freelance

Getting Down To Business: Status Reports To Clients

02.02.2011 Business

No matter how informally you run your business, one of the things that a client is paying you for is a degree of confidence that you are doing what they’ve contracted you to do. I’ve learned that as a freelance professional my customers are much more comfortable and less demanding when I take the initiative [...]

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Getting Down To Business: The Statement Of Work

02.01.2011 Business

If you’re a freelancer, it’s often tempting to enter into work informally, to get right to the job and to deal with things fast. But if you want to prosper as a freelance businessperson, you’ll need to establish some basic practices that will help you to raise the quality of your work, strengthen your client [...]

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Talk To Me—Client Meetings Without Technology Getting In The Way

01.17.2011 Business

Last week I spent two days at a client’s headquarters, conducting a series of interviews with top managers in their key areas. I was once again reminded of something very important: keep the technology off the table. My business is writing, but the first step is asking questions and listening. It’s tempting to recreate your [...]

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Advice To Freelancers: Sell Gift Cards

01.03.2011 Business

A friend and fellow freelancer asked me a question about retainers the other day. I spent some time thinking about it before we talked. We discussed a strategy that I hope will work for him, and I think it might have value for others, too. The first thing we discussed was my two rules of [...]

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Heartsick For A Man I Do Not Know

12.14.2010 Business

I went to the local feed store today and as I opened the door I noticed a piece of orange paper taped to it. The paper was an announcement: the store was closing in just over a week. The store owner, I’d seen him before but don’t know his name, was helping a customer select [...]

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