Deliberate Freelancer

Melanie Padgett Powers

The show for those who want to build a successful freelance business. We are NOT about the hustle. We are NOT about the feast-or-famine cycle. We are about building a business. Deliberately.

Episodes

Mentioned books

Jan 28, 2021 • 36min

#83: A Conversation about Practicing Anti-Racism in Freelancing, with Eva Jannotta

Today’s guest is Eva Jannotta. Eva lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and helps bold women leaders defy the status quo, amplify their influence and expand their wealth and power. She does this through providing thought leadership strategy and advisory services as well as communications support. Her Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to end gender and racial discrimination. Many white people in the U.S. grew up believing racism was overt, discriminatory behavior. In reality, it’s a power structure that was created that we all participate in, without our consent. In her business, Eva is committed to representing diverse voices in the content and sources she curates and shares with her clients, as well as representing diversity in the images they use. She knows some white people are uncomfortable with the idea of “counting” the number of images or people, as if we’re filling a “quota.” However, “intention does not equal impact.” You need to track and measure how you’re doing compared to your intention. That’s how you measure progress and whether you’re adhering to your values. For example, you can set a goal such as making sure that 50% of the content you share or curate (for you or your client) is created by people of color. Then, in a spreadsheet, you can add a column to track the race of the author (or interview source, etc.). Earlier this year, Melanie did an audit of her Deliberate Freelancer podcast guests, and found only 20% diversity (as identified by race and LGBTQ) over about a year. She recommitted to increase the diversity of her guests and began to research and ask on social media for recommendations of diverse voices. Melanie wants experts who are people of color; she isn’t asking people of color to talk only about diversity and inclusion. She is focusing on the expertise they have as it relates to a freelance business. Melanie is also on the board of Association Media & Publishing, and for the last several years she and others have used their power to push for diversity in content and among speakers. White people need to speak up about diversity, so it’s not left to people of color to bring up the topics of representation or diversity and inclusion every time. Melanie also talks about how freelancers can share their products with underrepresented groups for free or at a discount. So, for example, give out scholarships to your freelance business course or give away copies of your book or e-book. Mistakes white people make as they talk and learn about racism include defensiveness (“I didn’t mean that …”) and gaslighting (“I don’t think that’s what the person was really saying …”). “Perfectionism is the ally’s enemy,” Eva says. We are going to have to make mistakes in order to learn and grow. Perfectionism can hold us back from taking action, from having conversations that may make us feel awkward, from asking questions. Melanie talks about how she does not like what she perceives as “conflict,” and she’s very sensitive to having uncomfortable conversations. But when it comes to anti-racism work, she knows she has to have and push through uncomfortable conversations. Our social circles tend to look a lot like us. In a freelance business, that might mean you hire subcontractors or a virtual assistant who are the same race and gender you are, instead of, as white people, looking for more diverse candidates. Eva recognized this problem when hiring for her business — asking for referrals from her network provided candidates with identities similar to Eva’s. Instead, she posted the position on social media and went through an application process. She developed internal criteria and interviewed people. It does take some extra time to go outside your social circle or your professional network to look for diverse candidates or sources, but it’s important to avoid perpetuating a type of nepotism and only selecting people with identities that are similar to our own. White freelancers also have a power in referrals. If we expand our network and our pool of various types of freelancers, when our clients or potential clients ask for recommendations for graphic designers, editors, photographers, marketers, writers, translators, etc., we are more able to share names of people from underrepresented groups. Biz Bite: Create email templates Resources: Eva Jannotta on LinkedIn Eva’s free course: The 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership James Pogue, of JP Enterprises: “The ‘Right’ Kind of Uncomfortable” Organizer and Activist Leslie Mac Follow Leslie Mac on Twitter Episode #61 of Deliberate Freelancer: 6 Ways to Be an Ally with Your Freelance Business How the concept of “race” began with enslaved Africans in the American colonies 103 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice These 7 courses will teach you how to be anti-racist

Dec 3, 2020 • 41min

#82: Six-Figure Freelancing: Embracing an Entrepreneurial Mindset, with Gresham Harkless

Today’s guest is Gresham Harkless, of Alexandria, Virginia. Gresham is the founder of CBNation and Blue 16 Media. CBNation is a business-to-business (B2B) brand. It helps people like you—CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners—with resources and increasing your visibility. It includes blogs under CEO Blog Nation, as well as podcasts and videos. Blue 16 Media is Gresham’s digital marketing agency. He provides digital marketing services, including web design and SEO, to small- and medium-sized businesses and organizations. Central to his marketing philosophy is: You are a media company. And that means you should be developing a marketing strategy to connect with your target and reach your goals. Gresham has spent the past eight years or so as an entrepreneur. One of the lessons he learned along the way—as he headed toward his six-figure goal—was that he could not do everything at the same time. Brimming with ideas, he realized he needed to focus on what could make the most impact on his business. He also learned that it’s important to be able to quickly pivot and adjust to situations, like the pandemic, to be a successful business owner. It’s helpful as a business owner to be comfortable trying new things, changing up your business, taking risks. Being resilient and having an entrepreneurial mindset is important during times of change and challenges. Gresham struggles with one of the things he loves the most: being able to focus, when he has a lot of ideas and things he wants to develop. He handles that by taking a new big idea and breaking it down into a smaller idea that is more doable with the time and energy he has. Gresham talks about not having a support system around him as he began to think about starting an entrepreneurial business. Sometimes loved ones won’t support your decision, and that can affect your confidence and self-worth. Connecting with an entrepreneurial community helped him realize his ideas and goals were possible. Gresham has become more of a morning person as he gets older. He starts with some kind of movement in the morning, before taking his dog for a walk. Then, he has breakfast and does some sort kind of journaling or other writing. Next, he spends about two hours on lead generation for his business. After that, he blocks off about 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for client work and client meetings. He ends his work day at about 5 or 6 p.m.; pre-pandemic that meant heading to the gym after work. In the past, he would often work through lunch and not eat and also keep working late into the evening. He realized this was causing low energy and headaches, so he created the habit of going to the gym at the end of each work day. Lack of support played into Gresham’s self-worth, which led him to undercut his pricing. He recommends trying to find out what the average rates are in your industry, but he also encourages people to realize the value they bring to clients. Based on past salesperson experience, Gresham learned to provide three tiered project options to clients. He calls them Dominant (the above-and-beyond option), Competitive and Representative (the base option). That allowed him to take his biases out of what a potential client might choose and not undercut himself. He would sometimes be surprised at which clients picked the more expensive option, showing him that he might have been basing previous options and pricing on incorrect assumptions about a client. This process also allows clients to choose Competitive or Representative but to move up to the next option at a later point, which provides a way to bring in more income. In addition, Gresham points out that if every client chooses the Dominant option, you know you are pricing yourself too low. Gresham subcontracts with other independent contractors on a regular basis, not just project based. He tries to bring on experts in certain areas before he actually needs them. He will often start them on an internal project to test them out before they start on a client project. That allows him to learn about their work style and communication skills. Gresham requires a deposit upfront, after being burned a few times and not getting paid. Plus, a deposit shows that a client is serious about moving forward. “Let me think about it” without a deposit often strings you along. It’s also important to lay out the process for clients so they know what to expect from you and what the steps are throughout the project. Gresham’s ideal clients are those who aren’t taking advantage of digital products, so he often focuses on meeting people in-person (or via Zoom, during the pandemic). That has also meant joining networking groups. Gresham encourages entrepreneurs to follow their passions and keep moving forward and taking action. Biz Bite: Use project management software (Basecamp, Asana) Resources: Gresham’s primary website (where you can find links to all of his services and resources). Blue 16 Media CEO Podcasts CEO Blog Nation You Are a Media Company

Nov 25, 2020 • 48min

#81: Six-Figure Freelancing: Focus on a Niche and Partner with Other Freelancers, with Lynne Testoni

Today’s guest is Lynne Testoni, from Sydney, Australia. Lynne is an editor, journalist and content producer who’s worked in high-level editorial positions and as a freelancer for a range of corporate clients. She has been freelancing for only four years, and she specializes in a very specific niche of home design, interior design and food, writing both content marketing and journalism. Lynne is also the co-host of the podcast The Content Byte, with Rachel Smith. Lynne earned less than six figures as an employee and wanted to make sure she earned more as a freelancer. She hit the six-figure mark about a year and a half in. Each year she sets a financial goal and a “stretch goal,” and she has since hit her stretch goal every year. She was inspired by Australian writer Lindy Alexander who writes The Freelancer’s Year blog and who made freelancing and earning six figures seem like achievable goals. Lynne began to earn more money after she “niched down,” focusing on home interiors. People began to notice her work and came to her, rather than her needing to look for clients. She also was referred a lot by past clients. And because she was in demand for that particular niche, she was able to set her own rates. Lynne’s advice: Never work for free (unless you’re volunteering your services for a charity you believe in). There are better ways to build a portfolio, and clients that ask you to work for free never end up paying you what you’re worth. Lynne is generous with her time, mentoring and helping other writers, such as through her podcast, The Content Byte. Giving back, besides making you feel good, often leads to new work too. Cash flow can be one of the biggest challenges as a freelancer. Try to build a nest egg as you go along so cash flow won’t be a problem down the road. You also have to remember to market all the time, even when you’re busy. Lynne is a morning person who begins her day with a run or Pilates and then a walk with her dog. She does most of her best work before lunch and saves the afternoons for editing and administrative work. Lynne thinks in “billable hours.” She works about 40 hours a week, but only about 20 are billable hours. The rest are for administrative tasks, marketing and similar tasks. Her salesman husband taught her a tactic in negotiation: It’s all about the silence. Whenever someone asks for your rate, tell them and then just stay quiet. It’s hard to do but powerful. They will usually agree or come back with a lower rate, but the negotiation has begun. If a client wants to pay her below what she’s asking, she’ll begin to negotiate the scope of the project. She also knows her own internal rate and how fast she can work on a type of project. Lynne outsources some things, like transcribing, which she hates to do herself. She also collaborates with photographers and stylists and pitches projects as a team. She usually serves as the project manager and submits one pitch and includes the photographer/stylist rate without a markup on their rate. But she may add a fee for her management of the project. Require a 50% deposit upfront on projects when working with companies, especially for smaller companies. If they question paying your deposit, that’s a red flag, because you may have to chase down the deposit or the final payments. Lynne says that shows they don’t value your work or contribution. Lynne is a fan of Facebook groups both for finding clients and building her freelance community. Other freelancers are colleagues, not competitors. Biz Bite: Use a cloud-based invoicing system. Resources: Lynne’s website Lynne’s podcast, The Content Byte Lynne on Instagram Lynne on LinkedIn Lindy Alexander’s The Freelancer’s Year blog Find a Finder’s Fee — the name of local Facebook groups that advertise freelance jobs; look for one in your area.

Nov 19, 2020 • 31min

#80: Six-Figure Freelancing: Writing B2B Tech Content, with Satta Sarmah Hightower

Today’s guest is Satta Sarmah Hightower. Satta is a journalist-turned-content marketer who lives in Boston. She produces content for agencies and brands in the industries of technology, health care IT and financial services. She previously worked for AOL and the Tribune Company and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School. Satta became a full-time freelancer in August 2014 after her second layoff in five years. She realized early on that she could make more money writing B2B content than doing only journalism. Then, she realized she was good at, and enjoyed, writing about B2B technology. In 2016, Satta hit her goal to make six figures, during her second full year of freelancing. It had been a goal after she came close to that mark in 2015. Satta believes it’s important to balance higher-earning client projects with your own passion projects, such as coaching, essay writing or podcasting. For Satta, that means developing her fiction writing by taking online fiction writing classes through GrubStreet in Boston. Satta won’t work for free or do unpaid tests. In fact, she doesn’t like to do any test projects because her resume, clips and experience should be enough for a client to assess whether they want to work with her. It’s difficult to earn six figures if you’re focused on lifestyle journalism and content (parenting, fashion, health and wellness). The niche is saturated with writers, which brings down the rates. You can still write on these topics, but Satta suggests mixing them in with other, higher-paying niches, such as technology, health care or financial services. Be easy to work with. As someone who also assigns articles for her clients, Satta has come across too many freelancers who miss deadlines, are hard to reach and/or difficult to work with. Be collaborative with clients and communicate in advance if you run into challenges. Satta struggles with turning off work at the end of the day. To be present with her young son, it helps her to physically separate herself from her workspace and her work tools. This means sometimes leaving her cellphone in a different room. Satta is a very early morning person. She often starts her workday at 4:30 a.m. She does this partly to get her work done early so her husband can watch their son in the morning before she takes over in the afternoon. She also knows that she can write easily very early in the morning but struggles to write late at night. She works about 5–6 hours a day and reserves Fridays for administrative work, recognizing that her brain is tired from writing by the end of the week. She also tries to reserve personal errands and chores for the start or end of the work day, not the middle of the day. Satta doesn’t work for hourly rates because they penalize her for being efficient. She works for flat fees or retainer agreements. But she does have an “internal hourly rate” that she aims to earn. Tracking her hours and having an internal hourly rate helps her know how to price projects and know whether a proposed fee is fair for her. Ongoing marketing is crucial to keep the work coming in. You can’t start marketing only when work dries up. Satta gets a lot of work through referrals, including from other freelancers. Working with agencies is helpful because one editor can refer you to other editors at the same company. LinkedIn is also a good way to get clients. Keep your profile up to date with relevant keywords, and post your work on LinkedIn so potential clients can see that you know certain topics or have worked with certain clients. Satta tried having a virtual assistant, but it took time to train the person, plus she realized she didn’t want to be anyone’s boss. She prefers the “consultant model,” in which she outsources tasks to third-party services like a transcription service or payroll provider. Biz Bite: Use an email scheduling tool. Resources: Satta on LinkedIn Satta on Twitter SattaSarmah.com GrubStreet in Boston Book: “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) Quinn popcorn Temi transcription service

Nov 12, 2020 • 46min

#79: Six-Figure Freelancing: Consistently Sending LOIs and Using Upwork, with Laura Pennington Briggs

Today’s guest is Laura Pennington Briggs. Laura is a teacher turned entrepreneur, two-time TEDx speaker and freelance writer. She’s the author of the award-winning “How to Start Your Own Freelance Writing Business” and the Amazon bestseller “Six-Figure Freelancer” and the founder of Operation Freelance. Laura started as a freelance writer and virtual assistant in 2012. Now, she continues to write but also does book marketing and book launch strategy for authors. She started out as a part-time freelancer. But after 18 months of freelancing—only six months of that as a full-time freelancer—she hit the six-figure mark. To get to that financial goal, Laura tracked her income and financial projections on a legal pad. Freelancers are often told not to go on Upwork, but Laura used Upwork to build and scale her business. In fact, she earned over $450,000 through the site over the years. But she points out that it’s important to have a strategy when you are using Upwork. When she was a new freelancer, she aimed to get Upwork jobs primarily for the feedback, not necessarily the fee, so that she could build good ratings on the site, opening the door to better and more work. She called these her “fast, cheap and simple” jobs to deliver the service easily and quickly to get a fast five-star review. She now has more than 200 positive ratings on Upwork, which lands her good work. You also have to know what the red flags are, such as clients with ridiculous expectations and a very long description for a simple, short project. Also, when clients tell you they’ve worked with lots of other freelancers before and it’s never worked out, that’s a red flag! You can also read other freelancers’ reviews of clients. Trust those reviews. The two ways that have worked best for Laura to find new clients have been Upwork and emailing cold letters of introduction (LOIs). Laura says if you send 50 LOIs and only one person responds, there’s something wrong with your LOI or your strategy. It’s important to take the time to research the client and explain why you like that company. Make the beginning of an LOI personal and hook the person. Don’t use a standard template for the entire LOI, which is a common mistake. Great tip: Laura emails an LOI, and then about 30 minutes later she connects with that person on LinkedIn saying, “Spoiler alert: I just pitched you via email.” Remember: Your perspective clients don’t really care about you, only that you’re qualified. So keep that part of your LOI to about two sentences and focus instead on how you can help them. Sending LOIs is also a numbers game—you need to send a lot to get responses. You cannot just send a 1–2 LOIs a week and expect to get a bunch of new clients. Laura recommends sending five pitches a week for three months, tracking them and seeing how people respond. Make it a weekly habit. Laura is a morning person. She works in batches based on the type of work, not the client. For example, she spends time on pitches for different clients during the same time slot, not focusing on all tasks for one client before moving on to another clients’ tasks. When it comes to pricing, Laura recommends newer freelancers take on smaller projects and try out their rate, rather than committing to a rate and a long-term contract. You should try out your pricing and make sure you feel comfortable with it. Experienced freelancers should examine their pricing every six months. Clients are paying not for your time, but your years of experience and expertise. Laura does not commit to pricing over the initial phone call. She tells potential clients she will get back to them by email. She may be nervous to quote over the phone, but she may also actually need the time to consider all aspects of the project and what it may truly cost and entail. Remember that you can negotiate everything, not just price. You can negotiate length, deadline, scope of work and the amount of communication (no phone calls, no strategy sessions unless they pay more). You can also give a discount if they sign a long-term contract. Laura advises that you have to get comfortable with calling the shots. You might feel like you’re pitching yourself as a freelancer to a client, but you have to believe that you’re a CEO too and you get to decide what your company policies and deal breakers are. Laura tried to be an agency owner for a year, outsourcing her writing to subcontractors. And she hated it. You do not have to outsource your client work if you don’t want to. Instead, if you want to scale, you can outsource certain pieces of the process, like marketing, administrative work, invoicing or LinkedIn outreach. Biz Bite: Hire a virtual assistant Resources: Laura’s website: Better Biz Academy Laura’s book “The Six-Figure Freelancer” Laura’s podcast: Advanced Freelancing

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Deliberate Freelancer

Episodes

Mentioned books

#87: My Most Anticipated 2021 Books (and Fave 2020 Books)

#86: What I Wish for Your Freelance Business in 2021

#85: How and Why You Should Choose a Word of the Year