Once more unto the freelance breach
The Doctor is in...again
Tap tap tap. Is this thing on?
Hey there, I’m Jake Poinier, a.k.a. Dr. Freelance and author of The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid. In addition to running a freelance writing and editing business for the past 27 years, I’ve written and presented about a wide variety of freelancing topics on and off since the early days of Blogger.
For the past few years, it’s been off. If you’ve ever worked in WordPress, you may know my pain: A website theme that slowly decays with obsolete plugins, update conflicts, and random failcode gibberish decorating the screen.
Ultimately, I couldn’t even stand to open the page for fear of what overgrown weeds would greet me, let alone creating and sending out a blog post.
Saved by Substack
What’s been nagging at me, though, is that I missed writing about the business side of freelancing. To me, elements such as client relationships, sales, and negotiation are more vital to success than how much creative talent you have.
For a hot second, I considered a redesign in WordPress. But one look at the neglected house I’d previously built, with shutters banging in the wind, was a sign from the universe that I needed someone else to be the caretaker. That’s why I landed on Substack as a solution; subtract the tech headaches, add back writing on what actually moves the needle in our business.
Let’s Talk Freelance Business: What to Expect
Back in the day, I posted weekly-ish. I don’t anticipate that changing. When I do post, you can expect topics such as:
Persuasive ways to price and estimate projects
Finding and retaining great clients
Identifying and avoiding red-flag clients
Building a durable referral stream
Improving your business processes
Incorporating AI into your business
Ghostwriting tricks of the trade
Current legal and political trends that are jeopardizing independent contracting, for which my friend and colleague Kim Kavin coined the phrase freelance busting. (Do yourself a favor and subscribe to her Substack too.)
If you’d like to see something specific, or you have a vexing client issue that needs some third-party perspective, please ping me in the comments or reply to any email.
“If you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further.”—Andy to Red in The Shawshank Redemption
I appreciate you reading my initial musing about how I landed here. Going forward, the focus will turn towards improving how our freelance businesses operate—for us and for our clients.
Please consider subscribing, and if you know a freelancer who’s drowning in client drama, stuck in feast-or-famine mode, or wants to make a good business even more profitable, please forward this or share the link.
Thank you!