Deliberate Freelancer

On today's show I am recommending nine nonfiction and business books that have helped me create and grow my freelance business: " Atomic Habits" by James Clear For the past two years I have read this book at the beginning of the new year, which might become an annual tradition because it sets me on a good habit course for the year. One quote from the book I really like is "You do not rise to the l...

Today's guest is Hilary Sutton. Hilary is the CEO of HSL Digital, a content marketing consultancy. She is a keynote speaker and writer who has contributed to HuffPost, the Washington Post and USA Today. The author of several eBooks and courses, Hilary also hosts the popular Hustle & Grace Podcast where she explores cultivating a flourishing career and life. Hilary began her career as an actress pe...

Today's guest is Kristen Hicks. Kristen is a freelance content marketing writer in Austin, Texas. She specializes in helping B2B businesses connect with their audience through content. Her work has been featured on the Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs and Fast Company. She has five furry co-workers, an ever-growing book collection and a (usually) well-stocked wine rack. Kristen is here...

On 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 min...

This is a "tough love" episode. Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, distracted and too busy. I think a lot of that can be alleviated by decreasing your smartphone usage and fighting against social media and digital addictions. It's time to take back our lives. It's time to take control of our schedules. In this episode, I lead you through several steps to cut back on digital distraction,...

As the pandemic changed so many things both personally and professionally, I had to rethink of new ways to market and network in order to find new clients. And in doing so these past four months, I realized what my No. 1 marketing tool is for getting new clients. It's not sexy or groundbreaking, but it's solid: My No. 1 way to find new clients is through referrals. You may not like the words "netw...

Today's guest is Amelia Roberts. Amelia is a digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing 12 years ago as a virtual assistant. Now, Amelia helps under-recognized professionals—freelancers, consultants, solopreneurs—stand out, articulate their unique value and get "first dates" in business. She calls these "visibility opportunities" and she helps manage "visibility projec...

CORRECTION: At the 10:18 minute mark, I misspoke and said you should take $56,000 and multiply it by 12. That should say DIVIDE by 12. My math is correct in the episode; I just misspoke. Sorry about that! In today's episode I outline my experience with the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program—known as the PPP loan program—and encourage you to consider applying for a loan if you have been hurt financia...

Today's guest is Alan Heymann, an executive coach. Alan's coaching company is called Peaceful Direction. He has spent more than two decades in public, government and nonprofit communications. Then, after he hired his own executive coach, he decided to become a coach himself. He founded Peaceful Direction in April 2019. I invited Alan on the podcast to talk about burnout. Burnout happens to the bes...

Three requests for the podcast right now: I want to do an Ask Me Anything episode. Please email or DM via Twitter your questions about the business of freelancing and I'll answer them on a future episode. You can share your name or be anonymous. melanie@meledits.com or DM @MelEdits on Twitter I'm considering a series interviewing freelancers who make six figures. So, if you have earned $100,000 or...

Three requests for the podcast right now: I want to do an Ask Me Anything episode. Please email or DM via Twitter your questions about the business of freelancing and I'll answer them on a future episode. You can share your name or be anonymous. melanie@meledits.com or DM @MelEdits on Twitter I'm considering a series interviewing freelancers who make six figures. So, if you have earned $100,000 or...

Today's guest is Amy Ragland, a freelance marketing writer and content strategist in Wichita, Kansas. She writes mostly for financial services clients. Amy and her husband have two daughters, ages 13 and 11. Amy began freelancing in 2002, before she was married. She began freelancing on the side when someone asked her to do a particular project. For a long time, it was only a side hustle and spora...

First, Black Lives Matter. Let's talk … On today's show I am going to go over how you can relook, reimagine and reexamine your goals in the midst of a crisis, like this global pandemic. But first, I want to talk about the protests happening this week in our country after the murder of George Floyd by police and the "weaponization" of race by a white woman, Amy Cooper, in Central Park. As if the pa...

This week is a mini episode because I'm doing what I'm preaching: Taking a break. I apologize for the brevity, but I will be back next week with regular episodes. This past weekend was the three-day Memorial Day weekend. And while it looked very different during this pandemic, I still focused on taking most of the weekend off, completely unplugged from work. And I encourage you to take a break too...

Today's guest is Jessica Thiefels, an organic content marketer, which means she focuses on creating content and content strategies for clients—but doesn't work with paid marketing and sales. Jessica now lives in Burlington, Vermont, after traveling for eight months last year with her husband. Jessica also has a new podcast called Mindset Reset Radio, which helps millennials get intentional in thei...

Today's guest is Julia Bocchese, an SEO consultant and Pinterest strategist for creative small businesses. Her goal is to make SEO and Pinterest strategies approachable and easy to implement for all small businesses so they can reach their ideal clients organically. She lives in Philadelphia with her Siberian Husky sidekick and her husband. And on the side, she runs a travel photography site and g...

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how to get new clients right now. I've also been thinking about how I will have to change my business and plan for the next several months or year or two, even though so many things are unknown during this pandemic. First, here are some reminders about how to be a rock star for your clients. This is about your personality, attitude and ability to be...

On today's show I talk about how the pandemic is forcing some of us (me included) to pivot and how we need to find our own resilience to be able to pivot and work on our freelance business. I don't actually want to pivot right now. I like what I was doing with my business and where it was going. But I don't have a choice, as I've lost clients and projects and need to replace that income. I had an...

Today's guest is acupuncturist Rachel Brumberger, here to talk about acupuncture and Chinese medicine and how you can use those principles to do some self-care at home right now. Rachel began studying acupuncture in 2009. She has earned a master in acupuncture, a master of Oriental medicine and a postgraduate certificate in women's holistic health—all from the Maryland University of Integrative He...

This is a slight diversion from the usual episode, but I know a lot of you are bookworms, like me. However, you might be finding it hard to read right now because you're too stressed. Or you don't want to read the same type of books. Or you're having trouble getting books because you always relied on your local library, which is now shut down. So, I'm going to talk about all these things today, wh...

Today's guest is Omar Gallaga, a technology and culture freelance writer from the Austin, Texas, area. Omar has been writing about technology for years. He has written for NPR, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Hispanic Magazine. He spent 21 years as a reporter and editor for the Austin American-Statesman—where he helped launch the Spanish-language newspaper ¡ahora sí!, a...

Today's guest is Michelle Garrett, a public relations consultant, content creator, blogger, speaker and freelance writer. She is also the host of the weekly tweet chat #FreelanceChat, which you can join every Thursday at 12 p.m. Eastern time. Michelle is the first guest to return to the show. She first appeared on episode #7 to talk about blogging and tweeting to build your business. I invited Mic...

On today's show I talk about how sometimes I'm just not feeling it. Sometimes I just feel blah and unmotivated. But, I have client work to do. But, I'm having a hard time kicking my butt into gear. Two interesting reasons I might be feeling blah that I learned about in recent years: One, I learned from my acupuncturist that some people feel blah or out of sorts when seasons change. The past two ye...

Today's guest is Mira Dineen, a registered social worker and organizational consultant in Toronto, Canada. In her clinical counseling practice, Mira specializes in working with women with anxiety, worry and perfectionism. As a consultant, she designs and delivers wellness programming in post-secondary institutions, startups and nonprofits. While Mira is only allowed to offer clinical therapy to pe...

Where do you want to go in the new year (metaphorically)? On today's show, we're going to set you up right for the new year. I'm going to talk about how you can reflect back on the past year, analyze the good and the bad, and then plan for next year. The end of the year is the perfect time to think about the big questions surrounding your freelance business. What does success and growth look like...