Lately, there’s been precious little writing going on here – an odd reality given that you’ll find the word “writer” in this blog’s title.
It’s not sloth.
It’s a slew of new Web projects. A little teaching. A rare fly fishing vacation/road trip. And the happy byproduct of taking my own advice (I know, it amuses me [...]
Like you, I receive the emails every week. They spell out a golden “opportunity” which allows me to write for an emerging content site.
Inevitably, the arc of the communication is predictable; it always ends at a place where the site gets the content, and the writer gets screwed.
What’s remarkable is how many people tumble for [...]
I first published this video in November, 2007, and because it’s more timely than ever, thought I’d run the video again.
Sure, Harlan Ellison is an abrasive pain in the ass, but he’s repeatedly put his money where his sizable mouth is when it came to protecting the rights of writers and content creators.
In a time [...]
Freelancers are suffering a recession-linked double-whammy – not only are clients and customers cutting budgets, but the newly unemployed are swelling the ranks of the self-employed, and driving fees downward.
This New York Time article (found via the Copywriter Maven) looks at the recession’s effect on the self-employed (and under-employed), and touches on an often-overlooked [...]
In my 23 years of pitching, I’ve never never once been tempted to bare it all (doing both myself and civilization at large a favor), but in a copywriting market ravaged by a plummeting economy and the digital era, one recently laid-off copywriter flew the nearly-full Monty in pursuit of a new job.
We’d like to [...]
I used to spontaneously craft lists just for fun, and today seems like the perfect day to revive the practice.
And rather than beat around the bush, let’s just call this list the “Eight Gratifying Moments in the Life of Any Freelance Copywriter or Consultant:”
Reading a short, pithy, “The copy’s perfect” email from a client
Shipping solid [...]
Google’s Visual Design Leader announced he’s leaving the company on his Stopdesign blog, suggesting the engineer-driven company had become too difficult to work for:
Without a person at (or near) the helm who thoroughly understands the principles and elements of Design, a company eventually runs out of reasons for design decisions. With every new design decision, [...]
Teaching – done right – is really just learning in disguise. And what you learn when you teach is often what you already knew, though perhaps not as deeply as you should have.
I recently finished teaching the last local session of my Online Marketing Boot Camp. Aimed directly at small businesses, it was a reminder [...]
Ad agencies want to bill every minute of employee time to their clients, so they demand daily timesheets – which require each project have a unique tracking ID.
While I don’t track my time with such precision (any more), I have adapted my last ad agency’s job tracking system to my freelance practice, and while I’ve [...]
Some of you may have heard a little something about a recession, and while the Intertubes are awash in strategies for freelance survival during the downturn, I thought a little actual data might be helpful.
After all, my contribution to the freelance survival conversation (and I think freelancesurvivalist.com would be a stunning blog name) amounted to [...]
Get Every Post!
The Engagement Principles Blog