Projects I worked on during the week of Nov. 16, 2014

Rather than doing an hourly breakdown or a daily breakdown of my freelance life, this week I figured I’d share with you my project breakdown! These are the projects I worked on this week: Edited a manuscript and created content for the back-of-the-book blurb. Updated and managed social media for a client. Conducted a website …

How do I ask for testimonials?

Last week we talked about why testimonials are important for freelancers. Now it’s time to discuss how to request testimonials from your clients! Here are some tips for asking for testimonials from clients: Ask for testimonials from clients with whom you have an established relationship and history. I was working part-time as a freelancer for …

Word of the day: syllogism

Saturdays, as you know, are a bit of a mixed bag around here! While I’ll mostly be posting updates on the past week, sharing quotes and ideas from the week, and providing insights into the freelance life, I might also occasionally slip in something like a word of the day—just for the fun of it …

Why do freelancers need testimonials?

All freelancers can benefit from having testimonials and recommendations for their work. Just as you wouldn’t hire someone as an employee until you did a few reference checks, you also want to make sure that your freelancer is highly recommended by their past clients. Getting freelance gigs is a little bit different with each client. …

The Skills We Bring to the Table

Editing is HARD… but you make it look so easy! – One of my client’s who creates academic worksheets, web copy, and manuscripts. When one of my clients made the above comment about my work, it made my day – and it also reminded me that not everyone can do what I do. I think …

A Simple Trick to Make Boring Work More Fun

Here’s the thing: I love 95% of my work. It’s awesome and enjoyable and challenging and wonderful. Anything related to editing makes me very happy, and nearly all of my writing tasks are also highly interesting and enjoyable. But as a new freelancer, I occasionally have to take on work that is only vaguely related …

The Art of Social Media Cross-Promoting for Clients

So you have a few different social media accounts—or you run the social media for several different clients—and you’re wondering about when you should and should not cross-promote between the brands. This is a really important question to take into consideration, because it can help enhance the different social media accounts you’re managing… but if …

Re-cap of the week of Oct 19, 2014 in my #freelancelife

As promised in my recent Blog Makeover article over at Living Healthy in the Real World, I’ll now be posting re-caps of the past week as a home-based business owner (as well as thoughts from the week and answering FAQs about the freelance life) every Saturday here at Living Rhetorically in the Real World! Here’s …

organize filing system

Five Steps to Organizing Your Filing System

You can be far more productive (and avoid a lot of headaches!) by making a few small changes to your organizational system. This can work for both the office or in the home—and if you have a home-based business, then this is exactly what you need! Grab the cheatsheet to save 45+ hours each month …

How to Prepare for National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is just around the corner! The fun begins on November 1st, and the idea is to write a 50,000-word novel over the course of one month. I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this past July (read all about my experience with Camp NaNoWriMo by clicking here), and I’m looking forward to …

How to Study for an Exam

This is the month of mid-terms for many university students. I’ve been finished school for many years now, but while I was in university I picked up a lot of great strategies for studying for exams. My toughest subject was History of Science – great course and professor, but understanding the science component was tricky …

The Pros and Cons of Being a Home-Based Business Owner

This article was originally published on LinkedIn. I love having my own business and working from home – but it’s certainly not for everyone, and there are both benefits and drawbacks to being a home-based business owner or freelancer! If you’re considering starting your own business and working from home, here are a few things …

The Fears You HAVE to Overcome Before Launching Your Business

It was just six months ago that I started freelancing full-time, but before that, I had been doing part-time freelance editing and writing for many years. A lot of work has to go into preparing to launch your business (even if it’s a lower-risk, home-based business!), but even if you might have all of the …

Effective Note-Taking: Tips for Writing Notes

It’s back-to-school season – and that means that it’s time to start doing a whole bunch of writing and note-taking during class! I mastered the art of note-taking when I was in university, and now that part of my work includes professional transcribing and note-taking, I’ve really managed to cultivate the skill. These tips for …