Midyear Checkup: Are You Thriving or Just Surviving?

Taking stock of your freelancing business.

If you are reading this article on the date that I published it, we are exactly at the half-way point of the year. Yes, I killed the “evergreen writing” component once I wrote the title, but what I am going to say here can be applied any time of the year.

As freelancers we should take stock of “how are you doing?” at various points of the year. If you do not, then you risk missing the mark and whatever goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year, perhaps even when you set out to freelance in the first place.

Freelancing Life

One thing about a personal review is that you can make adjustments to help you get back on track. To that end I have pulled out some of the concerns we self-employed workers have, identifying those areas and how you and I can make improvements. Oh, yeah, I am not about to harp on the “tough economy” angle either—if you are still in business for yourself, you already understand that challenge.

Time Management – Are you making good use of your time? Easily, we can become distracted by the Internet as we do our work. There are freelancer forums, blogs, social media and networking sites and email to woo us away from what we do. Be honest with yourself: are you spending too much time socializing and not enough time writing for pay?

Equipment Upgrade – I finally tossed my Windows-based personal laptop and bought a Mac. Yes, I am now a Mac snob. Seriously, I made the decision to switch when it became evident that registry errors and the usual PC slowness was a major drag on what I do. No more anti-virus and crapware to deal with. I spent more time in the past month writing for pay and less time trying to coax broken Microsoft Windows to work.

Pay Scales – I have been working with a few clients for several years and still charge them the same rate. That is good for them, but not for me as my own costs have increased since then. Are your freelancing rates frozen? Is it time for you to begin raising them? You should be able to pass along a modest five-percent increase without a problem, but if you are aiming for ten percent or more, then be prepared to explain why. Perhaps there is an added benefit such as tweeting and stumbling published work that needs to be mentioned.

New Vistas – I am not going to say that print magazines are dead, but if you are spending an extraordinary amount of time sending out queries with very little to show for it, then it may be time for you to explore other options. I get more queries from potential clients than those I send out, which allows me to cherry-pick the ones I want. Still, if things are a bit slow I will swallow my pride and take on a gig just to keep my writing flow going and my income stream flowing. I still write for two print publications, but the lion’s share of my income is derived from on-line work.

Tax Management – Yes, I am still doing my own taxes. I cannot see that changing unless my tax picture suddenly becomes very complicated. I do not think that it will, but I am not taking any chances. I know when my quarterly federal taxes, corporate state filing and local privilege licenses are due or up for renewal, I can tap a separate bank account I fund for those payments. No more panicking in advance of a tax deadline to pull together monies owed.

Long Term – Funding for my personal retirement has taken a back seat to everything else in recent years, but that is about to change. I will still put money in my children’s education accounts and set aside other cash and finally get serious about a period in my life when work will not be the priority it is today. Honestly, I do not believe I will ever retire—I love to write—but, my flesh and bones may not be so cooperative in my latter years. Plus, it would be nice not to be so deadline-focused, writing just enough to make some money, but without the ever-present calendar with important dates circled in red in front of me.

Your Passion

Six months from now I will be taking a look at a year completed and laying the groundwork for the year to come. One point I did not mention is your personal passion for what you do. If it is gone, can you get it back? If not, might it be time for you to move on?

Is It Time To Review Your Freelance Writing Rates?

I may be going out on a limb here with some of my fellow (or fella?) freelancers, as I’m wondering just how many people are actively reviewing their rate structure as the year comes to a close. I’ve been following some of the blog conversations lately that talk about rates, labor organizing, and the like and understand the frustration some people are going through as they look ahead.

Business Dives, I Sell A Bunch Of Sites

Earlier this year I experienced a significant drop off in my business which played a part in me selling off some of my websites. The income derived from these sales covered me for several months, but it was only within the past three months that I noticed an up-tick in my writing business. Today, I’m working for three very good clients on a long term basis while taking the occasional one-offs (article, press release, etc.) as time permits. I’ve also launched several new blogs which will be a part of my long term business strategy.

Setting Your Freelance Writing Rates

Now back to setting rates: Part of my drop off this year was attributed to me raising my rates. I let some of my older customers go and I began to take on some new clients under my new rate structure. The gap between dropping the old and bringing on the new was much wider than what I had expected, but I’m finally where I want to be. You may ask why didn’t I simply raise my rates with current clients, which is a good point, but I didn’t do that for two reasons:

1. My rates for these clients would have doubled.
2. Long term, I wasn’t interested in writing for them. No sense hanging on to something that is of no interest to you.

I based some of my rate changes on what I found online, particularly what Lynn Wasnak and Paul Lima shared. Links to their sites can be found in this article and I also discussed freelance writing rates here this past September.

Are Your Raising Your Rates For 2008?

So, my question to you is this: will you be raising your freelance writing rates for 2008? At least one inquiring mind wants to know!