Tag Archives: freelance gigs

advice

Advanced Tips for Freelancers: Tax Resources




This is the latest entry in our series of short clips featuring advice and tips for freelancers. This one covers freelance tax resources, and if you need extra time to jot down any resources you find in these clips, you can always hit the pause button…we’ll be posting some longer clips featuring podcast-style discussion of the pros and cons of freelancing soon.

advice, editorial, resources

Freelance-Zone Goes Video

Freelance Advice videos
Freelance-Zone.com has gone video. This week we quietly rolled out some freelance advice videos on our new YouTube channel and we’re pleased to say the cameras have been rolling for several weeks now as we create new types of content on freelance jobs, career advice, tips for new freelancers and advanced tips for those who have already taken the plunge.

Here’s a small sample of what we’re doing, presented below. There are also some clips where you see actual people talking about freelancing, you can view the first of many more at the Freelance-Zone YouTube site. We’ll be posting many more clips here as we finish editing them…for now, check out the first our series of freelance advice shorts:



advice

The Essential Freelancers Library

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By Amanda Smyth Connor1219898_old_books____2

Every writer should have a solid library that consists primarily of the books that you find most interesting or most inspirational in terms of improving your personal creativity and writing style. However, there are a few basics that every freelancer should have at the ready to prevent you from getting into a sticky situation.

1. The Associated Press Stylebook. This is a no-brainer and most of you are probably in possession of this, however, if you are one of the last holdouts, do yourself a favor and buy a copy. This book will clearly outline how and when to use specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation while also outlining basic media laws. I’ve been an editor for six years and I pull out this book at least once a week. It’s worth its weight in gold.

2. The Chicago Manual of Style. You need this book because not every client who hires you uses the AP style. Plenty of clients still prefer the Chicago style over the AP style, plus it includes updates for digital media guidelines. Cover your bases and have both of these style books at the ready.

3. The Elements of Style. This elegant little book is a guide to the principle elements of writing. This book is not a rule book like the first two entries in this post. It serves as more of a basic road map for writers of all levels to follow on their journey to improving their writing skills.

4. The Writer’s Block. This kitschy little book has pulled me out of more than a few situations whereupon I found myself staring at a blank screen with a blank mind for hours on end. It comes complete with “786 ideas to jump start your creativity” that include writing exercises, spark words and tips for finding inspiration. It’s cheap, it’s fun and I like to reference this little block-shaped book every few months when my creativity well runs dry.

Have I forgotten anything vital? What are your favorite reference books?

Amanda Smyth Connor is a SEMPO-certified SEO specialist, has managed online communities and nationwide marketing campaigns for several start-up and  Fortune 500 companies, and has been an editor for more years than she can remember. She also runs her own wedding planning company, Hummingbird Bridal and Events, throughout the northeast.

Business

The Holiday Slump

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By Amanda the GrinchGrinch pic

Look. I realize I’ve been a Debbie Downer with my last few blog posts. I apologize. I can be a raging grinch around the holidays.

Fact of the matter is, I love the holidays. Who doesn’t? What I hate dealing with are the holidays in relation to my career. Getting clients to pay invoices, getting contracts back, getting people to reply to emails or tie up projects just becomes incredibly difficult at the holidays. Not to mention, the job market all but slows to a halt. The whole month of December leaves me in a cold sweat, wreaking of gingerbread.

Ooooh, Grumpypants McGee over here has a case of the holiday blues.

This is the time of year when I have to roll up my sleeves and get creative. I reach for the list of career maintenance projects, pull out all of the old work I’ve been putting off and try to keep myself busy, lest I go crazy waiting for the holiday slump to subside.

The worst part of the holiday slump is the not-knowing. Not knowing when clients will get back to you. Not knowing when the freelance gigs will pick up again. Not knowing if that gingerbread house you just scarfed was actually edible. Was that frosting or paste?? I wish you could see the half-crazy-extra-jolly look on my face as I type this.

What my incredibly patient husband reminds me of during this holiday season is that I can’t let myself hyperfocus on the slump. Worrying about it, stomping around the house and sending email after email to the same clients won’t solve the problem. I’ve got to keep a clear head and stay positive. As he reminds me from behind the locked door where he is safe from my “crazy jolly eyes,” we do this every year.

In the back of my mind, I know things will eventually return to normal. I know that the clients will eventually call me back, the projects will pick up again and I won’t be seen walking around town with pieces of wrapping paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I know that a return to normal life is sure to come. Until then, give me another glass of eggnog and point me to the mistletoe. Let’s enjoy these holidays like there’s no tomorrow.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a SEMPO-certified SEO specialist, has managed online communities and nationwide marketing campaigns for several start-up and  Fortune 500 companies, and has been an editor for more years than she can remember. She also runs her own wedding planning company, Hummingbird Bridal and Events, throughout the northeast.

Business

How Not To Hire A Freelancer

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how not to hire a freelancer

by Joe Wallace

Oh, but that game box art makes freelancing look exciting and lively doesn’t it? And then there are days like these, where a poor freelancer looking for work has to contend with the frustration of wading through job listings like the one I’m about to show you.

Normally I direct my writing here to freelancers, but this time it’s the employers who should sit up and take note. What follows are excerpts from an actual ad seeking a freelance writer. I did not change anything for emphasis. In all cases the case, the spelling, the capitalizations, and the breathless prose are all the original ad writer’s work. Behold:

“we are looking for writing and a sales person”

Great headline. You can already sense the trouble brewing.

“(Company name deleted) A NEW COMPANY IN (location deleted) IT IS LOOKING FOR A
-WRITING PERSON PROFESSIONAL AND WITH GREAT WRITING SKILLS RESPNSIBLE PART TIME JOB WORK AT HOME ”

Oh, yes, we are off to a great start here with the all caps. Writers, you should be ready to run away screaming at this moment, never mind what comes next:

“-SALES PERSON RESPONSABLE ,VERY PROFESSIONAL WITH GREAT SALES SKILLS MOTIVATED AND WILLING TO GROW WITH THE COMPANY IT IS A PART TIME JOB WORK AT HOME. ”

OK, so maybe they couldn’t afford TWO job posts, one for each position? We can give the benefit of the doubt here, right? Um….maybe not.

“VERY IMPORTANT IT IS A REQUIREMENT HAVE A LAPTOP OR DESKTOP WITH INTERNET CONEXION EMAIL US (name deleted@deleted.COM) WITH ATACH RESUME”

Yes folks, that Internet conexion is going to be crucial to your survival at this company–especially when you have to use an online dictionary.

“WE ALSO CHECK BACKGROUND AND CHECK REFERENCES FROM PREVIUS JOBS .
OUR COMPANY IT IS A WEB DESIGNS AND MARKETING ON LINE FOR SERVING SMALL BUSINESS IN USA IF YOU WILL LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT US GO TO www.addressdeleted.com”

Hey! These folks are into MARKETING! That explains why this ad is so…stunning.

That last bit contained my favorite part by far–the marketing geniuses posted entire job ad in all caps except for the URL. Trust me, you’re going to LOVE working for this bunch.

“THE WRITING PERSON WE WILLING TO PAY FOR A JOB (WRITING CONTENT FOR WEB SITE)
THE SALES PERSON WE WILLING TO PAY BY COMISSION 15% FOR EACH SALE .

  • Location: (deleted)
  • Compensation: IT WILL BE DISCUSS IN THE INTERVIUW“

I’m not sure I would be able to keep a straight face in the “interviuw”. Now I hear some of you already mentally chiding me for poking fun at a freelance job ad that seems to be clearly written by someone who uses English as a second language, but I am certain that the phrase “spell check” is one of those universal things that can–or at least should–transcend the language barrier somehow. Or maybe I’ve been watching too much Bill Maher and it’s started to infect my brain.

So what’s the point of this article, besides having some fun at this poor job ad poster’s expense? My point is this: being critical and using your skills to size someone up for their suitability for the gig is NOT just the job of an interviewer. Freelancers, you should be interviewing THEM just as much as they are trying to interview YOU.

This freelance job poster blew the initial interview, at least in my mind. All the warning signs are there. You wouldn’t work for a boss who told you women can’t do a good a job as men, and you shouldn’t work for someone who can’t toe the professional line in less obvious–but still identifiable–areas (like the standard operating procedures used by professionals when writing help wanted ads to attract freelancers.)

Reply to a job ad like this at your own risk, but my personal advice is to stay away. Or better yet, get into your spaceship and fly somewhere else like the guy in the image above is clearly ready to do.

advice

The Devil Is In the Details

coffee-cupby Joe Wallace

Take a good look at the picture and try to figure out what’s wrong with it.

If you have trouble spotting it at first, don’t feel too badly–the image is so tiny you probably missed it the first time, but look again. Nobody in their right mind would actually put a full coffee cup ON their laptop the way this one is. It’s an invitation for disaster all right, and anybody with morning brain could easily knock over a cup of java–especially where THIS one is placed.

Seems sort of dumb not only to put a coffee cup on a laptop, but then to take a PHOTO of it, to boot. Somebody thought this looked great, but didn’t think about the implications. (And before you ask, I’m the one who took that photo. On purpose. It amused me, but stupid things like this do before I’ve had enough caffeine.)

But it does prove a point—it’s easy to overlook something terribly obvious in the rush to get the goods. How many times have we ALL hit “send” on that e-mail before proofreading it? When you find out later that you dropped a “the” or mangled your recipient’s name, the rest of the day is spent kicking yourself until you’re too sore to sit.

I catch e-mail marketers out all the time. You know the ones–they’re trying very hard not to make their sales pitch read like a form letter, but they forget to snip out some crucial part of the e-mail they sent to the last poor schlub. Your “personalized” e-mail has somebody else’s information in it. Or just plain wrong info. “I’d love to help you promote your purple envelope business, Mrs. Wallace.”

Tee hee.

Then there’s the way you get burned when you’ve hit “reply”. Or rather, you THINK you’ve hit “reply”. Instead you hit “reply all”. Then you accidentally send that candid message about your crappy lunch break to someone you really didn’t intend to contact. Whoops.

I’ve made a fool of myself enough to teach myself a couple of tricks in this department.

1. I never hit “reply” anymore unless I’m able to reply to EVERYONE in the e-mail. I always initiate a new e-mail. Sounds obvious, but it’s not–otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation here and now.

2. I proofread my e-mails. This might seem excessively nitpicky, but now that it’s a habit and I do it with ALL e-mail, I tend not to send out things that have flaws, errors, unintended recipients and other not-ready-for-prime-time problems.

3. I walk away from e-mail for 10 minutes or so before replying to bad news, things that make me angry, or information that increases my work load. For me, the time away gives me a moment to think through everything.

4. I always re-read the last paragraph of everything I write one last time before I declare it finished and hit “send”. For some reason, people tend to forget tact most at the end of an e-mail. I like to catch that sort of thing when I can.

5. I try not to assume people know what I’m talking about or even remember conversations we’ve had about what I’m getting in touch for. It makes life so much easier to give a little road map (in a nice and tactful way) just in case.

6. I try to write e-mails and cover letters with the assumption that the reader hasn’t had any coffee yet.