Overall, I’ve probably written several hundred SEO articles and web content documents. Some of my work I keep a close eye on (for example, I know which keyword-specific articles of mine land on the front page of Google – potential clients love to see that stuff), but I can hardly keep track of all the miscellaneous little tidbits I’ve written over the past year.

Well, I was searching on the web the other day for some information on gardening supplies (okay, it wasn’t really gardening supplies, but I’m trying to preserve some semblance of confidentiality here). I came across a pretty cheap looking website with what appeared to me to be some phenomenal text. At first, I felt a twinge of writer envy – that green-eyed monster that hits me every time I read something I like, making me simultaneously think that: a) I wished I could write that well; b) I should have been hired for that particular job, since I could have done it, too; and c) I have no hopes of ever being really successful as a writer, since everyone else is so much better than I.

I kept on reading, feeding that particular monster of mine, when all of a sudden I thought, “Hmm…this sounds awfully familiar.” Then it dawned on me that I actually had been the writer for that particular website. I perused a little more and realized that I wrote most of that site’s content.

Clients can be secretive creatures, and I’m okay with that. While I know exactly how my writing is being used most of the time, there are a few clients who would rather give me an assignment, pay me, and move on. Since I am a ghostwriter by trade and almost never get a byline attached to my work, I have no qualms about this. In fact, I often get the giggles when I see where some of my stuff ends up and who is claiming the credit for it (reason #587 why the Internet is not a reliable research resource). This site happened to be one of those circumstances.

However, that got me interested in the rest of my past work. Of course, I spent the next few hours chasing that shiny penny instead of doing actual work. I found myself on Buzzle, E-Zine, random websites all over the place, what were obviously stolen duplicate articles, and varied blogs. Some of these blogs even sparked quite a discussion in the comments section - oftentimes with follow-up responses from the “writer” of the piece. I also discovered that in some cases, I couldn’t find myself at all - several of my SEO articles simply aren’t online (either that or I just can’t find them).

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with my mark on the Internet. Sure, there are thousands of articles popping up every day. But the fact that my words can be found on the loading page of Google or simply during a random search makes me feel a little famous.

This month, the amount of energy was crazy.  We worked at a somewhat frantic pace and did occasionally find ourselves a tad overwhelmed.  Heck, Lorna took a “vacation” and ended up working every day that she  was gone!  I averaged around 25 hours of work per week (as opposed to my regular 15 to 20), and I found that those additional hours really put an extra strain on my day.

In the long run, though, the numbers reflect everything we put in this month.  Although the money is good, we’ve already set our September goal to be a bit lower than what we did in August, just to be sure that we keep ourselves focused and don’t get too carried away.

Total Income for August: $4650.83

Percentage of This to PayPal/Guru Fees: 4.63 %

Total Number of Clients Served this Month: 15

Number of These Clients Who are New: 4

Original Client Contact Point

Guru.com: 7

Subcontracted work: 1

Referrals: 7

Total Number of Projects Completed: 21

Project Types

SEO and web-based article writing: 7

Website content: 2

Blogs and blog-related work: 4

Nonprofit: 2

E-books/E-courses: 2

Copywriting: 3

Consulting: 1

As you can tell, we still rely heavily on Guru as a contact point for many of our clients. Elance isn’t figured into our totals; after three months of making bids and getting no bites, we decided to concentrate our efforts elsewhere. Overall, we’re pleased with the outcome and look forward to seeing what the next month brings!

At the time the list was published, my husband was still wrapping his mind around this whole freelancing thing.  He was doing his best to be . . . let’s say “cautiously supportive.”  When Michael was gracious enough to include Freelance Parent on the same page as Copyblogger, my husband was so proud that he printed it out and took it to work because he and his coworkers were fans of Brian Clark.  It really validated for my husband the fact that this was for real. 

Today Michael announced that nominations are now open for the 2008/2009 list.  We would be honored if you felt that Freelance Parent deserved a spot on that list again this year.  It’s been a long-held goal of ours to be included for a second time, and you can help us reach that goal!

Here are the rules:

1. Reply to this message with your nomination
2. You have one vote (only your first will be counted)
3. Please include the URL of the blog (http://www.sparkplugging.com/freelance-parent/)
4. Explain why you think the blog is worthy of winning this year’s award?

Speaking of exciting things, check back Monday for our second-ever freelance income report.  We think you’re going to find this one VERY interesting!

You’d be amazed at the random search terms that bring people to Freelance Parent. Of them all, “guru.com sucks” is probably the most common. I find that a little distressing, as I kind of like Guru.

I’m continually surprised and occasionally flummoxed at the terms that Google seems to think should bring readers to this blog. For example, you wouldn’t believe how often people find us by typing in some combination of “customer” and “cry.” Seriously, we’re getting a bit of a complex about it.

Apparently a number of our readers are looking for “cheap daycares” and “daycare alternatives.” So are we, folks. So are we.

A ton of people also seem to want to know whether or not they should work for “unethical employers.” The fact that so many people have that question makes us feel even better about our decision to work for ourselves. I like to think that those typing in the term actually already know the answer and are just looking for support for their moral conscience.

I’m curious as to just how disappointed some tween girl was when she typed in “hana montana gems” and ended up at a blog about freelance writing. I’m hoping that the mom who typed “so close to potty training” felt like she got a little bit of moral support. And I can’t agree more with the person who was frustrated enough to type in “always check your work.”

It seems that there are a lot of you out there who have plans to “interview a journalist” or to “interview like a journalist,” too. Who would have thought?

I am a little surprised at the number of people who Google the term “hitch your wagon to a star.” Guess I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a catchy little slogan. Less surprising is the number of folks who arrive here via terms like “writing niche” and “writing markets.” Why, you’d almost think we optimized a post about that or something. “How to write a grant” is another one that pops up fairly often as a result of actually trying to optimize for a search term.

But the ones we did on purpose aren’t funny. Some of the ones that come up through no preplanning on our part are the most amusing. While some variation of “guru.com sucks” would be the frontrunner, things like “how to fail as a parent” are hilarious. Well, hilarious and disturbing, I suppose.

So, let’s hear it, folks.  What crazy search terms have brought people to your blogs and sites?

I agree wholeheartedly on both counts. In today’s informational age, many writers and researchers have become downright lazy. What used to be acquired from hours of reading books, looking over old documents, consulting educational journals, and interviewing people with actual degrees is now accomplished in minutes by Googling “how Hitler felt about women.”

Since I still know how important it is for freelancer writers to make money, I won’t say that you HAVE TO do hours of primary research in a physical library in order to write a good article. However, here are a few basic researching tips that many of us learned in college or high school and haven’t considered since (but really, really should).

Learn How to Tell the Difference Between a Primary Resource, a Secondary Resource, and a Non-Resource

A primary resource is information straight from the horse’s mouth. It is a document, speech, government report, piece of art, autobiography, or even an email that was written by someone who had a hand in or witnessed the event in question. When a guy goes to South America for two years, lives with an isolated group of people, takes pictures, and writes an article for National Geographic, that’s a primary resource.

A secondary resource is one step removed from the primary resource. It is an interpretation of facts by a third party. They are almost always scholarly works, such as historical studies, encyclopedias, literary analyses, or textbooks. When a woman spends four years writing a book on Elizabethan collars after studying women in history in college, that’s a secondary resource.

A non-resource is Wikipedia, Ezine Articles, Associated Content, Joe Schmoe’s blog, and pretty much anything else you find through the first few pages of Google. When someone pays me $15 to write an SEO article on ideal wedding colors to lower divorce rates, that’s a non-resource.

Look Up the Mastermind Behind Each and Every Website You Visit

This is one of the only things I actually learned in my remedial college computer class, and I still use it today. Oftentimes, we are lulled into a sense of security by URLs that end in .org, .info, or any letters that aren’t .com. Don’t ever fall into that trap.

Visit www.martinlutherking.org (or don’t, since we really shouldn’t send them any traffic - in fact, I refuse to even link there), and you’ll see what I mean. The site looks valid at first, but if you actually read the articles or follow the “hosted by” link at the bottom you’ll learn that it’s not a nice website. It’s hosted by a company called Stormfront. Go to their site and you’re greeted with a logo stating World Wide White Pride.

Not all websites are as blatantly honest as this one, either. You may have to do some digging before you discover that the site you’ve been relying on for information is run by a less-than-reputable source. But if you plan on using a website as research, make sure you know where the information is coming from.

If You Wouldn’t Want to Cite It, Don’t Use It

That brings us to this important step. I know many freelancers don’t cite their sources when writing articles for the web, simply because the employers don’t want them to or the type of writing they are doing doesn’t call for it.

But pretend you are anyway.

If you wouldn’t turn in a research paper to a professor that cites Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary as one of your resources, don’t use them. It’s that easy. (Unless – and only unless – it’s directly relevant to your topic. Then it’s okay.)

Double Check all Important Facts

Major newspapers and magazines have fact-checkers. Do you know why? Because they want to make sure that everything they print is true. As a professional writer, you should judge yourself by the same strict standards.

I don’t mean that you have to go the library and look over the census records in person if you are writing about the population of Chicago in 1996. But don’t take a random website’s, Wikipedia’s, or even City-Data’s word for it. Go to the U.S. Census Bureau and look it up yourself. It’s a primary resource, and is therefore the first place you should go for accurate data.

Gather a Staple of VALID Online Sources

Many of the things I’ve mentioned will add quite a bit to your total research time, and I’m sorry. I know that many freelancers don’t make a very great wage as it is, and to add more work might seem downright cruel. However, if you have a list of valid sources to turn to time and time again, you can definitely cut back your research time. (You’ll also become known for your accuracy and professionalism. This stuff comes around, and there will come a time when employers will pay you more for that.)

Here are some of the websites I consider great resources:

U.S. Census Bureau

The World FactBook (Even this one is questionable for things like country histories. It offers a very American-based interpretation.)

Questia (It’s an online library that does require a small charge, but if you do a lot of research, it’s well worth the money.)

College Library Websites (For many of them, you don’t have to actually go to the school to get access to online databases.)

Library of Congress

Avalon Project

New York Public Library Digital Collections

JSTOR (This is another one that requires a paid subscription but can be well worth the money.)

1. Don’t rely on a single revenue source (or even two or three). Not only can a big-time client dry up and leave you without your primary means of supporting yourself, but having a single client is akin to having a desk job. The sense of freedom that comes with being able to pick and choose your work is one of the biggest benefits of being a freelancer. Don’t give that away.

2. Don’t rely on one method of finding work. Whether you work primarily by bidding on sites like Guru.com or Elance.com (can be hard to find good paying work); searching job posting sources like Freelance Writing Jobs (competition can be fierce, and many jobs are so inundated with applicants they close early on); or focusing on word-of-mouth referrals (great, but not always guaranteed), your best bet is to diversify. Put a few eggs in each of these baskets, and you’re more likely to get the work you want the most.

3. Don’t rely on a steady income. Making big bucks one month may help you in your desire to buy that new pair of shoes you’ve had your eye on, but you’re much better off setting that income aside for a leaner month. If you can, figure out your annual income average and try to “pay” yourself an equal monthly paycheck no matter how the feast or famine may rise.

4. Don’t rely on your spouse or family to always support the work time you set aside. One of the biggest difficulties in working from home is being hit up by relatives looking for favors or a little fun. Although the little devil on your shoulder may beg you to go out and play, it’s not always a good idea to give in.

5. Don’t rely on your computer as a way to save all your files. Back up, back up, back up. Losing a big project due to computer problems sucks, of course, but so does losing all of your portfolio. You may have years of your hard work stored on your computer – unless it’s stored somewhere else, as well, you could be asking for trouble.

6. Don’t rely on the same amount of effort for every project. Depending on where your skills lie, it may take you half an hour to write a 500-word SEO article. However, it may take three times that much for you to write 500 words of sales copy. Know where your strengths are, know where your weaknesses are, and price accordingly. Never rely on word counts to provide all your guidelines.

7. Don’t rely on Wikipedia as a valid research source. Okay, okay, you can use it to look up the answer to a quick question you had or to verify something you already believed. But Wikipedia is not the end all and be all of academic subjects.

8. Don’t rely on clients to come through with the money in the end. Most clients will come through with payments even if you fail to take precautions like an escrow account, pre-payments, or a contract. However, getting stiffed for any project sucks. Take the steps now to protect yourself against bum clients.

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!

Three Month Goals

Create an LLC: Not completed. We still occasionally discuss the need to change to an LLC to keep our personal assets protected. The additional cost is fairly minimal (I think it’s less than $200), but we’ve yet to decide if a good, solid contract to use with our clients might be an adequate substitute.

Set up our new bank accounts: Completed. We actually addressed our experience with our local bank here on Freelance Parent. We can’t stress enough how helpful it’s been to have separate accounts for checking, online transactions, and tax savings.

Have our promotional materials ready for clients: Completed. Thanks to the great skills of Billie over at Rainmaker Marketing, we have some really awesome-looking notecards we send out at the completion of each project. Although we originally meant this to include things like brochures and fliers, we’ve since discovered that we don’t really rely much on the type of marketing that requires them…yet.

Earn at least $1,000 each month: Completed. Now that we’re sharing our monthly income, you’ve seen this firsthand.

Have our basic website up and running: Completed. Originally, this meant the website my husband built, which it seems no one loved very much. We’re happy to have our polished one up now – in fact, we can chalk up quite a few of our new clients to its existence.

Introduce our husbands: Not completed. How weird is that? We live about a mile away from each other and chat on a daily basis. Yet we haven’t formally introduced our husbands yet.

Six Month Goals

Have five clients outside of the web: Completed. As with the promotional materials goal, we really thought that local clients were as good as, if not better than, web clients. We now know this is false (unless you live in a city like New York) and that you can make a perfectly good living solely on the web. Still, we do enjoy working with the occasional local client.

Polish our web site: Completed. As I mentioned above, we heart our website.

Earn at least $1,600 each month: Unsure. I’d have to go in and tally the averages to see if this is correct or not. Thanks to the feast or famine aspect of freelancing we’ve come to recognize and accommodate, these numbers are never guaranteed.

Set our writers’ standards for subcontracting: Not completed. We originally planned on subcontracting out our work fairly early on (thereby making ourselves an “agency” in the fullest sense of the word). However, we have yet to really explore these goals of ours – mostly because we are just now reaching the point where our workload exceeds our desired number of hours.

Create a typical bidding process: Completed, in a sense. Although I haven’t really formalized the process, I have a pretty good stock of templates, samples, and query letters. I certainly spend much less time bidding on work now than I used to!

Become part of the BBB and the Chamber of Commerce: Not completed. I’ve discovered that the BBB is actually a little costly, and that there are some negative connotations that go along with it. It’s still something I’d like to explore, but it’s not on my immediate to-do list. As for the Chamber of Commerce, I’d again like to fall back on the excuse that our local interests are much fewer than we anticipated.

One Year Goals

Have set policies and procedures: Not completed. This had more to do with bringing on other writers as subcontractors than anything else. We wanted a sort of company manual to make sure that everything was consistent, legal, and fair.

Hire Travis to the company: Not completed. My husband has a degree in marketing, and we had hoped that we would be making so much money by now that we could pay him to find clients for us (again, mostly on a local level). However, I do not think I could work with him on a daily basis without eventually causing bodily harm. ‘Nuff said.

Create a standard delegation process for assignments: Not completed. Once we had all our subcontracted writers, Lorna and I were going to be more about management and less about writing. Lorna still looks forward to this eventuality, but I really enjoy the writing. We’ll see what the future holds…

Regular salaries for Lorna, Tamara, and Travis: Not completed. Our financial plan was to build up a steady income and savings account that would allow us to create a monthly “salary” that we could count on as a consistency. It wasn’t necessarily going to be a huge salary, but it would at least remove the guesswork out of what we were going to make for the month. This might still be a good idea. We’ll get back to you.

Review business plan and goals (annually): Not completed – yet. We’ll be meeting here in a few weeks to do just this.

Feel confident with a stable of writers to subcontract: Not completed. I hate to beat a dead horse, but this was supposed to arise as a result the “agency” side of our agency. Perhaps next year…

How Did We Do?

Well, we technically got only 7 out of 18 completed. However, I don’t despair – most of these are the visions of a pair of writers with incredible dreams for the future but no real idea of what freelancing in today’s market is like.

Hopefully, our next year’s goals will be much more in line with the realities of freelancing. (Although I still think we’ll wax optimistic – it’s sort of our thing.)

Please join us this week as we celebrate by looking back at the journey we’ve taken and maybe even try to sneak a peek at the road ahead.

Without a doubt, this blog has been a huge part of our success.  We are so grateful for the support and knowledge you all have given.  It’s wonderful to know that so many freelancers out there have been willing to reach out their hands to us as we’ve learned and grown this past year.  It’s also been a priviledge to maybe act as an inspiration to others who want to take the leap to become freelancers.

While we were driving the other day, I came across this little gem. Of course, I had not yet heard the delights in store, so after seeing his look of disgust, I put it in and cranked up the volume. My daughter heard the music and pretty much fell in love. (Even my husband can’t deny that there’s something about that cheesy pop sound that appeals to kids.)

However, none of the music delights her quite as much as the songs by everyone’s favorite teen performer, Hannah Montana. She now demands her music by name and sings along in a disturbingly accurate manner. My daughter has never seen the show, and, if I have my way, she never will. Yet she’s hooked.

Now for a change of topics.

Lorna and I recently stumbled across a writer’s blog and website that made our jaws drop and looks of bewilderment settle permanently on our brows. They were, to say the least, unprofessional. The writer uses cheesy sentimentality, gushing (and often grammatically inaccurate) text, and a nauseatingly bubbly approach to writing. We could not, for the life of us, fathom who was hiring this writer. Yet, there the links were, to blogs and articles all over the web.

What do these two scenarios have in common? There is no accounting for taste.

There are many things in this world that I don’t understand – Hannah Montana and overbearing writing among them. However, these types of things pop up all over the place. More to the point, people pay good money for these things to pop up all over the place.

Although I may deplore the existence of such enigmas, they do represent good news for freelancers.

• When you get passed over for a job you are obviously qualified for, there is a good likelihood that the person’s tastes simply run a different course (i.e., there’s nothing wrong with you; there’s something wrong with them).

• Personality counts. What you lack in technical skill can be made up for with creativity and appeal (i.e, grammatical errors might be overlooked if your clients really like you).

• Marketing to your audience is equivalent to success (i.e., even if what you’re selling is pretty much awful, you can make quite a bit of money if you appeal to the right type of consumer).

• There is a niche out there just waiting for you to tap into (i.e., if Miley Cyrus can reach such ridiculous heights of sccess, there is hope for the rest of us).

It turns out, though, that we have a direct line to someone who isn’t worried about giving out legal advice. In fact, it’s what he does for a living.

Kevin Jablonski of Graybeal, Jackson, Haley in Seattle, Washington is an intellectual property attorney. He is also a heck of a guy. Kevin has agreed to answer a couple of questions here on Freelance Parent.

Your job is to let us know what you’re most interested in learning. Do you have questions about copyright? Do you have issues with deadbeat clients and what to know what recourse you have? Can you come up with an even better question than these?

To have your question considered, leave it in a comment on this post or email it to us at admin@berrybrewer.com.

Here’s a little more about Kevin:

Kevin’s practice involves several aspects of intellectual property law including patent procurement, copyrights, and trademarks. He is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and admitted to practice law in Washington State. Kevin is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the Audio Engineering Society, the American Bar Association, and the Washington State Patent Law Association.

Okay, that disclaimer is over and done with.

Now that we all know where I stand, I am going to say that the freelancer who can work quickly is much more likely to succeed than the one who can’t. I’ll even say that the freelancer who can’t get his or her work done efficiently needs to find a way to cultivate the skills of speed. (Either that or find a killer specialty niche that makes him or her absolutely invaluable.) Writing, editing, and simply working faster will result in higher income, a larger client list, and – perhaps the most important of all – more time with your kids.

How Speed Pays

Most freelancers get paid on a per word or per article basis. Hourly wages tend to fall in the rare category – and that is exactly where they need to stay. When you get paid by the word or article, you don’t have to disclose to the client how much time you spent working on their project. If you can write four $15 SEO articles in an hour, you just made $60 that hour. Many clients would have a heart attack if they knew they were paying $60 an hour for – gasp! - just a writer.

However, you probably have experience writing SEO articles. You know where to find the research, how to use keywords effectively, and the type of voice most SEO clients want. You deserve to make more money for your experience. And as you add on the freelancing years, these skills only get stronger and (generally) faster. This means that your “rates” increase even though you still might be landing the clients who aren’t crazy about paying a whole lot of money.

Even if you do make money on an hourly basis, being fast can help to set you apart and get more high-quality referalls. If an employer is happy with your output for the $50 per hour that you charge, they are more likely to give you additional work and tell other businesses about “this great freelancer I use.”

Fitting More in Your Schedule

Being a fast worker can also allow you to fit more clients in your schedule. While working with 20 clients on piddly projects every month isn’t necessarily the ideal way to work, the freelancing field is filled with clients who want articles and WANT ARTICLES NOW. Much of the time, these are smaller projects (say, one or two SEO articles, a press release, a sales letter).

One of the biggest challenges to being a freelancer is keeping a full schedule. When you have tons of work to do, making bids and sending out queries is the last thing you want to do, especially when clients come back and would love to hire you if you can get the work done in three days. However, if you don’t make these bids, you’ll probably end up with a stack of completed projects and a whole lot of nothing else to do. These smaller, ABSOLUTELY IMMEDIATE projects are great for filling in the cracks. If you know you can do these types of things really quickly, you’ll be able to fit them in even during your massively busy times. A press release at the end of the day is pretty minimal for someone who can write one in less than an hour; and, after awhile, they really start to add up to big monthly profits. Plus, if you do a good job, these small jobs often lead to bigger, more substantial projects.

Quality Above All Else

Of course, the trick to being a fast freelancer all boils down to being a fast freelancer who can still produce quality work. Writing an ebook in three days is great, but if what you end up with is a pile of barely coherent mush, you’re not likely to be signing that client again any time soon (you’re also giving freelancers a bad name and I implore you to stop it).

Awesome and totally, totally doomed to fail.

My little family arrived here in Seattle this evening.  As I unpacked our clothes and set up a changing station for the baby, my husband got to work setting up an internet connection.  Within 15 minutes, I had checked the company email and was drafting my to-do list for the week.

• 12 SEO articles
• 3 blog reviews
• 3 Mama Hacks
• 1 Nonprofit Perspective post
• 1-2 Freelance Parent posts
• Podcasting class on Monday night
• Catch up on Google Reader
• Oh, and that sooper-secret thing I can’t tell you about ’cause it’ll spoil the surprise

So, I suppose there is a bit of a question as to whether or not I’m really on vacation.  The fact that I am practically in the shadow of the Space Needle tells me that I am.  (Seriously, I’m looking at the Space Needle and typing this right now!)

My plan for the week is to intersperse the above projects in between visits to the Children’s Museum, the Pacific Science Center, and whatever other wonderful things I find to do.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I won’t have any trouble finding a Starbucks with an internet connection around here!

James, Allena, Melissa, and Genesis weighed in, and they were all really supportive. We wanted to say “thanks” to all of you for that.

But, it turns out that we’re not done with this topic yet. In fact, it seems that we don’t plan to ever be done with this topic. One of the basic tenants of Freelance Parent is that we want to encourage those who are willing to work hard enough to take the leap into freelancing. In order to do this, we feel it’s important to share the truth and give people a factual example of what others are doing.

In honor of our recent revelation, we’ve decided to offer a monthly look into the finances and workload of the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency. We are opening ourselves up to scrutiny in hopes that our struggles and successes can inspire others to learn what it means to be a freelance writer in the current market.

Whether you want to compare your own successes to ours (for good or evil purposes); you are a new freelancer wondering about the hows, wheres, and whys of making money on the Internet; or you are simply a lookie-lou of the freelancing community, there is information here for everyone. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions as to how we came up with our numbers or why we do things the way we do.

Total Income for July: $2248.88

Total Number of Clients Served this Month: 13

Number of These Clients Who are New: 3

Original Client Contact Point
Guru.com: 6
Elance.com: 0
Subcontracted work: 1
Referrals: 6

Total Number of Projects Completed: 18

Project Types
SEO and web-based article writing: 3
Website content: 4
Blogs and blog-related work: 5
Nonprofit: 2
Product descriptions: 1
Press releases: 2
Newsletters: 1

Look for additional tallies in the upcoming months. This is no fair weather project; we mean to expose ours numbers every thirty days or so regardless of feast or famine.

Today marks the official launch of The Nonprofit Perspective. Since I worked so hard on the About page, I’m going to copy and paste a description from there.

“The Nonprofit Perspective is a special project of the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency. This outlet allows us to combine our love for writing with our passion for social justice. We are striving to create an open, informative space that can act as a starting point for nonprofit professionals who want to grow themselves and their organizations. It helps if you like to laugh, too, as we try not to take ourselves too seriously around here.”

So, the big question: Why are we starting (yet) another blog?

• We really do love the nonprofit world. We understand it, we appreciate it, and we want to support it.
• Nonproft organizations are our “niche” market, and we want to establish a presence there.
• We want the decision makers in nonprofit organizations to realize that we know what the heck we’re talking about.
• We also want them to hire us when they need writers.

Let’s say you’re the Development Director for a nonprofit organization, and you have a big direct mail campaign coming up. Who would you rather work with: Joe Blow & Co. who you’ve never heard of, or those personable, knowledgeable ladies over at Berry-Brewer? And did you know that their company focuses primarily on nonprofits? And that they have personal experience in the field? And here are examples of their writing skills right here on this blog . . . I should hire them for to write the direct mail piece.

At least, that’s how we’re hoping it will go.

We know the blog isn’t perfect. We hired iDesign Studios and then totally hog-tied them by making them tweak an existing template rather than crafting something even more spectacular from scratch. So, thanks, Selene, for working within the parameters we had to set. We’ll certainly be keeping you in mind when it’s time to create something a little more “our own.”

We’ve been working hard on the new blog, and we know the work’s only just begun. We’re really excited, though to be able to combine our passions and interests in this way. Isn’t that one of the best reasons to work for yourself?

Over the weekend, I did a little babysitting for my niece and nephew (aged almost two and four). My house was pretty much a zoo of giggling children. At one point during the day, the kids were being pretty independent, so I took the opportunity to answer some emails and make a few job bids on my laptop. All was going well for awhile until my daughter came running up to me.

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!” she screamed with her normal, frantic tendency. “Piggy* is stuck. He needs help. Help him! Help him!” I sort of murmured a response, saved the email I was working on, and trailed my eyes to where she was jumping about and continuing her screams.

Lo and behold, there he was. My nephew had worked his way through the dog door and all I could see was his bottom half, his legs flailing about trying to work themselves free.

After I had a quick chuckle (and took a picture), I went to go help the poor little guy. He was calling for assistance, but in a way that I have no framework for understanding. His voice was barely above talking level as he cried, “Aunt Tamara, Aunt Tamara, I need help. I’m stuck.” Don’t get me wrong – he was upset about being stuck – but in a quiet, understated sort of way.

I was suddenly struck with a thought: Why does my nephew make calm demands while my daughter screams every little thing as though it were end of the world? Is it inherent personality that makes them so different, or is my daughter reacting in the only way that gets my attention – by screaming bloody murder?

I’ll be the first to admit that I am really, really good at tuning things out when I’m working. I’ve adapted the way I focus so that nothing but obvious danger can penetrate my productive haze. My daughter is smart. She probably just found her own way of getting my attention no matter what.

By screaming.

I’m curious if other freelancing parents have discovered ways in which their work-at-home status has a negative reflection on their kids. We always talk about the benefits of working form home (spending more time with our kids, saving money on childcare), but we rarely address the potentially negative side effects that surely exist in full force.

Care to share?

* Not his real name. Nor is it in any way a reference to Lord of the Flies.

So, since Freelance Parent readers are such awesome writers, I thought you should know about the contest!  It’s on his Derek Semmler dot com blog, and you should check it out!

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.

For the most part, website content writing is very hit-or-miss. There will be instances in which your client loves every single word, and there will be times when you get what is the email equivalent of a blank stare and several bemused blinks. Rarely, if ever, have I landed anywhere in the middle.

There are typically three client types when it comes to needing website content:

Type A: Has no idea what they want to say. You get a brief overview of the company and general writing directions (“I want it to be creative but traditional; innovative but not too risky”). Once you complete the writing and turn it in, they immediately pounce on what needs to be changed. What you don’t change, they do, eventually compiling your sentences in a random pattern that for some reason makes them happy.

Type B: Has no idea what they want to say. You get a brief overview of the company and general writing directions. They love every word and immediately put it up on their website (occasionally changing your punctuation in a manner that completely nullifies your intent) since they know very well that they could never write anything better.

Type C: Knows exactly what they want it to say but can’t say it themselves. They offer what they have attempted to come up with in the past as well as insight into their company’s vision and founding. No matter what you turn in, they are happy with the result, oftentimes asking for one or two revisions on a tricky portion, but still pleased with the outcome.

Fortunately, a good freelance writer can navigate a relationship with every single one of these client types – even the Type A folks. The outcome is all in how you handle your side of the job.

• You usually can’t tell a Type A from a Type B right from the start, so it’s best to always assume you are working with the former. Avoid a conflict by asking probing questions designed to get a better understanding of what they want before you get started. Who is their primary audience? What words would they use to describe the reaction they want from readers? What do they hope to accomplish right away? In two years? How important is search engine ranking? How hard should sales be pushed? Eventually, you’ll come up with your own list of pertinent questions that will become a sort of template for each website you write.

• Have patience with the Type A clients. Here at Berry-Brewer, we’ve been there ourselves; when we asked for a website design, we had no idea what it was we wanted. It was so much easier to nitpick a sample than it was to clearly define what it was we wanted in the first place (mostly because we didn’t know). It’s not that we weren’t happy with what our designer came up with, it’s that we wanted it to reflect us a little bit more – and we did that by picking out what we wanted to change. That’s the nature of this type of work. (Trust me, if you look in your past, you’ll probably find that you, too, have been a Type A at some time or another.)

• Always reinforce your willingness to make revisions (assuming you are willing, of course). If your clients come back horrified with the outcome of your writing, they might actually be worried that this is a one-time deal and that you won’t work with them to achieve a happy outcome, thereby making you a complete waste of money. I consider website writing a collaborative process, and I let my clients know that from the start. I also make sure that my cost to the client includes this process, so that they don’t end up with hidden fees for revisions.

• Never, never take rejection personally when it comes to websites. It’s easy to be affronted when someone comes back and dislikes what you’ve come up with – but it’s not your website. Your job is to make the client happy. If that means they want to move paragraphs around and add sentences to the point at which you are no longer willing to use their website as a sample, so be it. Of course, you may want to gently offer your professional opinion, especially if you know more about SEO or marketing than they do, but in the end, it’s not your decision to make.

If you’re the type of freelancer who gets website content spot on every time, good for you. (Or, perhaps, how fortunate that you never had to work with a Type A.) At the end of the day, most of us will come across at least a few of those hard-to-please clients who seem to dislike anything and everything that we do.

The moral of this story is that you can’t win the first time every time. What makes a good freelancer great is being able to make revisions and collaborate so that the client is satisfied with the end result. In this case, it’s the destination that counts, not the journey.

The “Charge More, Make More” Idea

One recurring theme in the “how to make more money” game is to just charge more. However, the concept of charging higher fees in order to raise your income level is a deceptively simple one. The idea is that by selling yourself as a professional worthy of commanding higher prices, you will find the clients willing to pay that much. Period. However, I recently ran a little experiment wherein all my bids for jobs for a month were placed at the rate I really want to make rather than my usual, slightly-lower rate.

You know what the response was? Not a single bite. In fact, I placed a bid yesterday at my lower rates and already have a job lined up. Go figure.

I wasn’t catastrophically upset by this experiment, since it fits in with my theories about charging more and making more (and I made sure I had enough work lined up to keep me busy in the interim).

How “Charge More, Make More” Really Works

Making more money and getting higher rates of pay is actually a really complicated balance that most of us are still working out. If you want to make more money, you have to charge more money – but not to everyone, and not all at once.

When I break down my income into averages and include all my own administrative work, I make a decent hourly rate. However, it is hardly achieved with any measure of consistency. Here’s how it works: I have one client who pays very, very well. I love them, but they are the exception rather than the rule. I’ve built a solid relationship up with them over time, and they continually send more work my way. Understandably, my income has risen with these changes.

The rest of the time, I fill in the “gaps” with lower paying work. While I’m not making the kind of figures I want with these clients, it is still income. Some pay better than others, and some are simply a great way for me to expand my experience and make more connections. I have enough work to fill my 15 to 20 desired hours per week, but not all of it is blow-me-away fantastic.

The next step in the “Charge More, Make More” game has been said all over the blogosphere: a freelancer should fire his or her lower-paying clients and slowly ease his or her way into the upper echelons of clientele. Although I rely heavily on my good-paying client right now, I know that sticking to just one client is not a feasible long-term plan. Securing several high-paying sources will (over time) replace all the lower paying ones I currently rely on to make up my income differences and fill my time. Eventually, I should be sitting exactly where I want to be financially.

When “Charge More, Make More” Doesn’t Work

There are several scenarios in which this process might not work:

You don’t have any high-paying clients yet. Although I’m willing to take on what amount to $15/hour jobs as a secondary measure, it would not be a happy situation if that is all I could ever get. Remember, freelancers have quite a bit of communication to do and administrative work to attend to. If you’re only billing $15/hour (or making the equivalent with flat-fee or per-word writing), you’re probably making half that by the time you clock all your hours. That’s minimum wage. You have to have some better-paying gigs to balance out the lower-paying ones, or you’ll just get burnt out and frustrated.

You really aren’t worth the amount you’re charging. Whether it’s a lack of experience, a lack of skills, or a lack of effective marketing, you may simply find that people aren’t willing to pay more for your services because they can get better for less somewhere else. That’s the nature of competition. Sometimes, you may have to beef up your skills/education/experience, create a stellar marketing platform, discover a new approach to writing queries, network better, or simply charge less in order to get the jobs.

You aren’t being patient. When a potential client posts a bid on an online site or a job board, we freelancers typically scramble to get a query in ASAP. However, your client may not get back to you with the same hustle and bustle. I’ve had clients hire me as much as four months after I made initial contact, without a word in the meantime. The moral of this story is that even though you might feel like you are climbing ladders to nowhere, things can turn around very quickly. Stick with it, try a few different techniques, and be patient. Old clients may return or new ones may discover the other guy they hired isn’t working out. You never know.