattach to Work Each Morning   Learn more by clicking on habit #19 here: https://www.developgoodhabits.com/productivity-hacks/   Related study: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0149206319829823   More resources:   Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter.   Episode #51 of Deliberate Freelancer: Reading and Book Recommendations during Coronavirus   Episode #87 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Most Anticipated 2021 Books (and Fave 2020 Books)

At the end of every quarter I'm going to conduct an analysis of my time tracking, income and clients and projects. I use Toggl to track my time, and it is particularly helpful to let me know how much I am earning per hour for projects in which I'm paid per word or per project. It also tells me how much time it takes me to do certain types of projects, instead of just guessing. That is valuable information the next time I create a similar proposal and set a project rate for a potential client. In the first quarter of 2021, I worked an average of 23 hours per week. I actually wanted to increase that, which I did. In Q2 I worked an average of 28 hours a week. This includes paid work, administrative work, networking and marketing. I also made sure to take a vacation. Once I was fully vaccinated, I drove to Indiana to visit my parents. Unfortunately, because the vacation wasn't planned out way in advance like I usually do, I still had deadlines I had to meet. I ended up working a few hours on average each day for the week I was there, which none of us liked. I decided to leave a few days early because I was eager to have a completely work-free, email-free staycation at my house. So, when I got home, I took four days completely off work, followed by a few easier work days. That time with my parents and then time off completely from work at home rejuvenated me. In fact, I felt like I worked a lot of hours in May and not so many in June. However, when I looked at my time tracking for the two months, I actually worked more hours per week in June than the weeks when I felt frenzied and overwhelmed in May. In June, one week I worked 32 hours and another week I worked almost 35 hours. I think this is a really important finding—I felt less stress, less overwhelmed and more on task after taking off just four days at home, even though I was working more hours. It is so critical to take time off each week and take real vacations or staycations. I see too many freelancers who don't take even those little breaks. That is a recipe for burnout. I am planning to visit my parents later this summer. This time, I have strategically planned when I will go. I chose a time that has fewer deadlines, and I am purposefully not taking projects that I will have to work on at that time. I also made a lot more money in Q2. You might attribute that to me working more, but I think it was the reverse. I got more work; therefore, I had to work more to do that work. I had a very lean March for me, and then April through June were really strong months. May was my best month of the year. I haven't spent a lot of time on marketing recently, and July and August are looking a little lean right now. I have a monthly income goal that I try to meet, and I haven't quite met that yet for my July and August planning. I like to know that that income goal is possible a few months out. I don't like to work week to week. So, July is really going to be a time that I need to do some marketing and networking and letting my current editors know that I am available for new projects and writing assignments. I want to mention a project I briefly mentioned in a previous episode. It's an example of a new client that pays less than the per-word rate I normally accept. But I accepted the work for a couple of reasons: I wanted to work for this client and their topic, and it sounded like it would be more consistent work, if not that lucrative. Because I track my time religiously, I know that although this is below my typical per-word rate that I made over $100 an hour on the projects I've done for them. Having the ability to work fast and knowing the subject matter earned me that higher hourly rate. I want to talk a bit more about how I get clients, what type of marketing I do and what I mean by referrals, which I have said is my No. 1 way to get clients. (See episode #65 of Deliberate Freelancer from July of 2020.) Recently in the Freelance Content Marketing Writer Facebook group, people were talking about how their 2021 was going so far in terms of clients and income. My friend Holly Leber Simmons followed that thread up with another great thread about how people were getting work and what type of work that was. With Holly's permission, I am going to answer some of her questions here: Question 1: What ongoing or anchor projects do you have? Who is the client, what are you doing, how are you paid (retainer, hourly, per word, per project), how much time do you spend a week? How did you land the client? My anchor clients have shifted a lot in the past year during the pandemic, and I'm looking for even steadier anchor clients. My anchor clients tend to be newsletters or magazines for which I'm the managing editor. These are rarely monthly publications. They're usually bimonthly or quarterly, and I typically get paid per issue, not a monthly retainer. My time for a magazine varies widely from week to week. We are typically working on two issues at a time, so I might be writing or editing for one magazine while planning out and assigning articles for that same magazine's next issue. Besides my one local newsletter client, my magazines are from membership associations. I landed most of my managing editing gigs through referrals and job boards. I'll break that down more: my local newsletter client I landed after seeing their job ad on a membership association job board. One of the magazines I work on is with one of my best friends; we used to be employees together and she has since hired me on a variety of projects. Another magazine was through a woman I know because of our common work connections. We stay in touch on Twitter and LinkedIn, and when she heard about this magazine opening, she connected me directly with the editor on LinkedIn and I followed up. Another magazine in the past I landed because a fellow freelancer spotted the ad on a job board and forwarded it to me. The lesson here is NETWORKING! By keeping in touch with previous co-workers and chatting with people in my industry on social media AND letting people know specifically the type of work I'm looking for—Hey, did you know I'm also a managing editor?!—people send me job ads. These are job boards that I'm not always privy to, so referrals have been key.   Another question from Holly: How much of your work is rolling income, i.e., not an anchor client or retainer? What are some one-off or repeat—but not consistent—projects you have done? How are you finding the work? One-off work for me is mostly writing for membership associations and/or about health care. A lot of those clients I got through my career working at membership associations as an employee. That built my network, and I get a lot of referrals from association people. For example, I used to work at a public health association, and now because of those connections I write for three different types of public health associations. This all comes back to your network and checking in with people. I'm also really honest about when I have availability and am specific about what I can help with. As a freelancer, what are you looking for? How can you help? Put that out on there on LinkedIn and send that out in letters of introduction.   Question #3 from Holly: How much time per week do you spend on marketing and networking? How much time per week do you spend on client work? In Q2 I spent nearly 30 hours networking and marketing, so that looks like 10 hours a month. However, that's misleading because in reality most of that time was spent in April at about 19 hours, leaving only about six hours in May and three hours in June. Now, I was also on vacation and then a staycation for the first couple of days of June, and I took it a little easier as I headed toward July. So, it's probably no coincidence that I don't have a ton of work lined up for July and August. That shows that I need to do a little more networking and marketing now and in each month. For me that means talking about my availability and what I do on LinkedIn; sharing articles I've written on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; interacting with editors on LinkedIn and Twitter; and reaching out one-on-one to my current editors and letting them know I'm available for work.   Another good question from Holly: How's your mental health? Are you running yourself into the ground? I'm really glad Holly asked this one because I see a lot of people who say they make six figures or more who might be running themselves ragged. I see freelancers on social media who talk about working most weekends for hours at a time and also feeling exhausted all the time. Sometimes they are the same people who talk about never taking a vacation or time off. Everyone needs to take time off. You heard me earlier talk about how I actually worked more hours in June than I did in May, but I felt so much better and was definitely more productive in June. Even just four days helps. So, what did I learn from this analysis of Q2? I've reiterated to myself that I definitely need to take time off when I'm feeling overwhelmed, even for a long weekend at home. I feel really good about working 28 hours a week and the hourly rates I'm earning for a variety of projects. As for July and Q3, I want to both increase and be more strategic about my marketing and reaching out to potential clients and current clients. I want to land another anchor client or two.   Biz Bite: Say no to extraneous meetings and phone calls.   The Bookshelf: “When the Stars Go Dark” by Paula McLain   Resources: Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #94 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Time Tracking Audit for Q1—I Need a Better Schedule Episode #65 of Deliberate Freelancer: The No. 1 Way I Find New Clients Episode #93 of Deliberate Freelancer: Renew Your Business Now for Post-Pandemic Life  

Today's guest is Sarah Townsend from the city of Gloucester in the UK. Sarah has been a freelance marketing copywriter for more than 20 years and is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller “Survival Skills for Freelancers: Tried and Tested Tips to Help You Ace Self-Employment Without Burnout.”   Sarah uses clever copy to help businesses become more successful, and she's on a mission to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellbeing for freelancers and the small business community. She does this through talks, webinars and interviews.   When Sarah struck out on her own as a freelancer, she was a 20-something-year-old new mom. She couldn't find business or personal development books that spoke to her needs. They all seemed to be written for middle-aged men in suits. So, in 2020, Sarah published her own book that addressed the needs that she saw.   “I wanted to create a book that people would love for the support and the reality check and the ‘heart on your sleeve' telling it like it is side. The book very much focuses on mindset.”   Often, freelancers have the talent and the skills. That's not what they struggle with. Instead, we struggle with things like isolation, not knowing what to charge, having the confidence to grasp opportunities, procrastination, lack of motivation and imposter syndrome. Those are topics Sarah covers in her book.   Sarah doesn't agree with a common formula that is recommended freelancers use to determine their income goals. That formula is to take the annual salary you want to earn, subtract several weeks for vacation and sick time and then divide it by the number of weeks and then divide that by the number of days you plan on working. And that is your day rate.   However, Sarah says that formula is a recipe for burnout because it assumes you are getting paid for all of those hours. It doesn't account for unpaid administrative work, professional development, and marketing and following up.   Sarah says not only are we afraid of failure, but we are also afraid of success. This fear of the unknown holds us back because “I know what I like and I like what I know.” We often like our comfort zone.   She encourages us to think about author Marianne Williamson's famous quote, which is: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.”   Clients can pick up on a lack of confidence, and that may cause them to ask for a lower rate. And if you agree to that lower rate, you're perpetuating the “client and supplier” relationship, when you should be aiming to work on a level with your clients that is based on mutual trust, understanding and respect.   If you take on the clients that are wrong for you, those are the ones that sap all your energy and take up more space in your week than great clients do.   Melanie recognized that this spring and summer, as people started to emerge from pandemic lockdown in many countries, freelance business owners seemed to be talking a lot about burnout as we figure out a new way to do things.   Sarah often talks about the importance of mental health and wellbeing for freelance business owners. As she says, “if you're not taking care of you, you don't have a business because you are your business and you'll have nothing left to give.”   Burnout starts on a slippery slope, first with day-to-day stress and anxiety, which can lead to overwhelm, which can lead to burnout. Sarah says freelancers almost take for granted that they'll always feel stressed and overwhelmed. But, freelancers need to set boundaries and get super clear on their process and then make sure their clients know that process and those boundaries. When you manage client expectations in this way, clients are less likely to micromanage you.   Know what your personal signs of burnout are. For Sarah, it's when she's not getting enough sleep and not making time to get outdoors every day.   As you consider how to set boundaries with yourself and your client, consider telling clients what your office hours are. And put your office hours in your email signature.   When it comes to pricing, Sarah charges based on her value, not an hourly or day rate. She explains to clients her billing process. She requires a nonrefundable 50% deposit up front. And when she sends the first draft of the project, she also sends the invoice for the balance of the fee. She said some freelancers fall behind in that because they wait until the client “signs off” on the project.   Sarah talks about removing “should” and “just” from your language and emails.     Biz Bite: Create a Boost Bank (a photo album on your phone of screenshots of positive comments about you)   Resources:   Sarah's Book “Survival Skills for Freelancers” Buy “Survival Skills for Freelancers” on Amazon Sarah on Twitter Sarah on LinkedIn Sarah on Instagram Sarah's copywriting website   Episode #95 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Dream Bigger and Transform Your Freelance Business, with Cathy Wilkes   Episode #90 of Deliberate Freelancer: Coping with One Year of COVID-19 Lockdown, with Therapist Emily Derouin   Hiya call blocker app

Bianca Gonzalez is a marketing writer from New York state who specializes in corporate social responsibility; diversity, equity and inclusion insights; and multicultural consumer insights.   Bianca was preparing to graduate college in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit. Because of her health risks as a brain cancer survivor, she turned to freelancing and working from home. Bianca has been able to combine her love of writing with her commitment to social justice and activism. She identifies as a queer, disabled Latina, and she explains her passion around supporting diverse professionals.   She decided to focus on marketing writing, where she recognized there were few non-white employees. Marketers don't often know how to appeal to certain minority groups, and Bianca is often the first minority on their team, helping them to create inclusive content.   At age 19, Bianca, as an inexperienced drinker, ended up in the hospital, where they gave her a brain scan. They found a lot of fluid on her brain, a condition known as hydrocephalus, which they discovered was caused by a cancerous brain tumor. She had no symptoms.   She had two brain surgeries, followed by radiation, and then returned to her junior of college that fall, while commuting from home. Her community service and the camaraderie from that is what kept her going.   Bianca's writing takes two forms: activism writing and writing diverse and inclusive marketing content. One of the first times she realized what an impact her writing could have was after writing a piece for Anti-Racism Daily about alleged forced sterilizations in ICE detention camps. An English as a second language (ESL) teacher told Bianca that her ESL students wrote letters to their congressional representatives about immigration after reading her article.   Because of her brain cancer, Bianca suffered brain damage, which has led to a shorter attention span and poor short-term memory. Sometimes her disability is visible and children and adults might stare or make comments in public. Other times, it's an invisible disability so she says people assume she has recovered 100%.   Having a freelance career with a disability gives her the flexibility to cut back on work on the days when she doesn't feel as good. She wouldn't be able to take off that time as easily if she was an employee.   Now that her one-year freelancing career has been successful she's focusing more on setting up the business side of her career. She is considering establishing an LLC.   Bianca's advice for other freelancers includes learning how to be OK with small failures to get to big successes.   Bianca finds great clients through a lot of networking and through Twitter engagement.   Biz Bite: Find someone online, in an article or a podcast you have a question for? Be brave and contact them!    Resources: Anti-Racism Daily newsletter   Sonia Weiser's Opportunities of the Week newsletter ($3/month)   Bianca on Twitter: @OurStellarWords   Bianca on LinkedIn   Episode #14 of Deliberate Freelancer: Freelancing with a Chronic Illness, with Christy Batta  

It's my 100th episode! For this very special episode, I invited back my very first guest (in episode 4), Jennifer Goforth Gregory. Jennifer focuses on B2B technology content marketing writing. She is a leader in the content marketing writing world—she literally wrote the book “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer”—but like so many of us, the pandemic brought many challenges. She went from working home alone to having her husband and two teenage kids around all the time. And she lost a anchor client quickly, leading her to panic and fear she'd lose all her work. However, she ended up having the best income year of her freelance career in 2020.   During the pandemic, Jennifer struggled with how much to work, faced with a high demand of technology writing. Plus, her husband was laid off and she became the sole breadwinner and felt the financial pressure. On the other hand, her kids would be heading to college soon and she wanted to embrace the “gift of time” and spend plenty of quality time with them.   But because she felt she needed some higher-paying work, she took on an email writing project that was a risk for her. And she realized she was good at it and has since earned about $25,000 writing emails as a copywriter.   Jennifer says her work has three variables: the client, the niche and the type of writing. She realized, through the new email writing project, that she can only have one new variable when she's trying something new. In this case, it was an existing client in a niche she knew well. Just a new type of writing.   Jennifer was also open about her situation and told existing clients that her husband got laid off and she was looking for more work. That's how she was offered the initial email writing project.   This pandemic year taught Jennifer to take a better look at her strengths and weaknesses and be honest about what she's not good at.   One “hidden blessing” from this past year was that Jennifer joined a weekly Zoom meeting with about five other writers, initially to share job leads. They helped her launch a training class, figure out how to price projects and how to handle failure.   Most of Jennifer's work comes to her directly, from people finding her on LinkedIn, coming across her website or seeing articles she's written that are similar to their needs. She thinks it's a mistake for freelancers not to use LinkedIn more.   Do you know your “why?” Why are you a freelance business owner? Jennifer tells the story of how she was supposed to moderate a conference panel when she learned that her son, a senior in high school, was selected for a golf match at the same time. One of her “why”s has been to spend more time with her kids, so she knew she had to be at the golf match. She found a replacement moderator and went and was honest with people about why she was absent.   When Jennifer has a hard personal or work decision, she stops and asks herself, “What am I going to regret when I'm 80?”    Jennifer released her book, “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer,” two years ago. She's been blown away by the success. She self-published and has covered her publishing costs. Now, any proceeds go to her dog rescue. She plans to update the book in 2021 to add in new lessons.   Jennifer's Facebook group of the same name, “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer,” now has over 6,000 members.   Jennifer launched a training class, “Make More Money as a Freelance Content Marketing Writer,” and now offers a self-paced version of that class.   Jennifer gives tips on finding the perfect client for you. One of the mistakes freelancers make is they mainly qualify their clients based on price—are they going to pay my rate?—and that should just be the beginning. Instead, you should look for clients that meet your strengths and your weaknesses.   Jennifer actively chooses her clients, not letting them hire her. It's a mutual decision. She tells them on the initial phone call that she is actively picking her clients and is interviewing them to find if they're a good fit.   Jennifer also talks about Zoom video calls, which has been a debate in her Facebook group. Some writers hate that seemingly everyone wants to do Zoom video calls now, while other writers find them more helpful. Jennifer thinks video chats are a great way to initially meet with a client to see if they're a good match. It can also be helpful when doing content marketing interviews with sources.   Jennifer encourages freelancers to actively ask their clients for referrals. And want to get more referrals? Then, give them out frequently for other freelancers. They will return the favor.   Jennifer also makes sure to update her website regularly with new articles in her portfolio. Clients have commented that they like that her clips are very recent.   Biz Bite: Follow up with the people in the “who viewed your profile” section on LinkedIn   Resources: Episode #4 of Deliberate Freelancer: Work Only with Nice Clients, with Jennifer Goforth Gregory   Jennifer's book “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer”   Jennifer's Facebook group: “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer”   Jennifer's courses   Jennifer's website   Jennifer on LinkedIn  

I am on a podcast hiatus from May 20 until June 10. I am fully vaccinated and am hanging out with my parents for two weeks in Indiana.   Now could be a perfect time for you to catch up on the 99 (!!) previous episodes. I also encourage you to scroll through the show notes on your podcast app or at deliberatefreelancer.com. The show notes read like blog posts and include a ton of resources at the end.   I will be back on Thursday, June 10, with a brand-new and very special 100th episode! And I have several other guests lined up as well for the summer that I think you’ll love.   Until next time, Happy Memorial Day weekend (to my U.S. listeners), and I hope everyone has a great start to the summer (or winter, for you Southern Hemisphere friends).

Amy Posner lives in Olympia, Washington. She calls herself a serial entrepreneur and has been a business owner for three decades — she had a computer start-up, a New York City agency and then built a very successful (and lucrative) sales team in the telecom industry.   But for the past decade, Amy has been an in-demand conversion and direct response copywriter, coach and copy chief. She now mostly focuses on coaching and training.   Amy currently runs the Magnetic North Mastermind, where she helps each member decide — and then create — their ideal business life. She also has a YouTube channel called Cut to the Copy, which offers short tips about business. And she co-hosts a podcast called Business Badass.   Amy offers a “coaching on demand” service, in which people hire her for coaching for 30 minutes or 60 minutes on one specific issue. She also offers “copy chiefing” in which people have her vet their copy before they submit it to a client.   As a six-figure freelancer, Amy initially had the goal to replace her employee income, which was six figures at the time.   She wasn’t interested in becoming a agency, but she does have a small team of subcontractors, including a new position she recently hired for, “vision and growth manager.” She got the idea for that role after hearing about the position of an “integrator,” who serves as a project manager for the vision. She wanted someone to help her both create the vision but also to create the growth. She finds it exhausting to be both the person focused on growing her business and the person executing work for clients.   She also has her own copywriter for her business, a tech person and a virtual assistant. She hires subcontractors for copywriting clients also.   Persistence and gaining confidence have been critical to Amy’s success. “Your success is directly proportionate to your attitude or your ability to handle the obstacles,” she said.   Don’t dwell on failures or other people’s opinions. It’s OK if you’re a sensitive person, but it’s important to learn how to remove your feelings of failure and move on.   Amy shares her pricing formula: internal hourly rate + your intuition + your gut sense. She stresses that it’s essential that you time your projects at various times throughout the year so that you know how long projects take. That will allow you to price properly. She says freelancers tend to have “leaky boundaries” around their time.   The price that you give a client that feels really good on Monday can often feel too low on Tuesday. So, you should always sleep on the price. Amy also believes if you don’t charge enough, you aren’t seen as that higher level of a professional.   Amy is always considering if a client is a good fit. Red flags that she looks out for include people who think they know more than they do or who want her to execute on bad marketing ideas. Also watch out for those “trial projects” for lower rates with a promise of a future project. That compromises people’s professionalism, and the “more projects” don’t often materialize.   Amy also admits to a “weird” red flag: people who don’t have any sense of humor. Melanie can relate to this and also lists this as one of her red flags!   Amy finds the right clients by getting in the right rooms, where people there need what you offer. Have you figured out what audiences are your potential clients and which ones you’re wasting your time on?   Amy struggles with a couple of boundary issues. She admits to being a Type A workaholic. She also struggles with over-delivering on a project.   Biz Bite: Make a Plan and Work Your Plan (and Remove the Emotion from It)   Resources:   No Sweat Sales Calls course discount link ($100 off): https://amyposner.podia.com/no-sweat-sales-calls?coupon=MPP   Amy’s website   CutToTheCopy.com YouTube weekly channel   Joanna Wiebe, founder of Copyhackers   Book “Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business” by Gino Wickman   Book “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker  

Today’s guest is Austin Church from Knoxville, Tennessee. Austin helps e-commerce founders stand out online with their brand strategy. He also coaches freelance creatives.   After Austin got laid off in spring 2009, during the U.S. recession, he became a freelance copywriter. Does Austin consider himself an agency? Not exactly. He likes to pull in other creatives as necessary, and he serves as the project manager. He calls it the “antique shop” model — bigger antique shops don’t own all the antiques; they provide the space for other dealers, sell their products and earn a commission.   When he first started freelancing, Austin wasn’t great at keeping tabs on his income and expenses, and he didn’t save for or pay his quarterly taxes. When his accountant sister fired him as a client, it was a wakeup call. The book “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz helped Austin figure out a better way to handle his money, mainly by getting several checking accounts and allocating each one toward certain things, like quarterly taxes.   Austin is also a fan of the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Clear says if you make habits obvious and easy, they’re more likely to stick. That resonated with Austin and helped him institute some better business and personal systems.   One system he highly recommends is to create email templates, especially when you’re asking clients for referrals. After a project goes well, at the end, when the client is happy, customize that referral template quickly and email it to your client.   Austin also recommends tracking every client and project lead imaginable and having a simple way to track them. Check in with that spreadsheet every week to see what leads you need to follow up on. It can take several “touches” or interactions with a potential client before you land a project, and without those multiple check-ins you could lose out on great projects and clients.   Austin says we have to put in a statistically significant number of activities. We often give up too soon. But, for example, if you are using Instagram to get clients, you need to have conversations with 100 people, not three.   Austin builds his business on selling strategy. He recognized that about 3 out of every 10 clients know exactly what they want, and he helps them with that. But most are unclear. For example, they might ask for a new website, but what they really need is an entire marketing strategy.   Austin started offering strategy, or strategic planning, which he now calls a “wayfinding workshop.” After talking with the client, he gets the sense of whether they’re lacking clarity and need strategic help. If they’re not willing to pay for that, it’s a red flag for him and isn’t a fit for him as a client.   He also sells “strategy retainers” where he meets with clients every two weeks to work on their strategy. With those packages, he’s not responsible for the implantation phase. He says most freelancers probably skew toward one or the other — they either like the strategy or the implementation. But going back and forth between the two with the same client can cause whiplash.   When Austin sees other freelancers struggling in their freelance business, their challenges often fall under one of the six 6 Ps: positioning, packaging, pricing, pipeline, psychology, process.   Biz Bites: Get a Text Expander App (atext) and Don’t Open Your Email Until 11 a.m.   Resources:   Austin’s website and his free freelance course: AustinLChurch.com   Austin on Twitter   Austin on LinkedIn   Episode #79 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: Consistently Sending LOIs and Using Upwork, with Laura Pennington Briggs   Episode #80 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: Writing B2B Tech Content, with Satta Sarmah Hightower   Episode #81 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: Focus on a Niche and Partner with Other Freelancers, with Lynne Testoni   Episode #82 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: Embracing an Entrepreneurial Mindset, with Gresham Harkless   Book “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz   Book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear   Book “The Business of Expertise” by David C. Baker   Book “Give and Take” by Adam Grant   Book “Million Dollar Consulting” by Alan Weiss   Book “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” by Greg McKeown   “The Chef Show” on Netflix   iKamper rooftop tent    

Today’s guest is Quiana Darden from Richmond, Virginia. She is a launch copywriter, which means she supports coaches and service providers who are launching or rebranding their high-ticket offers. She offers sales page copywriting, email marketing sequences, social media copy, landing pages and ad copy.   She started as an elementary school teacher, but later decided she wanted to home-school her daughter so she brainstormed on how she could work from home. She started as a virtual assistant and then a freelance writer focused on content marketing, but did some copywriting.   She was scared at first to jump into copywriting because there is an expectation of conversion. But a coach encouraged her to go all in. Zeroing in on her very specific niche in copywriting means she can demand higher rates.   Freelancers rely on their online presence to educate their audience about the services they provide. That means quality copywriting — a sales page, social media posts, landing pages.   Freelance writers often think they can write their own copy, but that could be a challenge. It might be difficult to write about yourself or you might have difficulty maintaining the same tone as your service (sales copy tone should match the tone of your blog, podcast, course, etc.). You may tend to write about your own services in a more stilted, robotic way. Or, writing your own copy often gets pushed at the bottom of your to-do list.   When you write copy, you shouldn’t focus solely on the products and services included in the offer. People buy the transformation, so you need to explain what they will gain by purchasing your offer.   Before you hire a copywriter, get clear on the details of the offer, the transformation it will provide, how you are different from your competitors, who your audience is and what their pain points are.   As you decide which project to outsource to a copywriter first, think about what has been on your to-do list for a while but also what is going to give you the most “bang for your buck.” That may mean an email marketing campaign to grow your email list. Or, maybe you need a new sales page because your current one isn’t converting into that many sales.   I also talked to Quiana about her business and her clients. She talks about demanding higher rates after thinking about the value she provides clients and the money they can earn based on her strong copywriting.   Quiana only offers one primary service right now. It’s a Launch Copy VIP Day package — with a turnaround time of 48 hours — and the price is listed on her website. She knows exactly how many of those she needs each month. And the quick turnaround time gives her the flexibility she needs to home-school her daughter.   Quiana shifted to this approach because she was tired of creating custom writing packages for every single client.   When she was a content marketing writer, Quiana found a lot of clients through cold emails or LinkedIn connections and through Facebook groups with business owners. She answered content marketing questions there, which showed she was an expert, and people reached out to hire her.   Now, she is finding her clients through Instagram, after her coach recommended that platform based on Quiana’s audience. Doing weekly live video on Instagram has helped increase her audience. She uses videos to answer common questions her audience asks and also shares her process as a copywriter working with her clients.   Biz Bite: Find Your Power Hours (the time you work best)   Resources:   Subscribe to the new Deliberate Freelancer newsletter at MelEdits.com/newsletter.   Please record a voice memo on your phone about your time tracking lessons and experiences. Email it to melanie@meledits.com for a future podcast episode.   Quiana’s website: The Write Choice   Quiana on Instagram   Episode 56 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Use Instagram to Grow Your Business, with Jessica Thiefels  

This is a rerelease of episode #22 from August 2019. I am rereleasing this as I catch up on all my work right now, which is ironic considering the name of this episode. Laura Poole offers great advice that we might all need right now about creating a work-life balance that is right for you. But beyond that, Laura is peppy and fun, so I think you’ll enjoy hearing from her.   Laura is a a freelance editor from Durham, N.C., who has been a freelancer for about 24 years, almost her entire career. She provides copyediting for scholarly nonfiction publishers and training for editors and freelancers. She is also a trained, certified life coach.   Biz Bite: Take a few moments of peaceful clarity and think about what you want more of in your life. What do you need to change to make that happen?   Resources: Laura’s book: “Juggling on a High Wire: The Art of Work-Life Balance When You’re Self-Employed” Laura on Twitter   

On today’s show, I introduce you to Cal Newport’s new book, “A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload.”   First, I talk about his concept of the “hyperactive hive mind” and the problem with email and instant messaging tools like Slack. Then, I talk about his solution briefly. And then I share my own thoughts and tips for getting your email under control, as well as how to reduce the amount of email you get.   Newport points out that our current office environment was not planned so much as it just happened to all of us when email became commonplace. He calls the current workflow of many corporate offices the “hyperactive hive mind.” Freelancers can often push back at this, but we are a part of it because our clients are a part of it.   The constant need to respond to email prevents many of us from doing our actual work—cognitive work, which Newport calls “deep work.” Instead, many of us are constantly task-switching throughout the day. But our brains are not meant to task-switch. Try it—can you think of two separate things at exactly the same time? Nope.   First, I recommend you consider how you can set tougher “I’m checking email now” rules for yourself. How can you stop checking it so often?   Newport argues that tricks to help manage our email systems and clean up our email boxes are all just Band-aids on the problem of the hyperactive hive mind that our workforce lives in. I understand, but currently we are in that hive too, so we should figure out a better email solution.   Newport’s solution to this hive mind is to set up processes and project management systems instead, such as Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, Asana, Basecamp, Trello and more. I love processes and project management tools and use them for several projects. But, these aren’t perfect. Email may simply be replaced by the chat function in Microsoft Teams, for example.   Newport talks about examining all your emails in one day. Take a look at all those emails going out and coming in and ask yourself what systems you could put in place to eliminate some of those emails. Are there processes that you could establish that would decrease or eliminate the need for some of those emails? I think this is a good practice and good place to start.   By creating checklists, forms, processes and systems, you can decrease your work time, improve your file keeping and reduce the risk of errors.   In addition, despite what Newport says, let’s figure out ways to better manage our email.  First, analyze your email inbox. Does it stress you out? What don’t you like about it? What do you want to fix? Make a list of what you wish your email work life looked like.   Here are some potential solutions:   Stop aiming for inbox zero. Instead, pick a realistic number. Then, use folders to sort your emails. I have a folder for each client and then subfolders for each project. When I’ve dealt with the email in my inbox I immediately move it to the correct folder, primarily as an archive.   Delete hundreds or thousands of emails, even the old unopened ones. Are you really going to get to those? In Gmail, it is possible to do batch deletions, including by entire years.   Next, take the time to actually unsubscribe from newsletters. Don’t just delete them. If you don’t have time right now to unsubscribe, create an unsubscribe folder and move those email newsletters into that folder. Then, when you get some admin time, go through and unsubscribe one by one. Or, let your virtual assistant into your email system and have them do it for you.   You may want to create new folders that allow you to prioritize tasks, such as: Action needed today, Action needed this week, Action needed before the end of the month. The key, of course, is that you will go through those folders and reply. But, this makes it more manageable.   Gmail also now has a Snooze feature. If you see an email and know you have to deal with it that day or that week, but you don’t have the time right at that second, you can hit the Snooze feature. That way, it’ll pop up as a new email at the time of your choosing so that it won’t get lost in your inbox.   Use the Boomerang tool to schedule email replies during work hours.     Biz Bite: Move the beans over   The Bookshelf: “Sea Wife” by Amity Gaige   Resources:   Subscribe to the new Deliberate Freelancer newsletter at MelEdits.com/newsletter.   Please record a voice memo on your phone about your time tracking lessons and experiences. Email it to melanie@meledits.com for a future podcast episode.   Episode #94 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Time Tracking Audit for Q1—I Need a Better Schedule   Cal Newport’s new book, “A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload.”   Boomerang to schedule emails   Clear Your Gmail Inbox   Easy Ways to Delete Multiple Messages in Gmail   Snooze Gmail emails until later   Create rules to filter your emails