Tiffany Markman | Copywriting - Editing - Corporate Training | Sandton - Johannesburg » article

Clients & contractors – when’s enough enough?

Tiffany Markman — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:34:39 +0000

My ‘Stable Door’ column for Freelancentral began with an open stable door and the freelancer (a.k.a the horse) escaping into an unfettered freelance life. Its first piece addressed the different types of clients to be wary of (the Boss, the Uninformed, the Briefless and the Buddy). For piece #2, I decided to look at the client-contractor relationship; in other words, what’s expected, what’s unreasonable and how to go the extra 15 miles without killing yourself, or snapping and chopping the client into teensy weensy little pieces. Here is the full version of the article.

The copywriter’s real job isn’t writing.

Tiffany Markman — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:23:24 +0000

So there I was… Ignoring my pressing web copy deadline and fiddling about on Twitter. (Which is, I’ve realised, the exact opposite of minding your own business.) When I stumbled across a Multi-Re-Tweeted tweet on an article with the intro, ‘One of the worst mistakes copywriters make is to assume their job is about writing’. Sorry, what?

Needless to say, off I went to http://menwithpens.ca/, where I devoured Dean Rieck‘s piece – compellingly entitled, ‘WHY GOOD COPYWRITING GOES BAD: YOU’RE NOT STUPID. YOU’RE JUST IGNORANT.’ Here’s the intro:

“One of the worst mistakes copywriters make is to assume their job is about writing. It’s not. Now I know that sounds a bit odd. After all, the word “writing” is in the word “copywriting.” So it’s understandable why you might misunderstand. But writing and copywriting are two very different things. When you write a novel or a poem, readers want great words. They enjoy the rhythm, the imagery, the wordplay. People expect this kind of writing to deliver a certain art and beauty. When you write websites, ads, white papers, or other business materials, readers simply want information. They don’t care about the artistry. They aren’t looking for beauty. They just want to find out how to solve a problem or meet a need.”

And it just gets better from there. For the full version of this superb piece, please click here to be re-directed to Men with Pens. And if you’d like to check out Dean Rieck’s free copywriter’s cheat sheet, click here. It’s expialidocious.

Why freelancing really is so fantastic

Tiffany Markman — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:38:00 +0000

I recently stumbled across a blog post by Laura Spencer, a freelance writer from North Central Texas. In it, she speaks about why she utterly refuses to give up on freelancing – inspiring me to nod my head so vigorously and so often that I’ve linked to her piece below. But first, here’s a taste:

“Freelancing is hard. Not only do you have to face feast and famine cycle, do everything yourself, struggle to maintain a good work/life balance, and have a plan in place for emergencies–you might have to deal with difficult people. Whew! Is it any wonder that some freelancers fail? We’ve already explained why freelancing may not be for everybody. I’ll never give up on freelancing, though, for reasons that are personal, professional, and people-related…”

To read the rest of this fantastic article on freelancing, and the benefits, click here to be re-directed to FreelanceFolder.com.

Freelancers: here’s how to get paid

Tiffany Markman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:33:50 +0000

My article on ‘Getting the most from a freelance copywriter or editor‘ sparked lots of comments, but the majority came from freelancers with payment questions. So Jo Duxbury (of Freelancentral and Peppermint Source) and I collaborated to answer them. First, we opened the floor, inviting fellow freelancers to submit their payment-related questions. The questions are below; for the answers, check out ‘Freelancers: here’s how to get paid‘.

“I’m new-ish to the game. How do I charge: per word, per hour, per job?”
“Do you charge different rates for different sectors – like a higher rate for corporates and a lower rate for community newspapers?”
“My friends and family always need work, and I tense up when it comes to quoting/invoicing.”
“I’m a creative. That’s why I went into freelancing. This admin stuff kills me: quoting, invoicing, chasing money, keeping books. Can you help?”
“Clients often ask me to quote and then say, ‘Well, we’ve only got [R2000 less than I quoted]. Can you do it for that?’ What do I say?”
“I’m not sure what other freelancers’ payment terms are, but I find 30 days challenging on my cash flow! Do you have any guidelines?”
“I’m skaam when it comes to chasing money. Help!”
“Sometimes there’s such a long wait to get paid that I think client never will. But I don’t want to make waves and have them use someone else next time.”
“When do you, eventually, write off a bad debt?”

‘The Stable Door’ goes live on FLC today

Tiffany Markman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:40:59 +0000

My new guest column, ‘The Stable Door’, went live on Freelancentral today, with its inaugural piece entitled (clumsily, but there’s no other way to put it), ‘Clients to be wary of’. The piece introduces four types of clients:

The Boss (the client who thinks he’s your boss),
The Uninformed (the client who has no idea what you actually do),
The Briefless (the client who has no idea what he wants) and
The Buddy (the client who wants to be your friend).

If any of these sound like clients you’ve had, have a read. And let me know what you think.