Peak Freelance

Too true.

"Meet your writers" from Eric Doty.

What client red flag has you like this?

See how I freelance? Very demure, very mindful. I underpromise and overdeliver, very modest. When sending invoices everything is itemized, very clean. I check in and say thank you, so cutesy. A lot of freelancers say yes to everything; not demure.

When you and your client actually become best work buds

Dear freelancer, Ask more questions. It’ll highlight your understanding, not undermine it. (Just make sure you Google it first.)

Very demure, very mindful.

Freelancer says: "Pricing depends on the project." Client hears: "I'm unclear on my core offer, my process, and the value that I bring." Yes, pricing is variable. But you gotta give them SOMETHING. A minimum. A range. Example pricing. Something to start; then you can ask questions.

Dear freelancer, Don’t price by word. An SEO article may be 2,000 words and worth $15,000 in inbound leads to your client. A case study may be 800 words and worth $150,000 in opportunities to your client. Deliverable- and value-dependent pricing is where it’s at.

(inspired by Guillaume Moubeche's recent post) 10 freelance writer lies 👇 "I charge premium rates for my expertise." —> I Googled 'freelance writing rates' and picked a number that sounded good. "I just had my best month ever earning $30,000" —> I outsourced my work, rewrote most of it, and only took $6,000 home. "I'm fully booked with clients this month." —> I have two projects, but I want to look busier than I am. "I'm an expert in SEO." —> I know how to use Ahrefs and read a blog post about on-page SEO once. "I always hit my deadlines." —> I sent that last project at 11:59 PM, so technically, it was still today. "I have a unique voice and style." —> My style is whatever the client wants, as long as they pay me. "I never use ChatGPT to write content." —> I have Claude.ai open in my browser all day. "I only take on projects I'm passionate about." —> I'll take almost anything that pays. "I do thorough research for every project." —> I skim the first three Google results and hope for the best. "My writing is 100% original" —> It’s original because I used different words to say the same thing as everyone else.