About Michelle Goodman

Ask me about freelancing + contract work

Recent posts

• Comment on careers's answer…

  0 0 Check out http://www.problogger.net/ for tips on turning your blog into a side business venture. One word of advice to Gary: I wouldn't blog about the trials and tribulations of your employer/job - even anonymously - until you've left it. That's the sort of thing that can get you fired. It's happened before, even when someone thought they were blogging anonymously. Michelle Goodman commented about 1 year ago

• Comment on Michelle Goodman's answer…

  0 0 You might also try attending a "how to sell your book" event/class like this: http://bizofbooks.wordpress.com/ (disclosure: Jen Worick is a friend of mine). You'll be surrounded by dozens of writers hoping to sell their books. Michelle Goodman commented about 1 year ago

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  Tips for managing new complications in a retainer?

  0 0 Hi LTF, ack! I feel your pain! Obviously this is not a sustainable situation or you wouldn't be writing to me. Some suggestions (feel free to mix and match as you see fit): 1. Meet with all three managers (or whomever was your initial contact) and tell them you can better serve the company by having one point of contact, not three. Make it about the benefits to their business (more efficient, more personalized attention, whatever) than the benefits to you. If you only meet with one of your contacts, don't badmouth the others; be diplomatic. 2. Let the client(s) know that the workflow has changed and it's no longer efficient. (Last minute requests mean you're not always available that minute or you have to do a rush - and thus, less than ideal - job.) Suggest that they funnel all requests into one daily or weekly phone meeting or email. Any other requests will have to wait until the next meeting/call. 3. Since I don't know what you're making on this gig, how many hours you've agreed to work, and how many hours you're actually working, it's hard to get super-specific on how much more money or what timeframe limitations to ask for. But clearly you're being subjected to scope creep, which can only mean one thing for a freelancer: you're working more for the same amount of money, which means you have less time for other clients and essentially are losing money. This has to stop! Tell your client(s) that the parameters have changed and you'd like to renegotiate. You can put a time cap on the hours you devote to them each week, you can ask for more money, or you can ask to reconfigure the pay structure (instead of retainer they pay you per hour or project). If what's happening is that they expect you to be on call 40 hours a week but are only paying you for 10 hours' worth of work, I'd say you're getting the short end of the stick. If they want you on call all week long, they should give you a full-time contract. 4. Speaking of contracts, do you have one? If so, I'm guessing they're violating the terms. Even if you don't, it sounds like it's high time you mentioned - nicely - that they're not sticking to the agreement you made at the start of the project and since the parameter of the job have changed, you'd like to renegotiate. And this time, get all the terms in writing so you can point to them later if things go haywire again. If the client finds any of these requests so unreasonable that they feel they need to hire a family member they can abuse instead, it sounds like you'll be dodging a bullet by letting them go. Think of all the time you're wasting and money you're losing on this gig. Instead you could focus those however many hours a week on replacing that client with a saner one. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm actually teaching an online class on dealing with nightmare clients next month, in case you need more info. Details here: http://the-efa.org/eve/catalog.php No worries if not interested/able. Just mentioning in case it's of use to you. Good luck with this! Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer and comment »

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  Becoming A Researcher

  0 0 I know a lot of authors, some of whom have been best-sellers. Most don't have the budget for a researcher, a publicist, a transcriptionist, or an editor, and even if they do, it's often meager. That said, here are some places you can find or hobnob with writers/authors who may need to hire a researcher: 1. Go where the writers go. Locally, we can often be found at mixers put on by the Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spjwash.org/) and mediabistro (www.mediabistro.com). Get keep an eye on the events page of both sites and attend their next happy hour. 2. Attend a writer's conference. One of the best places to meet writers with a book in the works or agents (who may have writers who need research help). If you can't afford the admission fee, offer to volunteer for a day. 3. Put an ad on the bulletin board at Richard Hugo House (www.hugohouse.org) or 826 Seattle (http://www.826seattle.org/), both arts centers where aspiring writers take classes. If you have no direct experience doing this sort of work for authors/writers (which you will need in order to appeal to the groups mentioned in bullets #1 and #2), you might consider offering your services for free or cheap in order to land a first project or client. 4. Join some online writing communities, like http://www.shewrites.com/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seattlewritergrrls/. See if you can drum up any interest in your services there. Again, you may want to do a little pro bono or discounted work to land that first client. 5. Consider purchasing a Google or Facebook ad for your services. While you're at it, build yourslf a nice web page promoting your services and skills so prospective clients know you're legit. Good luck! Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer and comment »

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  How to find a Small Business Mentor?

  0 0 Some additional suggestions: 1. Biznik.com (http://www.biznik.com) - a community of entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals - has wonderful, free and low-cost networking events and workshops. 2. NW Entrepreneur Network (http://www.nwen.org/) also has low-cost classes and events. 3. Grassroots Business Assn (http://www.grassrootsbusinessassociation.com/) is another regional group with wonderful, low-cost opportunities to meet other self-employed pros and entrepreneurs. 4. Check out the parties and events for solo professionals at coworking facilities like Office Nomads (http://www.officenomads.com) In other words, put together your own peer mentoring group. A businessperson doesn't have to have 20 years of experience on you to be a valuable mentor. In fact, someone just 2-5 years ahead of you on the entrepreneurial road may be more able to relate to and offer advice on the issues and questions you're currently facing. Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »

• Follow Following 1 Tips for managing new complications in a retainer? LiveToFreelance asked Michelle Goodman in Un/Employment about 1 year ago 1 Answer by Michelle Goodman…

• Comment on Dan Williams's answer…

  0 0 All great recommendations here! I wrote a long answer below that essentially says much of what EricaT and Dan said, before I saw these comments. Michelle Goodman commented about 1 year ago

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  What are the best ways to promote a graphic design/marketing business to a local community?

  1 0 I agree with Dan; it would help to know what specific audience you're targeting. For the sake of argument, though, let's pretend you focus on design/marketing/branding for the local medical community (doctors, hospitals, and perhaps some insurance providers or alternative health care providers). I'm not a fan of pricy ads. Fortunately the web offers many inexpensive alternatives: you can create a targeted Facebook ad, you can advertise in the digital newsletter of a regional medical association, you can buy an ad on a website your target audience frequents. Ads are not your only option of course. And they're not necessarily your best option. Going back to my hypothetical example, if you're not well-known in the local medical community, there's a lot you can do to get there. Start frequenting industry luncheons hosted by your professional association of choice. Start a blog or a Twitter feed that offers design/branding advice aimed at medical professionals and promote it through online industry channels. Get to know people who WRITE for medical professionals; their clients may need a designer at some point. (Better yet, team up with them to land clients.) Get connected with medical professionals and other freelancers on LinkedIn. While you're at it, answer some questions on LinkedIn to show off your expertise. For better or worse, the more connected you are, the more recommendations and work you're going to get. (The fact that it's STILL all about who you know in this day and age tickles my analog heart.) Clients who needed a website or brochure redesigned yesterday don't want to spend a lot of time interviewing freelance designers/marketers -- they just want to collect recommendations of qualified folks from trusted colleagues in their network. Do your best to be a part of as many relevant networks as you can and you'll never go hungry. Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

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  When you're self employed, how do you get clients to hire you for something you haven't quite done before?

  0 0 Great question! If you've already asked your proofreading clients to give you a shot at copyediting and they've ignored or turned down your request (presumably because the market is flooded with people who do have that exact experience), offer to do a small copyediting project at a reduced rate or pro bono, just this once, so you can prove that you have the chops. Remind them how many years' experience you have proofreading and that you sleep with a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style under your pillow, etc. Just be sure the project is short and sweet (a day or less) so you don't lose too much time to the lower rate or freebie. And if you haven't asked your client yet, just try asking -- and not at the reduced rate! In addition, since you already have the skills, put together a couple of copyediting samples and get to work soliciting NEW clients who need editing work. If you don't have copyediting samples, nab some bad copy from the web and mark that up. Some up-and-coming editors will even use this as a strategy for landing new clients. Just be sure that when you contact a business with any unsolicited revisions you've made to their web copy that you're incredibly charming and diplomatic. Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer and comment »

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  How do you go from working a full time job to becoming a freelancer? There just isn't enough time in the day.

  0 0 Without knowing your weekly schedule and responsibilities and financial situation, it's hard to give a precise prescriptive answer (though I did write a couple books on the topic; see my bio). That said, I never advise people to quit their job tomorrow and start freelancing from scratch with zero preparation. You have to start somewhere, so how about dedicating a couple hours a week to building up your portfolio, creating a website if you haven't already, marketing yourself to potential clients, growing your professional network, researching freelance rates in your chosen profession, and socking away the money you'll need as a cushion your first year as a freelancer? When your side business gets some traction and you find yourself devoting 10-15 hours a week to it, THEN you can worry about how you're going to fit in the day job, your home life, and sleeping. (If the business is a hit and you're loving freelancing, chances are you'll find a way to get by on slightly less sleep or social/family time, or you'll scale back your day job hours or trade your job in for a less demanding one until you're ready to take the leap and quit working for the man entirely.) But let's talk about your weekly schedule a moment: How much TV do you watch a week? How much time do you spend on Facebook? Cut those out and you'll likely come up with a couple free hours each week. If that's not the issue, how about sneaking in 15 minutes here and there during lunch at work or before or after work, while you're still at your office? (Just be sure to use your own laptop and phone.) If your every waking hour is spent driving to and from work, doing your day job, and caring for your family and you see no way to cut back, obviously this either isn't the time for you to launch a side business (wait till the kids are in school) or you'll have to get a more flexible day job in order to do so. Michelle Goodman answered in Un/Employment about 1 year ago Answer and comment »

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