Deliberate Freelancer

On today’s show I am going to outline 10 micro habits that you can consider implementing in your life to improve your work-life clarity. Building habits into my life helps me commit to work-life clarity. Micro habits are tiny, incremental things you can start to do that seem so incredibly easy that you might just continue to build them. And, if you find they are working for you in some way, they might grow into larger habits and eventually habits you don’t even think about. Not all of the micro habits I’m recommending are directly related to your business. Your life and your business are intertwined. Plus, I think we should all be focusing on our health. So, some of these will be healthy micro habits, and some will be things that will lift your energy and put a smile on your face. I’m not recommending you implement all 10 of these micro habits. It’s better if you start small and just try a few of them. Plus, some of these might not be relevant for your individual life or may not interest you. But I hope they will spark your own ideas of what micro habits you can try out. 1. Brush your teeth after dinner. I first heard about this micro habit as a recommendation on the Happier podcast with Gretchen Rubin. The idea is if you brush your teeth after dinner, you will be less likely to eat again that evening. 2. Set an alarm for bedtime. 3. Listen to a podcast in the morning. 4. Take a lunch break—and do it without your phone. 5. Play with your pets. 6. Learn something new in five minutes a day. 7. Text one important person in your life each week. 8. Drink one glass of water in the morning. 9. Meditate for one minute each day. 10. At the end of your work day, take 5 minutes to write down how you felt about the day. Biz Bite: Download Restaurant Apps The Bookshelf: “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear Resources: Happier podcast with Gretchen Rubin Duolingo language app

Today’s guest is Alicia Chantal, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an editing and writing consultant and the owner of Fresh Look Editing. Alicia is passionate about helping individuals and small businesses create messages that resonate with an audience. She specializes in non-fiction copy editing and proofreading and has a background in public relations.   A couple of cool projects Alicia has worked on lately include two articles that she wrote for the Alberta Cancer Foundation’s summer issue of Leap magazine. And she recently proofread the first book from Laberinto Press, which promotes diverse literature and world lit in translation. That book is “Beyond the Food Court,” an anthology that explores the intersection of cuisine, geography, politics and nostalgia. I know Alicia from Twitter, but I also saw that she was recently selected as a featured volunteer of Editors Canada, and that’s when I realized how new she was to freelancing. She only started freelancing in 2019, and yet she has already built this great networking community by getting involved in various volunteer opportunities and taking advantage of social media.   In fact, she is the co-coordinator of the Edmonton chapter of Editors Canada, and she is a member of Editors Canada’s Task Force for Statement of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.   Alicia began freelancing in 2019 after her father died and she realized life is too short and that she should be doing something she loves.   As a new freelancer, one of the biggest challenges was trying to find a consistent time to work at her desk. That only increased during the pandemic when all three of her sons were now at home after schools shut down in-person learning. This fall, her children are back in in-person school, which allows her to focus on her business during the day again.   Alicia loves having a career that lets her focus strictly on editing and writing. She has discovered that she loves getting to know clients, figuring out what they need and helping them put their best words forward.   Alicia is surprised she’s a freelancer. She never envisioned being her own boss and having a head for business (Melanie can relate!). She did as much research and planning as she could before she launched her business, researching how to set up a business in her province and tapping into local business resources.   She has a tendency to second-guess herself, but reaching out to other freelancers for advice and building her freelance network has been helpful. She also finds podcasts about freelancing helpful.   She took an editing certification course and, through that, she took advantage of a business course for freelancers. She said that solidified what direction she was heading in because she had to create a business plan and think through how she was going to find clients.   Alicia is involved in Editors Canada, similar to ACES–the Society for Editing in the U.S. She joined because she thought the organization would be great for both professional development and building her network.   She wanted to be a volunteer for Editors Canada, not just a regular member, to gain more editing knowledge and experience. Fellow editors there encouraged her to join Twitter to connect with editors across the world. That worked and was even more helpful when the pandemic lockdowns began and she couldn’t go to editing conferences and events.   She has found so many editing resources and a community on Twitter. (See Resources list below.)   Alicia joined Editors Canada’s Task Force for Statement of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). This is a newer task force that was started to provide recommendations to Editors Canada’s national executive council on ways the group can meaningfully implement the EDI statement, which was approved in 2019.   She and the other four task force members are currently researching what EDI barriers members may feel exist in the organization. She says you need evidence to make recommendations, not basing them on gut feelings or guesses or by talking to only one person of color.   Alicia says that while the membership of Editors Canada may not be that diverse, there are diverse editors who may be unknown to the organization.   Alicia is a Black woman and a first-generation Canadian and says that as a member of the BIPOC community, she believes that being able to make effective change starts at home. (BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, Person of Color.)   Freelancers can bring about change on issues of diversity and inclusion in their own industry and in their clients’ work. And you don’t have to be a writer or editor to make a difference through content. You can talk through these issues with your clients, such as whether you should capitalize black and/or white when talking about race.   Consider the images you and your clients use, such as on their website. Melanie talks about how one association did an audit of the diversity of their content, sources, writers and images. One thing they discovered is that a lot of stock art shows hands and those hands are almost always white. So, switching up stock photos to show other skin tones of hands is one “small” way to make a change.   As Alicia considers how her business can grow, she wants to post more often to her blog (a common tale!) to use it partly as a marketing tool. She is researching how to make her blog work better for her business.   She also wants to figure out how to automate more of her processes, such as accounting tasks.   If you’re considering becoming a freelancer or are fairly new to freelancing, Alicia recommends just diving in, not putting it off. That said, she doesn’t recommend saying yes to every project because that will lead to burnout. Also: reach out to others, learn from your successes and don’t be afraid to reach beyond your comfort zone.   Biz Bite: Make work fun.   Resources: Alicia’s website, Fresh Look Editing   Alicia on LinkedIn   Alicia on Twitter   Editors’ Association of Earth Facebook group   Editors Canada Facebook group   Editors Canada website   ACES–the Society for Editing   Grammar Girl   Outside the Book on Twitter: interviews editors of color and discusses how to increase the number of people of color in editing.   Editors of Color on Twitter

In episode #6 of Deliberate Freelancer I talked about how to make the most of conferences. Well, we’ve all had to pivot, and I cannot go to the 4–6 in-person conferences I typically go to each year. So, I’ve learned to embrace virtual conferences, which may be around until at least summer 2021.   Here are a few tips to make the most of these events: Commit to a virtual conference like you would an in-person event. Block the time off on your calendar and don’t do other work during the event. It can be tough to sit in front of your computer all day, so have some fun with it. Buy some favorite snacks, put on a nice shirt — but with cozy sweatpants and slippers. And switch up your location. You don’t need to sit at your desk all day. You can sit outside if it’s nice or find a cozy spot in your house. Prepare for the virtual event ahead of time. Look over the schedule and make note of what you want to attend. Because a lot of virtual conferences don’t have conference apps, I have been printing out the schedule to give myself a “program book” that I can mark up. It’s easier than toggling between tabs. Look at the schedule and know where the breaks are and how long they are. In person, you kind of go with the flow and it’s obvious when the breaks are, but it’s not as intuitive online. So, prepare ahead. Check out the conference social media. Is there a hashtag? Live tweeting is one of my favorite things to do at an in-person event, but it seems more important now because it connects me more to the other attendees. Anything you can do to improve the networking of a virtual conference is important. Ask on social media or in your network who else is attending. It can be fun to connect with friends at the special networking events or in the online networking rooms during the in-person event. Watch as many sessions in real time as you can. In a lot of virtual sessions, you are watching a recorded video, and you will likely be sent the link later. But we all know, when we sign up for something and are sent the link later, it’s less likely that we will actually make the time to watch the entire thing. Tell yourself these are not recordings and watch them in real time. This allows you to connect with other attendees in the live chat going on during the session. And you can usually send questions to the presenters, and there is often a short Q&A after the session. Take part in all the networking! The one thing that seems to be the hardest in these virtual environments is replacing the in-person networking. You aren’t going to just randomly meet people in line or because you sat next to them in a session. In person, I rarely go to happy hours or evening events unless I know a lot of other attendees. But in the virtual world, I have made myself go to every networking opportunity available during the virtual conferences. Some have been great; some have been not so great, but I am trying to connect with as many people as I can. Set goals for your conference and follow up afterward. What do you hope to get out of this event? Is it just to be able to connect with other people who are not your family? Or, are you looking forward to learning new things through the sessions or by connecting with exhibitors? Set a couple of goals so you have a focus for the event. And then, the next day — put it on your calendar — recap for a few hours: What did you learn? What lessons do you want to implement? Who do you want to follow up with? What new products or services do you want to check out? Do this the day after or you will probably not do it.   Biz Bite: Get a flu shot   The Bookshelf: The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Eat a Peach by David Chang A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik   Resources: Episode #6 of Deliberate Freelancer: Make the Most of Conferences   Episode #24 of Deliberate Freelancer: Networking Tips, Especially as an Introvert   Episode #33 of Deliberate Freelancer: 5 Lessons for Freelance Business Owners from She Podcasts Conference  

On today’s show, I want to talk about some core principles you’ll need to run a successful freelance business — these are ideas I have come to believe strongly in over the past seven years: Core principle #1: You are a freelance business owner. Changing your mindset and truly believing you are a business owner and the boss of you helps both the way you look at yourself and the way others perceive you. Embracing that mindset creates a fundamental shift in how you think about being a freelancer. Tell yourself in everything that you do that you need to base your ideas, plans and actions on how a business owner or entrepreneur would think. That can mean creating a business plan, creating a marketing plan, setting financial and other goals, tracking your money, figuring out how to charge better, having the confidence to ask for more money and increase your rates, and setting boundaries, office hours and a work structure. Core principle #2: Take charge of your finances. You could be great at what you do. You may even be charging great rates and bringing in the cash. But if you aren’t handling and tracking your money well, you could be losing money and gaining stress. Do you have a yearly financial goal? Do you have monthly or weekly financial goals? Basically, do you have any idea how much money you are earning and how much you are spending? When you set your rates or a project fee, are you accounting for taxes or other expenses as part of the rate you set? Are you tracking monthly income versus expenses? Do you have a separate business account, not co-mingling your money with a personal account? I finally got a separate business account and a business-only credit card last year. I started using a 12-month cash flow projection spreadsheet in Excel. This was particularly helpful during the pandemic so I could see if I was earning enough to pay my bills. But that sheet also encouraged me because the numbers kept increasing over the summer as I kept striving to add more clients to those columns. By August, I could see that I had reached my pre-pandemic income level. And perhaps the most important part of taking charge of your finances: Are you setting aside the right portion of your income for taxes? In the United States, that’s about 28–30%. You have to tell yourself and truly believe that that percentage is not your money. It was never your money. Don’t ever think of it as a safety net or part of your savings. Once you believe that, set up a system to make that easier to follow. I have a separate online savings account that is only for taxes. I named it Pay My Taxes as a reminder not to touch it. At the end of each month, when I am paying my bills and invoicing my clients, I figure out my monthly income, minus expenses, and take 30% of that and transfer it to my tax account. Core principle #3: Be stubborn. Be confident. I know this is easier said than done for some people. This often comes down to personality, but I think we can continue to grow and learn and change and improve parts of ourselves that we struggle with. For example, I know that I do not like conflict, and I see the most basic disagreements and conversations as “conflict.” I know this is a challenge I struggle with, but being aware of it can be helpful so that I can work around it. So, I have created systems to boost my confidence. One way I do that is by emailing first instead of picking up the phone — at least for that initial conversation — when there is a disagreement, communication or misunderstanding. I have also come to understand that I suffer from impostor syndrome at times. I didn’t think I struggled with this until I had guest Kristen Hicks on episode #67 and she described the various aspects of impostor syndrome. I struggle sometimes with raising my rates or sticking to a project rate or scope creep. That falls under impostor syndrome too because deep down I’m really thinking, “Who am I to ask for this or to demand this?” To me, being stubborn means sticking with your principles. Know what your goals and your non-negotiables are in your business. Know the kind of ethical work and philosophy you want to work from. Stick to your principles and be stubborn. Don’t lower your rates. Don’t work for free. Don’t agree to scope creep that makes you uncomfortable. Be stubborn. Core principle #4: You have to embrace marketing. This is where reframing comes in handy because many of us don’t like the idea of marketing or networking. You’ve likely heard me say this a few times, but I have reframed marketing and networking into “relationship building.” You always have to market and network. That saved a lot of us in the pandemic when we lost clients. We reached out to our network and said we had availability. We increased marketing efforts that we had already tried. We weren’t starting from scratch. Marketing doesn’t have to mean ads and being on every social media platform. But I would encourage you to get to know fellow freelancers, perhaps in your local community or through Twitter or Instagram, or a Facebook group. And then do some sort of marketing by at least having a presence on 1–2 social media channels and keeping your website and/or a portfolio up to date. Core principle #5: You have to spend money to make money. This can be challenging, especially if you are new to freelancing. And I don’t want you to buy all the things when you start out. But, you will come to a point where you have a little bit of money or you need to take that next step or you’re struggling in an area you need help with, and you need to spend money to make money. I’ve often talked about the economic concept of “opportunity cost.” Opportunity cost is when you have a situation with more than one choice. You make a choice and go a particular route. The opportunity cost is the loss of what you did not gain by making the other choice. I often think of opportunity cost in terms of time. Time is very valuable to me. Money is important and necessary, but time is critical. My goal is to create an efficient freelance business that maximizes the amount of money I can earn in the smallest amount of time. You can consider this in both your business and personal life. So, for example, if you hire a virtual assistant (VA) to take care of some of your administrative work, you are gaining time to work on client projects. This earns you more money. Core principle #6: Keep it simple. This means both for the services and businesses you create, as well as the business systems and structure you set up for yourself. There is a temptation, especially early on in freelancing or at a moment when you are growing your business, to buy all the tools, download all the productivity apps, and use a bunch of fancy systems to do certain things for your business. I have certainly fallen into that trap, especially downloading a variety of apps that I thought would be helpful to structure my business. But, I realized that it is much more efficient and productive and less stressful to streamline my systems and structure. I use what works for me, not what every other freelancer says I have to have. Keep it simple and use what works for you. A good way to test this out is if you are feeling overwhelmed or feel like things are too busy or chaotic. Ask if you need all those tools. What really makes your day better and your business more efficient? Invest in those and ignore the rest. Core principle #7: You can’t work 24/7. You need to set the hours and structure that is best for your business, your productivity and your mental and physical health. The problem I see is freelancers who don’t know when to end their day and just keep on working until they suddenly realize it’s time to eat or their kids are home from school. It’s also not healthy to check email all night long. Even just a glance at work email can be stressful and put you back into work mode, instead of relaxing or spending time with your family. Everyone needs downtime, and it is not healthy to be on the clock 24/7. This goes for weekends also. I know freelancers who like to work weekends because there are no distractions from clients and they can get a lot more done. That is fine, except I would argue that you need two days off a week, no matter what those days are. That means no emails, no client work and no check-ins. And if you can put down your phone, and unplug completely, that’s even better and healthier for you, especially in these pandemic times. All of this means you have to set boundaries. This is easier to do once you truly embrace self-care and recognize that burnout is a real concern. Biz Bite: Outsource on a whim   The Bookshelf: “Eight Perfect Murders” by Peter Swanson   Resources: Episode #39 of Deliberate Freelancer: Raise Your Rates—Without Emotion   Episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Take Charge of Your Finances, with Pamela Capalad   Episode #29 of Deliberate Freelancer: 3 Big Financial Changes I Made This Week   Episode #30 of Deliberate Freelancer: How a Virtual Assistant Can Help Your Business, with Cat DiStasio   Episode #67 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Fight Imposter Syndrome, with Kristen Hicks   Episode #68 of Deliberate Freelancer: Yes, You Need to Build a Personal Brand, with Hilary Sutton   Episode #62 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Prevent and Deal with Burnout, with Alan Heymann   Episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer: You Need to Set Boundaries   Episode #19 of Deliberate Freelancer: Visualize Your Perfect Work Day—Then Create It   Episode #22 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Create a Better Work-Life Balance, with Laura Poole

Today’s guest is Sarah DeGeorge, a digital marketing specialist who lives in Philadelphia. Sarah works in paid and organic marketing, public relations, and social media marketing and management. She helps small- to mid-size businesses find their authentic voice for their audience.   Sarah started freelancing as a freelance writer while still in college. As she was nearing graduation, she got sick and had trouble doing in-person job interviews, so she turned to freelancing as she started to feel better. She slowly built up her business and learned new skills. Freelancing allowed her to deal with her illness (she feels great today) at the time, which would have been more difficult with a regular 9-5 employee job.   Sarah recommends we consider “mindfulness in marketing” as we look to grow our freelance businesses. She points out that a lot of marketing looks at past performance or future plans—but not the present time. Being mindful means being in the present. So, consider how your marketing is working and how you feel about your marketing right now in the present. (You can use this same idea with your clients when you work on marketing-related projects with them.)   Sarah breaks mindfulness marketing into three pillars:   Start with yourself: What are your mission and values? How is your marketing plan working right now? How are you feeling about these efforts?   Now, consider your customer base. What marketing materials and efforts do they expect from you (certain social media interactions, live video, weekly newsletter)? What is resonating with them? What is not resonating with them?   Finally, look at the data. This could include your website’s Google analytics and Facebook insights. (This could also include client feedback and previous successes.) Connect this with yourself—are you enjoying working on a specific social media platform? Maybe the data shows that you’re not as engaged with a particular platform; maybe you could phase out that particular effort.   This type of analysis will help you figure out what marketing efforts you may need to stop, cut back on or ramp up and what new things you could try.   Sarah came up with the mindfulness in marketing concept during a serious period of burnout. We need to take that moment to check in with ourselves and not just go full-speed ahead all the time.   You do not have to be on all the social media platforms. Focus on what you like and where your clients are. If those two things don’t overlap, perhaps hire a virtual assistant to help you market on a platform where your clients are but that you don’t enjoy as much and aren’t as good at because of that.   Once you’ve analyzed those three pillars and connected the dots of what is and isn’t working, brainstorm how you can make the efforts that are working more robust. Consider how you can pivot and migrate certain efforts, such as changing from a blog to a video, moving from Facebook to Instagram.   Video can be a fun new marketing trend to try out. It doesn’t have to be your own face on video. You can create a short instructional video with slides, based on a blog that you already wrote, and post that on YouTube. YouTube is more of a search engine than a social media platform. So, making a searchable video on YouTube that directs back to your website can be an effective marketing strategy.   A podcast is another good way to market yourself and share your knowledge with your clients.   Biz Bite: Use pen and paper.   Resources:   Sarah on Instagram   sardegeorge@gmail.com   www.sardegeorge.com   Episode #14 of Deliberate Freelancer: Freelancing with a Chronic Illness, with Christy Batta   Episode #67 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Fight Imposter Syndrome, with Kristen Hicks   Episode #62 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Prevent and Deal with Burnout, with Alan Heymann    

Today’s guest is Wudan Yan, an independent journalist in Seattle, who covers science and society. She has written for National Geographic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Elemental, Harper’s and MIT Tech Review. Wudan also writes for brands and is a fact-checker. She is the co-host of The Writers’ Co-op, a business podcast for freelance writers. Her co-host is Jenni Gritters, also based in Seattle, and the two describe their podcast as an “audio handbook for freelance creatives.” In summer 2019, Wudan self-published an article on Medium called “I was owed about $5,000 from late-paying publications. I tried to hold them all accountable. Here’s what happened.” The article hit a nerve with freelancers and went viral. Wudan wrote the article after she returned from a two-week vacation and none of the $5,000 she was owed by clients was in her bank account. She freaked out. But she was also fed up with clients’ excuses about not paying on time. She had read a social media post from a photojournalist who added a 20% late fee to client invoices. Wudan messaged her to learn more and then began researching laws around late fees. She learned that in 2017 New York City passed the Freelance Isn’t Free Law, which says freelancers must be paid within 30 days of invoicing. It also says that freelancers are entitled to double damages if payment is late. It only covers freelancers who live in the city or clients based in the city. Although Wudan doesn’t live in New York City, one of her clients is based there, which meant she was covered by the law. Wudan decided to go for a 10% late fee, not double damages, since this was her first time fighting this. She also sought the help of a lawyer. All three clients had different responses. One major media company kept replying that they don’t pay late fees, but Wudan kept sending her updated invoice. They finally agreed to pay a late fee simply to resolve the issue “amicably.” A second client said essentially, “We paid you for something else on time, so we won’t pay a late fee for this,” which made no sense. The third publisher said the issue was pushed to the CEO of the company and he didn’t like the situation, and the company said if Wudan charged a late fee, they would never work with her again. She eventually received late fees from all three clients, but she has never worked with any of the three again. Wudan says she became a journalist, in large part, to hold people accountable. And that goes with her own business. Calling out the publishing industry’s poor practice of late payments was her way of holding the industry accountable. She also wanted other freelancers to know that charging late fees was possible. Wudan wanted to “flip a switch” in freelancers’ minds from being passive and just waiting on late payments to acting like a business and going after late payments. After Wudan wrote the piece calling out the publishing industry, she stopped working with clients who paid her late in the past. She also gained more confidence to charge late fees. Wudan advises freelancers to try to get a late fee built into their contract. Ideally, add in: “Client will pay the contractor 30 days after receipt of invoice. Invoices paid after this timeframe are subject to a XX% late fee.” Specify that the late fee is compounded monthly. You may want to choose a 10% or 20% late fee. While publishers don’t like the late fee clause, in Wudan’s experience they often agree to that first part: “Client will pay the contractor 30 days after receipt of invoice.” Even if that’s the only part they will agree to, she still includes on her invoices: “Client will pay the contractor 30 days after receipt of invoice. Invoices paid after this timeframe are subject to a XX% compounded monthly late fee.” If they reply that they only pay 45–60 days after receipt, then Wudan builds interest into her fee. Wudan uses Google Sheets to track when she filed her invoices. She hired an assistant, who reviews the invoice sheet at the end of every week. If an invoice is almost due or past due, she writes Wudan an email with that list of clients. Wudan set up a separate “bookkeeper” email, and her assistant sends clients notices about late payment through that, which shows more of an appearance of a business. You can create this separate email address yourself, even if you don’t have an assistant. Chasing down money is emotional labor. Wudan hired an assistant to chase down payments so that she wouldn’t be angry every time she had to write those emails. Wudan usually goes straight to accounts payable and doesn’t get her editor or direct client involved. Wudan’s final advice: Freelancers need to push for late fees and on-time payments. Clients often tell Wudan no one has ever asked them for a late fee before, which is indicative of freelancers being more passive when it comes to payment. Maintain good relationships with your editors and clients, and they may be able to change the system from the inside and advocate for freelancers. You can also refuse to do more work until payments are caught up.   Biz Bite: Calendly app   Resources: Wudan’s article on late payments (originally published on Medium): “I was owed about $5,000 from late-paying publications. I tried to hold them all accountable. Here’s what happened.” Freelance Isn’t Free Act in New York City Wudan’s podcast, The Writers’ Co-op Wudan on Twitter Wudan on Instagram WudanYan.com

Today’s guest are Kim Kavin and Karon Warren, two longtime freelance writers who have built successful freelance businesses. Both are active in the fight against the national PRO Act. Kim was active fighting against a similar state bill in New Jersey, and Karon heads up the national efforts to defeat the PRO Act through the grassroots organization Fight for Freelancers. The PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize) was introduced in Congress in late 2019. The initial intent of the bill was to protect workers who are misclassified and give them the ability to join a union. However, the bill was amended to add a classification test taken directly from California’s disastrous anti-freelance bill (now law) known as AB5. That test is called the ABC Test and was written in the 1930s for factory workers. The way the ABC Test is currently written prohibits most independent contractors from working with clients. It doesn’t matter if you call yourself a freelancer, consultant, an agency, whatever — if you are a W9 independent contractor, this affects you. The rest of the PRO Act does not harm freelancers, so freelancers need to focus their efforts on getting the ABC Test part of the bill changed. The push for this bill is union funded, and Democrats —including presidential candidate Joe Biden — support the bill. Kim was involved in fighting a copycat bill in New Jersey. A co-sponsor of the bill told her if she wanted to make changes she needed to negotiate directly with the AFL-CIO. That shows who is controlling and pushing these bills. In California, legislators “weaponized” the ABC Test by deleting some of the original language. The ABC Test has three prongs (A, B, C) that independent contractors must pass in order to do business. It’s the B part that is the problem. B originally had two parts: Part 1 says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company that is paying you to do the work. But Part 2 negates Part 1 if you do all of your work off company premises. Most freelancers can pass Part 2. However, California deleted Part 2, leaving only the part that says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company paying you. That went into law in January 2020 in the state and destroyed careers of all types of independent contractors, who could no longer work for companies in their industry. This included respiratory therapists and other medical professionals who contract with various hospitals — they lost work when they were needed the most during the pandemic. Other careers and industries affected include journalists, content writers, editors, real estate appraisers, comedians, theater workers, symphonies and orchestras, truck drivers, translators and more. In fact, California has found more than 300 industries hurt by AB5. California freelancer writers managed to get an exemption in the law that capped their submissions to 35 a year for each client. The exemption partially helped some writers, but it also had a lot of problems — for example, content writers, blog writers and newspaper columnists could quickly and easily hit 35 submissions, ending their work for that year for that client. Forbes, Hearst and New York Times were among those who have stopped hiring California freelancers. In December 2019, the AB5 copycat bills started popping up in Democrat strongholds (blue states), including New York and New Jersey, where Kim lives. The bill was introduced in New Jersey with about six weeks to go in a lame duck session. New Jersey freelance writers organized quickly to educate lawmakers about the damage to freelance careers. In New Jersey, lawmakers seemed to pay attention when the writers explained that they were “career professionals,” who earn anywhere from $50 to $300 an hour from clients. They compared themselves to specialized accountants and attorneys. They told individual stories that showed that they were professionals, not victims. At one hearing, a lawmaker said they were going to protect the freelancers from “nefarious” companies. Kim yelled at a New Jersey senator to stop calling her clients nefarious and exploitative. The pandemic has helped lawmakers understand how many independent contractors are out there because we got attention when we became eligible for unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program. When AB5 went into law in California, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (a membership organization of freelance writers, of which Kim, Karon and Melanie are members) filed a lawsuit with the National Press Photographers Association challenging the new law on First Amendment and other Constitutional grounds.  Karon got involved at that part, even though she’s in Georgia, a red state where a copycat bill does not exist. But Karon knew she needed to fight against the federal PRO Act, which would affect independent contractors in all 50 states. If the PRO Act passes, companies will begin outsourcing work to people outside of the U.S. The movement created the Twitter hashtag #IRSNotABC, which represents that the IRS standard is a better standard than the ABC Test. We should advocate for the PRO Act and state copycat bills to change their language to follow the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. The IRS standard already exists. It was written in the 1980s and has been updated since. The standard has about 60 questions to evaluate the relationship between a person and a company. The IRS website says, “The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, not what will be done and how it will be done.” Unlike the B part of ABC, the IRS standard allows independent contractors to work in the same industry as their clients. Most legitimate independent contractors can pass the IRS standard. Laws already exist to protect exploited freelancers, and individuals can file a report with the IRS if they believe they have been exploited, like if they were hired as a “freelancer” but the company required them to work a full-time schedule and on the premises. That is not freelancing. The U.S. Department of Labor in both the Obama and Trump administrations have prosecuted cases against companies who have misclassified employees. Some freelancers have said that the PRO Act or a state version doesn’t affect them for various reasons. Let’s go through some of these myths to debunk them and let independent contractors know they are in jeopardy:   Myth 1: “I’m protected if I’m an LLC or S Corp.” Not true. While the test says “established business,” you must pass the B prong of the ABC Test to be able to work as an independent contractor. New Jersey advocates asked lawmakers to amend the bill to state that being an LLC or S Corp would exempt independent contractors from the law, but they would not add the language.   Myth 2: “This is a partisan issue and those fighting against it are all Trump supporters or Republicans.” Not true. Karon explains that advocates are not taking political sides; they are talking about fixing this piece of legislation. It’s just a fact that Democrats, including presidential candidate Joe Biden, support the PRO Act and the ABC Test. Therefore, it’s critical to educate Democrat lawmakers about why the ABC Test is harmful to freelancers.   Melanie’s opinion: If you are a Democrat like me and have Democrat representatives and senators, I think it’s even more critical we speak up because it’s the Democrats’ minds we have to change AND we are their constituents and members of their party. Both Democrats and Republicans can educate their Democratic lawmakers and also ensure their Republican lawmakers know about the PRO Act and will work to change it or vote against it.   Myth 3: “Those vocal against the PRO Act are paid by anti-union operatives.” Not true. These are all independent contractors who have created grassroots organizations out of necessity to save their freelance careers. This myth makes it even more important that individual freelancers explain their business and their success to legislators so they can understand who we are.   What You Can Do: Educate yourself about the PRO Act and how to fight against it. See resources list below. Contact your U.S. House representative and your two state senators. Ask to speak to them directly or email them. You can gather a small group of freelancers in your state and request a Zoom meeting. Tell your lawmakers your individual freelance success stories and the benefits you get from freelancing. Explain how much you are contributing to the economy. Then, ask them to change the PRO Act so that it uses the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. You can share data that shows most independent contractors want to remain as such. However, keep in mind that your individual stories affect lawmakers more than a bunch of statistics do. Share the message widely with other freelancers. Write op-eds for your local newspapers. Share on social media and retweet #IRSNotABC tweets and posts.   In September, the Freelancers Union (which is a nonprofit, not a union) held a webinar with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York who supports unions and the PRO Act. However, Schumer acknowledged in the webinar that he recognizes the problems AB5 caused in California and said he is willing to work with freelancers on the PRO Act. This was a huge acknowledgement. (See press release in resources below.)     Resources:   www.fightforfreelancersusa.com   Fight for Freelancers USA Facebook page — this is where you will find the most updated information and how to organize   Fight for Freelances USA on Twitter   #IRSNotABC on Twitter   Fight for Freelancers press release “US Senate Minority Leader Acknowledges Major Problem in PRO Act”   Freelance Forward 2020 — Upwork’s latest research on freelancing (statistics to use)   NPR article “Jobs in the Pandemic: More Are Freelance and May Stay That Way Forever”   Contently article “Does the ABC Test Already Exist in Your State, and Could It Harm Your Career?”   Wrapbook blog post “Employee or Contractor? The Complete List of Worker Classification Tests By State”   IRS.gov’s information on independent contractors   Fight for Freelancers New Jersey   The chaos in California  

Today’s guest is Anthony Moore, a writer, speaker and coach in California. He is one of the top 100 writers on Medium.com, where he writes about personal growth, self-improvement and writing.   I had trouble trying to name this episode because there were so many things Anthony talked about that I wanted to call your attention to. So, I hope you find all the areas we discussed helpful in your freelance business.   As a freelancer, Anthony has several income streams: writing, coaching, online courses, affiliate links, book sales.   Anthony has been freelancing for about seven years but didn’t make any money the first four and a half years. He decided it was time to get serious about his freelance career and has since amassed over 100,000 email subscribers and 50,000 followers on Medium and will earn a six-figure income in 20202.   Anthony offers courses in both writing and self-improvement. He sells them through webinars and email marketing. He’s failed a lot, and that has shown him what works and doesn’t work. He says one of his “superpowers” is not being afraid to look stupid. That stopped him from trying new things for a long time.   Anthony makes a lot of his income through courses, which, once created, is an online passive income. Then, he upsells to one-on-one coaching.   Anthony gets 100–200 new subscribers to his email list every day. Part of that is due to writing on Medium, where he has 200,000–300,000 views on his articles a month. Other blogs pick up his Medium articles, amplifying his content. He always includes a call to action in his articles to lead readers to his website. He has about a 6% click-through rate to his site, which is where people sign up for his email list.   Anthony’s call to action focuses solely on getting email subscribers. He no longer asks for social media likes and follows because the income he earns comes through his email list, not social media.   On Medium, Anthony focuses on personal growth and self-improvement. The key has been to be vulnerable and share his own stories, including his past issues with addiction and other challenges in his life. He posts only two to three articles a week now, but his content is evergreen.   Anthony shifted his mindset from being a freelancer to being a business when his article views on Medium skyrocketed. He likes a quote from Jay-Z: “I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man.” Once you shift your mindset, you stop holding yourself back. Then, you can ask yourself: How far can I take my business?   Anthony asked himself what a professional business person would do, and he began to invest in his business by taking writing courses and buying business books.   Anthony spent a lot of time learning how to sell properly without seeming sleazy. He learned that give away a lot of freebies and then every now and then offer something for sale that is aligned with the customers’ values and would be helpful to them. He uses ClickFunnels for his sales funnel system.   He studied up on sales psychology, such as the “star, story, solution” structure or “hook, story, offer” structure. He encourages people to research how to sell your services and products properly.   To grow your email list, in your blog posts or other content, you need a short call to action to send people to your email sign-up. You need to create a landing page and a freebie to give to people who sign up. Your freebie should not be your weekly newsletter; it needs to be something that will be helpful to them, like a free book chapter, worksheet or checklist.   Once you gain email subscribers, you have to focus on retaining them. Tell great stories and continue to give out relevant freebies to keep them engaged.   Anthony calls for freelancers to embrace “radical self-investment”—learn how to sell, market and run a business.   Biz Bite: Use Evernote app to write down your ideas on the go   Resources:   Learn how to be a remote freelance writer with Anthony’s free one-hour video training: FreelanceWriterStarterPackage.com   Anthony Moore on Medium   Anthony Moore on LinkedIn   “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki   “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk   ClickFunnels (sales funnel system)   Mailchimp (for email lists and landing pages)  

On today’s episode, I am sharing three experiences in which I failed and the lessons I learned from those situations. Hopefully, you’ll find a few takeaway lessons here and it will also lead you to analyzing your own failures to see what you can change or learn from moving forward. The idea is not to beat yourself up; we are not perfect, but to learn from our failures and to know that all freelancers make mistakes. Failure No. 1: I had written two articles for a newsstand magazine that went really well. They didn’t pay as much as my content marketing clients, but I liked the topics and having my stories on newsstands. The magazine offered me a third article, a feature that was a little controversial. I had not done the type of traditional journalism in which people were skeptical about you since I was a newspaper reporter years ago in Indiana. The story required experience and connections in a type of reporting and in this community that I did not have. And I didn’t really have the time to dive into this story. My failure started because I let my ego get in the way. I liked this client, and two editors were telling me how great I was and how they really wanted me to do this article. I let their flattery cloud my judgment. I should have trusted my gut. Instead, I worked on the story and had difficulty finding the right sources, finding sources that would trust me and getting an “official source” to even answer my repeated calls and emails. I did not have the time for this along with all my other work—work that paid much more than this journalism story. I weakly expressed some concern to my immediate editor, and she gave me a few pointers, but it could not save the story and I did not speak up more at that time. So, I trudged on—not because I was stubborn as much as I did not want to tell my editor I was failing. A few MONTHS went by, and I finally got so fed up that I wanted to quit. I didn’t even care about getting paid for the work I did because it was unusable at that point. So, I emailed my editor and explained why the story was not working out and that I needed to stop working on it entirely. She was gracious and that was that. The big lesson here? Do not let a client talk you into a project. Do not let their flattery and your ego get in the way of what you know to be true. You know what you’re good at and what you’re not good at, what you have time and energy for and what you don’t. Listen to that knowledge. Failure No. 2: I was working directly for a content marketing agency that I had worked with before and really liked. They had a new client. The challenge was that that client wanted me to pitch story ideas, which I rarely do. But I came up with a few ideas and they accepted one. It was clear that my agency contact was more excited about that story than the actual editor was. This should have been a red flag. But, I found the sources, wrote the article and submitted it. The editor had numerous queries, more so than I’ve received on any article in years. But I addressed the edits and sent back my second draft. Then, I received more edits late on a Friday afternoon, and the editor wanted to call me right then. I relented, only so I wouldn’t stress about it all weekend. She only wanted to go through the edits line by line, which was a complete waste of time. I also recognized that some of her edits were actually questioning the science in the article. That’s when it became clear that she did not respect the basis of the pitch or the research behind the article. She should have either rejected the pitch or put her aside her own feelings instead of continuing to ask me to change the article. I delivered those edits and cc’ed my agency contact on that email. Then, I emailed the agency person separately to tell them what had happened and that I’d gone above and beyond with multiple rounds of extensive edits and that I was done with the article. My contact was gracious, and the agency paid me the full amount (even though the editor never ran the article). The lesson here? I should have contacted my agency person sooner. They were my direct client, and I should have let them handle the situation—or at least help me walk through the issues. They also needed to be aware of what was happening. The overall message here is to speak up sooner rather than later. Failure No. 3: A new client and I had a misunderstanding over the scope of work. I had emailed a proposal outlining the scope of work that we both agreed on, and we had had multiple phone conversations. I thought we were on the same page, but I then received several assignments that seemed to be outside the scope of work. Here’s what I did wrong: In the proposal, I was very clear on the scope of work involved in my two primary responsibilities. But the client had mentioned a third service, one that wasn’t my expertise, but I agreed to help with now and then. I thought I was being helpful, but in my proposal I described that third service as “as needed.” That was way too vague and would be defined differently by me and the client. I reached out to a freelance writer friend, who helped me figure out what to say to the client. I also agreed to a phone conversation with the client to work out our issue. (I sent an initial email so as not to blindside her; then we got on the phone.) My “tough love” lesson here is do not be wishy-washy in your proposals! In my effort to be helpful, I was vague instead and caused a misunderstanding. Other lessons I learned: Ask for advice from your freelance community and get on the phone to talk through sticky situations. Email was not the answer. Those were three of my big fails—certainly not the only mistakes I’ve made! It’s important to know what your weaknesses are and figure out how to improve upon them or work around them. It’s also important to learn from your failures. What projects and clients stand out to you that make you a little sick to your stomach? Did you learn anything from them or have you repeated the same mistakes over and over? Take a few minutes to think about those situations and what you have learned or should have learned from them. Maybe there are a few lessons that you could embrace going forward. Biz Bite: You are already living your worst-case scenario. Tip from Gayneté Jones: If you are procrastinating on a new service or something to propel your business forward, you’re getting nowhere by not doing the thing. That’s your worst-case scenario. You can only go up from there.   Gayneté Jones is a millennial mentor and keynote speaker. She is founder of G.A.M.E. Changing Industries and creator of Cubicle Ditch Academy.     Hear Gayneté Jones in episode 333 of the podcast Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield.     The Bookshelf: “Recursion” by Blake Crouch   Resources: Episode #36 of Deliberate Freelancer: Spotting Red Flags and Scope Creep   Episode #45 of Deliberate Freelancer: You Need to Set Boundaries   Episode #67 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Fight Imposter Syndrome, with Kristen Hicks   Episode #70 of Deliberate Freelancer: Techniques to Deal with Anxiety from My New Therapist

I am not a therapist or a doctor, but on today’s show I want to share with you several techniques that I learned from my new therapist that have been very helpful to me, and I hope they will help some of you as well. I also want to help dispel the stigma that comes with mental health issues. Yes, I needed therapy. Yes, I’ve been experiencing more anxiety than usual. So, I sought out help. And that is OK for all of us. A few months ago, I started to realize that all of the things I used to do to turn off my brain from worrying about things were no longer working. I also realized I was getting really angry at the world at times. It all came to a head one night when I was worried about a leak in our basement. The spinning thoughts in my head would not stop, and I tried to explain my anxiety to my husband. He suggested I reach out a therapist acquaintance we know to ask for therapist recommendations. The therapist I knew sent me two names. I Googled them and emailed one of them. In our first appointment, I felt like my new therapist was a good fit right away, if only because I was comfortable talking to her through video chat. That was a good start. I explained to her how I was feeling, and because I am a “let’s fix this” person, I told her that I needed tools to use when I started feeling like that, techniques I could use to calm my mind. She gave me several that have been quite helpful, both before I start feeling anxious and when I’m in that anxiety-ridden moment. Therapy was also beneficial because it meant someone objective was validating my feelings. She validated that I am going through a loss—a loss of a way of life, that I am grieving something, even if I am lucky enough to have not been directly affected by COVID-19. But the upheaval and the uncertainty can definitely create anxiety. Here are a few techniques I now use regularly: Name your worrying thought. What worry are you feeling? Now ask yourself two things: Is that thought accurate? And, is it helpful? It may not even be accurate. You may be exaggerating reality based on your anxiety. And even if the thought is accurate, is it helpful to think that way? Probably not. Instead, reframe that thought into something helpful, like, “I have lost work during the pandemic. That means I need to do extra marketing each month to get more work.” Breathing. I know taking deep, long breaths helps calm your mind and body. But my therapist reminded me how to breathe properly: Take a long deep breath in through your nose—you should feel your belly expand—and then breathe out for a few seconds longer than you breathed in. I like to breathe out through my mouth (when I’m alone) because it feels like I’m pushing out the air more. One thing my therapist added was that when you breathe out, think of a word and think of pushing that word out and away from you. Typically, this is a negative word like “anxiety” or “stress.” But if you want to just concentrate on the word, you can pick a positive word instead to focus on. If you pick a negative word to push out, you can have fun choosing the word. I like to say “freakin’ pandemic.” Visualization. Pick a favorite outdoor location—do you like the beach, the mountains or the forest? Choose your spot. It can even be specific. I choose a specific hidden beach in Key West, one of my favorite places. Now, use your senses: What does it feel like, sound like, smell like? That alone can help calm you down. But you can go farther and imagine a nearby body of water. Then, cup your hands together and put all your negative thoughts and feelings that you want to get rid of in the cup of your hands and throw them into the water. Watch them until they float away and disappear. These next two suggestions aren’t from my therapists, but are good reminders to myself. This one might seem like a no-brainer, but it often needs repeating: Cut back on social media and the news. There’s a balance between being an informed citizen and obsessively tracking the news all day long. You can even quit some platforms or certain groups. I left a bunch of Facebook groups that made me angry too often. I’ve both unfriended people and unfollowed people. When you “unfollow,” you’ll still technically be friends, but you won’t see their posts. This is an easy way to get out of the situation without creating controversy over unfriending a relative. I heard a podcast guest talking about leaving the Bookstagram community on Instagram not because it made her angry but because it felt like too much work right now. Accept that this year and the pandemic is just one part of your life. I’m less anxious when I think of it that way, instead of it as something to just get through, something to just wait out. THIS is my life. THIS is part of the journey. It helps me to be thankful for the little things and to focus on those small things: when my cats make me laugh or get super snuggly, watching and feeding the birds and squirrels in my backyard, waving and thanking delivery drivers, smiling at kids who ride past our house on their bikes. I have to hang on to those small moments when the big moments seem so dire and overwhelming.   Biz Bite: Chunk your projects   The Bookshelf: “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson   Resources: Psychology Today Find a Therapist tool Psychology Today article: “Can You Reduce Anxiety and Stress by the Way You Breathe?” Episode #48 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Cope with Coronavirus Anxiety, with Therapist Mira Dineen Episode #52 of Deliberate Freelancer: Embracing Self-Care without Guilt, with Acupuncturist Rachel Brumberger