Deliberate Freelancer

This week I’m excited to recap the third quarter of my business. Some great news first: I’m starting to feel like myself again, after a summer of grief and anxiety. Even before that, I was definitely languishing through the pandemic, and I’m not sure I’ve felt this great since before the pandemic—almost three years ago!  As for quarter three, you might have noticed there was no Q2 recap, in the midst of my horrible summer. So, I’ll mention it briefly here, as it relates to Q3.  In quarter two, I averaged working 26 hours a week and I exceeded my monthly goal. I spent the most time on non-income work: preparing for attending the AM&P Network AMPLIFY membership association conference in June; then on my new podcast, Association Station; followed by administrative work; work on this podcast; and doing networking and marketing.  In quarter three, I took four weeks off, but only one of those was a true vacation. I averaged 24 hours of work a week (this does not include those four weeks off), but I think that is probably inflated because I felt so sluggish and slow in getting things done.  My average monthly income from Q2 to Q3 dropped 42%. In fact, I only billed for $800 in July! Assignments already established in August and September brought that number back up, but my average was still way below my financial goal.  One thing I did in my analysis this time was go back and see how much I was earning per project. This is where I think I am very successful with my business and how I’m able to earn six figures and not have to work 40 hours a week. If you hear nothing else from me, please hear this: Charge per project! Know your secret hourly rate that you are trying to hit and go back and see if you actually earned that. If you charge per project and never evaluate it, you might be underpricing yourself and spending way too much time on certain projects or clients. This is where time tracking is so valuable. If you track your time and find out you are spending too much time on a project to earn your goal rate, something needs to change—if earning more is your goal. I know there are other goals sometimes—times when getting in with a client or learning a new skill or getting something for your portfolio that is more prestigious that you can use to get other clients. Those are all goals too. Listen to this episode for some examples of what I earned per hour. All of my projects this year (except for small copy editing jobs) averaged out per hour to more than my secret hourly rate, which is great news.  If you want to work “faster,” as I’ve heard some freelancers say, I think the key is figuring out how to improve your processes and be more efficient. You’ll get faster with more experience, and you might need to learn some new skills or take some classes in a particular area. But I also encourage you to focus on efficiency. And don’t do a $5,000 job if they’re paying you $500. What I mean is don’t be so precious with your work and spend extra time on making it perfect, if they’re not paying you for that. Do a good job, of course, but keep in mind how much they’re paying you.  One way I’m more efficient is by recording my source interviews and having someone else transcribe them. I recently started saving a lot of money by using Otter.ai rather than paying for a person to transcribe. Artificial intelligence transcribing has improved, but even so, Otter lets you listen to the recording online and check and edit the mistakes. You only have to correct the parts you’re going to use, not the entire transcription.  In today’s episode, I answered this listener question from the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group: How do you determine how much work to take on to balance multiple clients’ various deadlines and the amount of time you want to be working. I feel like I constantly say yes to too much! Do you have a goal for how many clients or larger projects you take on versus one-offs? I’m very analytical, so I typically have a sense of how long something’s going to take. And I also try to think about how much energy something’s going to take. Time tracking also helps here. When I get a new project I try to map out—based on experience and data of the time it takes from previous similar projects—how many hours it might take. And then I look at my calendar, where everything exists, and I try to figure out where this project will fit in. It’s not just about available time. It’s about realistically looking at when you will have the energy—maybe not after another big project or a lot of Zoom meetings that day, maybe not in your lower productivity time slots. Be honest with yourself and really examine this!   Go ahead and block off the time on your calendar. There’s this phenomenon in which we always think we have more time in the future because very little is scheduled yet. But time is finite, and we rarely have more time because it will get filled up too. So, take care of your future self and put those chunks of time on the calendar now.  As for larger projects versus one-offs, I don’t have a goal. I treat it the same way I just described, seeing if and when I can fit it in my schedule. Of course, before any of this, first and foremost, I ask myself if I want to do the project and then I ask myself what the price would have to be for me to do this project. That all comes before I take a look at my schedule and consider fitting it in to my schedule.  You have to be willing to walk away. You have to be willing to say no. And if you want to do the project for whatever reason—whether you think it will be fun, or a good learning experience, or it’s just a lot of money—there are ways you can negotiate getting more time. Two examples: Ask for a longer deadline or negotiate a smaller scope of work.  Biz Bite: Schedule your holiday breaks now.  The Bookshelf: “The Haunting of Maddy Clare” by Simone St. James  Resources: Join me for the ASJA webinar on Dec. 13 “How to Host a Solo Business Retreat and Gear Up for 2023.”  Transcribing with Otter.ai Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Episode #134 of Deliberate Freelancer: My Q1 Audit—A Slow Start & 4 Big Decisions Episode #111 of Deliberate Freelancer: Offering Courses and Coaching, with Translator Madalena Sanchez Zampaulo Episode #10 of Deliberate Freelancer: Think Like a Marketer to Grow Your Business, with Megy Karydes

I have been at a client’s conference all week, so I wanted to share a previous episode that I hope you find it valuable. I originally recorded this episode in February 2020, but it’s definitely relevant today—we all need reminders from time to time on the importance of setting boundaries in your personal and work life.  In this episode, I aim to give you a mix of a pep talk, tactical advice on how to set boundaries, and actual language on what to say to people. I hope you find it helpful.  For the most part, I have figured out how to set boundaries. But I also admit I was quite lucky that when I started my freelance business, my family and friends understood that I was actually working throughout the day and that this wasn’t some hobby. I know some of you are not so lucky and have people occasionally bugging you to help them out with things or hang out with them during the day because you “of course you can’t be working.” Boundaries tell you and those around you what is acceptable, appropriate human behavior. They vary from person to person. Knowing what your boundaries are and setting them is critical to building healthy, respectful relationships in your life. This is important in both your personal life—setting boundaries with your partner, your family, your friends, and even your neighbors—as well as in your freelance business—with clients, colleagues, and subcontractors. I want to talk about setting boundaries in your personal life first. An article on PsychCentral.com called people who break your boundaries “emotional manipulators,” a phrase I like because if you think of them as manipulating you, maybe you’ll see how wrong and invasive they are being. The article suggests setting boundaries by first writing down the ways that people in your life are hurting you by the things they say. Then, consider what the other person’s motivation might be and begin to write down answers to specific comments. I think it’s important to not only know what you’ll say next time, but also know how to cut the conversation short. You shouldn’t be dragged into a 15-minute conversation in which you’re being forced to explain your life choices. When you’re figuring out what to say, remember what their motivations might be. That will help you develop a script.  The PsychCentral.com article also makes a couple more recommendations that I think are really helpful to keep in mind. It says “Remember the importance of saying ‘no’ to unreasonable requests, and reasonable ones from time to time, if they conflict with your plans.” Saying no is huge!  I know all of this is really hard. I don’t expect you to get it perfect all the time, and I’m not an expert or a therapist. But I want you to succeed in your business and in your life. I think it’s really important for people—women especially—to learn how to speak up for ourselves, stand up for our own lives, and tell people to stop. Next, let’s talk about boundary setting when it comes to your freelance business. For some of you, this needs to start with a mindset shift that you are a freelance business owner. You’re not freelancing on a whim, this is not a hobby, and you’re not “just” a freelancer. You own a freelance business. I think something happens in our brains when we start to think of ourselves as business owners. I firmly believe it builds confidence. You’re not just hustling from one gig to the next. You’re not just taking whatever job you’re offered. You’re not taking whatever fee you’re offered. When you’re setting boundaries in your business, again, make a list of what boundaries clients and colleagues are breaking. A few big ones expect you to reply after hours, creating scope creep in projects, and you to reply on vacation. It is up to you to set boundaries with your clients. One of the biggest boundaries you can set right now, if you haven’t already, is to create office hours for yourself. When do you want to work? Be creative! If you’re not a morning person and your peak productivity time is at night, take advantage of that. Once you’ve set office hours, what other boundaries do you want to set? What is annoying you, getting in the way of your work? Evaluate your days and how you work and where you work.  Biz Bite: Create templates The Bookshelf: “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster” by Adam Higginbotham Resources: PsychCentral.com article “The Importance of Personal Boundaries” Episode #1 of Deliberate Freelancer: Change Your Mindset: You Own a Freelance BusinessEpisode #36 of Deliberate Freelancer: Spotting Red Flags and Scope Creep

Today’s guest is Erin Brenner, an editor in Massachusetts. Erin is the owner of the editorial services agency Right Touch Editing, which specializes in providing small and midsized organizations with writing and editing teams. Erin also offers training in writing and editing, particularly for editors and for professionals who write.  Today, Erin talks about how she is building a team of contractors for her editorial agency. I believe her advice and the lessons she’s learned will be helpful both to those of you who WANT to build a small agency from your solo business, as well as those, like me, who DON’T want to build an agency but sometimes want or need to partner with another freelancer on a particular project. In this episode, Erin dives into the details of how she finds and vets contractors, how she charges clients and then pays contractors, and how she onboards her contractors to represent her business well. She also talks about what you should consider before building a team and what challenges she has faced—and much more.  Erin got to a point in her editing business where she didn’t want to do the editing all the time. She liked managing people and taking on a variety of projects. So, she began to build out her business by hiring contractors to take on the bulk of the work.  She now has 10-12 contractors that she pays by the project. She makes it clear to new clients that she works with a team, that she doesn’t do the work. She let her previous clients know that she was transitioning to this new model. She also reviews all the client work before it goes to the client, and she is the main contact for the client.  Before creating an agency, Erin recommends thinking about how you feel about managing people and managing projects—versus providing the actual hands-on services.  Erin vets contractors by starting with the freelancers closest to her—her mastermind groups—and then moves out to other organizations she’s involved with. She talks about the challenges of advertising publicly.  Then she vets the recommendations by looking at candidates’ resumes, LinkedIn profiles, websites and social media accounts. She’ll narrow that list down to about four people to conduct interviews with, usually via online video. She will then usually narrow it down further to about two candidates and give them an appropriate editing or writing test. During the interview process, Erin talks through how both she and the contractor prefer to communicate and what she expects.  Erin hires W-9 independent contractors, not employees. She requires contractors to sign one contract that includes non-compete and non-disclosure language, as well as outlines the scope of the work and relationship. Erin adds her contractors to several systems, which include Slack and Google Drive (where she stores resource materials and process sheets). She also uses Zapier Webhooks and Zoho Bigin, which provides a suite that includes software for customer relationship management, hosting meetings, managing social media and more, all in one spot.  Challenges have included making sure there is enough work to keep everyone busy, trying to figure out how many contractors she needs on a team, and dealing with freelancers’ availability.  Erin talks through how she charges clients and how she decides what and how to pay the contractors. She typically pays a contractor a percentage. She also talks about how she made the business case to her clients when moving to agency—and raising her overall rates.  Erin recommends you grow at your own pace. You can start using contractors just on certain projects or every once in awhile. But build out a list of people and vet them now, not when you need them.  Biz Bite: Let software work for you.  “Software is really great at doing small repetitive tasks over and over again, exactly the same way every time.”  Zoho Bigin Zapier Webhooks Resources: Right Touch Editing Erin on LinkedIn Erin on Twitter erin@righttouchediting.com Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #131 of Deliberate Freelancer: Building a Successful Content Marketing Agency, with nurse Portia Wofford  Episode #88 of Deliberate Freelancer: Positioning Yourself as an Agency and Partnering with Other Freelancers, with Reggie Holmes

Today’s guest is Lauree Ostrofsky, who is a coach and speaker living in the Hudson Valley of New York state. Her business is called Simply Leap. Lauree’s clients are A-students and introverts wanting to feel more confident putting themselves out there in a bigger way, including in their own businesses.  Lauree has written two books: a happy how-to called “Simply Leap: Seven Lessons on Facing Fear and Enjoying the Crap out of Your Life,” and “I’m scared & doing it anyway,” about reinventing her own life after being diagnosed with a brain tumor at 28.  When Lauree was in the hospital with a brain tumor, she had an epiphany about how powerful humans are when we set our minds to something. She realized that while she couldn’t control this thing happening to her, humans do have some control over some aspects their lives even in hard times—the words we choose, the people we surround ourselves with. Lauree realized she wanted to help others recognize how powerful they are, so she decided to take a coaching certification program.  Lauree shares some key messaging that she often discusses with her “A student” coaching clients, such as taking the pressure off yourselves.  She talks about the need to “collect data” in our business. Don’t create a service or a program first. Collect the data first to see what your potential clients actually want from you.  She also brainstorms with her clients their ideal work life and their ideal client.  Societal pressure to be “fearless” can cause us to be unkind to ourselves. It’s OK to recognize that something is new and scary and different—but then find kind ways to help yourself through it.  Fear is a good indicator that you’re on the right path. If you’re not scared to offer a new package or charge a higher price, it might not be that important. That fear shows that you really want that thing.  Melanie asks about not having fear—does this mean we are taking the easy route, or being too comfortable? Lauree talks about how the easy route can be good, but we can also create stretch goals for ourselves.  Lauree (who is a former marketer) and Melanie also talked about how to market our freelance businesses. Lauree says if people have already chosen to work with us, then marketing is already working. “Marketing isn’t this thing over there,” she says. “It’s already happening.”  She encourages people to make a list of all the things that people thank you for, both in work and non-work situations. Write down their words. Do it for a week or two. You’ll see some of the same things that keep coming up, and some of THAT should go into your marketing. That shows you what the other person thinks about you, and that’s what marketing needs to be.  For example, if you’re an accountant, you might think your value is related to being good at your job. But everyone might be thanking you for always having a smile on your face and having extended hours—that’s what you need to market.  Lauree also talks about how we can brainstorm to figure out our ideal clients and what she calls “Jane Goodalling” your potential clients.  Lauree ends the episode by reiterating that whatever our work is, that it can work for us. It’s OK to be scared. But be sure to seek out people who can help; you don’t have to figure all this out by yourself.  Biz Bite: Create a “smile file.”  Resources: Lauree’s website: Simply Leap Lauree’s books Lauree on Instagram  Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.

In the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group I asked listeners: What questions do you want to know about how I run my six-figure freelance business?  One listener replied: I know you achieve an incredible amount in a relatively short period of time. What’s the secret to this? Do you use a timer? Do you have to shut down distractions?  So, in today’s episode, I talk about self-discipline—how I achieve it, how I strive to achieve it and how I often fail at it.  I think self-discipline is critical to making it as a freelance business owner. My husband, also a business owner, likes to talk about the need to overcoming inertia and then building momentum from there.  Self-discipline is an executive function. It’s a cognitive process. Some people are fantastic at it. Some people have to work at it—or are great in some areas, not in others. And then some people are horrible at it and need to work on it first before they can achieve great things.  To achieve self-discipline, you need to first know what your business goals are. Scroll down for four episode links in which my guests or I have talked about how to set goals. These might make a good “podcast package” to listen to one after the other.  Self-discipline means controlling our impulses. It means doing things you don’t necessarily want to do—or maybe don’t want to do in that moment. It means delaying gratification and doing the work instead.  In this episode I confess one area of self-discipline where I’m failing and need to correct ASAP.  Overcoming procrastination is also a struggle sometimes. But if I can learn to maximize my self-discipline, I can cut down on the procrastination. I outlined several techniques and tips in this episode: Know thyself. There’s a fine line between knowing yourself and making excuses.  Create a startup routine to your work day. Create a daily task list—not a long, unachievable to-do list. Learn how to focus.  I do this by starting each period of “deep work” or cognitive  work with a “highlight song.” I light a candle, put on my noise-canceling headphones and then switch to Mozart.  Set up multiple processes and structures that will eliminate distractions. Do a distraction audit over a few days to see what gets you off task and how you can correct it.  Try out various versions of the Pomodoro method. Stop multitasking! Start time tracking—even if you only do it for a week in order to analyze your self-discipline and distractions.  Improve your health. Make sure you’re hydrated, getting exercise and sleeping well.  Set small, achievable goals for your day.  Give yourself grace. Work on improving your self-discipline and thus maximizing your efficiency, which means earning more money in less time. But then, give yourself grace. We and our businesses are all works in progress, and not every day is going to be a banner day. Biz Bite: Sort your email follow-ups by day. Biz Bite-related article from Inc.: “Seven Productivity Secrets From the Female Founders 100” The Bookshelf: “Tin Man” by Sarah Winman Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Follow Melanie on Instagram for kitten photos.  Episode #13 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Set Better Goals for Your Business, with Andrena Sawyer Episode #95 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Dream Bigger and Transform Your Freelance Business, with Cathy Wilkes Episode #44 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Track and Reach Your Goals Episode #58 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Reimagine Your Goals during a Crisis

A recent “escape” or vacation, and big family news are both helping me get through this summer’s grief, languishing and brain fog. So, in today’s episode, I am thinking about ways we can learn to love our business again when we need a fresh start in business or in life.  I want to embrace this “fresh start” concept starting in October and for this final quarter of the year. You might not be ready for a fresh start right now. Maybe you’re doing fine or you’re in the middle of some struggle and don't, frankly, have the time to think about a fresh start at the moment. However, I think we all should consider a fresh start at various times in our business. Maybe for many of you that will just be organically in January as we get back from the holidays. Others of you might be in a similar boat as me, where you have that fresh start feeling after a big life change or maybe the end of a big contract or you have a revelation about your business.  Whenever the time is right for you, here are seven things to try out in your business that can help you make that fresh start: Lean in to what you love. Reach out to your community. Reframe your to-do list every day from “I need to do this” to “I GET to do this.” Develop a mantra or two to say to yourself each morning. Separate the wheat from the chaff. Gamify your marketing. Write a love letter to your business. Biz Bite: Get a flu shot. The Bookshelf: “Wrong Place Wrong Time” by Gillian McAllister  Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Follow Melanie on Instagram for kitten photos.  Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Episode #137 of Deliberate Freelancer: I’m Grieving. How Can I Keep My Business Running? Episode #124 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Create Better Habits (and My Word of the Year)

In today’s episode, I talk about the power of finding and really zeroing in on your very specific niche and how that’s unique to you. I think there are a lot of benefits to knowing exactly what your niche is and not getting sidetracked by other work—getting to the point where you turn down other work and not just say “yes” because someone asked you to work for them. Today’s conversation is actually from November 2021. At that time, fellow writer Austin Church invited me to speak about niches as part of his fantastic virtual masterclass event. The conversation you hear today was originally a video conversation we had during that masterclass.  Austin lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. He helps e-commerce founders stand out online with their brand strategy, and he also coaches freelance creatives. He first came on Deliberate Freelancer in May 2021. Scroll down for the link to that episode.  Although technically Austin is interviewing me today, it’s really a back-and-forth conversation, with Austin also sharing his thoughts, advice and experiences. We also just had a lot of fun together. Enjoy! Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Episode #98 of Deliberate Freelancer: Six-Figure Freelancing: The Benefits of Selling Strategy and Outcomes, with Austin Church

Today’s guest is Sabrina St. Peter, founder of SmartSpark Business Solutions, a bookkeeping firm that supports brand builders and storytellers, such as professionals in public relations, marketing and advertising. Sabrina, who is based in Chicago, is passionate about small businesses in every form—from the freelancer to agencies with multiple employees. Understanding that most people did not start their business to pour over their bookkeeping, SmartSpark Business Solutions launched in February 2020 to make bookkeeping simple. Sabrina and Melanie start off by talking about mindset and how we should think about our bookkeeping and finances. Being intimately familiar with your finances coming in and where that money is going will help your business grow more quickly than if you ignore it. Sabrina also talks about how to reframe financial situations. For example, you might be nervous to pay your quarterly taxes or hate “giving” away that money, but paying taxes means you earned a profit that quarter!  Sabrina starts at the basics and defines bookkeeper vs. tax preparer vs. accountants and how each person can help you. A bookkeeper organizes the business’s finances.  Sabrina walks us through how to set ourselves up for bookkeeping success. The first thing to do is have a separate business bank account from your personal account. Then, be honest with yourself about what you’re willing to do with your bookkeeping and what system will work best for you.  Sabrina gives us advice on how to find the bank account and system that’s right for us. Sabrina recommends carving out time every week for a “money date” with yourself for 15–30 minutes to look at two main numbers: your income and your profit (income minus expenses).  She also recommends doing an expense audit every month: looking at and analyzing your expenses. For example, you might discover you’re paying for software or other subscriptions you no longer use. It also helps you recognize incorrect charges.  Time to talk taxes. If you expect to owe more than $1,000 a year in taxes, you should pay the estimated quarterly taxes or you will be fined. Sabrina gives tips on how to track your taxes, including smart templates that do the math for you.  Sabrina explains why we should keep all receipts, not just credit card statements, and how to store those documents. And it’s not just in case we’re audited. (By the way, the Inflation Reduction Act provided money to the IRS for more people to examine tax returns, which might increase the number of people who get audited.) Sabrina talks about tax deductions and how we figure out what expenses can be deductions. Every business expense is not necessarily a tax deduction, but every business expense should be tracked.  Sabrina explains how a bookkeeper could help you, but also how you still need to help the bookkeeper and answer their questions.  Sabrina talks about subcontractors. She recommends if you hire anyone for a service, ask them for a W-9. However, if you pay people via credit card, debit card or a system like PayPal or Stripe, you do not have to issue the subcontractor a 1099 because credit card/banking companies will issue those reports. So, you only need to issue a 1099 if you pay them via cash, check or bank transfer.   Biz Bite: Use Text Blaze, a text expander Resources: Sabrina’s SmartSpark Business Solutions Email: hello@yoursmartspark.com SmartSpark Business Solutions on Instagram SmartSpark Business Solutions on TikTok Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Subscribe to the Deliberate Freelancer newsletter. Online financial institutions:  Relay  Novo  Finance systems: Wave QuickBooks online Companies that will track and send your taxes for you:  Wingspan Creative Juice QuickBooks Self-Employed Pay your estimated taxes online: EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) IRS.gov IRS2Go app  Apps that store receipts:  Hubdoc Dext IRS article: How long should I keep my tax returns?

Melanie, a freelancer who has achieved six-figure income with low-stress work, shares her career journey in freelancing, tips for taking the leap, and insights on podcasting, community building and hitting financial goals.

Trigger warnings: pet death, pet euthanasia, pet illness, grief over the death of a loved one, anxiety, bike accident I’m back! Back from my extra-long summer hiatus—longer than I expected or planned for. In this episode, I explain why it took me so long to return and share the grief, anxiety and other mental health struggles I’ve been dealing with this summer.  If you are dealing with grief or anxiety or similar feelings, scroll down for some links to previous Deliberate Freelancer episodes that deal with these issues, including interviews with therapists. This, obviously, does not replace mental health counseling, and I am not an expert, but you might find these episodes soothing or helpful in dealing with your struggles.  I sought out a new therapist this summer who said something I couldn’t believe that I’d never heard before: Anxiety can be a symptom of grief. My cat’s death in April, it seems, was affecting me in multiple ways and leading to my newfound anxiety this summer. After a horrible summer 2022, I am ready for a new season. In the U.S., Labor Day signifies the end of summer and gives nearly all of us a “back to school” feeling. So, I am embracing a new season and bidding farewell to a sucky summer. What better way to start off this new season than with a solo business retreat?! In the second half of this episode, I will walk you through what I did—and what I learned—during this week’s solo business retreat from my dining room.  I started my retreat with a SWOT analysis. SWOT is a business term that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Corporations and organizations use the strategy, but you can certainly do it as an individual. I find it’s a good way to remind yourself what you’re great at, and for us, that means what our business should be focused on, as well as where we could improve.  Listing out your weaknesses is not an opportunity to beat yourself up. Instead, it might show where you need to improve or delegate, automate or terminate aspects of your business. See link to episode 26 below for more details on how to do this.  Instead of doing an analysis of Q2 this late in the year, I analyzed where my income came from for the entire year so far. I was going to rate and rank my clients—a tactic I highly recommend—but listing out all my clients showed me that I love all of them this year! Don’t roll your eyes. This is not me being too Pollyannaish. It was not a happy accident, either. I have worked hard these past nine years of freelancing to truly analyze what work I accept, who I want to work with, what to charge and when to cut clients loose. And I finally hit a 100% happy success rate!  To rate and rank your client: Make a list of all your clients. Create your own personal ranking system for a variety of things that are important to you, such as great to work with, pays well, pays on time, no scope creep, no phone calls, etc. Then, rank each client on a scale of 1–5. After you rank them, put them in order with the highest ranking at the top. Who’s on the bottom? Should you keep those clients that rank so low? How can you get more work from the clients—or the type of clients—that rank the highest?  Feeling so scattered this summer, I wanted to get ahold of my days and weeks again and create the perfect work day and perfect work week. No Meeting Mondays and Half-Day Fridays have been working great for me, so I’m keeping those. It’s the Tuesday through Thursday I need to get a better handle on. See episode 19’s link below for tips on how to create your perfect work day. Biz Bite: Set a hurdle rate The Bookshelf: “Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting” by Clare Pooley  Resources: Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.  Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee. Check out my new podcast! Association Station Book “Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief: A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Healing the Impact of Loss” by Claire Bidwell Smith  Episode #137 of Deliberate Freelancer: I’m Grieving. How Can I Keep My Business Running? Episode #90 of Deliberate Freelancer: Coping with One Year of COVID-19 Lockdown, with Therapist Emily Derouin Episode #70 of Deliberate Freelancer: Techniques to Deal with Anxiety from My New Therapist 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 Episode #26 of Deliberate Freelancer: Delegate, Automate and Terminate to Improve Your Business Episode #19 of Deliberate Freelancer: Visualize Your Perfect Work Day—Then Create It Episode #42 of Deliberate Freelancer: Tips from My First Solo Business Retreat of 2020 Episode #3 of Deliberate Freelancer: Host a Solo Business Retreat