This week’s “Spark an Idea Thursday” is about making “real life” connections with people you know online. I don’t actually have a lot of experience with meeting online friends in real life, but I’d like to do better with that. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to launch a new initiative: the Smart Solopreneurs Meetup Group. Keep reading to learn how you can get involved (even if you don’t live in the Greater Boston area).

I love Meetup.com. I’m the organizer for a local moms’ Meetup group in my town, and I’m amazed at the number of members who have joined our little group. I’ve met people I never would have met otherwise, and they’re such cool people, too!

So when I learned about the topic for this week’s Spark an Idea Thursday, I decided to organize a new Meetup group for all of the awesome freelancers, solopreneurs, and other small business owners out there. I live in the Boston area, so that’s where the in-person events will be (at least at first). But some of the events will be online (teleseminars, interviews, etc.) and if the group takes off, we’ll expand the live events to other cities – so I encourage you to join no matter where you live!

If you’d like to take part, just click here to join the Smart Solopreneurs Meetup Group! Hopefully it will be a great way for us to connect and learn from one another. I can’t wait to get started!

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Please share in the comments!

Welcome to Spark an Idea Thursday.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

Most freelancers know that making clients happy is just plain good business sense. Happier clients return for more business, they don’t baulk when you tell them your prices, and they recommend you to other professionals in need of similar services.

While this idea is something many of us incorporate into our business practices on a regular basis, I was a bit overwhelmed recently by just how productive word-of-mouth and recommendations can be. It started with a single client I picked up through Guru.com, of all places. He ordered a bundle of SEO articles – pretty standard stuff done at pretty standard prices. The work exceeded his expectations, and not only did he order more articles, but he also recommended me to a friend of his in need of web content.

Here’s where the “pyramid” came in. His friend then recommended me to two more people, who, in turn, recommended me to two more of their own. Needless to say, it was a pretty busy few weeks during that time, and many of them are now regular clients. Good stuff, all around.

This type of experience is one that we find to be the most effective type of marketing there is. It costs us nothing more than our standard good work, and takes no more time than a few extra minutes on the phone call to exchange pleasantries.

That’s why, when we work with particularly good clients or merchants, Lorna and I like to return the favor. We’ve been known to plug everyone from our VA to our web designer here on the blog, and we’ve also recommended those whose work we really enjoy. In fact, we sometimes consider ourselves “experts” when it comes to choosing another freelancer for any sort of business needs; because we have so many contacts gained through our social media outreach practices and because we commonly use freelancers (especially smaller, WAHM ones), we know who’s good at what and what kind of prices they charge.

While I haven’t tracked the results of our recommendations to see if the pyramid idea holds as strong for others, I do like to think that a kind word of praise here or there results in more business for our peers. It’s the least we can do for a community that has been so integral in our own success as a freelance writing company.

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

OK, so I’m being a little facetious with the title there, but today’s topic for Spark and Idea Thursday is “Spark an Idea that Makes You a New Business Ally,” and there’s something to be said for laying out a little cash in return for a great new ally.

We actually came upon this idea accidentally.  You may remember that some time ago, we invested in a new website for the Berry|Brewer Freelance Agency.  What we didn’t know at the time was that small business we hired would become one of our best clients.  We just wanted a shiny new site and were willing to pay another mompreneur to build it for us.

Fortunately for us, websites are not all that person was building.  She was actually laying the foundation for a really successful marketing company aimed at local small businesses.  I say it was fortunate, because she took us along for the ride.  Now, tons of the people who come to her for design also come to us for content.  Whether she needs something for her own business or for one of her clients’, she turns to us first.

I would say that you can’t buy that kind of loyalty, but the fact of the matter is that we sort of did…even if we weren’t smart enough to be doing it on purpose.

So, how can this relate to your freelance business?  Well, consider this: you need stuff that other people have.  They need stuff that you have.  You both know people that need what the other is offering, so why not hook them up? 

I sincerely believe that teaming up with other small business owners is a great way to make friends and improve your own business.    I’m not just talking about networking, either, but truly utilizing their services and seeing what kind of relationship naturally develops.  It’s worked extremely well for us, that’s for sure.

Of course, if you’re not acting in a professional manner, then the jig will be up pretty quickly. Your “professional freelancer” persona is going to need to be bolstered by your behavior and your actions. There are a few things that you can do to portray yourself as the professional that you want to become.

Always, always, ALWAYS make your deadlines. Sure, you might get away with it once or twice if you get an extension or get your project done the day after you said you would; but you’re not going to last long working this way. For one thing, you’re not going to get repeat clients, and they are such an important aspect of succeeding in freelance work. In addition, if you miss enough deadlines, it will start to become a habit, and we all know how hard it is to break a bad habit.

Spend a little money. Now, we have argued—quite vehemently, as a matter of fact—that you don’t have to have a lot of money to get started freelancing, and we stick by that. On the other hand, we also believe that if you lay a little money out up front, you can probably advance more quickly. One of the best things you can spend your money on is a professionally designed website. This does so much to improve your credibility, and it will get you jobs. The other area where we recommend you spend a little cash is to have business cards designed and printed. The free ones you get online are cool and all, but a really well-designed card gets a lot of attention, and you’ll be amazed how often you’re able to hand them out (like at a Christmas party, for example).

Network appropriately. Get yourself LinkedIn. Twitter. Blog. Go to local functions. We got one of our best clients because Tamara attended a marketing association meeting one time. When you do these things, tell people that you’re a freelancer and that you have your own business. On the other hand, we recommend that you don’t call yourself the CEO, COO, or something along those lines. It actually looks more amateur than professional. Besides, if you’re really a writer/photographer/designer at heart, then isn’t that a title you want to wear proudly? (There’s nothing wrong with “Senior Designer,” though. )

Charge what you’re worth. We’ve already talked about setting your freelance rates. One thing I didn’t really mention, though, is that a lot of potential clients will judge you by those rates. If you’re not asking enough, you won’t look professional, and they’ll skip right over you. If you’re charging too little, you may just come across as a hack.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a big secret. Of these four suggestions, there’s only one that Tamara and I did “right” when we started our business. We didn’t have a website when we started, and our first one was built by Tamara’s husband. (We still think of it fondly, but it didn’t do for us what the new one does.) We definitely didn’t charge what we were worth and are still finagling the appropriate rates all this time later. I also believe that we referred to ourselves as the CEO and COO for a short time, which now makes me shudder.

The point is this: You can certainly make it, even if you do just about everything wrong. As far as I’m concerned, there’s really only one major rule to freelancing, and it’s this:

“Don’t suck.”

The rest of it can be learned through trial and error if you have enough time. Or, you can take the advice of people who have already made the mistakes and skip over all the annoying stuff we did to ourselves. Instead of just calling yourself a “professional,” you’ll know that you really are one.

One of the positive benefits of working together, though, is having the time to chat about random things that arise from time to time. (Things that would not necessitate a phone call, but that are interesting all the same.)

For example: I have a new client who thinks I am the greatest thing to ever write web copy. He has hired me to overhaul his entire web page, provide regular SEO articles, and rework a brochure for him. He has also referred me to two friends of his who need similar work. Can anyone say “cash cow?”

He’s actually a really nice, gregarious guy, and we’ve chatted on the phone several times. I usually hate phone clients, since they disrupt my comfortable bubble of misanthropy, but I enjoy him. So when he ended a call with, “Thanks, sweetheart, I’ll talk to you later,” I laughed good-naturedly and went on with my business. I mentioned what he said to Lorna, and she replied with, “You know, someone called me sweetheart today, too.”

Of course, that sparked a discussion that was much more important than whatever work we were doing at the time.

In theory, Lorna and I are feminists. After all, we are living the idea that women can have it all: families, fun, and financial success. We are running a business and doing it well. We do not feel unequal to any of our male freelancing counterparts, and we would immediately resent any suggestion that men are inherently better at this work than we are.

However, I can’t help but feel a little guilty that being called “sweetheart” by one of my clients does absolutely nothing to rankle my feathers. All of my education and upbringing insists that I feel outraged he’s not treating me with the respect I deserve as a businesswoman, but in reality, I just think that’s the way he is, and I’m glad he feels comfortable with me (and continually sends more work my way).

Lorna pretty much agrees. She brought up the point that while being respected is an important part of what we do, business – no matter what business you’re in – really depends on being genuinely liked.

Bam! Let me say that again. In business, respect is good, but being liked is better.

We could be perfectly nice, respectable business owners. I could have politely asked the client not to refer to me in terms of possibly offensive endearment, and I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t have demanded his money back. But the truth is, he likes my work and he likes me as a person. What more could I want out of a business relationship? It’s why Lorna and I work well together. It’s why we get along so well with our freelancing buddies over at JCME, At Home Mom, and Garden Wall Publications. It’s why we’ve been able to really start to networking with local small businesses over glasses of wine and slightly inebriated hugs. It’s why we’re able to do well and succeed with all of our clients.

Because we all get along. We like one another.

I guess here’s where I’ll open the floor. I maintain that being called “sweetheart,” “darling,” “gals,” or any of those other potentially loaded terms does nothing to diminish my success or confidence as a freelancer. Lorna and I are young, we’re pretty cute, and we’re fun. If we can use that to our advantage, shouldn’t we? Or are we sending the wrong message to our daughters and our clients?

My husband, Baby Dot, and I were invited to some friends’ Christmas party this year, and we were very excited to go. We hadn’t seen them for some time, and their parties are always fun. Not only that, but they were totally keen on having us bring the baby, which made things a lot easier on us.

During the party, it was nonchalantly mentioned that one of the other guests was the publisher of a local magazine. “Oh my gosh,” I said to my host. “Do you know what I do?” Within moments, I had been introduced to the Editor-in-Chief and had exchanged one of my beautiful business cards for a sample copy of his gorgeous magazine. I was chirping on the inside to have been so fortunate to have gotten a little face time with the fellow.

The very next day I received an email from this Editor-in-Chief thanking me for the card and complimenting me on our company’s website (also done by Rainmaker, thank you very much). He wanted to run a story idea by me to see if I was interested. Boy, was I! By Monday night of the following week, I had done two phone interviews, learned a heap about the topic, and submitted a 1,110 word article. The Editor-in-Chief was so happy with the piece that he has asked me to turn it into a series running in the next three issues.

When I walked into the party, my agenda included reconnecting with some old friends and showing off my sweet baby girl. Thank goodness I had some of those business cards in my wallet.

The moral of the story: You’re always networking.

(By the way, if you want to read the first installment of the series, check out my article for Q View Northwest.)

But, that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. Instead of hanging out here, I’d like to encourage you all to head over WAHM Talk Radio. The podcast is hosted by Sparkplugging’s own Kelly McCausey of the WAHM 2.0 Blog, and Tamara and I were her guests this week.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about the ladies behind Freelance Parent, give it a listen. I was worried about figuring out how to download it and everything, and it was a matter of clicking one button…so don’t be intimidated! Not only that, but Kelly is just really awesome, and I’m in favor of supporting her show.

Here at Freelance Parent, we’ve been hinting around for a few weeks that we’re bringing more people onto the Berry-Brewer team. We started talking about it with “Weighing the Pros and Cons of Outsourcing.” Well, we’ve now hired a couple of folks but didn’t want to make any big fuss about it until we were pretty sure things were going to work out.

We forgot to tell the people we hired about that plan.

Oops. So Laurie Mapp from Halo Secretarial sort of let the cat out of the bag in her comment on Tamara’s post called “Keeping Trade Secrets, Well, Secret.” We have, in fact, brought her onboard in a limited capacity to act as our virtual assistant. It’s one of those deals where the more successful we become (with her help), the more we’ll have for her to do. We are absolutely stoked about it.

Part of the reason that we’re feeling so good about Laurie is because we’ve already been having a great experience working with another Freelance Parent reader. About a month ago, Genesis Davies of At Home Mom Blog joined our team, too. She’s done a great job with a variety of projects that we’ve been able to assign to her. We have a couple of local people who have been getting their feet wet, too.

Last week, Tamara and I were really, really excited, because we finally felt like we were at a point where we could hire a former coworker of ours. It was sort of emotional for us, because from the day we started our business, we’ve been trying to figure out how we could afford to bring this person onboard. Last Thursday we were finally able to sit down with her and offer her a very part-time contract with the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency. It was awesome.

For four days.

Today we received an email telling us that after thinking it through, she realizes that she really needs to focus on finding full-time employment. We’re bummed, but she’s got to do what’s right for her. One of the reasons that we were so excited about this writer was because she has expertise in a particular area. We were looking forward to having a go-to person for a specific type of project.

When we got to looking at it, we realized that there are a few areas where we’d like to have a go-to person. Since we’ve had such great luck finding reliable folks through this blog, we decided to throw an invitation out to you all.

The Best Freelance Marketing Advice We Ever Got

When the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency came into being, you could say that my business partner and I were wet behind the ears. I had tried the freelancing game on my own a couple of years before to no avail. My downfall: I was just dreadful at marketing myself.

It turns out that Tamara wasn’t all that great at it either. So, we struggled a bit as we did everything we could to learn the ropes and become successful. We even made “marketing materials” that we thought were going to be our ticket to the big time.

Why did we design these beautiful four-color brochures that would never even get printed? Because that was our understanding of what marketing was. The grand total of our marketing knowledge could probably be summed up as follows:

Business Cards + Brochures + A Blog = Marketing

(It turns out there’s a whole lot missing from that equation.)

The most important piece of marketing advice we got turned out to this: “Align yourself with other businesses who are already marketing to the clients you want.”

For example, we worked with a wonderful marketer when we decided to rebrand our company. Billie Gaura at Rainmaker Marketing was not only good at her job, but she also “got” us. We plunked down what was (to us) a pretty penny in order to have her on our team. (Don’t let that scare you off, her rates are actually really, really good.)

In the end, we ended up being on her team. Now, when her clients need a good writer, she’s quick to say, “I know this great agency…”

Another way that this has been so beneficial to us is by teaming up with graphic designers. For example, we hired Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios to set up our Nonprofit Perspective blog. Since then, she has referred us to two of her clients. In fact, she is the second designer to do so.

As a final example, we’re also working with a search engine optimization company. They go out and find their clients. They set up plans and packages and prices and the whole nine yards. When they’ve got all that done, they turn around and ask us to write some articles. It’s very low-fuss for us, but it brings in a nice bit of our income these days.

If there’s one thing that has made a difference in our marketing strategy, it has been to have all of these other folks marketing for us. We’re all targeting the same clients, after all, and we have the opportunity to support one another by teaming up for a great customer experience.

If you’re interested in some of the other cool marketing techniques we’ve learned, check out Eight Creative Marketing Campaigns adapted for Freelancers.

That fluke has bolstered us for an entire year. We were so proud of the award that it even got mentioned in our anniversary video. It became a staunch goal of ours to make the 2008-2009 edition of that list.

We are absolutely thrilled and beaming with pride over the fact that we again placed in the top ten.  Here is the entire list, for your consideration.

1. Copyblogger: As the undefeated champ, this blog has held the number-one spot for three straight years!  The baby of Brian Clark, this blog keeps winning because of its excellent and educational articles.
2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod are the dynamic duo who continue to deliver rich content and community discussion.
3. Freelance Writing Jobs: Founded by Deb Ng, this site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began).
4. Write to Done: This blog delivers a steady stream of excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
5. Confident Writing: Looking for encouragement? Joanna Young will help you take your writing to the next level.
6. The Renegade Writer: Linda Formichelli and Diana Burell, authors of a book by the same name, help freelance journalists find inspiration.
7. Remarkable Communication: One part writing, one part marketing and one part selling, this excellent blog by Sonia Simone will help any writer succeed.
8. Writing Journey: Looking for a great stop on your writing journey? Bob Younce’s blog will refresh and energize you.
9. Freelance Parent: Two moms, Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, provide excellent perspective on writing while balancing time with little ones.
10. Urban Muse: Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.

Congratulations to all of the others, as well as to the other 27 finalists.  We are so grateful to our readers, not just for nominating us, but for inspiring us to continually strive to make Freelance Parent the kind of blog that can make this list.

As far as home-based businesses go, freelance writing has been a dream come true for us. We’ve had our ups and downs, and the ups have been more than enough to keep us motivated and excited. We definitely think of you all as one of those “ups.” We want to thank you for being a part of our success. We truly believe that we’ve gotten as far as we have because of this blog…because of you!

However, while individuals working from virtual offices may still be in the minority, there are substantially more work-from-home professionals and parents than you think there are. This is because people working in offices still seem to carry a bit more authority than individuals clocking their hours around soccer schedules and day care issues, so those of us in the latter category tend to “hide” the fact that that is exactly what we are doing.

Although the rational part of me knows that working from home or a virtual office is no source of shame, I can’t help but perk up when I hear the screams of someone else’s children on the other end of the phone. I adore getting apologies from seemingly collected businesspeople as they are forced to attend to what only can be teenagers demanding the keys to the car or money for the mall.

That’s why it is a continual delight to come across clients who are in the exact same situation as the rest of us. In the past two weeks, I have discovered that not one, not two, but three of my client contacts are WAHMs. They work from virtual offices and around the needs of their small children. And these aren’t small potatoes clients either – some of them are incredibly successful professionals amongst whom it is an honor to work.

In reality, working with individuals in virtual offices is beneficial for a number of reasons:

• They have more flexible schedules, so questions are often answered in the middle of the night and phone calls can be set up during untraditional hours.

• They understand the costs of working as a freelancer or an independent contractor. When you ask for a reasonable hourly rate, they automatically know that you are calculating taxes, administrative hours, and PayPal fees into the overall charge, so they don’t balk at the total number.

• They are an incredible networking opportunity. Our website designer and our nonprofit blog designer (yet to be unveiled, thank you very much) both work from virtual offices. We send work their way, and they send work ours. We all belong to the same club, with the never-discussed-but-readily-apparent rules of loyalty and reciprocation.

• They employ the latest in communications technology. Instant messages, Twitters, and emails abound among the virtual office set. Telephone and face-to-face communication methods are oftentimes a heavier time investment than sending off a quick email every now and then, so it’s nice to work with a group of people who operate along the same lines.

• They work on different pay schedules than traditional offices. When I submit an invoice to a large organization, I typically have to wait until the right department approves and submits the payment. The work-at-home set typically pays much, much faster (oftentimes on the same day as the project completion).

The work-from-home set is an incredible bunch of people (as many of us will attest). Although I would never turn down a job from a traditional office setting, I am happy to include so many WAHMs and virtual office professionals in my client list.

The fact of the matter is that I currently subscribe to 79 blogs. In addition, I have four of my own (with a fifth about to start), not counting the ones I write for clients. I haven’t even visited most of the new blogs on our very own Sparkplugging network, and that’s just shameful.

There’s also MySpace. And AIM. And Twitter. And LinkedIn. And Technorati. And Work It Mom! And StumbleUpon. And I really, really want a Facebook account because all of my college friends are on there. I also have four email addresses that I use on a fairly regular basis. (I have to keep coming back and adding more to this list, like LiveJounal and Yahoo Meetups and Sk*rt – which is now called kirtsy – and I haven’t even included ones I don’t use, like Digg.)

It’s just too much.

I used to love to spend time surfing around a few of my favorite blogs, leaving comments here and there. But I haven’t been able to do that for a while now. While I have been busy with work and the baby, part of it is just that I’ve been overwhelmed. I don’t know how to fit all of this social networking in with the other stuff I need to do for my business.

I suspect that I’ve actually hurt my business to some degree. I’ve been spread too thin and tried to pay attention to too many things. I’ve lost connections I’d made in the past by working to make new ones. That seems a little ridiculous now that I’ve typed it out.

So, I’m starting over. I’m going to go delete all but a handful of blogs out of my Google Reader. I’m going to pick a few and get back to interacting with those people. I’m going to let go of the guilt I have over the 900+ unread items and just wipe the slate clean.

As for the MySpace/AIM/Twitter/LinkedIn/Technorati/Work It Mom!/StumbleUpon/Facebook/email conundrum, I’m not sure what to do there. It makes sense for me to read blogs in a variety of niches, because I have blogs in a variety of niches, but this is getting a little crazy. If my job was just to network, I might have enough time in a day; but my job is actually to find and write for clients. There’s a subtle but important difference there.

I know a lot of you folks have these various accounts, and I’m curious as to how you deal with them. Any suggestions?

During one such conversation, Tamara and I were talking about some folks we know online who have their own company. I said to her, “I’d sure like to hitch our star to that wagon!” A moment later I realized the error of what I’d said. “I’d like to hitch our wagon to that star!” I corrected myself, chuckling at the mistake. We talked a little more about how much we admired these business owners and how we would like to get on their radar and then said our goodbyes.

For the next couple of days, I just couldn’t get that phrase out of my head. Was the fact that I said it backward some sort of Freudian slip? Was I subconsciously trying to hold us back by letting someone else’s reality define how high we are able to soar? I certainly don’t want to tether our blazing star to someone’s earth-bound wagon! After agonizing over it for a while, these ruminations led me to determine that I’d simply gotten tongue-tied. 

I realized this because it is so clear that Tamara and I are absolutely inspired by the success of those around us. Every time we hear about a colleague who has received an acceptance from a big-wig magazine, for example, it reminds us that we can do it, too. Watching partnerships grow into successful businesses fills us with confidence about our own potential. Little throw-away lines that someone adds to a blog post (”I’m so busy I’m turning down work!” “It was clearly time to increase my rates!”) perk us right up, as we realize that we’re working our way into the same position.

 We are inspired by the work that other entrepreneurs are doing. Sometimes we’re flat-out flabbergasted by it. The Shane & Peter Blog talks a lot about finding the right mentor, and I have to say that we recognize them every day in the words and deeds of the people we meet through our business. There are so many entrepreneurial ventures out there that we follow with much interest. Sometimes it’s because the business owner is sharing such amazing information, like Naomi with her Marketing School over at IttyBiz or Deb Ng’s work on Freelance Writing Jobs. Other times it’s because he or she has done something we aspire to do, like Allena Tapia with her About.com page. It’s also possible that we’re just ga-ga over a company because they are willing to publicly declare their million-dollar goal for 2008.

 We are more than ready to hitch our wagon to the myriad of brilliant stars we see shimmering around us. In fact, we’ve gone and hitched it to our very own star. We hope to be able to inspire others as much as they’ve inspired us.

 How about you? What entrepreneurs out there are inspiring you, and how are they doing it? When you get a moment to (metaphorically) look into the night sky, which stars twinkle the brightest?

Ghost writing is basically where you do all of the work and get none of the glory. On the other hand, you do get PAID. Someone comes to you with their idea and has you do the research and writing for the project. In exchange for the agreed-upon fee, the client gets to use the work in any way he sees fit. Generally, this means that he will put his name on it. There is no hint that you actually wrote the piece at all.

Ghost writing is extremely common for freelance writers, but it has a hint of weirdness to it. It’s so strange to me that I can put my time and effort into writing a piece, and then someone else’s name will go on it. Oftentimes, the person I’m writing for is staging himself as an “expert” in whatever field the e-book, report, or article is about. Despite this status, however, the client rarely, if ever, offers any actual expertise to the project.

Of the work Tamara and I do, the majority is ghost writing. Sometimes the client puts his name on the project. Sometimes no name is attached. Rarely do we get the byline. If you’ve gone into freelance writing to become famous, ghost writing is not the path for you. We got into freelance writing because we want to make a living from home while doing something we truly enjoy. Therefore, ghost writing works for us. There are some down sides, of course, but the money is good, and we get to learn so many things. We’ve ghost written on everything from cooking to termites, and each project is interesting in its own way.

We are a little particular about what projects we will take, however. Both the subject and the client come into the decision for us. For example, we did decide to turn down an e-book project on accounting practices for small businesses. It was to be written for an accountant who would then put his or her name on it. Tamara and I talked it over and quickly realized that we would be in over our heads with that particular project. While our research skills are excellent (if I do say so myself), we felt like we wouldn’t necessarily be able to do the project justice, and we therefore turned it down.

It also makes samples a bit tricky. If a potential client wanted to see a sample of an e-book we wrote, we might not actually have the right to show it to him. After all, someone else owns the material, and they are taking credit for it.

I’ve been asking around a bit about how to navigate this particular process, and I’d be curious about what the other freelance writers around here think.

So, when a client of ours recently asked about marketing services, I immediately thought of referring our marketer to her. I mentioned this in a recent phone conversation, and Billie and I got to talking about the possibilities that teaming up might offer. We can see how doing something like this can add value to both of our businesses.

Working with other freelancers can be a great way to build on the business you’ve already started, and it can actually make things easier for you, too. Some of the advantages:

Someone else bringing in the gigs. Most freelancers would rather spend their time engaged in the creative aspect of their business than chasing down new clients. When you’re teamed up with someone else, you’re both bringing in clients. This takes some of the pressure off and leaves more time for doing the actual work.

Frying bigger fish. Two freelance businesses can obviously offer more services than one, which means that the partnership can attract bigger projects than one could alone. A freelance web designer, for example, could benefit from working with a freelance writer, as the two could create a complete website without the client needing to seek each out individually. Add a freelance photographer to the mix, and you could create one heck of a custom website.

Finding new interests. Not everyone has the same interests, and the person you’ve teamed up with is likely to accept gigs you would have never considered. This gives you the opportunity to try new things and can open new areas of revenue.

Networking. Many freelancers work from home and don’t necessarily have a lot of interaction with others throughout the day. Teaming up is a great way to add some adult interaction to your day. There’s another bonus, too. If someone asks them if they know of a good writer/designer/photographer/etc., and you already have a good relationship, your name is likely to come up.

Of course, there are a few things to keep in mind before you jump on someone else’s bandwagon:

• Make sure you actually like the other person’s work.
• Start with smaller projects while you get a feel for the other freelancer’s commitment and work ethic.
• Make sure that you are someone who can be relied upon. The other person’s reputation is on the line, too.
• Plan the project out well, as you’ll be dealing with more than one person’s schedule. Communication is key.

Anyway, when I was hired on by that company, I was overjoyed by the fact that I could officially call myself a “professional writer.” Sometimes I’d ask my husband, “So, what does your wife do for a living?” just to hear the answer. In my world, simply being paid to write makes you a professional writer.

Of course, this simple criterion means that there are some really bad “professional writers” out there. That’s what you call “talking the talk.”

Now that Tamara and I have our own company that is doing well, I feel more like a professional than ever. Things have moved beyond a point where a few bucks for an article is enough to make us feel like we’ve arrived. We’re now looking at ways to let other people know that we’re professionals. It’s time to really “walk the walk.” We’ve begun by taking a few baby steps into the land of Market Thyself.

Our first goal is to “brand” our company. We’re working with Rainmaker Marketing, a local business, to come up with a concept that describes us and what we do through the use of colors, graphics, and a logo. Our marketer Billie has been working on ideas for the last week or so, and we are super excited to go see what she’s put together.

One of the best parts of we’re doing, in our opinion, is that the branding will tie all of our marketing materials together. In addition to a logo, Billie is creating some separate graphic elements that can be carried over onto our business cards, web site, note cards, brochures, etc. With a nice design and great colors, branding is really going to take us to that next level of professionalism.

The second-best part of this whole thing is that we are working with another freelance parent who lives in our area. How perfect is it for our two businesses to support one another?

So of course, it is incredibly thrilling to find that not only do we rely on others to get us through the rough patches, but other people are beginning to look to us for advice and support.

Now, Lorna and I are by no means experts at what we do; we are relative freelance newbies and goodness knows, we make mistakes. However, we have learned some incredible things along they way, and it feels great to be able to assist others as they begin their freelancing careers.

We always hear about freelancers who become successful due to the support and mentorship of others. Yet, equally important is the ability to become a mentor yourself. Whether you adopt a zen-like Mr. Miyagi persona or simply offer a shoulder for another writer hitting a brick wall, the benefits are boundless.

• Being a mentor forces you to take a step back and question your own techniques and assumptions.

• What goes around comes around – when you help a freelancer with finding work or simply gaining confidence, he or she is likely to return the favor someday.

• People like to give jobs to people who know what they’re doing. Would you rather hire a newbie right out of college or someone who’s been in the field long enough to become someone others look up to?

• It feels good to know that someone else might flourish because you took the time to care.

• When things go bad, someone will care about you. Mentors are a little like parents, teachers, and friends all rolled into one package. Few people want to see their mentor trapped somewhere unpleasant.

• Being a mentor builds confidence. Knowing that others respect your work and want to emulate you is a great way to confirm that yes, indeed, you are good at what you do.

• Networking is an inevitable outcome of both formal and informal mentorships. You will meet people and make contacts you might otherwise miss.

Take the time to listen to others who come to you for support. Answer emails and pay attention to the comments left on your blog. Offer advice when you can and simply listen when you can’t. You will be surprised at how much opening the mentorship door will do to advance your freelancing career.

I’ll bet that someone thinks you are. Heck, it’s possible that I think you are. What’s really important, though, is that potential clients think you are.

Q. How do you convince potential clients of your totally awesome status?
A. Have someone else do it for you.

It’s true that freelancers in general, and writers specifically, sometimes have a little trouble tooting their own horns. We’ve talked before about how we sometimes get self-conscious about our abilities or nervous about charging an appropriate fee. If we have trouble getting ourselves to buy our work, how on earth are we going to get other people to do it?

One of the tools that Tamara and I really believe in is the client recommendation. In a perfect world, our clients would think we’re so totally awesome that they’d just tell everyone they know to hire us; and we’d never have to look for work again. In reality, though, it just doesn’t usually cross their minds that they should be advertising our services for us. I’m quite certain, however, that it’s not because they don’t think we’re totally awesome.

How do I know what they think? I know because we ask them. Again, it takes some gumption to ask a client to endorse you, but it is so worth it in the long run. Here’s how we do it:

When Tamara and I finish up a project, the client will generally thank us and say something like, “This is just what I wanted,” or “Thanks for getting it in ahead of the deadline.” This is the perfect opening. We like to follow up with an email that says something like, “I’m so glad that you’re pleased with the project. I had a lot of fun working on it. My partner and I are currently updating our company website, and we would be pleased if you would be willing to contribute a few words about why you liked working with us.”

We usually just ask them for a sentence or two, and then we file it away for future use. We love putting them on our website, and they can be quite persuasive when included in a cover letter, too. We’re pretty protective of our Guru.com client feedback, and we’ve gotten some wonderful reviews there that we lift to use in other contexts. They come in especially handy when you’ve been staring at a submission for way too long, convincing yourself that you’re just not a good writer. This is the best time to read over the positive feedback you’ve received from past clients and bolster your self-esteem. Let them convince you (and your future clients) that you are, indeed, totally awesome!

We’ve been a little surprised to discover that suddenly people are asking us for work. I think some of it must be people following through on their New Year’s resolutions. I’m betting plenty of us have “find more freelancing jobs” prominently posted on our lists of things to do this year. Part of the reason is probably also because our web site describes us as a network of writers from all over the country, and who wouldn’t want to be part of the awesome Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency network?

Tamara and I recently shared some of our own freelancing goals for the upcoming year, and one of those is to do a little more subcontracting for other writers. (ETA:  By “subcontracting for other writers,” I mean that the other writer finds, contracts, and communicates with the client, and then that writer hires us to do the actual writing.)  While we love, love, love developing our own client base, we realize that things are going to get a little trickier in the next couple of weeks due to the impending birth of the Brewer-to-Be. We’re certainly not dropping any clients, and we are still accepting new folks to the roster, but we feel like it’s a good time to take off some of the pressure. Hopefully, we’ve been able to help some of our freelancing friends, as well, by taking some of the load off of them, too.

At first, we were kind of resistant to the whole subcontracting thing because it seemed somehow “less than,” if that makes any sense. We read a lot of freelancing blogs (as I imagine you do), and there are always conversations happening about how the freelancer has to be the marketer, the salesperson, the accountant, etc. If we took off one of the constantly-discussed “hats,” would we still be real freelancers?

What we didn’t realize at the beginning is that lots of freelancers subcontract one another. It took a few months of poking around and even having people come flat-out and tell us that subcontracting is a normal part of this business before we “got” it. It really did require us to step out of our comfort zone quite a bit, but we both feel that we’ve gained from the experience in a couple of ways:

• As all those aforementioned (did I just use that word?) discussions prove, freelancers often spend much of their working hours doing everything but practicing their actual craft. Subcontracting has allowed us to spend more time writing because we need to devote less of it to job searching.
• Freelancing can be somewhat isolating. By working with others in our field, we’ve been able to grow our business network and have some great interaction with people who enjoy the same things we do.
• It’s a great learning experience. We get to learn even more about freelancing by observing how others do their jobs.

We have a few unwritten (well, I suppose they were unwritten until right now) guidelines that we follow for subcontracting.

• We politely let other writers know that we are available and then leave it at that. We are not pushy.
• Other people’s clients are other people’s clients. We never enquire as to who the client is or where they came from, unless it’s in regards to the writing. For example, a client from the U.K. will need us to use British English.
• We are willing to accept a somewhat lower rate for subcontracted work because it is generally the other writer’s job to find the client and engage in all the negotiations and communication. Still, we do have a limit on how low we’re willing to go on price.

So, have you ever subcontracted work from another freelancer, and how did you feel about it? Like I said, we had our qualms at first, but it seems to have worked out quite well so far. It’s certainly not the end goal for our business, as our plan is to eventually be employing other writers with jobs that provide benefits and everything. On the other hand, it has been quite enjoyable, and we’ve been able to build some great relationships. (We’re open to building more, too – hint, hint!)