Podcast
Deliberate Freelancer
Hosted by Melanie Padgett Powers · EN
The show for those who want to build a successful freelance business. We are NOT about the hustle. We are NOT about the feast-or-famine cycle. We are about building a business. Deliberately.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#197: Be Honest: Are You Self-Sabotaging?, with Melissa Hobson
Dec 5, 202400:45:42Tap to summarizeToday’s guest is Melissa Hobson, who does business as The Ocean Writer Ltd. Her writing focuses on marine science and conservation. Melissa lives in Hastings, England. She has written for National Geographic, Scientific American, BBC Wildlife, BBC Countryfile, New Scientist, the Guardian and more. She also does some content and copywriting for NGOs and companies, but still focuses on the ocean and conservation. In this episode, we talk about: The revelation she had after a conversation with a friend. Using “I’m so busy” as an excuse. Fear of failure. What she did in her business after a mindset shift. How she gamified her pitching. How she organizes her finances. Using “busy” as a badge of honor or part of our identity. Try this: Ask yourself “why” five times. How she became interested in writing about the ocean. The importance of following your curiosity. Resources: Melissa’s website Melissa on LinkedIn Melissa’s article about Fat Bear Week Fat Bear Week in Katmai National Park, Alaska Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Episode #163 of Deliberate Freelancer: Dealing with Overwhelm and Uncertainty: A Mini Coaching Session, with Helen Jane Campbell
Transcribe →#196: Wrap Up the Year on a High Note
Nov 21, 202400:25:27Tap to summarizeI’m excited about Bluesky! Are you on the platform too? Let’s create a Deliberate Freelancer starter pack — more on that in this episode — but follow me at @MelEdits. On today’s show, I share five questions to help you wrap up your year to create a “fresh start” in January. I explain the difference between these five questions and larger questions to ask yourself later in a solo business retreat to set up your year for success. The five questions are: What do I need to do now to line up work in January? What do I need to do to wrap up the year? Do I need to raise rates or fire anyone? Where do I need to improve my marketing and networking? How much money did I make this year? What I Learned This Week: Your standing desk isn’t making you any healthier: https://wapo.st/3ApawfD The Bookshelf: “Slow Productivity” by Cal Newport Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Melanie on Bluesky Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Episode #149 of Deliberate Freelancer: Evaluate—and Expand or Fire—Your Clients for a Strong 2023 Episode #123 of Deliberate Freelancer: My 2021 Business Review and Questions to Help You Episode #148 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Line Up January Work Now
Transcribe →#195: Infusing My Core Self Back into My Business
Nov 14, 202400:29:52Tap to summarizeOn today’s show, I talk about how hiring a business coach for a few months helped me get excited about my business again. Here’s what I share with you in this episode: Why I hired a coach. The initial goals I had with coaching and how that changed. How outlining who my “core self” was helped me with my business direction. Insights that my coach had that helped me. Why you should ask yourself if the services you provide “light you up” and bring you joy. How fight/flight/freeze/fawn may affect our businesses. What the Polyvagal Theory is and a few ways to quickly calm your nerves (see links below). What I Learned This Week: I need to create a menu of joy. The Bookshelf: “The Caretaker” by Ron Rash Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support ad-free Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee How to find a certified menopause practitioner Informative Johns Hopkins article about menopause Menopause expert Dr. Mary Claire Haver on Instagram Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s book “The New Menopause” Article “Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn: How We Respond to Threats” Reels to show you how to calm anxiety and stress through your vagus nerve: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4D5bHNggVY/ https://www.instagram.com/p/C5oyvuRyiFL/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DABReeTMLlp/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DBjkz5RPOgk/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9juS0PLO4/ Episode #182 of Deliberate Freelancer: A massive pivot from freelancing to owning a business with her husband, with business coach Jenni Gritters JenniGritters.com Episode #126 of Deliberate Freelancer: A Real Talk About Mental Health—and Languishing Episode #137 of Deliberate Freelancer: I’m Grieving. How Can I Keep My Business Running?
Transcribe →#194: October By the Numbers
Nov 7, 202400:25:41Tap to summarizeOn today’s new regular monthly episode I recap what my business looked like in October. This includes: How much I worked in October. The types of work I did and how I charged. Why a lower-paying passion project can be worth it. My total monthly earnings. How I landed a new anchor client. Why I sometimes break the “freelancing rules” and charge hourly and per word. What I Learned This Week: I am not as young as I used to be. The Bookshelf: “The Flatshare” by Beth O’Leary Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Email Melanie feedback or suggestions about “By the Numbers” episodes: melanie@meledits.com Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee
Transcribe →#193: How to Improve Your Money and Your Nutrition Habits, with Reyna Gobel
Oct 31, 202400:37:41Tap to summarizeToday’s guest is Reyna Gobel, MBA, MPH, a New Yorker who is a purpose-driven freelance writer. She writes journalism and content on personal finance, travel, pets, and health and nutrition. Reyna is a personal finance and health expert and award-winning author. Her articles and quoted advice have appeared in over 300 publications and websites, including Forbes, Money, Reuters, NPR, Harvard Health, and The Atlantic. Michelle Singletary selected three of her books as the book of the month in The Washington Post. Reyna co-created the 30-Day Precision Nutrition Challenge and recently authored the fourth version of Graduation Debt : How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life. In this episode, we talk about: How to reduce your “ghost spending.” The biggest mistakes she sees freelancers make with their finances. The importance of tracking your expenses. How budgeting apps can help you. How unexplained illnesses led to her nutrition journey. What she offers through her nutrition course. What I Learned This Week: How AI super users are getting ahead at work The Bookshelf: “Worst Case Scenario” by TJ Newman Resources: 30-Day Precision Nutrition Challenge Book: “Graduation Debt : How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life” Reyna on LinkedIn Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee
Transcribe →#192: The Prodigal Daughter Finally Returns to Her Podcast
Oct 24, 202400:33:20Tap to summarizeI am finally back! I know, I know — this was way longer than that a “summer” hiatus. I’m sorry for the delay, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was coming back. I’ll talk about that in today’s episode and share why I did come back (mainly because of you, my wonderful listeners). Here’s what I share with you in this episode: A few minor changes to the podcast. How my income goals are going. Why my “summer” hiatus took so long. How I was reminded to prioritize what’s important to me. How I spent my summer vacation. Why hiring a business coach was the right move. What I Learned This Week: The types of Zoom backgrounds that are most and least likely to cause Zoom fatigue. The Bookshelf: “Everyone But Myself” by Julie Chavez Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Episode #182 of Deliberate Freelancer: A massive pivot from freelancing to owning a business with her husband, with business coach Jenni Gritters
Transcribe →#79: Six-Figure Freelancing: Consistently Sending LOIs and Using Upwork, with Laura Pennington Briggs
Nov 12, 2020Tap to summarizeToday’s guest is Laura Pennington Briggs. Laura is a teacher turned entrepreneur, two-time TEDx speaker and freelance writer. She’s the author of the award-winning “How to Start Your Own Freelance Writing Business” and the Amazon bestseller “Six-Figure Freelancer” and the founder of Operation Freelance. Laura started as a freelance writer and virtual assistant in 2012. Now, she continues to write but also does book marketing and book launch strategy for authors. She started out as a part-time freelancer. But after 18 months of freelancing—only six months of that as a full-time freelancer—she hit the six-figure mark. To get to that financial goal, Laura tracked her income and financial projections on a legal pad. Freelancers are often told not to go on Upwork, but Laura used Upwork to build and scale her business. In fact, she earned over $450,000 through the site over the years. But she points out that it’s important to have a strategy when you are using Upwork. When she was a new freelancer, she aimed to get Upwork jobs primarily for the feedback, not necessarily the fee, so that she could build good ratings on the site, opening the door to better and more work. She called these her “fast, cheap and simple” jobs to deliver the service easily and quickly to get a fast five-star review. She now has more than 200 positive ratings on Upwork, which lands her good work. You also have to know what the red flags are, such as clients with ridiculous expectations and a very long description for a simple, short project. Also, when clients tell you they’ve worked with lots of other freelancers before and it’s never worked out, that’s a red flag! You can also read other freelancers’ reviews of clients. Trust those reviews. The two ways that have worked best for Laura to find new clients have been Upwork and emailing cold letters of introduction (LOIs). Laura says if you send 50 LOIs and only one person responds, there’s something wrong with your LOI or your strategy. It’s important to take the time to research the client and explain why you like that company. Make the beginning of an LOI personal and hook the person. Don’t use a standard template for the entire LOI, which is a common mistake. Great tip: Laura emails an LOI, and then about 30 minutes later she connects with that person on LinkedIn saying, “Spoiler alert: I just pitched you via email.” Remember: Your perspective clients don’t really care about you, only that you’re qualified. So keep that part of your LOI to about two sentences and focus instead on how you can help them. Sending LOIs is also a numbers game—you need to send a lot to get responses. You cannot just send a 1–2 LOIs a week and expect to get a bunch of new clients. Laura recommends sending five pitches a week for three months, tracking them and seeing how people respond. Make it a weekly habit. Laura is a morning person. She works in batches based on the type of work, not the client. For example, she spends time on pitches for different clients during the same time slot, not focusing on all tasks for one client before moving on to another clients’ tasks. When it comes to pricing, Laura recommends newer freelancers take on smaller projects and try out their rate, rather than committing to a rate and a long-term contract. You should try out your pricing and make sure you feel comfortable with it. Experienced freelancers should examine their pricing every six months. Clients are paying not for your time, but your years of experience and expertise. Laura does not commit to pricing over the initial phone call. She tells potential clients she will get back to them by email. She may be nervous to quote over the phone, but she may also actually need the time to consider all aspects of the project and what it may truly cost and entail. Remember that you can negotiate everything, not just price. You can negotiate length, deadline, scope of work and the amount of communication (no phone calls, no strategy sessions unless they pay more). You can also give a discount if they sign a long-term contract. Laura advises that you have to get comfortable with calling the shots. You might feel like you’re pitching yourself as a freelancer to a client, but you have to believe that you’re a CEO too and you get to decide what your company policies and deal breakers are. Laura tried to be an agency owner for a year, outsourcing her writing to subcontractors. And she hated it. You do not have to outsource your client work if you don’t want to. Instead, if you want to scale, you can outsource certain pieces of the process, like marketing, administrative work, invoicing or LinkedIn outreach. Biz Bite: Hire a virtual assistant Resources: Laura’s website: Better Biz Academy Laura’s book “The Six-Figure Freelancer” Laura’s podcast: Advanced Freelancing
Transcribe →#66: How to Price Your Projects
Aug 6, 2020Tap to summarizeOn today’s show I am going to talk about why you should aim for providing only project rates and how to go about setting those rates. A lot of us struggle with pricing, even those of us who have been doing this for a while. But here’s a secret: We’re all just making this up. The best pricing is often project based, and that is a made-up number when it comes down to it. You need to reframe your mindset and get your head around the fact that you are a freelance business owner. You are the boss. You are in charge of your own business. This means, you need to shift your mindset 180 degrees from waiting to hear what someone will pay you, and asking what someone will pay you, to telling someone what your rate is or telling someone what you charge for that project. It’s such a huge mindset shift in so many ways when you finally embrace the fact that you are in charge of your business. If someone cannot afford you, then you move on to the next potential client. When many of us start freelancing, we take what we can get and we allow the client to set the pricing and the parameters. Or, when the client asks what our rate is, we give them an hourly rate, often too low. But when you embrace the fact that you are the owner of your own business, you will start to think about pricing differently. Your overarching goal should be to think of every assignment and gig as a project rate and to propose project rates to every client. But first, let’s talk about hourly pricing and why it is such a problem. First, hourly pricing means you are charging for your time. And that is one thing we all need to stop doing—charging based on our time. Time is finite. There is only so much money you can make each week before you run out of time and energy. You will be unable to grow your business this way. Also, time does not equal the value you bring to a project. You need to base your fees on your value. Third, hourly pricing penalizes you for working fast. And, if you and the client don’t discuss how many hours a project might take, the client could be surprised and frustrated when they see the invoice at the end of the month. Since some listeners are writers, let’s talk about per word rates. Ideally, everything would be project rates, but sometimes you are in an industry that does dictate the style of pricing. For writers, that’s a per word rate. You can try to push back on this and suggest a flat rate for writing an article, but often editors’ hands are tied based on an antiquated system. With per word rates (and really, all projects) I build in systems to work faster while still providing top quality. For writing assignments, that could mean recording interviews. Sometimes I record only to listen to certain parts (I mark timestamps in my notes when the person says something great or that I want to check back on). Sometimes I record and have someone else transcribe the interview. It’s worth the financial investment because it saves me time and energy in the long run. (I also hate transcribing with a fiery passion.) Writers, please know that a per word rate exists often only in journalism. In content marketing, especially for companies, you can often charge a project rate. If you come from the journalism world and are accustomed to per word rates, leave that behind when you are pricing your projects. You might get stuck with a per word rate, but don’t suggest it up front. Start with a project rate. Now that we accept that we should all be charging by the project, how do we actually do that? I was serious when I said these rates are made up. Not one freelancer or consultant has it figured out and has created the perfect project rate every single time. No two projects are the same. No two clients are the same. Here are just a few things that go into creating a project rate: The expertise you bring to that particular job. The value the client will get from your work. The amount of energy you will need to put into the project versus doing an easy project. Whether the client requires regular check-ins or for you to attend phone meetings—charge for those meetings! Whether the client is a new client or a beloved current or former client. Whether the client is a pain in the butt or has a history of scope creep. Whether the client is a major corporation or a small nonprofit you want to help out. The extras that are required—are there more rounds of editing? Are there extras like social media posts that need to be included? The project timeline—is it reasonable or hurried? Is it a rush job? And the list goes on and on! Here is my system for coming up with a project rate. First, I have a secret hourly rate to give me something to start with. Now, I said don’t use an hourly rate, so if you do start with an hourly rate, use this very loosely as just your “base” to get started. Don’t stick to it. Next, ask yourself all those things about what type of project and client this is, including: Are you an expert at this type of work? Are you in high demand? Did you come highly recommended to this client from another client of yours? Do you bring a certain skill set that is difficult to find? Even if you don’t, are you good at what you do? Have you done this before? Are you confident you can produce a quality product? What type of client is this? How much value will they get out of your project? How much energy will this project take—this is not time, this is ENERGY. Do you get the sense that this will be a tiring project, taxing on your brain, that the client is a pain in the butt, that you don’t really want to do the job? Take the time to evaluate to the best of your ability all the parameters around the project, not just the skill set needed to do the project. One of the best ways to do that is to have an initial phone call with the potential client. I know some of us hate the phone, but a phone call can be critical to finding out this information so that you can provide an appropriate project rate or a proposal. You can also learn a lot about someone when you talk on the phone with them—you can gather hints about what the client will be like to work with that you can’t get over email. For the phone conversation, write out a list of questions so you don’t forget. In fact, you can create a template of questions to ask every client. Questions you may want to ask, besides the details of the assignment, are: How would you like to stay updated? Can I just send you emails when I have questions? (This question could tell you a lot if they say something like, “Oh, I’d like you to join us for our weekly check-ins” versus “I trust you. Just let me know if you run into any problems.” Do you have samples of previous projects I could take a look at? Who is my direct contact? Is it one person? Are there multiple people involved? What is the review process like? How flexible is the timeline? A potential client may ask, “What’s your rate?” I often respond with something like, “I’ll be able to put together a proposal for you with a project rate after we’ve talked through the details.” You can also ask, “Do you have a budget in mind?” Sometimes they won’t and that may be OK. But if they say “about $500” and you are talking about a project that might start out at a base rate of $3,000, you don’t need to waste your time talking with them anymore. It can be helpful to educate them, though, even if they don’t change their budget. You are helping boost your industry by letting them know quality work is worth way more than that $500. And maybe they’ll increase their budget! Once I have all these questions answered and I have considered all the parameters, I take my base rate and start to increase it. After you come to a number, ask yourself this very important question: Do I want to do this project for that amount? You do not want to offer a rate that you will end up resenting—resenting the rate, the project, the client, yourself. Also know before you get back to the client what number you will not go below, in case you have to negotiate a bit. You don’t want to get flustered and negotiate a number that is too low for you. If you need to walk away from the project, you can simply email and say, “After further reflection/looking over the details, this is not a good fit for me.” Don’t say you’re sorry. Don’t continue to offer explanation. Don’t over-explain. You are the boss of you. It’s not a good fit. End of story. Biz Bite: Buy the good pens. (or elevate your workspace) The Bookshelf: “Notes from a Young Black Chef” by Kwame Onwuachi Resources: Episode #39 of Deliberate Freelancer: Raise Your Rates—Without Emotion Episode #18 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Set Higher Rates Episode #1 of Deliberate Freelancer: Change Your Mindset: You Own a Freelance Business Laura Vanderkam talks about “buying the good pens” on The Productivityist Podcast, episode 322, The New Corner Office with Laura Vanderkam FreeConferenceCall.com Rev.com (transcriptionist service)
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