I’m sick this week.  (I sound a little less today like the Otrivin commercial though, “I hab a bad head code“) It’s not fun to be sick when you can’t really take a sick day. I have deadlines and projects I’m in the midst of, and that’s a drag. All freelance writers and anyone who is self-employed knows that the lack of paid sick days is one of the drawbacks of working for yourself.   What to do?

Do Your Best

I am soldiering on as best as possible. A few repeat clients are aware and some have relaxed deadlines. Newer clients don’t need to know unless I have to tell them, either because they want a conference call but I don’t want them to listen to me cough my brains out, or because I need extra time to do something.  If you can take a day off, do it. If you can’t, just do your best. Take breaks, and have comforts nearby (tissue, ginger ale, throat lozenges, soup, and fuzzy slippers).

Ask for Understanding

If you’re really ill, you may need to ask for a deadline extension or turn down some projects. While you don’t have anyone to cover for you, you may be just totally unable to finish a project. I can manage (albeit slowly) with my head cold and wicked cough but work  tasks, especially creative ones, are taking longer. I am also trying to make sure I carefully proofread because I’m in a bit of a haze. If this were the stomach flu, clearly I wouldn’t be able to work at all. A team member of mine had an allergic reaction to  medicine the other day and got put in the hospital so had her spouse e-mail me. Not great, since I’m already pressed for time moving in slow motion but obviously, I couldn’t be upset with her so I have to think my clients are going to be somewhat understanding if I’m in a position where I really just cannot work. If you’re sick and just can’t work, there’s not much you can do but hope your customers will be understanding. They may need to find someone else for the gig. They may be back. Maybe not. If you have a decent track record, most will show some compassion.

Don’t Neglect Your Health

Some self-employed people work themselves into an early grave by neglecting themselves in favour of their business. We all need to remind ourselves once in a while that while it’s great to love what we do, we do need to put ourselves first.   Without health, we have nothing — especially not creativity.

-xo

How do you Write When You’re Feeling Lousy? is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Do You Wear Fuzzy Slippers to Work?

Deciding what kind of freelancer you are can help you define the type of clients and projects that suit your personality. If you can alternate between buttoned-up and buttoned-down, that could be a really good thing. If you can’t, or don’t want to, that can be ok as well. Considering the type of writing work you want will give you the freedom and type of career you want.

Dressing for Your Client’s Personality

Voice is an important aspect of being a writer. Finding the right voice can help you write something your clients will love.  Finding the right voice might also be necessary in terms of dealing with your clients in a productive and fruitful way. Some freelancers do well because they’re casual, approachable, ooze with irreverence, talk about personal stuff, and their clients love them. Others reveal nothing about their personal life, and exude professionalism and their clients love them. Where do you fit?

Are you dressing for your client’s personality? If you do, you may develop stronger relationships with them.  As a freelancer, how you approach your professional image will dictate what sorts of clients you attract.

There aren’t necessarily black and white lines in terms of how to deal with your clients in general but you may want to consider your voice in your client approach.

Buttoned Up

Positives: Very professional, becomes known as an expert in their field. Often commands higher rates.

Potential Drawbacks: May seems unapproachable. Does not always fit with a client’s corporate culture.

If you’re approaching buttoned-up professionals, you may want to keep your top button firmly in place.

Buttoned Down

Positives: Hip and 21^st century. Casual Friday is often the way businesses who use freelancers operate today.

Potential Drawbacks: If approaching corporate clients, you may not be taken as a serious professional. Clients may also think they can pay less because you’re a ‘freelancer’ or because you work from home. Work from home professionals often have a higher overhead than their clients realize.

If you’re approaching buttoned-down professionals, you may be able to be more casual with them.

Note: Casual Friday doesn’t mean missed deadlines, lack of quality, and doesn’t mean they don’t have to pay you a fair wage— on schedule.

Is Your Dress Code Hurting Your Business?

Some of today’s freelancers advertise that they are work at home moms or Dads or that they work in their pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Some of those freelancers have problems getting their rates up. Some joke about working in the buff and swear like a trucker on their blog but still command really high rates.  What’s the right approach?

It all depends.  It depends on what type of client you’re going after. If you’re going after another solopreneur that works in their fuzzy slippers, buttoned down might be the way to go. If you want to do corporate copywriting for fortune 100 companies,  you might want to sit up straight and button up right to that top button.

I worked for GE Capital for ten years but today I’m wearing pink and fuzzy slippers. But I don’t tell all my clients about the slippers. For me, I find  alternating from suit to slippers depending on what sort of client or prospect I’m talking to and who I’m approaching works.  I don’t typically swear on my business blog but I do try to understand what my client’s personality type is after starting to deal with them and then I button up or unbutton accordingly.

If I’m dealing with a corporate client I tend to avoid the phrase freelance writer and I never ever call myself a work at home mom. But if I’m talking to a small business owner about their SEO, we may discuss our families and the personal connection we make could strengthen the relationship.  I try to let the client take the lead and adjust my approach accordingly. It’s kind of like ghostwriting.

Use Ghostwriting Skills to Find the Best Client “Voice”

Versatility is a good trait when you work for yourself. And, if you’re a ghostwriter, you might find that putting those ghostwriting skills to good use could help you exponentially.

Because people often relate to their own personality type, as you get to know a new client, assume their personality type in terms of how you deal with them and chances are, you’ll find the right voice.

So, are you wearing fuzzy slippers today?

(photo: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/prototype7)

Are You A Buttoned-Up or Buttoned-Down Freelance Writer? is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Google Tools for Writers

I sing the praises of Google’s Google Alerts tool regularly. It definitely makes my job as a freelance writer and a professional easier.

What is it? Google will let Google account holders set up an instant or periodic notification system that tells you via email about certain keywords appearing online with links.

Here’s how I use it in my writing career:

Tracking a Name

By setting a Google Alert for a name, particularly my name, I can see when websites mention that name or when articles get indexed.

My Websites

I have set an alert for some of my more focused website addresses. This way, I can see references to the site on other pages as well as see when I’m getting indexed and this helps me track my search engine rankings. I find this much faster than combing through my site statistics.  (I still do that but this way I see quick alerts daily or even instantly)

Writing Job Alerts

If I want to know about newly listed writing jobs in general or about specific types of writing jobs, I can set an alert for Google to tell me about new listings.  This could help me uncover opportunities pretty quickly and delivers job postings to my email box rather than my having to dig for them through job boards.

Writing Project Research

I set alerts for topics and keyword phrases that I have regular assignments for.  With many clients in different industries who rely on me to write with authority and knowledge about their industry, Google Alerts helps me do that in a way that saves me on research time. I can set file folders up in Gmail to save information to read later and that way I don’t miss important news or information about a topic.

My Articles

At times I’ve set alerts for article titles of mine  or articles I write for customers that I wanted to track online. I once found an instance of plagiarism that I was able to deal with swiftly thanks to Google Alerts.

Alerts can be set and turned off as and when you need them. Google has some great tools for writers. I also use Trends, Adwords, Google Docs, and am starting to dabble with Google Buzz. What’s your favourite Google tool?

Google Alerts: A Great Freelance Writing Tool is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Oh joy! Another book from James Chartrand — I could hardly wait to open my review copy. Write For the Web is an 86 page e-book which answers new freelance writers’ questions about writing web content and launching successful freelancing careers. It’s written in James’s no-nonsense style and is divided into five sections covering the writer, the market, the business, the writing and finding work. There’s also a bonus section on writing opportunities.

About The Writer

The first section, entitled all about you, gets rid of those nagging doubts and fears that hold writers back. For James, being a web content writer is staggeringly simple:

If you can:

• use correct spelling and grammar
• talk persuasively about a subject
• motivate yourself to write regularly

Then you can write for the web.

Now, that doesn’t sound so difficult does it?

This first section takes you through the skills you need to launch a successful web content writing career. It also helps writers to assess how the experience they already have can help them in this area, as well as how to make up for any areas where they are less experienced.

The Writing Business

Section 2 is about business aspects: the basics that you need, managing time, sales and marketing, negotiation, rates, accounting, copyright, contracts and payment. Section 3 helps you think about marketing your services. James talks you through the various types of businesses that you might be writing for and gives advice on how to be the kind of writer that clients want. Again, the advice is simple. My favourite line is where James says: “don’t be a jerk” (a one-line client relations manual).

Writing – The Basics

Section 4 is a short section which is all about the basics of different types of writing. Armed with the information in this section you can get started on a number of different writing projects. James does not talk you through every step here but put each type of writing into context so that you will know exactly what you’re getting into when you agree to write, for example, a press release or a blog post.

Bidding For Writing Work

The proposal is the subject of section 5. This is one of the most important sections as writing the right proposal is what gets you the job. There are six pages on this subject — read every word, then follow up by working your way through the lists of places where you can find online leads. It’s also worth paying attention to the list of scams which often trap the unwary new web content writer.

Woot Woot!

One great feature running through the entire book is the Woot section where James shares some great resources which are all worth checking out.

If you are an established writer then the best thing about this book is the list of additional markets outside the web world. But the book is mainly aimed at new writers and reading this e-book is an easy way to get comfortable with web content writing very fast. So, to paraphrase James: go buy it already.

Great Advice On Web Content Writing is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

While economic cutbacks may have benefited many freelancers there is one consequence that is not so welcome — when your client has a cash flow crunch and can’t pay you. What do you do in a case like this? Here are some ways to work out your next course of action.

Need to chase payment from your writing client?

Are you sure the client can’t pay?

Make sure that it really is a case of inability to pay. Some clients are just forgetful and your invoice may be languishing in an inbox or in-tray somewhere. A friendly e-mail reminder ought to do the trick if your invoice has slipped off the radar, and it’s the first option to try before moving to tougher measures.

Is the client new?

If a new client fails to pay up, then you can cut your losses without too many regrets. Freelancers should always take a deposit from new clients. This is part of establishing a relationship of trust and will make sure that your client won’t disappear and leave you out of pocket.

How much are you owed?

If the amount is a small one, you might be able to let it ride for a while. If there’s no chance of you ever receiving payment, then perhaps it’s best to write it off and move on. This is not an option that I like as my view is that if I work for the money I should get paid. However, sometimes the amount you are chasing is less than the amount you would make if you took on a new client instead. Do a cost-benefit analysis and work out whether chasing payment is worth your while.

Is the client established?

If you have had a relationship with a client for a while, then that’s where it gets tough. One option is to continue to work while hoping that things will improve. The downside of this option is that within a short time you could be out by thousands of dollars and the prospect of getting paid may be no nearer.

Another option is to explain to the client that you can’t continue to work until at least some of the balance owed is paid. If your client is holding out on you, this might work, but if the client really has no money, then this option won’t help you get paid. In fact, depending on the business your client is in, your failure to deliver content could kill any chance the client has of making money and being able to pay you.

Set up a payment plan

Perhaps your client will be open to staging payments so that you get some of what you are owed. An initial payment as a show of good faith might help you feel better about continuing to work. This is a good option when you want to retain the client relationship and the client has always paid up on time in the past.

Legal options

If you are completely ready to write off the client relationship then you can consider suing the client for the amount owed. This means burning your bridges, as there won’t be any trust after taking this step. You may not even get paid, though you might get a legal judgment that says the client has to pay you once money comes in. And don’t forget that a protracted legal battle may cost more than you are owed. As a first step, consider naming and shaming in a bid to get the money owed to you.

What I’ve tried

In the past my solution has been to stop work on the client’s project until I receive payment. That worked well when I had a lot of clients paying small amounts. However, now that I have fewer clients who pay larger amounts, that’s not such a great option. In some cases, it might be better to take a long view and keep the client relationship going. The only trouble with that is that if you have more than one client like that, your own financial stability is seriously threatened.

Another option I’ve tried has been to reduce the work I take from any one client, so that my client portfolio is better balanced. Unless I have very bad luck, I should get paid on time most of the time.

Which option is right?

To be honest, no option is exactly right. The choice you make will depend on the client’s history with you (if the client has always paid on time but is having a temporary difficulty then you can afford to be understanding provided there is an end date), and how much money is owed.

How have you handled this situation in the past?

(Photo: shaghaghi)

What To Do When Your Writing Client Can’t Pay You is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Last week I shared five tips for filling gaps in your writing schedule and this week I wanted to suggest  specific ways to go about drumming up writing work quickly. Maybe you’ve got a gap in your schedule or maybe you need to make some extra money quickly. Not everyone will agree with me about these methods but here are some things I do when I want to drum up some work.

1. Bidding Sites

Not everyone loves job bidding sites but what I like about them is that when I have a gap or foresee one coming, I can often find a gig in 24 hours or less. I can bid on small and fast jobs to make fast money as well. I use Elance and their escrow service makes doing this a minimal risk. I have a rate I won’t go below and they have recently raised their membership connects so that you can bid on up to ten projects with their free membership.  I’ve given up my $20/month premium membership (which some months had been wasted due to lack of use) because the need to resort to this (thankfully) happens rarely for me. I’ve had scenarios where I’ve started bidding in the morning and had cash in hand that evening. A few of those quick projects have developed into regular clients as well.

2. Existing Clients

It never hurts to touch base with an existing client to see if they need help with anything. A quick email to a client to check in has brought me large projects on more than one occasion. If you can, develop a relationship with at least one really busy but flexible client that pays fast.

3.Marketing  the Writing Website

Working to drive traffic to my website regularly brings in a flood of new traffic and inquiries. I build links to my site through blog comments, linking to my site through other articles, through article marketing, and through social bookmarking and networking and this often helps me get writing gigs.

4. Other Writers

I’ve made some great friends in the past four years as a freelance writer. I have developed great relationships with other busy writers and at times have drummed up a project quickly through writing friends with overflow work. I have a writing friend that regularly offers me overflow, I have a lower-paying client / writer friend that offers an almost all-I-can-write buffet. Although it’s lower paying work, she pays fast, and I have several friends that have given me job leads or referrals when I’ve mentioned a lighter workload. One writing friend recently helped me learn a new writing skill and referred me to a new regular gig where I can use and develop that skill. Developing relationships with other writers can be beneficial. For me it has been very symbiotic.

5. Social Media

Talking about my writing work on social sites, linking to articles, and networking via sites such as Twitter and others has frequently brought in new queries and writing jobs quickly.  I highly recommend social media as a great tool to get writing work. You can also post ads about being available on writing forums, internet marketing forums, and social media sites as well.

What do you do when you want to find work quickly?

Five Ways to Get Writing Jobs Fast is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

How has your writing career evolved?

When I started freelancing, I said yes to pretty much every job that came along. My reasons for doing so were that:

• I needed the publishing credits for my resume
• I needed the money
• I didn’t know when the next job was going to come along

It made sound financial sense to accept everything that came my way. There was only one problem. After about a year of doing that, I began to feel fatigued and less excited about my life as a freelancer. You guessed it – I was suffering from burnout.

Writing – The Second Year

The next year, I took a more balanced approach. I still mostly said yes to jobs, but I began to be more discerning about what I could actually do within a given time. I knew that I wanted to spend time with my family, look after my health and manage some other personal priorities, so I started to get a little bit pickier about what I accepted.

The Third Year

That trend continued into my third and fourth years of freelancing. In fact, I actually began to turn down work from time to time. The longer I freelance, the more aware I become of this reality: I can’t do it all. That means I have to pick the projects which:

• pay well
• fit my time frame
• match my expertise

Five Years On – A New Approach

Heading into my fifth year, I’m finding that things are changing again. I have a fairly stable client base, but I don’t take that for granted. That’s why I’m starting to say yes again to projects that interest me and offer some variety. Unlike the first time round, I am doing this in a phased way, trading up writing jobs so I get closer and closer to freelance writing nirvana.

How has your approach to your writing career changed over the years?

(Photo: Kaptain Kobold)

The Evolution Of A Freelancer is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Let me start this post by saying I’m lucky enough right now to not have any writing schedule gaps. It’s not always easy to fill your time with writing gigs but when it’s a feast, it’s often mayhem. I tore myself away from a busy schedule (‘cuz I’m nice like that)  to write to you today with suggestions for how to fill the time when you have gaps in your freelance writing schedule.

1. Marketing

The best way to ensure you’re feasting rather than scraping by is to keep marketing. Don’t wait until things are dead slow to do it, if at all possible. When you do have a lag or opening in your schedule, spend extra time on marketing yourself and you won’t likely be seeing too many droughts in the future. Always plan to market but pump up your marketing efforts when you have available cycles.

2. Passive Writing Income

There are some writers who pay their mortgage each month with a cheque from one of the revenue share programs. The great thing about these sites is that one article could earn you income indefinitely. When you have time to spare, take the time to write for sites like: eHow, HubPages, Askables, InfoBarrel, Bukisa, and others and you could afford to take time off more often because you could earn 3 or 4 figures monthly from a small amount of effort. (Note: It often takes time to build these up so it’s not realistic to expect huge success with them over night). If you don’t want to share your income in a rev share program, develop your own content sites or blogs. After all, people are often paying YOU to do this so why not do it for yourself and reap the rewards of residual income?

3. Job Hunting

Cruise job boards like Deb Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs or Clint Osterholz’s Tuesday column with high-paying writing gigs to keep your eye out for future gigs. Want to write in a certain market? Send out some queries. Want to be on top of job postings? Set some Google Alerts to send you job links when new gigs get posted.

4. Networking

Networking is invaluable when you’re a freelance web writer. Networking with other writers can help you improve your skills and stay up to date on market conditions, tools, and trends.  Networking with your existing and past customers can also bring about new gigs and referrals. Network by hopping onto social media tools, checking out online webinars and chats, or by touching base through e-mail or phone.

5. Chillaxing

When was the last time you took a day off? Regular working Joes and Janes have no idea how many hours freelancers actually put in. Most of us work every day and many of us put in more than ten hours a day.  If you’re fresh out of writing work, give yourself a chance to relax. Maybe work a bit on that fiction novel you’ve been working on / planning / thinking about or spend some time with your family watching a movie with a smorgasbord of snacks and NO pressure to get back to the computer.

What do you do when you have a break in your freelance writing schedule?

(photo: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/jan-willem)

5 Ways to Fill a Freelance Writing Schedule Gap is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Working with other writers is productive if managed correctly.

For most busy freelance writers, there will come a time when you might consider getting some help juggling your writing workload. Things come up, volumes get heavy, and there may be a time when you just don’t have the expertise to write on a particular subject. Know someone who does? Want to find someone who can help you? Sub-contracting writing work out on occasion could help you tremendously. It could also go horribly wrong (I’ve witnessed public arguments between writers who have tried to work together) so be careful!

I have writing friends that sub for me and friends that I sub for. At one point I had a writing team of over a dozen people across four countries. These days I have just a few trusted team members and this model works for me because I can service clients without having to write on anything and everything and I don’t have to turn work away too often because I can usually turn to a team member who has room in their schedule for an extra project when I’m slammed.

The reason I scaled back from a team of twelve to just a handful of trusted writers was that with that many people, it became an administrative nightmare for me. The writing work I was subbing was at bulk rates so it just wasn’t profitable enough for the number of problems I was encountering.  If someone forgot to bill me and billed me later it would throw my billing into a state of confusion. If  a client didn’t pay quickly, I had to answer to people who were waiting to be paid. If someone didn’t turn work in, it’d fall on me. Managing several people made it really time-consuming and I’m afraid it got to where it wasn’t very profitable. If there were quality or plagiarism issues (which I did have to deal with on occasion), it put my business and my reputation in jeopardy.  There were times I lost money and I once lost a client due to something a team member did. But, it wasn’t all bad. It was a definitely learning experience. I reorganized and created a model that worked much better for me and for my customers.

Here are some tips from my experience and from scenarios I’ve witnessed with other writing teams that could help you, should you decide to get help managing your writing workload:

1. Check the samples of the person you plan to sub to. Just because you’re writing friends from a blog or forum doesn’t mean their writing style will suit your needs.
2. Allow a time buffer in case they turn the work in late or it requires extensive revisions.
3. Make sure there’s enough money in the project to pay someone fairly and compensate you fairly for the time and effort it will take you to process the order.
4. Invest in a Copyscape Premium account. For just a nickel per search, you can protect your client and your reputation by checking the work for plagiarism instances before you hand it over to your client.
5. Try someone out on a low profile project with a long deadline in case it doesn’t work out.
6. Thoroughly check the work before turning it in until you know you have formed a partnership with a writer who needs little to no checking.
7. Solidify all terms of the subcontracting agreement up front. Consider writing up an agreement with your terms such as work format, payment time lines, your anti-poaching policy, etcetera. Get the other writer to agree to your terms before trying them out on a project.
8. Google the person you are planning to sub to. Read up on their online reputation and check their samples. You can learn a lot about someone’s professionalism and work ethic by Googling them.
9. Be really careful about constructive criticism with someone “working” for you. Writing talent is a very subjective thing! Feelings can get hurt and you don’t want to create an online vendetta. (I haven’t had this problem but have seen it happen with others and it can get ugly).
10. If it looks like it will be too labour-intense to facilitate a project and you really don’t have the time or the expertise to do it well, consider just forwarding your client to the writer directly. You may arrange a finder’s fee with the writer or simply gift the referral to them out of the goodness of your heart.

If you have any tips to add from your subcontracting experiences, please share! (And if you’re thinking about subbing out writing work, read Sharon’s 2008 post about How to Work with Other Writers, too.)

Successful Subbing – Ten Tips for Outsourcing Your Writing Work is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

In my last post I talked about the need for a thick freelance writing skin but let’s delve a bit deeper. Beyond being able to take it on the chin once in a while, there will be times when you need to act after being criticised. What should a writer do when a freelance client hates the work they’ve turned in?

If everything you write is getting rejected that’s a bigger problem than I’m prepared to deal with here but if you’re like most freelance writers you get it right most of the time but have the odd occasion crop up where a client doesn’t beam with joy after you’ve sent them your work. An important first question to ask is “Why?”

Why might the writing piece not be what they want?

• Did the client not communicate clearly?
• Did you have an ‘off’ day?
• Was your chosen writing voice wrong for the client’s project?
• Is the client just difficult? Maybe even Bob Bly wouldn’t have impressed them much. (hey, I bet it even happens to Bob once in a while)

What should you do?

1. Try to make it right.

That’s it. No alternatives.

How do you make it right? Ask the client how.  Very often, their response will immediately tell you which of the above categories fits and then you can decide how to move forward. There are times when a simple revision will help, and there are going to be times when you need to spend a lot of time on rewrites. There will also be the odd occasion where you’ll both decide to move on and probably won’t work together again. If you do your best to try to make it right, you can walk away looking and feeling like a professional.

How you make things right is going to depend on the scenario. It might involve a quick fix. Or, you could work tirelessly until they’re happy. You could discount the project so they can hire a rewriter themselves (not typically advisable). Or, you could tell the client your rewrite fee (because you clearly followed their directions and now they’re trying to ask for things outside the scope of the original writing contract) and see if they’re willing to pay for a revision before you touch the work again. Try to take a careful look at each situation before reacting.

Tips for Reducing the Likelihood of the Client Hating Your Writing Work

-Adequate research. Make sure you write with the appropriate amount of authority and that will usually take at least some research. The amount of research should be reflected in your price quote. No one should be willing to spend all day searching for a $15 article. Are you quoting based on the required effort? If you quote a client too low, chances are that you won’t deliver what they want because you won’t spend an adequate amount of time on it. In your mind, you’ve probably assigned a time value to the piece of work because of the dollar value you’ve quoted.

-Ask the client for examples of the writing style they like. They may have a white paper or an article somewhere that could help you find the perfect voice and style for their project.

-Ask explicit questions about the project  before you write. (I always say, “Better questions now than rewrites later.”)Too many writers don’t ask questions to find out what their client wants. I have a questionnaire that I give new clients for their projects.  Your client questionnaire is probably going to be a living document as it’ll change based on your offerings and your experience. Hopefully you don’t deal with negative client reactions often but each difficult project you have will probably teach you something about yourself, your skills, and about how to handle client problems in the future.

Don’t Get Frustrated. Get Prepared Instead

Here’s my advice:  Be prepared for a rewrite every time. If you find yourself feeling like you are getting frustrated about rewrite requests, it’s a good idea to consider when sending in a project that it’s always going to be a first draft. If you always anticipate at least one rewrite in terms of planning your time and pricing out the project, you’ll feel much less frustration when you’re asked for a rewrite. If you have any sage words of advice for dealing with clients that hate something you’ve written, please share!

When the Client Hates Your Writing is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.