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Writing Across Age, Gender, Race and Culture

Writing Across Age, Gender, Race and Culture

As I watched President Obama’s moving eulogy at the funeral of Senator Clementa Pinckney in Charleston in late June – and his equally remarkable speech in Selma some months earlier – I once again began thinking about the challenges of finding the “voice” of our speakers when we don’t share their age, gender, race, or culture.

Can a 25-year-old write for a 60-year-old senior executive? Would a female scientist making a speech on the challenges of women in the sciences …

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Fatal Mistakes Freelance Writers Can Make

Fatal Mistakes Freelance Writers Can Make

Having been in the freelance writing game for over 20 years, I have made just about every business mistake in the book. And those mistakes have cost me clients and money. If you are a one-person company providing writing services to clients – either online or in person – here are three big time mistakes that you want to avoid.

The first is not picking up the damn phone when it rings. I know this goes against the advice of …

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On Not Being Attached To The Outcome

One of the more dispiriting aspects of being a freelancer is waiting for our marketing efforts to pay off in the form of paid work. But there is a secret to not going off the deep end if no one seems to be returning your phone calls, answering your emails, or responding to your blog.

The rule is this. Simply don’t be attached to the outcome of your marketing efforts.

Now you probably have heard this one before, but perhaps …

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Giving It Away

Throughout your freelance career, from time to time, you will be asked to work for free. Trust me on this. You will. Before you consider any such requests, you have to set up some ground rules for yourself. This is my take on the subject.

First, if you undervalue your work, you are telling the world that it has little worth. And if you give it away, you are giving it zero value. In the first instance, you will attract …

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12 Ways To Increase Your Freelance Income

In no particular order here are 12 strategies that can lead to more money in your pocket from more clients.

1.  Don’t fight your client on process, but push back on product. It is counter-productive to fight your client on their process.  If they want to micro-manage every word, or if they are so hands off that you are spending a lot of extra effort tracking down information, remember it is their dime. And it is all billable time.  Do …

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In Praise of Cockroaches: What to do if the economic shit hits the fan

If the U.S. economy tanks, I mean really tanks big time, how will that affect the lot of freelance writers? No matter where they live.

In the normal ebb and flow of economies this is what usually happens. In bad times the first thing corporations do is downsize – that wonderful euphemism for throwing their workers on the trash heap with little thought to the human side of the equation. They have to preserve shareholder value don’t you know. Fools …

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They Need Us More Than We Need Them

I know I have talked about this before. And I know you have read this from other marketing people. I am talking about the mantra that says “in the service sector, people do business with people they like and trust.”
Let me give you an example.A few months ago I got a call from a senior executive who wanted some help with a convocation speech he was to give. It was strictly a word of mouth referral.

Now of course …

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