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.

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.

I’ve written here in the past about what do when overwhelmed by writing work. But what do you do when you’re doing so much juggling that the balls start to drop? It’s time to take action fast otherwise the consequences could be dire: to your health, your finances, and your reputation.

Because freelance writing goes from feast to famine and then to feast again on a regular basis, many writers have trouble saying “No” to work. We don’t typically have job descriptions and a set schedule because most times, no two days are the same for us. The fear of famine is what gets so many of us in trouble. Sometimes we just overbook our schedules because work presents itself and we can’t bring ourselves to turn it away.

Life as a juggler, especially if you work at home and have family responsibilities, ain’t easy. When you start to drop the balls, it’s scary and things can domino out of control. It has happened to me more than once. Here’s what I do when I need to regain control:

Clean the Desk and the Desktop

When I’m feeling flabbergasted with my work load, my desk and my desktop both tend to get messy. When my environment is cluttered, I have trouble focusing.  Taking ten minutes to clean up your desk can help you focus.

As for the desktop, I’m often teased about the fact that there can be more icons on my Windows desktop than room. When it gets like that, I know it’s time to reorganise. Sit down and clean up the files on your computer and you’ll be more organised when it comes to working as well. I use a system of files that go by client for freelance work and a separate folder for my own blogs and projects, and another folder for administrative stuff.

Email

If my email inbox has more than 1 page of emails, I know I need to wade through and figure out what really needs to be there. Taking a half an hour or so to clean up your email inbox will do wonders for you because it’ll help you see what you really need to get done.

To-Do List

Writing a list of what needs to get done in order of priority is a smart thing to do. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I find that this often comes as not having a full grasp of just what needs to be done and when it has to get done by. By writing it down you can also cross off things as they’re finished. With each checkmark, you’ll feel better.

Tip: It might be tempting to get rid of the easy stuff on the to-do list first but my strategy involves getting rid of the hard stuff first. A writing client of mine had me help him with a self-improvement book last year and the thing from that book that stuck with me the most was a suggestion to get the dreaded things out of the way first. This really helps me focus because the cloud of dread doesn’t linger over me.

Get Moving

Once you know just what you need to do, it’s time to do it. Don’t let distractions get the better of you. Avoid all things shiny and just go.  Then, once the backlog is looked after, plan to take the better part of a much-deserved day off for you.

I’m taking my own advice today as things have gotten a bit too hectic for my liking after my taking some time off over the holidays. If you have any tips for how you handle chaos in your writing life, please share! I’ll be trying to avoid  “all things shiny” for the rest of the day, though

Gain Control of the Balls in Your Freelance Juggling Act is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

A recent post by Allena Tapia made me think about the numbers that describe my freelance writing career in the past year. I think it’s important to conduct periodic reviews to assess the health of your writing business, so what did my assessment tell me?

The Bottom Line

One of the most important figures is how much money I made (money isn’t everything, but a girl needs to pay the bills).  All I’m going to say is that I earned double what I earned in my first full year of freelancing and made a significant improvement over 2008 earnings. There were three reasons for this:

• First, I acquired a number of regular clients in late 2008 who provided a decent basic income in 2009. Some 45% of my income last year came from 13 regular clients. Seven of those provided regular gigs, while the other six provided work every couple of months.
• Second, I raised my rates slightly as I have done again this year. When you are employed you often get a cost of living increase. When you freelance you have to arrange that yourself.
• Third, I became more active in my local market and found a couple of clients were willing to pay the going rate for my services and were a joy to work with.

Of course, it wasn’t all gravy. There were a couple of clients who fell victim to the recession and stopped providing work. But in the main these were lower paying gigs so they didn’t affect the bottom line  that much.

How My Writing Business Changed in 2009

I also made 3% of my income from blog advertising and affiliate product sales. It’s not a huge amount, but it gives me a base to build on. I have taken note of the products that have brought in income and will be focusing more on those this year.

The nature of my writing business has changed a lot in the past year as well. When I started I did lots of keyword rich articles and some rewrites. This year I have earned from journalism, blogging, reviews, writing press releases and other web content writing.

Finding Balance

I have also spent less time at my desk and more time on fitness while still managing to improve my earnings. This tells me that I am beginning to achieve the balance I have been chasing for a few years. For me, that’s just as important as being profitable.

So what do these figures tell me about how I should run my writing business this year? (I’m with Dana on the need to take action, rather than simply make resolutions.)

Making Changes For 2010

• First, I will spend more time ensuring that those high-paying clients are happy and and will think of additional services that will improve my offering to them.
• Second, I will search for one or two more high-paying clients to reduce my exposure to the major ones (one of my clients provides 22% of my income).
• Third, I have discovered which jobs really aren’t worth my while and will phase these out across the year.
• Fourth, I will increase blog promotion as my blog is now a viable source of income and create some new products which I think you will enjoy.
• Fifth, I will look for a couple more affiliate products that I can really promote wholeheartedly (I’ve already found one) to improve my passive income.
• Sixth, I will follow up with some of the clients who became dormant and see if they are interested in purchasing web content writing services at my current rate (they already know the quality of my work so it makes sense to do this). I’ve already started connecting with some of them on LinkedIn.
• Seventh, I will increase my local marketing efforts.

Doing this should improve both income and job satisfaction in 2010. Have you run the numbers on 2009? How will it change the way you run your writing business in the coming year?

Running The Numbers On 2009 Freelancing is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

I have a system – and as a writer, I need it. When I started freelancing, it wasn’t hard to keep track of my clients – I didn’t have that many of them. Now, it’s different, and I need to be very organised to keep on top of my writing business. Here’s a peek at how I organised my writing.

My Filing System

First of all I have a folder called ‘writing projects’. This is at the heart of my organisation and I make sure that this folder is backed up both online and on an external hard disk. Once inside the folder I have several key sub-folders. There’s:

• a folder for bidding, which has both copies of successful bids and samples
• a folder for clients, which is further subdivided with a sub-folder for each client and, if necessary, for each project.
• a folder with copies of contracts
• an invoice folder, with archive folders sorted by year. Once an invoice is paid, it moves into the archive folder, so I always know which ones are outstanding. Each invoice has a number and two or three letters representing the client’s name. (For example, all my invoices for ParkRideFlyUSA have the suffix PRF). This makes it easy to identify invoices for a particular client at a glance.
• a personal folder – for personal writing projects, including my ebooks and anything not for clients, though increasingly I tend simply to create a fake client and include personal writing, such as my Suite101 articles, in the writing projects folder.
• an archive folder for uncategorised writing jobs from previous years
• Finally, I have a folder for my newsletter.

I also have a separate folder for the blogs I run – with a subfolder for each blog. Copies of all posts, images, themes and customizations are stored here.

The key to using this system successfully is to file regularly. If it’s not in the right place, you will never find it, in spite of the improvement in desktop search tools. Having a good filing system means I don’t have to worry about forgetting what I’ve called a job.

Planned Improvements

How could I improve it? There’s only one thing I will implement for 2010. I will include the job numbers for each project in the file names wherever possible. I already number each project for invoicing purposes, but I use descriptive names in the client folders because I’m much better with words than numbers. Linking the two will complete the circle, making project tracking even easier.

How do you organise your writing work?

(Photo by ladyheart )

Writing – It Pays To Get Organised is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Being busy can be good. But being too busy can be overwhelming. It happens with freelance writing.  You go from famine (a time with little work and lots of bidding and job hunting) to a sudden writing job feast and suddenly you’re stuffed to the brim with work.  Being busy is good but being overwhelmed can make it difficult to cope.  How do you handle it?  Here’s what I do:

Ask for Help

I have a list of writing friends and a small group of writers I regularly sub-contract to.  If I’m running short on time, I go to someone I feel would be a good match for a project and offer them some work. I keep a percentage for managing the order flow and ensure I check the work carefully so that my client is getting what they’re expecting.  I have writing friends that do the same for me so it can be very symbiotic.

Ask for an Extension

Some clients will be flexible if you need some extra time. Not every article has to be delivered by ambulance! If you’ve run into a tough spot, consider asking for an extension as soon as possible, so you don’t interfere with their schedule by asking at the last minute.  If you don’t do it too often, your client may be accommodating and forgiving but do ensure you don’t do this often unless absolutely necessary.

Just Say No

Many freelance writers can’t bring themselves to say, “No” to work offers — even when their plate is overflowing. As self-employed individuals, we worry about the famine we fear is down the road and sometimes say “Yes” to our own detriment.  Don’t be afraid to tell clients you’re booked with projects for the next week.  Chances are that they’ll be understanding and if you’re seen as “in demand”, clients learn that they’ve got a valuable writer working on their behalf. This might result in less “emergency” orders from regular clients who (too often) abuse vendors who always drop everything for them.

When you’re busy, clients may be willing to wait for you. If not, you can sometimes refer them to a writing friend. It’s much better to take good care of the clients you’ve already got on the roster than to do a poor job for everyone because you can’t say  “No” when you really should. Part of being a freelancer is being “free” to work as much as you want and part of being a professional is being able to portion your time wisely.   Being busy is good but if you get too overwhelmed too often, you’ll resent your work and get writer’s burnout.

Buckling Down to Get Things Done

So, when you’ve found you’re really busting at the seams and the only way out of it is to be ultra productive and get work done, how do you rev up your muse and really get going?

* Turn off social media tools. You don’t need to “tweet” about how insanely busy you are ten times a day. Once will do

* Only check email (and your favourite writing blogs) between tasks. Avoiding the urge to jump back and forth between tabs. Too much multitasking  can make every task you do take longer because you’re going to be continuously distracted.

* Take-out food with disposable plates, extra treats, and a DVD for the family to occupy themselves while you get work done can buy you a very productive afternoon and evening once in a blue moon!

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask your spouse, older kids, or a close friend to help by taking non-work responsibilities off your hands so you can make work a priority. The sooner you polish off that to-do list, the sooner you’ll reap the financial rewards of being busy and earn yourself a much needed (and deserved) break! After a crazy-busy period, do make sure you do try to take time to switch off and rejuvenate!

Got any tips for writers who’ve overbooked their time? Please share!

Overwhelmed by Writing Work? What Should You Do? is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

No writing portfolio? Create one with these tips

If you’re planning a writing career, then you need to have a way of showing off your work to prospective clients.  Most people don’t just jump into writing; they have written all kinds of things for years and like the process enough to think of turning it into a career. The question is, have you got a writing portfolio? Many of us don’t think about this early enough to keep the kinds of clips and samples that will attract potential clients.

Save Obsessively

If you’re just starting out, the most important tip I can give you is to be obsessive about saving everything you write. You never know when it might come in handy. A sample lesson that I wrote for a course got me a job writing educational material for a client – and it wasn’t even part of my official portfolio! Since you don’t know exactly what you will need, keep everything, either online or on paper.

A Home For Your Writing

That brings me to my next point. Get a website of some kind. If you don’t want to spend money on hosting, then create a Squidoo lens that you can use to showcase your work. Combine that with some online storage (such as DropBox) and you can upload PDFs, Word documents and HTML files and link to these from your lens. This is an easy way to create an online writing portfolio. In the long run, it’s probably better to buy a domain name and hosting, but this will keep you going till the money starts rolling in.

What To Include

So you’ve saved everything and you have somewhere to showcase your work, but what should you include in your online writing portfolio? The short answer is: your best work. If you can’t judge what should be in there, ask someone who will give you an unbiased opinion. In other words, someone in the business, not your best friend from school. I’ve done that for some writers through my mentoring service – it’s amazing how different your work looks when you get someone else’s perspective.

Organizing Your Portfolio

If you have a lot of items in different areas, then you need to think about organizing it. You can do this by date or by theme, depending on what you want to highlight. If you want to show that you have done a lot of work recently, then date is a good option, but if you have lots of areas of expertise, then organization by theme is a better bet. Of course, it is impossible to cover every possible theme, but if you apply for a job, it’s easy to rearrange your samples to include the themes that clients are looking for (provided you’ve done the work, of course).

Beyond The Basics

Those are the basics you need for a writing portfolio, but that still won’t answer all of your potential clients’ questions. If anybody has said anything positive about your writing, get their permission to include it on your site or page as a testimonial. Include some kind of introduction to you and your approach to work – clients want to know if you can do the job and will deliver on time and to spec. Your writing portfolio takes the place of a first interview with a potential client so it’s worth taking time to get it right.

Writer Without Portfolio is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

How is recession affecting your writing income?

For months now, all the talk has been of recession. Everyone’s wondering how it will affect their business and freelance writers are not exempt. Some clients might have to cut back on the amount of work they outsource because their business is in bad shape. (I haven’t had any business from the financial sector this month.) However, others may take the chance to avoid paying tax and benefits for in-house writers and outsource more of their work. There’s a 50-50 chance that this equation might go your way.

Keeping A Balance

I haven’t seen any slowdown in the amount of work I’m getting. For the most part, my clients are pretty solid and there’s been no indication of any plans to cut back. I’ve also managed to get a couple of new contracts. However, I am not taking this for granted. Especially at this time, it’s important to keep chasing work so that you have plenty in hand if a major source of income suddenly goes belly-up.

A 25% Pay Cut

Where I have seen an effect is in the exchange rate. Many of us work for clients in different countries and may be paid in different currencies. If you do, you might find that recession and devaluation have taken a toll on your earnings. A job that I get paid for in British pounds was worth 25% less at the end of the month than at the start of the month because of sterling’s fall in value. Luckily for me, I have clients in different countries, so that’s only a part of my writing income.

Protecting Your Writing Business

So how do you protect yourself against this kind of event? For me, it’s a question of paying more attention to managing my writing business. I can’t do anything about the economy, but I can make sure that I keep my personal economy ticking over. That means spending more time on self-promotion, seeking to get work from a diverse portfolio of clients, invoicing promptly and chasing late payment even more promptly.

How is your writing business faring at the moment? I’d love to hear your strategies for maintaining a steady income during an economic downturn.

(Photo: Dani Simmonds)

Recession And The Freelance Writer is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Have you ever had a writing client that was a dream to work for? Someone who provided clear briefs, was flexible and always paid up on time? Those clients are a joy to work for and every freelancer wants more of them. I believe that with a bit of work, freelancers can move almost everyone they deal with closer to client nirvana. Here’s how to approach it.

The Ideal Writing Client

First of all, think about what a dream client looks like to you. For me, someone who tells me what is expected, when it is expected and is willing to pay for quality is great. Someone whom I don’t have to chase for payment is even better. I have a few clients like that and I’m trying to think about common factors in how I approached them. I acquired most of these clients in the usual way, by bidding/querying for a job they had offered. One of them was a referral, and I’ll get to that in a minute.

Approaching The Client

When I made the initial approach, I clearly stated my expertise and how I could put that to work to help with their project. Clients want to know why they should trust you and how you can help them. In addition to my subject expertise, I always tell clients about my capacity for research, my writing experience and my ability to meet deadlines.

Setting Expectations

Clients also need to know what you expect. If you tell clients that you need a deposit up front while you establish the relationship, then you will get it if they are serious. If you tell them that you expect payment on completion, then you will get this. (I even have one client who pays up front because of previous payment difficulties.) Stating your expectations clearly helps you get them met.

Working Relationship

The final aspect of having a dream client is the working relationship. That’s about making sure that you understand the client brief and asking questions if you don’t. It’s about letting the client know if there is a problem with the material or the timing and working to make sure you find a solution that works for both of you. Essentially, it’s about communication. With my dream clients, I can sometimes say that I need more time on a project. Because of my track record, they know it’s not a snow job – and I get the extra time I need.

Having those clients (thanks; you know who you are) makes freelance writing a wonderful job, and I’m always on the lookout for more of them. What does your dream client look like?

(Photo: cjessen)

How To Get Your Dream Client is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

I mentioned in my last post that I was doing something about getting organized. To help me, I’ve used two Firefox extensions, GTDInbox and Remember The Milk for Gmail. I’ve reviewed these elsewhere (links are to the reviews), but here’s how they help.

Achieving Inbox Zero

GTD Inbox makes it a snap to deal with your email (in Gmail). You have five email statuses (next action, action, waiting on, some day and finished) that you apply to your email when it comes in. The theory is that if you can do something immediately, you should, otherwise you apply a priority label and archive it. Then you deal with items in order of priority.

This has worked well for me. My inbox is almost always empty (the famed ‘inbox zero’) and I know exactly which emails are most important. So, what if you don’t use Gmail? The system will work with any email program that allows you to use tags, labels or smart folders. My friend Mitchell Allen has outlined a similar system which he uses with Thunderbird. (These labels also work for processing real mail. I instituted a six-tray system under the influence of my DH some time ago. Labels are now, soon, file, read, info and pass on.)

Making Lists And Getting Organised

Once I had the email sorted, I turned my attention to task lists. I’ve made several attempts to get organised when it comes to tasks. I’ve used Google Calendar, with a separate calendar for writing deadlines. I’ve used a paper diary, which is still on my desk. And now I’m using Remember The Milk for Gmail.

I’ve flirted with RTM in the past, but gave up because it just added one more thing for me to do. Now that I can add tasks from the inbox, assign priorities and see a handy list of what I’ve got coming up, it’s perfect. The task list only appears in the inbox list view, which works for me. When you click on an email it disappears. But here’s the beauty of the system.

Working Together: GTDInbox And RTM

Now, when an email comes in, I either deal with it or assign it a GTD priority and archive it, which takes me back to the inbox. I can immediately input a task related to that email, along with a due date. It should mean that I never forget anything important and am always on top of what has to be done. Marking tasks complete is also satisfying, though postponing them is less so.

So that’s how I’m getting organised at the moment. I’m not even using all the features yet, but I’ll let you know when I find out more. I’ve always met my deadlines, sometimes with time to spare, but using these extensions makes me feel more control over the process.

(Photo: arundo)

Personal Productivity: An Interim Report is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.