Tag Archives: Freelance Professional

Ed Gandia

Running a Different Kind of Writing Business

There’s a story I’ve come across a few times, most recently in the excellent book Essentialism by Greg McKeown. When Steve Jobs was looking for a logo for his company NeXT, he turned to renowned graphic …
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Ed Gandia

Drop Your Retail Store Mentality

Do you have a retail store mentality when it comes to your clients? By this, I mean that you’ll take whatever client walks in the door. That’s what retail stores do. They just want traffic and paying …
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Ed Gandia

How to Put Limits on Free Advice

You could argue that giving free advice to prospects is part of the sales process. By “kicking the ball around” with prospects (i.e., brainstorming and sharing ideas), you’re allowing them to assess your expertise. But unfortunately, some …
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Ed Gandia

A Better Operational Playbook for 2021

Most ambitious freelancer writers want to grow their income. If they’re at $8k a month, they want to be at $10k. If they’re at $10k a month, they want to be at $12k. And if they’re in the …
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Ed Gandia

A Framework for Prospecting on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been a fantastic prospecting tool for many of my coaching clients. But many writers don’t know where to start — and so they haven’t done much with it. The good news: Prospecting on LinkedIn is …
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Ed Gandia

An Agency Wants to Work With Me … But I Can’t Make Their Offer Work

Some day, an agency may offer you some work (if they haven’t already). And you might be a little surprised (or perhaps shocked!) by how little they pay. It’s not unusual for agencies to pay their contractors …
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Ed Gandia

How to Raise Your Fees With Existing Clients

Once you’ve been in business as a freelance writer for a while, you sometimes end up with one or two clients that you’re charging significantly less than your other clients. How did you end up in …
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Ed Gandia

How to Prevent Clients from Asking for a Ton of Revisions

If you’ve ever been asked to make multiple rounds of revisions to your submitted written work (and who hasn’t!), then you’ll know how time consuming and frustrating it can be. After all, you’ve done your research …
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Ed Gandia

#155: Why You Need to Set Standards in Your Business — and How to Do It Right

Interesting fact: The biggest reason writers become (and stay) self-employed is freedom and flexibility — not money. That’s what I’ve uncovered after surveying thousands of writers over the past eight years. More freedom around when you work …
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Ed Gandia

How to Handle Rejection and Criticism as a Freelancer

No one likes to be rejected or criticized. But as freelancers, we have to get used to it. In today’s post, guest contributor Mark McGuinness reveals some practical steps we can take to lighten the sting …
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Ed Gandia

#140: What’s Going on With the Freelance Economy? A Look at the Numbers with Robert McGuire

I remember the blank stares I got in 2006 when I told friends and relatives that I quit my day job to go freelance. Back then, very few people understood what freelancing was ... or that …
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Ed Gandia

#132: Why You Should Do More of What Scares You

All of us are born with a great sense of wonder, courage and boldness. As toddlers, we have tremendous curiosity. And we’re not afraid to explore and to express our creative spirit. But somewhere along the way, …
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Ed Gandia

My ‘Sliding Scale’ Method for Quoting a Project

You’ve had your initial discussion with a new prospect. They’ve described what they need. And you’ve had an opportunity to ask them more about their project, expectations and timing. Now comes the hard part: working up an …
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Ed Gandia

Two Simple Negotiating Tricks That Will Put More Money in Your Pocket

How would you respond to a prospect who says: "Sorry, that's more than I can pay." Should you budge? If so, how do you do that without giving away the farm? Effective negotiating is not as difficult as …
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Ed Gandia

What to Say During Your First Call With a Prospect

During my first six years in sales I used to start off every in-person appointment or initial phone call with something like, “Thanks for your time this morning.” To me, it just felt right and courteous to …
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