Freelance Writer and Social Worker

Marketing Yourself - Learning How to Blow Your Own Horn!

I was raised to be modest and retiring. If something good happened to me, I waited until someone else brought it up before I talked about it. If someone offered me a compliment, my instinct was to downplay it: "Oh, that old essay? I'm glad the editor liked it, but I probably should have shredded it long ago."

I floated along that way through the early years of my writing career, taking whatever the content mills would pay me and occasionally surprising myself by placing pieces with other publications as well.

Then reality, which has a nasty way of hitting people in the face, flew up and bitch-slapped me silly. I realized that I didn't want writing to be my hobby. I wanted it to be my career.

All of a sudden, quiet and modest was out. Marketing myself was in, and boy, did I flounder.

My first efforts at a query letter read something like this: "Dear Editor, I realize I don't have much experience and that this is probably a silly idea, anyway, but would you be the least bit interested in...?" Not surprisingly, the editors I contacted were not the least bit interested.

"I Can't Afford That!" What To Do if Your Client Says Your Rates are Too High

The first time someone told me that my rates were too high, I panicked. I had thought my rates were quite reasonable. They were certainly commensurate with the rates other freelancers in the area.

Years of subconscious messages about the way "good girls" should relate to business and money kicked in. I felt embarrassed...no, worse than that, I felt ashamed. As if I were a fraud who had been caught doing something deceitful.

Long story short: I reduced my prices to what the client wanted, the client hired me and was thrilled with my work, and I worked my butt off for about thirteen cents an hour. It was not a good resolution, at least not for me.