Deliberate Freelancer

On today’s show I am recommending nine nonfiction and business books that have helped me create and grow my freelance business: “Atomic Habits” by James Clear For the past two years I have read this book at the beginning of the new year, which might become an annual tradition because it sets me on a good habit course for the year. One quote from the book I really like is “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” That means if you don’t put a system and habits in place for each of your goals, they’ll just be floating out there with no structure or plan to actually achieve them. You need to create a step-by-step plan for how to achieve each of these goals. And you need to start with baby steps. Another quote I really like is “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” That means you will not notice an improvement the first time you start a new habit; you may not even see improvements week after week. Transformation takes time. One of the concrete things James provides in his book are the four simple steps to building better habits. These steps are: Cue Craving Response Reward “Deep Work” by Cal Newport “Deep work” is that cognitively demanding work, work that requires concentration and creativity and deep thinking—which means no distractions. For me, this is writing. What is it for you in your business? I am not an effective writer if I’m trying to squeeze writing in in between meetings, checking email and posting on social media. Instead, Newport helps you figure out how to concentrate, minimize distractions and focus deeply on your work. He warns you about the different types of distractions that might pop up and how you can develop strategies to fight against them. “Make Time” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky This book provides time, productivity and focus strategies that are tactical and helpful. This book is a lot breezier to read than the other two books I just recommended, but that doesn’t mean it’s fluff. It has silly illustrations and a fun, conversational tone. There are 87 tactics in this book that you can try to focus better and be more productive. A couple of the tactics that have helped me: Pick a highlight for your day—the one thing that you must get done—and then zero in on getting it done. The book calls that “laser focus.” Pick a soundtrack for your highlight. Choose one song, the same song, to play whenever you start your highlight for that day. I do this now whenever I am going to start deep work like writing. I have one song I play every time, and I’ve become Pavlov’s dog. Any time I hear this song I know that it’s time to buckle down and do a project. It’s my cue to get to work. It really works. Skip the morning check-in. At the end of each day, I go over my calendar and tasks and write out my to-do list for the next day. I choose my highlight for the next day. Then, when I wake up the next morning, I get straight to work on my highlight. I don’t check email or social media. Or, if I do check email, I check only for emergency emails from clients. I don’t respond to regular emails or even read them. Setting a timer for about 10 minutes can help you from getting sucked into email. “Off the Clock” by Laura Vanderkam This book, by a productivity and time tracking expert, was so much more than I thought it would be. It's not just a quick-read, “here are a few tips” productivity book. Vanderkam teaches us how to live life with more intention, to “linger” and “savor” and to invest in your happiness by being mindful of how you spend your time and how you WANT to spend your time. Laura talks about “letting it go”—how not to obsess over certain goals and how not to be so hard on yourself when you don’t hit perfection. She talks about little ways to invest in your own happiness and to appreciate the small things in life. Incidentally, these are all concepts that might really help during the pandemic. “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain As an introvert, I wasn’t sure what I could learn from this book. I know how I am and what I like. But I loved this book. It was way more in-depth and researched that I expected—not a fluffy, self-help book at all. This book explains in detail how being introverted can manifest in the real world, which has really helped me explain to other people why I like the things I like and do the things I do. The book also dives into the history of introvertedness, explaining when the U.S. started treasuring extroverts more. The author explains the values treasured by Eastern versus Western cultures and gives a ton of tips for living with and working with introverts and for raising kids who are introverts. “Better than Before” by Gretchen Rubin Rubin is probably best known for her book “The Happiness Project,” which I also liked. But “Better than Before” is where Rubin first introduces us to her framework The Four Tendencies. She argues that everyone falls into one of four categories based on how we respond to expectations from ourselves and from others—internal and external expectations. She has written a book called “The Four Tendencies” and you can also take a quiz to find out which of the four you are. Knowing your tendency helps you figure out how to use the right habit creation techniques that work for you. For example, I’m a questioner, and Gretchen helped me realize why “accountability” doesn’t work for me. You hear so often in business to form accountability groups or if you make yourself accountable to others, you’ll get things done. This could mean, if you sign up for a class, and especially if you pay for it, you’ll definitely go. But that doesn’t work for me. “Better than Before” will help you get to know yourself better and teach you what techniques work for you best. And then, Rubin provides a ton of habit formation tips to help you get things done. “The Freelance Content Marketing Writer” by Jennifer Goforth Gregory This book is gold for content marketing writers, whether you’re brand-new to this type of writing or have been doing it for 20 years. There is also a lot of tactical advice on how to get clients that can be helpful to non-writers as well. Gregory talks about how to use LinkedIn effectively and shares her template for a very short, to-the-point “letter of introduction,” which she compares to a pickup line. As she explains, you’re just trying to get a date with the person; you’re not trying to build an entire relationship with that first LOI. She also talks about how to price your projects, why freelancers need to talk about money with each other and how to find anchor clients. “Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More” by Robert Bly This was one of the first freelance books I purchased. It’s a little dated, but the bulk of the book contains really helpful information, especially for newer freelancers or those who need to set themselves up as a freelance business rather than just flying by the seat of their pants. I gained a lot of confidence from reading this book. For example, Bly talks about how freelancers offer professional services and should not be shy or apologetic about their fees, but simply state them matter of factly. It’s that type of tone and tips that helped me believe I was a freelance business owner. And while the book is for writers, there is some information in there that would help any freelancer, like how to set your fees, how to network and brand yourself, how to deal with client problems and how to generate sales leads. “The Money Book: for Freelancers, Part-Timers and the Self-Employed” by Joseph D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan This book is also a bit old, but it’s a good staple, especially for those who need to get a better handle on your income and finances. The book provides a lot of advice about how to rethink how you use, earn and spend money. It can help you with debt and savings and getting your spending under control. It’s one of the few financial books I’ve seen that is written specifically for freelancers. Biz Bite: Take care of your future self. The Bookshelf: “The Family Upstairs” by Lisa Jewell    Resources: Episode #4 of Deliberate Freelancer: Work Only with Nice Clients, with Jennifer Goforth Gregory

Today’s guest is Hilary Sutton. Hilary is the CEO of HSL Digital, a content marketing consultancy. She is a keynote speaker and writer who has contributed to HuffPost, the Washington Post and USA Today. The author of several eBooks and courses, Hilary also hosts the popular Hustle & Grace Podcast where she explores cultivating a flourishing career and life. Hilary began her career as an actress performing in theaters up and down the East Coast, then transitioned to academics, serving as professor of communications, social media and journalism at Southern New Hampshire University. She has also held digital marketing roles at SpotCo, Pursuant and McKinley Marketing Partners. Hilary lives outside of Washington, DC, with her husband and daughter. The pandemic affected Hilary when her primary client lost some of their clients, furloughed employees and cut her hours dramatically. But new clients popped up, keeping her income stable. That showed her the importance of always building your personal brand and always connecting with people. “I have personally found a lot of power and control in being freelancer who works in the digital landscape because that is always going to be there, even if you’re in a pandemic.” Online communities are powerful, but meeting people in person at conferences and other events has solidified relationships and lead to new clients and new projects. Hilary defines personal branding as a combination of two things: the content that already exists about you (if someone Googles your name) and what people think of when they think of you. Everyone has a personal brand, whether you want it or not. There is information out there already telling a story about you. Shouldn’t you take control of that? A personal brand is not self-promoting. Reframe it to think of it as you telling people how you can help them. If you don’t tell people how you can help them, they won’t know that you can help them. You don’t have to focus on personal branding 24/7. While you should be consistent with your branding and timing, it is OK to take breaks from branding and social media. We need to prioritize mental health and “building space” in our lives so we don’t experience burnout. In summer 2019, for the first time in years, Hilary took a one-month break from social media, which was a healthy break and reminder of who is important in her real life. She gained clarity on the friendships and relationships of her inner circle. She also increased her productivity. The break quieted the social media noise. She says it was healthy to be bored, observe the world around her and be present, especially with her young daughter. Personal branding started for Hilary when she was a theater actress. She wanted to build a marketing writing career and inform people about the services she offered. She started by launching a blog to share her expertise. She also began to build her personal brand on LinkedIn. Having two websites—one for acting, one for content marketing—was critical to make it very clear what she did for two different audiences. Consider these three questions things when building—or rebuilding—an intentional personal brand: What do you do in your business? Who do you serve in your business? (Get clear on who your target audience is.) What do you want people to think about when they think about you? Next, consider how to concretely build that personal brand: build a website, have photos of yourself taken that reflect your brand. Also, claim your name or business name on multiple social media channels. Even if you don’t have a social media plan for all of those platforms now, claim the name and add your contact info, because those sites will rank high in Google when people search your name. In fact, Pinterest is more of a search engine than a social media platform and that can help your rankings. For more ideas, take Hilary’s 31-day personal brand challenge. As you build your intentional personal brand, remember to always keep your target audience in mind. And be aware that anything you say online—even if you think it’s via a private message—can be made public. Hilary created a three-module course to teach you the building blocks of developing a personal brand, available on her website. Hilary’s course: 3 Steps to Start Building a Personal Brand Hilary also has a podcast, Hustle & Grace, where she interviews high-performing creatives and talks about how to cultivate a flourishing career and a flourishing life. Biz Bite: Take inventory of your social media presence and Google results Resources: Hilary’s course: 3 Steps to Start Building a Personal Brand Hilary’s 31-day personal brand challenge HSL Digital HilarySutton.com Hilary on Twitter Hilary on LinkedIn Hilary on Instagram Hustle & Grace Podcast Hustle & Grace Podcast episode with Dan Pink Episode #55 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Business, with Julia Bocchese

Today’s guest is Kristen Hicks. Kristen is a freelance content marketing writer in Austin, Texas. She specializes in helping B2B businesses connect with their audience through content. Her work has been featured on the Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs and Fast Company. She has five furry co-workers, an ever-growing book collection and a (usually) well-stocked wine rack. Kristen is here to talk about imposter syndrome. Kristen defines imposter syndrome as “worry that you’re not good enough, even when there’s not actual evidence that that’s the case and often in the face of evidence to the contrary.” For freelancers, it often takes the form of entering into client relationships with the feeling that they’re doing you a favor, rather than seeing it as a partnership between equals. Imposter syndrome can also affect a person’s comfort in charging professional rates, which leads to under charging. Early in her career, Kristen felt imposter syndrome, which showed up by feeling it was too pushy to require a contract or not pushing back against scope creep. Anyone doing creative work will have a client that doesn’t like your work at some point. That negative feedback can make you doubt yourself. Plus, people who have had toxic bosses or toxic clients may wonder if that’s normal and start to doubt themselves. Our society also raises girls and teaches women to be more docile or people pleasing. Women often have to learn how to draw boundaries and stand up for themselves. Trying to charge decent rates is made worse by seeing job ads with pitiful rates. That can deflate freelancers and make you question your self-worth if you don’t know how to find clients who pay well. When coming up with rates, aim for project rates and remember that you can negotiate down but you can’t negotiate up. When you think of setting rates think of all the freelancers in your industry. If you accept very low rates you’re teaching clients that that is OK. You are devaluing the larger market. It’s not just about you anymore. Melanie talks about her difficulties pushing back on scope creep, which feels like conflict and/or a confrontation, which makes her uncomfortable. Kristen recommends thinking about how to reframe this, because it’s about drawing boundaries for yourself. Fight against imposter syndrome, in part, by learning how to pay attention to the positive voices in your life over the negative ones. If you have 10 clients who love your work and one who doesn’t, we tend to focus more on the negative one. You have to remind yourself that those 10 people are smart, professional people and if they like your work it’s probably good work. Building a community and showing your expertise in your field will show you how people respect you as a professional. That, in turn, will help you respect yourself more. Create a “compliments” email folder where you keep all those positive responses (“great job!”) from clients and periodically look at that to boost your confidence or pull you out of imposter syndrome. Ask clients for testimonials to add to your website and LinkedIn, which is something that will help convert new clients. Any time you doubt yourself or the boundaries you’re trying to set with a client, bounce the idea off someone else. Take advantage of the freelance community and ask for others’ opinions. Or, ask a friend, “Is this reasonable?” If you get negative feedback, walk away to give yourself time to get over that initial emotion so you can look at the feedback more objectively later. Perhaps, it’s constructive criticism. Later, you can view it more reasonably, without emotion clouding your view. The pandemic may have manifested or increased imposter syndrome in some ways as people have more anxiety, have lost clients and projects, and have had to seek out new clients. There is a lot of concern and discomfort now about what to charge and if you can raise rates because of the economic crisis. If you’re worried that your work isn’t the best right now, invest in your skills. Maybe hire a consultant to help you out or sign up for courses. Also, if you can afford it, be picky when selecting clients. Make sure they’re a good fit. Don’t work with clients who are always negative or who talk down to you—that could create imposter syndrome or increase those feelings. Leave bad clients. If you can’t walk away right now because of finances, draft a marketing plan to secure better clients so you can walk away in the near future.   Biz Bite: Focus on energy management, as well as time management.   Resources: Kristen Hicks: Austin-Copywriter.com Kristen on Twitter Episode #66 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Price Your Projects Episode #62 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Prevent and Deal with Burnout, with Alan Heymann

On today’s show I am going to talk about why you should aim for providing only project rates and how to go about setting those rates. A lot of us struggle with pricing, even those of us who have been doing this for a while. But here’s a secret: We’re all just making this up. The best pricing is often project based, and that is a made-up number when it comes down to it. You need to reframe your mindset and get your head around the fact that you are a freelance business owner. You are the boss. You are in charge of your own business. This means, you need to shift your mindset 180 degrees from waiting to hear what someone will pay you, and asking what someone will pay you, to telling someone what your rate is or telling someone what you charge for that project. It’s such a huge mindset shift in so many ways when you finally embrace the fact that you are in charge of your business. If someone cannot afford you, then you move on to the next potential client. When many of us start freelancing, we take what we can get and we allow the client to set the pricing and the parameters. Or, when the client asks what our rate is, we give them an hourly rate, often too low. But when you embrace the fact that you are the owner of your own business, you will start to think about pricing differently. Your overarching goal should be to think of every assignment and gig as a project rate and to propose project rates to every client. But first, let’s talk about hourly pricing and why it is such a problem. First, hourly pricing means you are charging for your time. And that is one thing we all need to stop doing—charging based on our time. Time is finite. There is only so much money you can make each week before you run out of time and energy. You will be unable to grow your business this way. Also, time does not equal the value you bring to a project. You need to base your fees on your value. Third, hourly pricing penalizes you for working fast. And, if you and the client don’t discuss how many hours a project might take, the client could be surprised and frustrated when they see the invoice at the end of the month. Since some listeners are writers, let’s talk about per word rates. Ideally, everything would be project rates, but sometimes you are in an industry that does dictate the style of pricing. For writers, that’s a per word rate. You can try to push back on this and suggest a flat rate for writing an article, but often editors’ hands are tied based on an antiquated system. With per word rates (and really, all projects) I build in systems to work faster while still providing top quality. For writing assignments, that could mean recording interviews. Sometimes I record only to listen to certain parts (I mark timestamps in my notes when the person says something great or that I want to check back on). Sometimes I record and have someone else transcribe the interview. It’s worth the financial investment because it saves me time and energy in the long run. (I also hate transcribing with a fiery passion.) Writers, please know that a per word rate exists often only in journalism. In content marketing, especially for companies, you can often charge a project rate. If you come from the journalism world and are accustomed to per word rates, leave that behind when you are pricing your projects. You might get stuck with a per word rate, but don’t suggest it up front. Start with a project rate. Now that we accept that we should all be charging by the project, how do we actually do that? I was serious when I said these rates are made up. Not one freelancer or consultant has it figured out and has created the perfect project rate every single time. No two projects are the same. No two clients are the same. Here are just a few things that go into creating a project rate: The expertise you bring to that particular job. The value the client will get from your work. The amount of energy you will need to put into the project versus doing an easy project. Whether the client requires regular check-ins or for you to attend phone meetings—charge for those meetings! Whether the client is a new client or a beloved current or former client. Whether the client is a pain in the butt or has a history of scope creep. Whether the client is a major corporation or a small nonprofit you want to help out. The extras that are required—are there more rounds of editing? Are there extras like social media posts that need to be included? The project timeline—is it reasonable or hurried? Is it a rush job? And the list goes on and on! Here is my system for coming up with a project rate. First, I have a secret hourly rate to give me something to start with. Now, I said don’t use an hourly rate, so if you do start with an hourly rate, use this very loosely as just your “base” to get started. Don’t stick to it. Next, ask yourself all those things about what type of project and client this is, including: Are you an expert at this type of work? Are you in high demand? Did you come highly recommended to this client from another client of yours? Do you bring a certain skill set that is difficult to find? Even if you don’t, are you good at what you do? Have you done this before? Are you confident you can produce a quality product? What type of client is this? How much value will they get out of your project? How much energy will this project take—this is not time, this is ENERGY. Do you get the sense that this will be a tiring project, taxing on your brain, that the client is a pain in the butt, that you don’t really want to do the job? Take the time to evaluate to the best of your ability all the parameters around the project, not just the skill set needed to do the project. One of the best ways to do that is to have an initial phone call with the potential client. I know some of us hate the phone, but a phone call can be critical to finding out this information so that you can provide an appropriate project rate or a proposal. You can also learn a lot about someone when you talk on the phone with them—you can gather hints about what the client will be like to work with that you can’t get over email. For the phone conversation, write out a list of questions so you don’t forget. In fact, you can create a template of questions to ask every client. Questions you may want to ask, besides the details of the assignment, are: How would you like to stay updated? Can I just send you emails when I have questions? (This question could tell you a lot if they say something like, “Oh, I’d like you to join us for our weekly check-ins” versus “I trust you. Just let me know if you run into any problems.” Do you have samples of previous projects I could take a look at? Who is my direct contact? Is it one person? Are there multiple people involved? What is the review process like? How flexible is the timeline? A potential client may ask, “What’s your rate?” I often respond with something like, “I’ll be able to put together a proposal for you with a project rate after we’ve talked through the details.” You can also ask, “Do you have a budget in mind?” Sometimes they won’t and that may be OK. But if they say “about $500” and you are talking about a project that might start out at a base rate of $3,000, you don’t need to waste your time talking with them anymore. It can be helpful to educate them, though, even if they don’t change their budget. You are helping boost your industry by letting them know quality work is worth way more than that $500. And maybe they’ll increase their budget! Once I have all these questions answered and I have considered all the parameters, I take my base rate and start to increase it. After you come to a number, ask yourself this very important question: Do I want to do this project for that amount? You do not want to offer a rate that you will end up resenting—resenting the rate, the project, the client, yourself. Also know before you get back to the client what number you will not go below, in case you have to negotiate a bit. You don’t want to get flustered and negotiate a number that is too low for you. If you need to walk away from the project, you can simply email and say, “After further reflection/looking over the details, this is not a good fit for me.” Don’t say you’re sorry. Don’t continue to offer explanation. Don’t over-explain. You are the boss of you. It’s not a good fit. End of story. Biz Bite: Buy the good pens. (or elevate your workspace) The Bookshelf: “Notes from a Young Black Chef” by Kwame Onwuachi   Resources: Episode #39 of Deliberate Freelancer: Raise Your Rates—Without Emotion Episode #18 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Set Higher Rates Episode #1 of Deliberate Freelancer: Change Your Mindset: You Own a Freelance Business Laura Vanderkam talks about “buying the good pens” on The Productivityist Podcast, episode 322, The New Corner Office with Laura Vanderkam FreeConferenceCall.com Rev.com (transcriptionist service)  

This is a “tough love” episode. Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, distracted and too busy. I think a lot of that can be alleviated by decreasing your smartphone usage and fighting against social media and digital addictions. It’s time to take back our lives. It’s time to take control of our schedules. In this episode, I lead you through several steps to cut back on digital distraction, partly inspired by Cal Newport’s new book, “Digital Minimalism.” Let me take you back in time when baby boomers, Gen Xers and the Oregon Trail Generation can remember a time in our adult lives when smartphones and social media didn’t exist—and cellphones were just for calling people. As a kid in the 1980s, I would often whine, “I’m bored.” And I just had to figure out what to do about that boredom. Now, no one is ever allowed to be bored. Instead, we reach for our smartphones. Boredom is highly underrated. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I bought Cal Newport’s new book, “Digital Minimalism.” And I read it in 24 hours. Newport argues that you have to figure HOW you’re going to spend your leisure time BEFORE you cut back on your digital life. If you just force yourself to put down the phone or not use social media at set times—without a plan—you’ll be anxious and fidgety, not knowing what to do with yourself. I want to focus my leisure time on health, fitness and nutrition. I’m making a plan to walk 10,000 steps several days a week and dusting off my bike to go for fun rides again. I culled my social media feeds, unfollowing most people on Instagram—only keeping a few real-life friends—and cutting my Twitter followings in half. I also dropped out of 27 Facebook groups! Who knew I was in so many?! I’m focusing on two that are particularly interesting, educational and inspiring, with a true community feel. Cal Newport also talks about the importance of solitude. He says there’s this myth that solitude means being physically alone, but what it really means is freeing up your mind. We all need this. You may have to actually schedule solitude and downtime until it becomes more of a habit again. Your tough love, digital intervention marching orders: Start tracking your time. Decide how you want to spend your leisure or down time. Learn more about habit formation. Start decluttering your digital world. Biz Bite: Assigning ringtones to important people. Resources: The Oregon Trail Generation Cal Newport’s book “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World” Episode 5 of Deliberate Freelancer: Track Your Time for Better Efficiency Episode 10 of Deliberate Freelancer, which talks about Cal Newport’s book “Deep Work”: Think Like a Marketer to Grow Your Business, with Megy Karydes Episode 2 of Deliberate Freelancer about cutting out tasks and outsourcing: Discover Your Unique Brilliance Episode 3 of Deliberate Freelancer: Host a Solo Business Retreat The Freelance Content Marketing Writer Facebook group She Podcasts Facebook group James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” Gretchen Rubin’s book “Better than Before: What I Learned about Making and Breaking Habits—to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life”

As the pandemic changed so many things both personally and professionally, I had to rethink of new ways to market and network in order to find new clients. And in doing so these past four months, I realized what my No. 1 marketing tool is for getting new clients. It’s not sexy or groundbreaking, but it’s solid: My No. 1 way to find new clients is through referrals. You may not like the words “networking” or “marketing” or “personal branding.” So, why not reframe it and call all those things “relationship building” instead. That’s what I’ve done, and I enjoy building new relationships with people. Some of them even end up becoming true friendships. And that grows my network. And when I grow my network, I expand the possibilities for referrals—not only from current and former clients, but from former co-workers at past jobs, from other editors and writers, from colleagues in the industries I specialize in. One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from some freelancers is about competition. Your fellow freelancers can be your friends, not your competition. In fact, that’s the way I want to live and be in my business—not in some uber competition with people, but in a non-toxic, stress-free, collegial environment. And, it is just a bonus that those people can be your biggest source of referrals. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been contacted by a potential client who was just not the right fit. Instead of telling them “no” and that being the end of it, I usually offer to connect them with someone that might be a better fit, if I know instinctively that this will not take a lot of time. I sometimes reach out to freelancer friends that might be a good fit and ask them first if they are interested, without naming the client, and then offering to provide the client their name. Sometimes, the potential client is comfortable with me going ahead and introducing them to one person by email and then I let them take it from there. When you provide a few contacts to the potential client, not only are you helping out a fellow freelancer, but that client is appreciative and you never know how that might help in the future. I’ve had potential clients come back to me because I went that extra mile and asked me if I was available for a different type of project. Doing something small like that to help a potential client who has no idea where to look for a writer or editor, or whatever the services that they need help with, keeps you top of mind as a reliable and helpful person. Your name does not get jumbled in with all the other freelancer names they’ve heard. They will remember you—at least more than they will remember the freelancer who never got back to them or just said, “no, it’s not a good fit” and moved on. When you help out other freelancers in this way, they often reciprocate. You never know what opportunity might come up; it sometimes takes months or even years. But it is amazing how much work I’ve received from other freelancers. So, when you hear from potential clients with projects that are not quite for you, think of your fellow freelancers. This is easier the bigger the network you have. I actually have lists of friends with their expertise listed because it is hard to think of a perfect fit on the spot. The lists are good reminders of what everybody focuses on and what they’re looking for. In turn, these freelancer friends will hopefully remember you and return the favor, as they have done for me over the years.   The other primary way to get referrals is, of course, your current and past clients. Don’t be shy about letting clients know when you are looking for new work. And be specific about what you are looking for. You may think your client already knows what you do, but they often only know what you have done for them. Rather than just telling your clients what your services are, phrase it more like: “How can I help you? What do you need?” Then, you can list some of your services, and depending on how much energy and time you want to spend on this, you could also offer to connect them to other freelancers in areas they need help with. For example, if I make this offer and my client needs a new magazine designer, I can connect them with several graphic designers. I’m taking the burden off them, helping to shorten their to-do list. At the beginning of 2019, I decided to tell my clients directly exactly what I was looking for in the new year, so in my regular newsletter I explained that I was looking for a new newsletter or magazine to be the managing editor of, more membership association clients who needed a magazine writer and magazine proofreading gigs. One of them is now an anchor client. I remembered the success of that email when I needed to replace lost work at the beginning of the pandemic, so I decided to do something similar. This time, instead of using that smaller email list I had gathered for my newsletter, I pulled together my email contacts of former clients, current clients, friends and colleagues, and almost anyone I had ever had an extended conversation with about work. I then crafted an email and let them know I was looking for new work and spelled out exactly what services I could provide. I briefly mentioned my 20 years of experience, then created a bulleted list of my services and asked them how I could help them. Again, I offered to help them with whatever they were looking for, mentioning my vast network of other freelancers. In that bulleted list, I thought of the work that might be needed particularly during the pandemic like writing about public health. I also thought of things specific to the pandemic, like covering virtual conferences, which I used to cover in-person. I also mentioned I could help revamp content editorial calendars since the pandemic destroyed everyone’s editorial calendar. I ended the email by saying “Please feel free to share my name with—or forward this email to—any editors or colleagues at associations or other organizations who might be looking for a freelance writer or editor, especially someone who specializes in health care and public health.” My biggest lesson here is ASK. People don’t necessarily think of you unless you ask. Or, they think you don’t need the work. Or, they don’t know what you do. I had a handful of people respond that they didn’t think they could afford me, but as we talked through the project, it turns out they could. So, again, referrals come from many places. It’s my No. 1 way of getting new clients—and often clients I LOVE because I did the work to make sure we were a good fit. But you have to ask. And be specific about what you’re looking for, while also saying “how can I help you?” Getting referrals happens through networking, marketing and branding—or, better yet, “relationship building.” And that can still be done virtually right now, through social media, Zoom, texts, phone calls, email and more. Also, be sure to attend virtual conferences and webinars where your clients are—often there are chat features where you can connect with people.   Biz Bite: Strategically reorganize your online portfolio   The Bookshelf: “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett   Resources: Episode #64 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Increase Your Visibility and Get More Clients, with Amelia Roberts Episode #49 of Deliberate Freelancer: Appropriate Marketing and Promotion during the Coronavirus Pandemic, with Michelle Garrett Episode #43 of Deliberate Freelancer: 33 Ways to Find More Clients Episode #24 of Deliberate Freelancer: Networking Tips, Especially as an Introvert

Today’s guest is Amelia Roberts. Amelia is a digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing 12 years ago as a virtual assistant. Now, Amelia helps under-recognized professionals—freelancers, consultants, solopreneurs—stand out, articulate their unique value and get “first dates” in business. She calls these “visibility opportunities” and she helps manage “visibility projects” for clients, such as getting them guest spots on podcasts and speaking gigs for virtual summits/conferences. Amelia’s own marketing has changed slightly during the pandemic. She can’t build relationships in person right now, which is how she used to get a lot of clients. But she has reached out to her network and received work through referrals. For people to work with you, they need to see you. Amelia paraphrases LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman: All opportunities are firmly attached to humans. When you are looking for an opportunity, you are really looking for a human. Visibility opportunities mean getting in the ears of your best buyers or referral partners. Wise clients of Amelia’s quickly changed their focus during the pandemic, when in-person events were no longer possible. Many of the opportunities are simply online versions of previous opportunities. There is still a need for guest experts. Some speakers aren’t as comfortable switching to a virtual format, which opens up the opportunities for those who make that switch. You will have to make some tweaks, including to your call to action, when you switch from an in-person event to a virtual speaking event. Amelia recommends following her “NURSE” framework and process: Needs—what message do your ideal clients need to hear? Utilization of tools—what tools are they using? Resources—what resources are they investing in? Success—what does success look like for them? Evaluate—evaluate the plan they have. When you “NURSE” your ideal client, you’ll start to see places that will make sense for you to start to pitch yourself. With any marketing effort, we don’t want to waste time or money on things that won’t work. And you don’t want to join the wrong online group and find your ideal clients aren’t there. Before you say yes to opportunities, think about the needs and tools of your ideal client—is there an alignment with the opportunity? If the opportunity and person does not share your ideal clients and cannot refer you to your ideal clients, you may want to say no, depending on your time, energy and resources. Look for people who have audiences you could help. Amelia started this process for her own business with groups related to women in business. Once you help a particular group, research and figure out where else those people hang out. What about introverts and others who are nervous about public speaking and podcast guesting? You may have to block out time around your event so you give yourself time to prepare and also recover and regroup afterward. Instead of thinking of this as marketing, think of it as putting yourself out there as a resource. Think of it as serving people. You are looking for people who have a pain that you can solve. Amelia quotes entrepreneur Monica Shah: “Planning is the highest form of self-care.” This is really important for solopreneurs and solo business owners. Amelia recommends developing a process and system to prepare for each opportunity. Have a goal in mind before you start your marketing effort. Marketing supports your sales process. So, what is your sales process? Are you offering a freebie, leading people to call you? Think of any visibility effort as a project that can be managed. Break it down into tasks. Amelia recommends choosing two efforts and focusing on those for 90 days and then evaluating them. Continue if it makes sense to do so. During the pandemic, two hot trends are virtual summits and collaborations, such as a Facebook group that partners with a guest expert. Developing a process and structure for your marketing efforts will also make it easier for you to hire a virtual assistant and know what you need them to focus on.   Biz Bite: Use a project management tool like Asana or Trello to track your marketing efforts   Resources: Freebie from Amelia: Get In Front of Everyone Amelia Roberts on LinkedIn Amelia on Instagram Amelia on Twitter

CORRECTION: At the 10:18 minute mark, I misspoke and said you should take $56,000 and multiply it by 12. That should say DIVIDE by 12. My math is correct in the episode; I just misspoke. Sorry about that! In today’s episode I outline my experience with the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program—known as the PPP loan program—and encourage you to consider applying for a loan if you have been hurt financially by the pandemic. DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, accountant/CPA, financial services adviser or any other financial expert related to the PPP program. I am solely providing you my experience with the program and offering some things for you to consider. You should doublecheck all information with an expert and do your own research. Sole proprietors are allowed to apply for a PPP loan at about a maximum of $20,000, depending on how much you earned in 2019. The process to have your entire loan forgiven is fairly straightforward if you are a sole proprietor. This effectively turns the PPP loan into a grant that you do not have to pay back. Even if you do have to pay back part or all of the loan, the interest rate is only 1%. You may have heard in the beginning of the PPP program that it was hard to get a loan. I cannot speak to whether that is still the case for each individual sole proprietor, but there is a lot of money left in the program and the federal government is concerned that people are not applying. As of July 6, $130 billion was still available for businesses and sole proprietors. First, let’s talk about applying for the loan. Initially, it appeared to be difficult for people to get these loans. In fact, sole proprietors often faced a burden from their own banks because in the beginning major banks issued their own requirement that you had to have a business checking account with them. And many freelancers do not have that. You should check first with your own bank to see if that is still the case and if you can apply through that bank. If not, there are other options, such as Kabbage, PayPal, BlueVine and others. You are only allowed to have one PPP loan. This is important. I encourage you to NOT apply for more than one loan at a time, thinking you can just refuse one of the loans if you are offered more than one. I tried this and the Small Business Administration (SBA) had a glitch that did not flag my Social Security number showing that I had already received a loan approval. So, I was approved for two loans, and it took over a month to work out with one of the lenders how to send back the money back and get it all straightened out with the SBA. To avoid all that, my biggest advice is DO NOT apply for more than one loan at a time. One of the biggest considerations of whether you should apply for the loan is how much money you made in 2019. The loan amount is supposed to cover paychecks. For you as a sole proprietor, you don’t have employees. So, that means your own income. If you did not make much money in 2019, it might not be worth applying for the loan. The loan application MUST be based on the Schedule C form for your 2019 taxes. On your 2019 Schedule C, look at your net profit on line 31. If that number is under $100,000 use whatever that number is. If it’s over $100,000, you have to use $100,000. The PPP has a $100,000 cap. Take that number, whatever yours is, and divide it by 12 to get a monthly total. Then, you multiply that number by 2.5. That is the amount of the loan you are requesting. The paperwork to apply was fairly easy. I did the entire process in a few hours. I had to scan copies of all the 1099s I received for 2019 work and put them into one pdf to submit with the application. I also had to send in a photocopy of my driver’s license and copies of bank statements, which I easily downloaded online. Let’s talk about loan forgiveness. The government has changed a few rules since March, actually making the process easier and better for sole proprietors. The loan forgiveness timeline was eight weeks. Now, you can choose to wait for 24 weeks, which means there is a greater chance you’ll have the entire loan forgiven. To have your loan forgiven, you do have to officially ask your lender. The SBA has created an easier form to do this, called the 3508EZ form. My CPA recommended that to easily show my PPP lender how I was spending the money, I write myself four checks over the next eight weeks, so one check every two weeks, just like a paycheck. I divided my loan by four and I now write myself a check for $5,208 from my checking account that received the loan into my personal account. He recommended I do this process of writing physical checks, rather than just transferring the money electronically, so that we could easily show photocopies of the check to my lender when asking for forgiveness. Your CPA might have a different solution, so be sure to ask an expert. Also know that you cannot get the PPP loan if you are getting unemployment. You can’t have both. There’s also another loan program called the EIDL, or economic injury disaster loan, through the SBA. That is a true loan program that you have to pay back. You can have both the EIDL and a PPP loan, but you have to be able to show that the money went for separate areas of your business. I don’t know much about the EIDL, so be sure to do your research and talk to an expert to learn more about that program.     Biz Bite: Create a Power Hour After List The Bookshelf: “Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood” by Trevor Noah   Resources: Trump signs extension of PPP small business coronavirus relief fund Tax Deductions For Paycheck Protection Expenses Remain In Doubt Loan forgiveness form: 3508EZ

Today’s guest is Alan Heymann, an executive coach. Alan’s coaching company is called Peaceful Direction. He has spent more than two decades in public, government and nonprofit communications. Then, after he hired his own executive coach, he decided to become a coach himself. He founded Peaceful Direction in April 2019. I invited Alan on the podcast to talk about burnout. Burnout happens to the best of us in our lives and careers, but we are particularly susceptible right now during the pandemic and economic crisis because of all the changes, uncertainty and stressors on us right now. Alan talks about how you can recognize burnout in yourselves, how you can work to prevent it and what you can do when you’re starting to feel burnout. Burnout is more of an issue nowadays than before the pandemic because you have uncertainty layered on top of uncertainty layered on top of uncertainty. Burnout is also showing up in different ways in people. Stress and burnout are different. Stress is more temporary, when we have too much to do with not enough time to do it. Burnout is when the usual things you do in the normal course of your work and life are less possible for you. And it’s happening for longer than just a few minutes or just a few hours. Burnout can feel like you’re running in mud. You have trouble getting anything accomplished. Or, the tasks that normally take 15 minutes take several hours. You have trouble focusing. Alan realized that none of his clients are taking vacations or time off because of the pandemic. Many people who are still working are actually busier because of the pandemic, as companies are forced to readjust and are sending out more communications. People don’t feel like they can take vacations when they are already at home and when the pandemic restrictions don’t really allow regular types of travel. You cannot run the engine—which is you!—24/7 and not expect breakdowns to happen. Alan saw the signs of burnout in himself and realized he needed to schedule a staycation since his family’s summer vacation plans were scrapped. Alan has only worked for himself for about seven months and fell into a common new freelancer trap: not taking any significant time off. He admitted it’s flattering that the demand for his services was strong. Also, because we’re now in a time of economic uncertainty, it’s common to think you have to work when the work is available. And, of course, if you don’t work, you don’t make money. But, it’s critical to protect the asset: You. As an optimist, Alan says among all our feelings of uncertainty, most people have done an amazing and tremendous amount of learning and adapting as a society in a very short period of time. When faced with a challenge, most people will do what they can to rise up to that. Symptoms of burnout include sleeplessness and waking up in the middle of the night, as well as going to extremes physically—either exercising a lot or stopping all exercise and activity entirely. You may notice that what you are reading is not being absorbed, that you can’t concentrate on reading (for work or pleasure). If burnout goes unidentified and is not addressed it will affect the value you provide your clients over time. You will not be as effective. Burnout can be hard to identify in yourself. Do a self-observation—are tasks taking longer? Are you having trouble making decisions? You may also get signals from loved ones, who recognize your stress, grumpiness or difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning. Encourage those around you to speak up when they notice these burnout signs in you.  Embrace “the power of pause.” Take breaks throughout your workday—go outside, take time for deep breathing, step away from work. Set a timer to remind you to take these breaks 3–4 times a day. Some type of inner practice is critical. This could be journaling, prayer, meditation, running, walking around the block. A longer pause is also important. You need to disrupt the flow, so consider taking a staycation. A break also allows new ideas, new ways of thinking to take hold. Your identity plays into burnout: How do you see yourself? If you see yourself as a “doer,” it is difficult to stop doing. If you see yourself as a successful entrepreneur, it’s difficult to stop working. If your personal identity is linked strongly to what you do professionally, it can be hard to detach from that when you’re not working. Ask yourself: Is my identity serving the work or is the work serving my identity? Alan is taking care of himself by sticking to his running habit, working in his yard and checking in with his family (his wife and middle school daughter) and reading. He also makes sure that he isn’t consuming all serious content all the time. While he gravitates toward non-fiction, he is reminding himself to read novels too. His family has also been watching silly TV shows together. Setting or resetting boundaries is critical. Know your limits—how many hours you can work effectively in a day, how long your attention span is right now. There is no shortage of free courses and learning options. But you cannot handle all of that input, so know your limits and stick with them. Biz Bite: Set email boundaries (Alan does not check email from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) Resources: Alan’s website: Peaceful Direction Alan on Twitter Alan on LinkedIn Alan recommends the book “Deep Work” by Cal Newport (which I also love).

Three requests for the podcast right now: I want to do an Ask Me Anything episode. Please email or DM via Twitter your questions about the business of freelancing and I’ll answer them on a future episode. You can share your name or be anonymous. melanie@meledits.com or DM @MelEdits on Twitter I’m considering a series interviewing freelancers who make six figures. So, if you have earned $100,000 or more as a freelance business owner, let me know. I’d love to talk with you more about how you got there so we can provide tactics and inspiration to other freelancers. melanie@meledits.com or DM @MelEdits on Twitter I am looking for diverse guests, so please reach out and pitch me your podcast episode idea or recommend guests who are from marginalized groups. I’m doing my own research and outreach, but I’m open to pitches and recommendations too. melanie@meledits.com or DM @MelEdits on Twitter In this week’s episode I want to offer six ways you can be an ally through your freelance business. Your first reaction may be that you’re “just” a freelancer or solopreneur, that you don’t have a lot of power or a huge platform. But there are things that you can do through your role as a business owner to support Black and Brown people and those from other marginalized groups, especially if you are White. Hire diverse subcontractors. Not all of us have regular subcontractors, but occasionally we do hire people to help us with a project or partner with us on a proposal or we hire a virtual assistant to help our business. When you are considering hiring subcontractors, do a bit more research and reach beyond your immediate networks to see if you can hire someone from a marginalized group.   Humans often interact and hire people who look like us. Our circles are not often that diverse. It’s the same reason that people from marginalized groups have trouble getting hired as employees. But you can help break down the barriers in your own little world by asking people for recommendations and reaching out to a more diverse group. And just be honest: Tell people you are looking to expand your list of potential subcontractors to have a more diverse pool to choose from. Refer and recommend work. Many of us refer other freelancers or pass on work to people when we are over capacity or a gig isn’t right for us. As you expand your list of diverse freelancers, consider passing on that work to someone from a marginalized group. You can help them open the door to a new client and give them a connection they didn’t have before. This helps all of us because the more diversity we have in the workforce—and in the content we create—the more creative we all become.   You can also be transparent in Facebook groups and other networks you belong to, telling fellow freelancers what a client might pay, which clients are not great to work for, and recommending clients and projects when you hear of an opportunity.   Widen and diversify your network. It can be difficult to learn different viewpoints or to hire for diversity if your network isn’t that large. Often, again, we hang out with and work with people who look like us.   You can do this quite easily on social media. On Twitter, I follow a lot of Black professors, journalists, authors, researchers and other freelancers. I also file several transgender people. All of this diversifies the news and perspectives that are reaching me. On Instagram you can follow a lot of great entrepreneurs, influencers and freelance business owners from diverse backgrounds. You can also follow specific hashtags, which lead you to more and more people and new ideas.   You can also do research and consider joining more diverse groups. Ask around. Ask people in your industry what other groups they’re members of. Look at any statements associations or organizations put out recently about Black Lives Matter and then look at the photos of their boards to see if they really are diverse.   Amplify diverse voices. Are you a member of or a volunteer in a group in your industry? You can be a champion in helping make the groups you’re involved in more diverse. It’s not just about encouraging your friends and colleagues who are Black or Brown to join and get more involved. That can be important, but you need to make sure you’re inviting them into a safe and inclusive space, not just one that talks the talk without doing the work. First, ask questions like why isn’t the volunteer board more diverse; who chooses the volunteer committee members; how can you make conference sessions, webinar speakers and tweet chat hosts more diverse? This last one about having more diverse speakers is really important and overdue at a lot of organizations.   How many times do you see all-male panels? There’s even a name for this: manels. You would think we would have at least moved beyond this antiquated situation and added a few women. But nope, it still goes on.   A software company called Bizzabo did a survey analyzing the gender diversity of more than 60,000 event speakers over a five-year period, from 2013 to 2018 in 23 countries. They found that 69% of all speakers were male. So, how do you think these organizations are doing on racial and ethnic diversity? I bet we can all guess.   This brings up another issue: Pay your conference speakers when you can. We often ask people to volunteer as speakers for webinars and events. I volunteer all the time, both as a way to give back to my industry and to expand my network, which can lead to new clients in the future. However, the people who can often speak for free at an event have the money to be able to do this, especially if they have to pay for travel. These are likely wealthier freelancers and/or employees representing companies that want to connect with that audience.   It can be more difficult for people from marginalized groups to spend the time and money to work for free. Freelancers in general are often asked to work for free, and it’s often only the privileged freelancers who can do this. But other freelancers in marginalized groups are practically forced to do this as they build their portfolio or are asked to take free tests in order to get a gig.   And think about what a group is doing when it asks a person from a marginalized group to present or speak on a panel about diversity and being marginalized in their industry. And then the group doesn’t pay them? They’re doing the very thing they asked the person to speak out about.   Don’t just invite people from marginalized groups to speak at your event or webinar only on the topics of diversity. I have seen this a lot—the diversity panel is the only spot of diversity at a conference. You should be inviting diverse voices to speak on topics they’re actually experts on, whether that is graphic design, video production, photography or building their freelance business.   Educate your clients. Some of you may balk at this. You may think that you’re not an “activist” or you don’t want to be “radical.” But if you are a White person who truly wants to be an ally, you have to work on being “anti-racist” (against racism—as opposed to just “not racist” yourself).   You can speak out on the systemic racist policies you see around you. And you can still do this in professional ways with your clients. If they are looking to hire people, you can recommend diverse candidates. If you are an editor or writer, you can ask them for—or choose on your own—diverse sources to interview and include in articles. As an editor, I point out problematic phrasing or errors and make sure to explain why I edited something as a way to educate people.   Look for ways you can educate your clients about their hiring practices, their language and their ideas.   Buy from minority-owned businesses. Recently, there has been an uptick in book sales from Black-owned bookstores. And people have been sharing lists of local Black-owned restaurants and national online businesses they can buy from.   Do some research and ask around to see what local businesses you can buy from to support minority-owned businesses. Buying local is a good idea can in general, but this takes it one step further. Instead of buying from one of the big box stores, is there a local alternative?   Biz Bite: Share your pronouns   The Bookshelf: “She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman” by Erica Armstrong Dunbar   Resources:   97 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice   All-male panels called out on Tumblr   Bizzabo study: Almost 70% of Professional Event Speakers Are Male   Being anti-racist (lessons from the National Museum of African American History and Culture) Drop the Hyphen in Asian American These 7 courses will teach you how to be anti-racist   Black-owned independent bookstores   Black-owned bookstores by state   Black-owned business directory—provided by Official Black Wall Street   Bookshop.org—Buy books from the independent bookstore of your choice