neXtDRAFT 55. Writing 51 and getting paid.

Published: Sun, 03/03/19

Welcome new subscribers. If this is your first neXtDRAFT you'll find poems, stories and pics about my life as an adopted mum (and freelance writer) living between Australia and the Philippines. Each edition I share my best tips for creating a writing business and working as a professional writer serving clients from all over the world.

Here in the Philippines I support about 20 kids from a rural municipality with food, books, uniforms and love -- it's my way of encouraging them to go to school and maybe one day out of poverty. You'll read their stories here too.

neXtDRAFT is delivered to your inbox every second Sunday and I hope it will inspire you to get writing and create your own writing practice. Again welcome, I'm so glad to have you part of the neXtDRAFT community. Unsubscribe anytime using the link at the bottom of this page.

Melinda J. Irvine

https://melirvine.com.au/

Hello, happy Sunday, and welcome to neXtDRAFT 55.

Writing 51 and getting paid.

This past week I did something I've never done before. When a client emailed me at the beginning of last week asking me about my writing schedule, I calmly mentioned that I would begin their writing projects just as soon as they paid for the last lot. Breakthrough stuff really.

I felt really good about it and happily spent the next 3 days while my invoices through their accounts department, updating the 'writing services' pages on my website as well as starting some personal projects.

And it wasn't that I was feeling particularly heavy-handed or was desperate for the payment, I just wanted to draw a line in the sand and get clear about my payment terms and conditions. The minimum standards I would accept from all future clients.

As freelancers it can be challenging to keep a consistent flow of cash, and I think all sole traders and micro-business owners must go through a stage in the first few years of business -- where we feel shy and awkward asking for the fees we charge for our services. But as our confidence grows, we feel more able to confidently ask for payment without becoming quarrelsome.

We have to remember too that many corporate organisations have a lot of administrative red tape -- where invoices need to be approved by at least 2 directors and then processed by an accounts team. In a pile of 150 invoices your little writing bill for a couple of blog posts may not appear terribly important.

Sometimes it's a matter of making yourself known to the person in accounts who does the weekly remittance run -- politely mentioning that you're a solopreneur and not a great big corporation. You'll be amazed at how much more consistently your invoices get paid when you've made a real connection with the accounts payable person over the phone or by email.

This week I finished a 6 week course in mindful journaling, meditation and self-compassion. What an incredible way to build your daily writing and meditation practice.

So now having just finished some of their project work a short time ago, I'm sitting here journaling the last few days of my first 50 years on the planet. Because on Tuesday at 10.05pm, I'll be officially greeting 51 and the next half century -- it feels great actually. For the first time in my life I have the job I've always wanted and living somewhere I completely love.

It's an incredible feeling because this time last year I was angry, unhappy, stressed, and just plain miserable. I've worked so hard on my writing business this past year, but I've worked even harder on myself. Dedicating days and flooded weeks to reading, meditation, and prayer. It's made a huge difference to my life too.

In the past few days I've just finished a 6 week course in Mindful Journaling created by my friend Kerstin Pilz over at Write Your Journey. It was a great way to solidify my daily writing routine as well as reintroduce the meditation practice I had let slip away. Kerstin's course has led to some amazing insights about myself -- it's amazing how much better the world looks and feels when you are just a little bit nicer to yourself.

It's a great way to start your 51st year.

Till next week ... happy writing.

Mel xx

PS: Jerry has his last lot of exams this week and then school is basically finished until June. His recognition ceremony is on March 18th. Having an 11 year old home for the next 3 months is always a big writing challenge, but (unlike previous summer breaks) I feel quite confident and prepared this year.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

wind strikes
hollow bamboo sticks
against long since seashells

Posturing
Above his subjects
Always a street cat, still

This posturing lion sculpture stands tall over the traffic intersecting Iloilo’s Molo and Mandurriao. Is he Lion? Or street cat?

barbed blade, and broken
midrib, cobweb netted vein
cover river sand in your story

Leaves by the Riverbank

He is beautiful.
Representative of an ideal.
But never forget, he can never be real.

Beautiful sculpture at the entrance to the Iloilo River Esplanade greeting visitors from a different century.

I’m a professional writer making my way in the world of business. The WritingBiz section is for anyone wanting to make writing a career (or at the very least make some money writing). Each week I share a few ideas on how to find writing jobs, self-publish your own eBooks, as well as how to setup your writing business and run it profitably.

What is a blog actually?

Blogs are (diary-style) online articles that present the opinions, expertise, and research of a real person. A true blog retains it’s original publishing date and links to other blog posts, media, and websites while directly engaging with readers through interactive commenting and sharing tools.

It’s these commenting and sharing facilities that make blogging such a powerful marketing tool because readers and writers can network directly with one another. Now (as Google suggests) if you release an original piece of research or break an exciting news story, and you’ll keep your existing visitor base coming back as well as bring in new visitors.

Writing blogs and articles can help:-

Increase web traffic
Generate more qualified sales leads
Establish the author as an authority in an industry or niche
Build quality links back to a website
Broadcast new research, innovations, and inventions
Create a relationship with customers
Grow a community of followers

To be a successful freelance writer you'll need to be able to do more than write well. When you understand the real function and purpose of each blog post, you can guide your clients with a writing strategy that maximises their audience potential. That's what gets you repeat business and ongoing writing assignments.

FREELANCE WRITER TIP #17 Create a ‘prospect kit’

Creating a prospect kit was one the best things I have done for my professional writing business. After about a year of sending out masses of query letter and emails, Upwork proposals and quotes I decided to standardise my approach and put together a set of marketing materials to accompany each and every query. A prospect kit.

My kit is an eFolder of PDF documents and consists of:

Brochure for each of my services

Professional resume
Work methods statement
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Writing samples

Even though I have about 8-9 document in my prospect kit, when I put together a contract proposal or query letter I usually only send one or two documents. Clients don’t really like their emails clogged up with heaps of attachments, so I usually limit it to a service brochure and the resume. Sometimes I add a work sample if requested by the client or it supports the proposal.

#freelancing #marketing

Freelance Writing Q&A

Read my answer on Quora

Writing tips, poems and stuff on the blog

For more stories, poems, articles and reviews follow my Wordpress blog. More than 700 posts and 1,000s of photos. Tell your friends too.

Back Issues of neXtDRAFT

https://melirvine.com.au/nextdraft-back-issues/

From the vault: Feb 2018

Busted seat on the bus

For those of you not conversant with Philippine bus culture, if a seat-back jams on a crowded bus (still at the terminal) the conductor will cooly break off the offending back rest and manoeuvre it into the aisle (random passenger instructed to hold it for the next 2 hours). Then direct a standing passenger to squish into the opened up seat (there’s room for four to sit there now).

#busculture #itsmorefuninthephilippines