You may have recently heard about a Demand Studios health insurance program (a limited benefit medical program). Since Demand Media is the first content mill to offer a health care benefit to freelancers, we are taking a break from normal posting to give you some information about the plan. Pictures below are screen shots from the final information packet available on the Demand Studios website. Click on the pictures to see larger versions or visit the info packet and review the page numbers (cited below) to learn more about the Demand Studios health insurance program.

Demand Studios Health Insurance Plan Highlights (From their Website):

• No deductible or co-pays
  
• Guaranteed acceptance: There are no medical tests or requirements to disclose ailments or family history, etc.
• Pre-existing conditions are covered. The only exception is if you know you are pregnant, you cannot join the plan for that purpose. (Other than in California where there is no such requirement).

Re: Deductibles and co-pays- While the Demand Studios health insurance plan has no deductibles or co-pays, it does have out-of-pocket costs and it also does not offer the same limits as a traditional health insurance plan. In addition, any cost over the provided benefit will need to be paid by the patient:

Excerpt from page 4 – Note limits and amounts covered per plan option

Re: Pre-existing conditions- Per Demand Studios health insurance plan documents linked above, pre-existing conditions requiring critical illness care are not covered for 12 months:

From page 3

Demand Studios Health Insurance – Pros

• With this program, participants will visit a network of physicians who have agreed to provide discounted services to members. While the cost of your care may still exceed the benefit paid by the program, your total cost could amount to less than it would without the negotiated discount. Tip: Comprehensive health insurance plans generally offer negotiated rates (or usual and customary rate) when you visit in-network providers so that your expenses are limited even if you have to pay a coinsurance rate. If possible, speak with a local agent and find out if you can compare the negotiated rates of a comprehensive health insurance plan and the Flex Benefit Program. Be sure to factor in the co-pays or deductibles in the health insurance plan as well as the visit maximums in the Flex Benefit Program.
  
• The program includes vision benefits.
• The program includes dental discounts.
• The program includes prescription discounts. Tip: Check your local Publix, Wal-Mart or other pharmacy and find out what their prescriptions costs are for those you take regularly.
  
• You have access to a 24/7 nurse hotline.

Demand Studios Health Insurance – Cons

• The Beech Street PPO network may not have your healthcare providers or local hospitals in-network. Tip: Visit the Beech Street website to find out.
• The Demand Studios health insurance plan maximums may not cover the total cost of any doctor visit or procedure.Tip: Call your local Beechtree network doctor and find out if the doctor visit costs as much or less than the maximum benefit ($50-$75 depending on the plan you choose, see page 4). You may be able to do this for other services as well to help determine the value of the plan to you.
  
• There are no plan maximums, which means there is no cap to the amount you could spend out-of-pocket. Tip: Traditional health insurance plans generally offer out-of-pocket maximums. A plan with a deductible of $5,000 may seem high but if you check with your local agent, you can compare the out-of-pocket expenses and determine whether you actually have less at risk with a traditional health insurance plan and a deductible than you do with the FlexShield Benefit Program.
  
• The insurance benefit per prescription ($5, $10 or $15 depending on your plan) along with the prescription discount may not provide a substantial prescription savings. Also, participants with pre-existing conditions and a large number of prescriptions may find the coverage too limited. Tip: Check your local Publix, Wal-Mart or other pharmacy and find out what their prescriptions costs are for those you take regularly.
  
• The Critical illness coverage is once per lifetime.
• The Demand Studios health insurance option is not available to all writers working for the company. A content threshold must be met during a consecutive three-month period in order to determine eligibility.

The Concerns

Concerns you may want to address with an independent agent and IPS before you terminate any existing coverage for this Demand Studios health insurance plan:

• This program may not meet minimum creditable coverage standards in states like Massachusetts that require health coverage.
• In order to avoid pre-existing conditions waiting periods in group plans, you must have continued creditable coverage with no gaps of more than 63 days. If you give up your existing individual or group health insurance for this program and you or your spouse get a new job and request coverage under the group plan, your pre-existing conditions could be exempt for 12-18 months because you did not keep creditable coverage.
• If you give up COBRA coverage for this program, you will not be able to reinstate COBRA.
• If you leave a health insurance plan in favor of this program, you may not be protected under HIPAA.
• This program may not be as portable as an individual health insurance policy and offers no COBRA if you stop writing for Demand Studios (although there is no indication that this would be grounds for termination).

The Fine Print

End Notes

Before you make any decisions to purchase this Demand Studios health insurance program or those offered by your local union, it is a good idea to explore alternatives with your local insurance agent. He or she can help you understand the real costs and risks associated with every limited benefit program and comprehensive health insurance plan. This post is not meant to encourage or discourage enrollment into the program.

* Yolander Prinzel is a licensed life, health and variable annuity agent (2-15). She does not actively solicit clients for insurance purchases or sell any insurance products. She is also not appointed to sell health insurance with any insurers.

Related posts:

1. Freelance Writers: Your Thoughts on Health Insurance for the Self-Employed
2. 7 Tips for Self-Employed Web Workers to Save on Health Insurance
3. Raising Freelance Writing Rates – Demand Isn’t Enough

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How would you feel about having your freelance writing schedule booked weeks or months in advance? Do you wish you had the luxury to be more selective in the freelance writing jobs you take on, able to turn down anything that doesn’t appeal to you?  Plenty of freelancers are already in that boat, myself included. It’s a great place to be, but a reader brought up a good question a while back in a comment — if your schedule is constantly full, doesn’t that mean it’s time to raise your rates?

The short answer is “no.” Demand alone isn’t enough of a reason to raise your rates. Today I want to talk about why, before you rush off to raise rates for 2010 just because you have adequate demand at your current rates.

Not All Work is Created Equal

Credit: alxm (stockxpert.com)

It’s true that constant demand is one sign that it might be a good time to raise rates. But that doesn’t mean it’s always true. For example, the bulk of my work comes from regular clients who place relatively large orders every month. I have a booked schedule well into the New Year. This year I only took on about five new clients due to the existing commitments. I don’t expect that to change in 2010. Yet I turn down multiple offers every single week (referring those buyers to colleagues).

Does that mean I should raise my rates with my other clients, or replace them with higher paying ones? No. Why? Because an influx of offers in no way means those working relationships would be equal to my existing client relationships. I have long-term contracts. There’s no guarantee of that with a new client. I’ve found an amazing balance between great rates and stability rivaling that of a regular full-time job. Hypothetically I could drop client A (who orders $2000 worth of content a month) and replace them with client B (who will pay a bit more). But client B might not stick around beyond a month or two, meaning I’d then have to replace them again with someone new.

Stability and long-term contracts are a huge factor you can’t afford to ignore.

New Clients Equal More Work (and Sometimes Less Money Hourly)

You also have to look beyond your base rates. You can’t think of it as “client A will pay me $450 for the project and client B will pay me $600 for the project, so I should go with the new client B.” When it comes to freelance writing rates, you have to revert everything back to hourly levels.

If you’ve been working with client A for a year, chances are good that you’re already intimately familiar with their business, products, or services. You probably know who their target market or target readers include, and you know how to tackle the project to appeal to those people. You might be able to turn that project around in 5 billable hours, meaning you’ll earn $90 per hour.

With client B, you don’t know any of that information up front. If you truly want to do your job well you’ll have to invest more time into research. You’ll review the client’s website thoroughly. You’ll look at other documentation they send you. You’ll have phone or in-person consultations with the client. You’ll research the target market / readers and how the competition successfully appeals to them. It might take you 9 hours overall with that additional work. Even at the higher per project rate, you would only be making around $67 per hour.

Unless you know up front that client B plans to be a long-term repeat client (meaning that initial time investment will pay off over time as their projects become faster to complete), the better business decision is to stick with client A. The lower rate is actually more pay per hour (and more hours to devote to other projects).

Changing Rates Sometimes Means Starting Over

Credit: Ivan Petrov (sxc.hu)

Unfortunately, there’s always the possibility that you’re at the maximum rates your current target market will pay. Therefore, if you want to raise your rates, you’ll have to change your target market. That means starting over. You’ll need to tailor your services and your value proposition to an entirely new group of potential clients, re-think your marketing strategies, and revamp your network. Do you really want to do that?

If you’re not happy with what you’re earning (such as being stuck at content mill rates and wanting to double or triple them), then do it. You have to change your market to change your career path. But in a case like mine, when you’re already earning a very comfortable hourly rate, overhauling your career targets (and all of the unpaid marketing and administrative time involved in doing that) doesn’t make sense.

So no, demand isn’t enough to signal that it’s time to raise your rates. Hating your current work, feeling taken advantage of, and being pushed to the burnout point cranking out content just to make a livable hourly wage… those are reasons to raise rates (if you can offer the value to back it up).

That said, don’t ignore the demand either. A sudden influx doesn’t always mean something. But if that increased demand sticks around for six months or more with no signs of letting up, take it as a sign that it might be time to evaluate your overall situation as a freelance writer. Only that will tell you whether or not it’s really time to increase your freelance writing fees. In the end what you should strive for is balance — rates that allow you to pay your bills, set money aside for savings or investments or leisure activities, and still enjoy enough free time that you can pursue your own hobbies and projects or spend more time with friends and family.

Finding that balance might seem like a dream to some, but I can tell you it’s absolutely attainable. As with most things freelancing, all it takes is a bit of business sense and planning.

Related posts:

1. Setting Freelance Writing Rates the Right Way
2. 5 Reasons You Deserve a Raise as a Freelance Writer
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If you ask a mother who has transitioned to working at home what she misses the most, you’ll get a variety of responses, but a similar theme throughout would be the lack of freedom that she enjoyed working in an office — ironic to the those desperate to leave the office, but very real indeed to the women who have made a private sacrifice to work hard to be there more often for their children.

When you’re working in an office you can slack off after lunch on occasion. You can chat with friends over coffee after lunch. You can even eat lunch seated with utensils. Best of all,  you can call in sick for a mental health day and still get a paycheck. Amazingly it is these small luxuries that you never realize you’re giving up until they are gone as you transition to working at home as a freelancer.

No More Coffee Breaks

Now that you’re at home with the kids, there are no more coffee breaks. Of course, you’ll be taking all kinds of breaks from the things you’re trying to do, but most often you’ll be experiencing sippy-cup breaks, push play on Elmo breaks and a personal favorite – grab the toddler before he takes off his own dirty diaper break.

Somehow these don’t have the same appeal as the leisurely gossip sessions you used to enjoy over coffee, but then again, you are getting that much more quality time with the kids. And all moms know quality time certainly does not always equal fun and stress-free experiences.

What Sick Days?

The little one comes down with a bug and of course you’re the one washing the vomit stains out of sheets and your night shirt at two in the morning. It is times like this that you miss that luxury of calling in sick and laying around watching Disney movies the next day with a clingy toddler.

Now you’re responsible for dragging yourself to the computer, picking up the phone and rescheduling everything you had planned for the day until the evening or the next day, all the while praying to the goddess of desperate mothers that you’re dealing with a twenty-four hour bug so you don’t fall farther behind and make clients more frustrated.

Freedom for Family Time is Not Free Time

A common misconception of moms who decide to stay home and work with the little ones is that their schedules will be so loose and easy, it will be simple to enjoy all that family time while taking care of the work here and there. No working mother plans to give up almost every hour of her free time, but more often than not, that’s the case. When you’re trying to work at home and have your children home as well, the children will win out at least 101% of the time.

When the kids are sleeping or granting you five minutes of suspicious silence, you might rush frantically to get a bit of work done. Then you realize that it’s midnight (again) and you have a wailing wake-up call coming in six hours. Stay-at-home moms have full-time childcare responsibilities.

Work-at-home moms try to cram a job in on top of the full-time child rearing. Something’s got to give and usually it’s any semblance of leisure time. Fortunately, these hard-working moms stand to gain it all back a few years down the road as their children age and head off to the school leaving them with a house that is too quiet and that flexibility they have been craving.

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1. Making It as a Freelance Mom
2. Carving Out a Real WAHM Work Space
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For many, writing sales letters is more than just another project – it is a lot of fun. There are many types of freelance writing jobs, but over the years I have enjoyed sales articles the most. There is something about writing compelling copy that is meant to “draw in” the reader that gets my blood flowing.

Of course, writing a successful sales letter is not something you will do on a whim. In fact, it takes a lot of practice to get good at this. Again, you are doing more than writing basic content that is meant to inform. Instead, your job is to sell the reader on whatever the target product or service may be.

Here are several tips for writing effective sales letters that convert:

1. Ask the client for details. When writing web content the client may say something like, “give me an article on anything that has to do with green living.” The same cannot be done with a sales letter. You need to collect the minimum amount of details to at least start the job.
2. Know the product or service you are trying to sell. How can you write about something if you do not know what it is? Try this tip: ask the client if you can test out the product or service for free. You will be surprised at how many are willing to do this. In fact, I have only been turned down a few times.
3. Hard or soft sell? There are two types of “sales tones” for the most part. The hard sell is when you go over-the-top and do everything you can to push the buyer into making a purchase. The soft sell is when you are more subtle with your words. Both can be effective, but only your client knows which one they are looking for.
4. Format. A sales letters can be formatted in many different ways. You should never assume that your next client wants the same format as the last one. For instance, some will ask for many headers followed by bullet points. Others, especially those who are not using an online letter, may opt for more of a paragraph form. If the client does not know what they want you are free to get creative.
5. Web or print? This goes along with the collection of details. Writing a sales letter for the web is much different than one that will be sent out via direct mail. Web pieces are often times very long and full of titles, bullets, images, and much more. On the other hand, print sales letters are straight to the point and “clean” in most cases.

These five tips should help you successfully write sales letters, no matter what the client is looking for.

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1. How Can I Write an Effective Sales Letter?
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Today in our “Getting Started” series, screenwriter / television writer Xandy Sussan stops by to talk to us about screenwriting. Whether you’re looking for a way to freelance in fiction or you simply want to pursue a screenplay or teleplay as a creative side project, there are some things you should know before jumping in.

Here’s what Sussan had to say:

On How She Started in Screenwriting / Writing for Television …

“I had a day job working for the story editor / producer on an animated series as his writer’s assistant. As soon as I found out there were freelance slots open, I went in with 10 premises and pitched to him. I sold three in the room, wrote them, and got into the Writer’s Guild. It seems so simple when I read how it happened to me, but those three sentences took 5 years of plugging away, working for pennies on the dollar, skimping and starving to achieve my goal. But, ultimately, I did and when I saw my name up there, when I held my WGA card in my hand, it was all totally worth it. “

On Needing Specialized Education or Experience Before Starting…

“I went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ Dramatic Writing Program, and I graduated with a dual BFA in Television and Screenwriting. When I first graduated from NYU, it seemed like that was enough. “Oh, she must be great, she went to NYU…” but it turned out that where I went to school was really of little relevance. NYU had me believing that “they” (the producers of the world) were handing out sit-coms at LAX to every New York transplant. That just wasn’t true.

While being an NYU grad helped people recognize I had some worth and an excellent education, the only thing that really mattered, as far as my screenwriting was concerned, was what was on the page. And if my samples weren’t impressive, the door was closed to me.

The only education that really helped me progress was doing. By producing an indie film in 1999, I learned I knew nothing. I didn’t know my ass from my elbow, but when you’re in charge of a 20 person crew and they’re all looking to you for the answers, you learn on the job. Screenwriting is the same. You don’t get to be a better writer by only doing it once. It takes years to develop a voice, a style, a concise and inventive way to tell a story that is both marketable and innovative. That comes with practice.”

On How Writers can get Started in Screenwriting & Writing for Television…

“How I started was a total accident and something that couldn’t be repeated again one in a thousand times in a lab. I moved to LA from NYC with $2500, a dog and two suitcases, and didn’t realize that my plan for Hollywood greatness was completely filled with flaws. I had no plan, which was the problem. I had three contacts, some basic street smarts and an NYU Screenwriting BFA. It didn’t occur to me I would need more, not being the progeny of a well-connected picture family. But I did.

I had many weird jobs; I sold shoes, was a phone psychic (I was actually pretty good), and then I got a production job as a receptionist on a television series. I met a writer’s assistant who told me that she temped when things were slow. She gave me the name of her temp lady. The show was cancelled two weeks later and three weeks after that I was temping at Saban Entertainment. I got my first “writing” job there, writing kids’ jokes for a game they were marketing. I was paid $500 for 1000 jokes, that plus my salary. I felt like a millionaire.

I went on to temp for a brief time at Universal in marketing, but they weren’t quite about me. I then went to Warner Bros. TV Animation to fill in because a writer’s assistant had become a writer and they needed someone who could “type under pressure.” My one week assignment turned into the start of my career. I got an agent while working at Warner Bros, I got a writing partner, I got many opportunities to pitch and be mentored, and when the time was right, I got my first job. But it was, what I like to call “a confluence of positivity;” a fancy way of saying “right place at the right time.”

But if I were to do it over again, I’d probably do it the same. I’m not a good planner. I’m sort of “It’ll work out” kind of gal, a fly by the seat of her pants life adventurer. If you are looking to not live every moment on the edge and want something more stable, then I would think things through. You have to make a living to support your writing habit. It’s going to take a while for you to break in and start making money, if you ever even get to. So, figure out what you can do and do it, all while plugging away to make sure you achieve your dream. Tenacity is the biggest hurdle for the new LA screenwriter. If you can keep going, even through the lean times, and still have to tell stories just to scratch that burning itch to communicate, then you’ll make it.”

On Things Prospective Screenwriters & TV Writers Should Know…

“You are you and you’re not anyone else. I know that sounds like “high talk” but it’s serious. Wanting to be a Hollywood screenwriter means that you no longer can measure your life based on someone else’s yardstick. I don’t care about your mother’s friend’s daughter Susie who is a lawyer now, with 2.5 kids, a house with a yard and is making $150 K a year. Susie isn’t a screenwriter. Her life’s achievements are ticked off differently than ours. My parents can’t understand why it’s still so hard for me to get work, when I’ve already been produced. I explain to them, it’s not for lack of effort. I do something everyone in the world wants to do and thinks they can do better. If I had put this much effort into being a NASA scientist, I’d have colonized Mars by now. But there’s only so many shows, and there are so many writers, writers better than me, writers worse than me, writers better connected than me. You’re most likely not always going to get the job. When you get the job it’s great. You need to decide what matters to you, find your own path and get it done. It’s not a lifestyle for everyone, but if it’s for you, then you can’t care what other people think. Just do your best writing every day, strive to improve, never give up and you’ve already succeeded.

Also, I did learn that all the best networking in the world isn’t going to make money come through the door, if your script isn’t spectacular. I feel the work is the most important thing. Do no write checks your ass can’t cash. You can’t talk yourself up as the greatest screenwriting talent in the world and not have a single sample to show someone. You should have a sample in every genre, because people are weird and they might need to see something specific. For example, my portfolio has some multi-purpose specs, but I wrote one for almost every hit show (Entourage, Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl, Drawn Together, The Office) my first sample was a Mad About You. I found it recently when I moved. I cringed fearing it was terrible, but it was typo free and showed promise! I was pleased. It read like them and that felt good. So, just keep in mind that while you might love Entourage and your Entourage spec, someone needing a sample might hate Entourage, but love Drawn Together, so best to be prepared. Oh, a little tip, a 22-minute adult animated spec can count for two, both a half hour sample and an animation sample. Getting double out of your spec buck, is a good thing. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, do that by actually having a script ready, better yet a library, so whomever you deal with knows you’re serious and have the capacity to churn out the pages. Make sure it’s not only excellent, but it’s polished, professional and as typo free as humanly possible.”

On Xandy Sussan…

Xandy Sussan is a professional, produced screenwriter with a 10-year long track record of success. Xandy also runs a full service story analysis company. She provides services for screenwriters and novelists including standard coverage, editing, formatting, development services, ghostwriting, rewriting, novel adaptations, and basic consultations. She has read over 1500 scripts and 750 novels since opening her doors in 1999 and continues to be the most trusted voice in script development with a client list including Warner Bros., Miramax, Handprint Entertainment, and Jennifer Lopez, along with many independent writers who have gone on to win contests and sell their scripts successfully. You can learn more about Xandy at http://CoverMyScript.com or follow her on Twitter @CoverMyScript.

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I thought I’d kick off my new series here on All Freelance Writing with an awesome story about something that happened to me this week. I started my week by losing a $7,000 finance course writing gig. Yay me!

Why am I happy? Well, because I have to be or otherwise it would mean I did something wrong. Okay, kidding. I’m happy because, from the way this transpired, I think I was saved from a gig that would not have gone well. Or not…who knows.

The Dish

Okay, so this all started on Elance. Huh? Elance? You can get high paying gigs on Elance? Ummm….yeah…but you have to know how–and I’m not going to get into that until next week.

On Elance one morning I found this posting to rewrite a series 7 study manual into something people could learn from and enjoy. The pay was $400 per chapter and would have amounted to $6,800 total. I bid for the gig and was one of the people the company decided would be a good fit. So they sent me a message with a copy of the manual and asked me to do a 3-5 page rewrite for them so they could see what I would do and compare it to the other writer’s revisions.

Say what?

I responded to the hiring…guy…and told him that I’d be happy to send additional samples if he needed to see them and gave him links to some more stuff I’d written that I thought fit the tone of what he wanted. He responded back that my samples and resume were all well and good, but they’d be making their decision based on these custom-written samples of 3-5 pages. Here was my response:

I’ll have to respectfully decline. Thank you for the consideration and good luck with your choice.

I’m not going to share his response with you because I don’t think that it’s appropriate, but I will tell you it involved this: ?????

Now, I could have assumed he had peanut butter in his question mark key so it got stuck and that’s why there were all kinds of question marks in his response, but instead I assumed that he was curious about my decision to pull myself out of the running. So I responded to ???? with:

It isn’t practical for a writer to give every prospective client a free sample. It is cost prohibitive, supplies the potential client with free content that the writer would normally get paid for, and should not be necessary when samples and recommendations are available. It’s like commissioning an artist to paint a portrait–you would not ask for a free portrait so you could compare multiple artists. You would examine their prior work and make a decision. The same goes with builders, financial advisors (a few commission-free trades just to test them out and compare their instincts?), house painters, landscapers, etc.

Asking for a free sample that will take hours to complete shows a disrespect for the writer’s professional experience, time and talent. If you were really blown away by a writer’s samples and experience, you would have the respect necessary to hire based on that. Since that is not the case, I would guess you haven’t found the right writer yet and I will just take myself out of the running while thanking you for your consideration.

You should know that at this point I no longer wanted the gig. It’s not like I don’t understand where he is coming from–I mean, crappy writers abound. People who say they can do something, when they aren’t actually sure they can, crop up in spades and writers are a quarter a dozen–so I really do get where he is coming from. But wanting the gig and needing the gig are two different things. I don’t want to work with someone who is going to ask for THREE TO FIVE PAGES OF FREE WORK. You know, if the guy had asked for a page I wouldn’t have been so hard on him–although I still would have explained my objections.

He responded that he felt I was wrong, that they had been overwhelmed with responses, had narrowed it down to just four of us and that I was the only writer who had a problem submitting the unpaid sample work–which must mean that I’m wrong…right? He also said that they show a “glimpse” of this course to prospective students before they sign up and that offering this “glimpse” at the course before they buy had increased their business exponentially. Um…really? Wow, I guess that’s exactly the same as this situation…oh…wait a minute….:

I don’t really want to belabor the point, but a free glimpse at the course is not taking time (and therefore money) out of your pocket with each viewer and is standard procedure for a course like this. If the prospective students don’t like the “glimpse” they move on. You have your content to sell to other students and it took no additional time out of your billable hours to show the sample to your prospective students. I provide the same free glimpse at my work and worthiness through existing samples, not newly developed, custom content.

Best of luck with your choice and the manual, it is nice to know that I made it to the final four.

The Lesson?

Oh…well…there is no lesson. Some of you will read this and think, “Yeah–right on girl!” Others will read this and think, “Oh my, who does she think she is? So cocky that one…harumpf.” And still others will think, “I read all this and she didn’t talk about crack whores one single time? What a waste.”

The lesson is, there is no lesson. It’s your business, you do what you need to do. Seriously, if my cats were starving or in need of cosmetic surgery, I probably would have just done the samples and tried to get the gig. But my cats are beautiful and don’t need surgery and my table runneth over so I made the business decision to do what I thought was right.

So?

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The changes at AFW are continuing to come, so I want to give you a quick heads up about some of the changes you might see (or will soon see). If you run into any problems with any of these updates, do let me know so I can look into them.

Ad Testing

As you know, I recently brought in a team of writers (six of them in addition to myself). While services and other sites are paying for those staff writers, I want this blog to be able to justify keeping people on board all on its own. Therefore, I’ll be testing various monetization methods now and in the near future.

One of the first things I’m doing is re-introducing Adsense. However, ads should only display in a visitor’s first five visits to All Freelance Writing (or if you clear your cookies, because it then assumes you’re a new visitor). Even for new visitors it should only display one ad per page and not be overly intrusive. The idea here is to monetize one-time traffic like search engine referrals while cutting regular readers some slack on the ads (since regular readers become ad-blind anyway, it doesn’t even make sense from the income standpoint to make you look at them every day).

I’ll also be looking for ways to better monetize job ads. For now you’ll see a job search box at the bottom of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday job lists. That may or may not change depending on how it goes. Again, hopefully nothing terribly intrusive.

New Products

I’m hoping to release two new products here before the end of this year, both e-books.

The first will be an e-book version of the 30 day marketing bootcamp for freelance writers that was recently completed at The Query-Free Freelancer. The e-book version will be enhanced a bit and will include tools and worksheets not available in the post series.

The second will be the next e-book in the Web Writer’s Guide series — a marketing workbook for freelance writers, filled with all kinds of tools you can use to better market your services such as a full marketing plan template tailored specifically to freelance writers.

New Freebies

We’ll continue to release free tools and more as well. For example, the next tool will be an interactive freelance writing rate calculator based on my 2007 article on setting freelance writing rates the right way. If you have tool suggestions, feel free to mention them in a comment and I’ll see if it’s something my programmers can whip up.

New Branding

While I wanted to make some minor branding changes with the last design change, I didn’t get around to it. As of today though we have a new logo and tagline for All Freelance Writing.

Back-end Updates

I’m also making a series of back-end updates to plugins and such to keep the site running as smoothly as possible. There’s always a possibility that plugins will be incompatible or cause some kind of hiccup or another. If you run into problems on the site (like not being able to comment, things displaying oddly, etc.), please leave a comment or email me at jenn(at)allfreelancewriting(dot)com and I’ll look into getting it fixed asap.

I’m really hoping these changes will be for the best.

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1. Updates on Next E-book, Website Flipping, and More
2. I’m Back-ish: Updates and Other Things
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As some of you may or may not know, there is a freelancers’ union that is free to join. Many freelance writers join for group benefits like discounts that you would normally find in an office setting. They also have a pretty good health insurance plan and even a 401(k). They also have formed a political lobby and often keep members in the loop on issues that affect them, such as unemployment insurance.

I think the power that they have over freelancers has gotten to their head though. Check out this memo they sent me this morning.

For Immediate Release

Re: Freelancer Dress Code

Dear freelance union member,

As you are no doubt aware, freelancers comprise 30% of the workforce in the United States. We are a strong group comprised of graphic designers, writers, and video editors, to name a few. We are often overlooked, hardworking individuals who deserve respect.

It troubles me deeply, however, that we often demand rights while sitting at home deep into the afternoon still wearing fuzzy bunny slippers and monkey pajamas at best, little more than boxers at worst. This is not the way to put forth a commanding image. Henceforth, any members of the Freelancers Union must adhere to the following dress code.

• All men must wear a shirt. I’m sorry, but I have to be strict on this. It doesn’t matter if you have decided to go with pants or slacks as no one can see you from the waist down on Skype anyway, but have the professional courtesy to wear something on your torso. Undershirts are not shirts.
• All women must likewise at least be dressed in day clothes. Pajamas are no longer acceptable day-to-day wear, nor is a bathrobe, towel, or any iteration of sauna attire or athletic gear. The Sporty Spice look is also not acceptable.
• Facial piercings and neck tattoos must be kept to a minimum–three of each, tops.
• Personal hygiene is very important. I know that you probably have a deadline, but grab a shower before slamming out an article for a client. I can tell. They can tell.
• Even if you have decided to work all day from bed, that is no excuse to be unprofessional. Men should expect to wear a full three-piece suit while women should wear a business pantsuit. During the winter months, this will help you cut down on heating costs. Dry cleaning costs, not so much.

When every day is Casual Friday, freelancers must take care to understand that casual is not defined by plaid boxers and a stained Lord of the Onion Rings t-shirt. With these subtle changes, I feel we can really be taken seriously as professionals.

If you’ll excuse me, my pantsuit needs pressing.

Warmest wishes,

Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director

Disclaimer: I did not actually get this email, nor would Ms. Horowitz ever send this–but I did write it with pants on.

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As a freelancer, you have to treat money a lot differently than if you were employed by a huge corporation or even a small business. Your paychecks aren’t guaranteed. No one is withholding income taxes on your behalf. You have to be much more conscious of how you’re spending the money you make and avoid costly financial mistakes than can put a halt to your freelance writing career.

1. Living without a budget. Everyone who receives money should have a budget. Budgets are especially necessary for freelancers because our incomes aren’t as predictable. You need a budget to help you figure out how much money you need to make to cover expenses and to help make the most of the income you receive.

2. Failing to track expenses. The same way you use a budget for your personal expenses, you should also have one for your business expenses. Decide ahead of time how much money you’re going to spend on business items. Keep track of what you’re spending because many of those business expenses are tax deductible, reducing the amount of income tax you owe.

3. Not having a tax plan. As a self-employed worker, you’re responsible for sending your income tax to the IRS on a quarterly basis. You must calculate how much you owe and deduct it from your income, preferably on a monthly basis to make it easier. If you don’t pay your income taxes or you don’t send enough, you face a tax penalty when you file next April.

4. Living without an emergency fund. An emergency fund is a savings account that is only accessed to cover unexpected expenses, like a major car repair or medical bill. The emergency fund keeps you from having to use more expensive options for covering those expenses like using a credit card or taking out a payday loan. I suggest that freelance writers and other self-employed workers have a larger emergency fund (6-12 months of living expenses) because our income is less predictable.

5. Not adjusting your lifestyle. If your income goes down when you transition from a full-time job to full-time freelance writing, your lifestyle needs to change, too. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself struggling to make ends meet. Cut out cable television, eating out, and other nice-to-haves until your freelance writing income is high enough to accommodate those expenses.

6. Failing to save for retirement. As much as we love freelance writing, no one wants to do it forever. One day, you’ll want to (or might have to) give your fingers a rest. When that time comes, you’ll need income to live on. There are retirement plans for self-employed workers and every freelance writer should open one and start contributing sooner rather than later.

7. Spending everything you make. Spending all your money is a dangerous habit that can lead to financial disaster. Part of your income should be saved and invested for the future. If you’re spending every penny of your freelance writing income on bills, then look for ways to cut back on expenses or figure out how you can make more money. Then, put the extra money toward your emergency fund and retirement savings.

8. Leaving your rates the same. The cost of living increases, so should your rates. If you leave your rates the same while the cost of everything else goes up, you’ll find it increasingly harder to survive on your freelance writing income. You’ll probably wonder why you suddenly can’t make it anymore. Get in the habit of reviewing your rates annually and comparing to your budget to decide if you need to start giving higher quotes. You’ll also need to reevaluate your writing rates as your life changes, e.g. you have a child, get married, buy a house, etc.

9. Relying on just one or two clients. This is extremely risky because if your primary client leaves, so does most of your income. On the other hand, if one of several clients leaves, it doesn’t leave you with as great an income gap. You can recover quicker from a lost client who makes up 10% of your income than one who makes up 50% of your income.

10. Failing to send or follow up on invoices. An invoice is nothing complex. It’s just a bill that lets your clients know how much they’re supposed to pay you and by when. They’re great for tracking your income and figuring out who’s paid you and who hasn’t. If a client hasn’t paid you by their due date, don’t wait around. Instead, follow up until you get them to pay. You may be able to deduct unpaid invoices on your income taxes, so keep proof of nonpayment.

For freelancers, money management goes beyond making sure you have enough money to pay the bills. No matter how much (or how little) money you’re making, work hard to avoid these money mistakes to keep financial problems at bay.

So…be honest, how many of these mistakes are you making?

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Today in our “Getting Started” series, copywriter Angela Booth will be our guest. She’ll share a bit about her own history in copywriting and offer some advice and tips for aspiring copywriters. Do you have what it takes?

Here’s what Angela had to say:

On How She Started in Copywriting…

“By accident. In the early 1980s I was writing romance novels for a British publisher (MacDonald Futura) and running a business as well. I considered myself a novelist. When I was growing up, I thought that all “real” writers wrote books, so I wasn’t interested in other forms of writing. The happiest day of my life was when I received a phone call to tell me that my first book had been accepted.

So I was happily writing novels, and running this business; it was a dog training operation. We were spending way too much money on straight advertising. I decided we needed publicity, and wrote some press releases, which brought in lots of customers. From then on, business colleagues and acquaintances asked me to write their publicity and advertising, and my copywriting career was launched.

For many years, all my copywriting clients came to me by word of mouth. Looking back, this was a good thing, because I knew the people, knew what they sold, and knew their businesses. This made writing copy easy; doing research before I wrote was automatic; I just talked to my clients. That became an excellent habit. Many new copywriters skimp on the research phase and write copy before they know the product they’re selling, and the copy suffers for it.”

On Needing Specialized Education or Experience Before Starting…

“Formal education-wise, the best thing I ever did was to take a marketing course. It took a couple of years of evening classes.

Experience-wise, for many years, the only copywriting I did for others was copywriting I was doing for myself. In the early years (1980s), I wrote advertising and press releases; I was doing it for the business anyway, and did it for others too.

This helped me to get very comfortable writing copy and testing it.”

On How Writers can get Started in Copywriting…

“Start off by working out what kinds of copy you want to write. Copywriting is a huge field. I begin my “Seven Days Copywriting” product by saying that copy is all around us, from the time we wake in the morning (spots on the radio, commercials on TV and the Internet, product labels on toothpaste, copy on cereal boxes…) until we fall into bed at night. Therefore, a new freelance copywriter needs to work out what kinds of copy he wants to write.

Once you know what you want to write, you can get an education in that. If someone who wants to freelance as a copywriter is already a writer, that’s a big help. Then you can write your own copy (as I did and have always done), and once you’re happy that you know what you’re doing, you can write copy for others.

There’s a HUGE market for copywriting, but most business people have a limited understanding of copywriting — many aren’t even aware that they can hire people to write their marketing collateral.

The Internet means that just about anyone can get hired to write copy, so it’s just a matter of learning, and you can earn while you learn.

As well as being a huge market for direct-response kinds of traditional copywriting, the Internet’s throwing up new opportunities all the time, especially in the audio-visual field — you can get hired to write video and audio scripts, as well as to maintain pages on social media sites like Facebook.

Learn and earn — that’s the best advice I could give anyone who’s thinking about taking up freelance copywriting.”

On Things Prospective Copywriters Should Know…

“Firstly, get comfortable selling. I’ve always found this easy, because when I started, I was focused on something else — the business I was running. I knew we provided a great services, and was focused on telling people about it. Selling came easily. Then I was focused on helping other small businesses and writing copy for them — and again, it was easy, because I could see that their products/ services were brilliant, and I loved getting the word out.

So being comfortable selling [is] vital, but it’s easier said than done. I know this from my own experience. I’ve always been great at marketing for others, but for most of my career fought shy of marketing myself. I didn’t have to do it — until around 2001, I was always too busy (writing books, magazine articles and writing for my copywriting clients) to worry about it.

Then the tech wreck happened, and suddenly many of my magazine clients vanished. I decided I’d make up the difference in income with copywriting clients, and that meant marketing, but it was hard — I had a visceral disgust about saying to people “I’m a great copywriter, hire me!” Which was funny, in a way; I was happy to market others, but very reluctant to do it for myself. So I forced myself to do it, and do it, and finally it became fun.

That’s the secret: if you love writing and want to write copy, but hate selling, just face it, and do it anyway. I promise that it WILL become fun for you, and you won’t look back.

Secondly, realize that your clients NEED you, and that they’re intimidated by you. This is a revelation to most new copywriters. They’re comfortable with words, and don’t think it’s a big deal, but most business people are not comfortable with words. They struggle even to produce a brief, let alone write copy. So if you’re a new copywriter, realize that your clients can’t do what you do, and moreover, they’re leery of you. They think skill with words is spooky — it’s witchcraft. New copywriters get lots of confidence when they realize that their clients need them.

Thirdly, be honest. When you’re new to copywriting, admit it. People will help you. You should always be honest in your copy too — if you think a product stinks, don’t take the gig. If you’re lying in your copy, people will know. This is the reason people talk about “hard sell” and “cheesy” copywriting. They know that the copywriter’s lying. Real copy vanishes — it’s completely transparent. If people read your copy, and feel uncomfortable, it means that the copy is lousy. Your own discomfort shines through. Be honest — there’s no other way to write good copy.”

On Angela Booth…

Angela Booth is a top copywriter, writing teacher and author. She’s been writing copy for around 30 years. Her writing blog at http://www.angelabooth.biz/ discusses copywriting and other forms of writing. If you’re a writer, and would like to begin a freelance copywriting career, Angela can help you to do that, in just seven days, at http://abmagic.com/Copywriting/copywriting.html

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