By Joseph Ratliff There’s no doubt, it’s been a tough year for most businesses. The economy sucks, and many business owners are feeling the pain at the register. That’s precisely why it’s been a good year for me, because I know that businesses need my copywriting services now more than ever. Now, I’m a direct … Read more
Put another way, is your business “a series of jobs” or a “profession”? (And yes, I know how most of the commercial freelancing pros who weigh in here would answer, and I’m counting on that…). Success as a commercial writer begins in the mind. I know, typical positive-thinking mumbo-jumbo, right? And not even terribly profound. … Read more
Tanking economy. Up-and-down stock market. High and growing unemployment. The end of the world as we know it. Etc, etc, etc. How’s all this affecting your commercial writing business? Perhaps less than you might imagine… Okay, rest assured, I’m not here to say that all the economic turmoil is just a mirage. It’s not. But … Read more
Shoot. Crap-ola. Aaargh. Happens to the best commercial freelancers several times in their careers, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. I finished up a marketing brochure for a commercial writing client a few months back. Everyone loved it. We all looked it over probably 10 times each. How we all missed it … Read more
The economy is teetering. Huge financial institutions are crashing and burning. The government, afraid of the ripple effects of their demise, is debating a huge bailout. Unemployment is at its highest level in years. A lot of people struggling out there. And, through all this, happily, I’m busier than ever and enormously grateful I’m a … Read more
Okay, unless you’ve been in a cave or a coma for the past two weeks, you’ve heard plenty about the signature event for commercial copywriters: Copywriting Success Summit 2008, coming in October to a computer near you… I know, we’re promoting the heck out of the thing, but hey, think about it: 1) It really … Read more
So, I get this email from a FLCW the other day: “I’m embarrassed to say, I have several work samples posted on my website that I didn’t get permission from the clients to use. I realize this is not good business. Do you get permission from every client, even if the piece was posted/published in … Read more
In my case, too many, if my long absence from the blog is any indication…. 😉 But that’s a good thing (the “being-busy”? thing, not the “not-blogging”? thing) . And I’ve taken my own advice (from the 7/22/08 post below) and started asking for more money, and no one’s balking. I’m telling you, when it … Read more
Money. More money. Lots more money. With any luck and a bunch of hard work, that’s the financial trajectory of the typically competent commercial freelancer’s career. I started out at $50 an hour in 1994, and over time that rose to $60, $75, $85, $95, $100, $110, and finally $125 (of course, when working on … Read more
All networking was not created equal. While I’ve heard plenty of Chamber/association networking success stories over the years, it’s usually when people get actively involved in the organization and boost their visibility. But, by and large, the “cattle call” networking event never did much for me – empirically or spiritually. Such events always feel so … Read more