Toronto freelancer goes the distance to pursue non-paying client
Most freelancers have had to deal with it at some point in their careers – a client who is slow to process invoices, or, worse, one that’s deliberately avoiding paying their contractors. Chasing down a paycheque can be frustrating, humiliating and damaging to your productivity. Sometimes it seems easier to just give up on that […]
The state of the unpaid internship
by Rachel Sanders “Don’t devalue yourself.” That’s the number one piece of advice that Claire Seaborn offers young people looking for work these days. It’s kind of the opposite of the advice offered by the governor of the Bank of Canada last fall. Stephen Poloz’s suggestion that young job hunters should take unpaid work to […]
Growing Your Freelance Writing Business: 4 Must-Haves for 2015
by Miranda Miller Treating your writing business like a business means getting the supports and resources in place to help you to flourish. We write because we love to write; keeping the books and being our own PR people can be tedious and often falls to the wayside. For several years, I struggled to expand […]
The Born Freelancer on More Essential Traits for 2015
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. A Happy and Healthy New Year to you! To begin 2015, I thought I would conclude my previous post with a few more essential […]
Good news from the magazine industry: business media’s thriving
by Rachel Sanders Good news about the publishing industry is rare these days. So when Don Genova heard some, he came straight to Story Board to share it with his freelance colleagues. Genova, a freelance food and travel writer and president of the Canadian Media Guild’s Freelance Branch, had run into an old friend – an editor […]
The Born Freelancer’s Resolutions on Essential Traits in 2015
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. For this post I thought I would combine two ideas that seem timely. First, my list of the essential qualities or characteristics I believe every […]
The holiday season, freelancer-style
Whether you’ve got too much work to do during this busy month or not enough work coming in during the most expensive time of year, the holiday season can be a tough time for freelancers. There’s been lots of advice on Twitter this month for freelancers wondering how to survive the next couple of weeks. Here’s a handy round-up of […]
The Born Freelance on Advising Wannabees
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. This is the time of year for greater social interaction, even among self-professed curmudgeonly writers. But with it also comes the greater likelihood of […]
The Born Freelancer on Being a “Real” Freelancer
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. I was talking to a freelance colleague of mine recently who was being dismissive of a fellow freelancer: “Pffft! He isn’t a real freelancer; he’s […]
Motivation and its evil twin: procrastination
by Lesley Evans Ogden To make a go of it as a freelancer, an abundance of motivation is crucial. But as we all know and hate, motivation doesn’t come in steady waves. It tends to ebb and flow over time, sometimes waning when we need it the most. Procrastination is one of those nasty […]
