This isn’t a PSA for ACA open enrollment because honestly, if you can’t afford health insurance right now, you can’t afford it. What I’m here to tell you is that even if health insurance seems like an expense too far today, eventually, it should be within reach. I’m mostly talking to those of us who […]
The Fastest Path to Freelance Confidence
Track your wins. That’s it. That’s the solution. It seems like it takes more than that, and sometimes it does. But for most of us, giving yourself real, tangible credit (that we can revisit) is the first step in keeping healthy confidence as a freelancer. And that’s because we forget. We forget […]
5 Ways to Use Trade Publications to Master Your Niche
This post will help you with Phase 2 of the BlackFreelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I’m quick to recommend trade publications to basically everybody. That’s because they changed my career (more on that later) but it’s mainly because trade […]
It’s Time to Reset Your Freelance Expectations — With Some Numbers
What do you expect from freelancing? Low pay? Consistent income? Long hours? A quick start? I know when I got going, I had ZERO idea of what this life would be like. I had to cobble together my ideas of what ‘normal’ and ‘possible’ looked like from podcasts, Facebook groups, and random conversations online. I […]
6 Reasons You’re Struggling to Price your Freelance Services (and What to do Next)
We had a really good talk over on Twitter about marketing struggles the other day. A few topics popped up, but one really stood out, and that’s pricing issues. And you know what? Everybody has a hard time with pricing. Go to any platform that supports freelancers and you’ll find posts on the topic. Here’s […]
Older Freelancer? Here’s 6 Things You Should be Taking Advantage Of.
Between established bills and shorter time to retirement, older freelancers (I’m talking early to mid-30s and older) have some challenges, but honestly, we’ve got a lot more opportunity. That might be easy to forget with all the social and traditional media focus on teens and 20-somethings, but if you take a step back, you’ll see […]
What is Low-Friction Freelancing?
BlackFreelance welcomes all skill sets and freelancers, but I gotta be honest — some freelance work gets priority over others. That’s because BlackFreelance is all about leveraging freelancing to improve lives, not the other way around. And if we’re keeping it 100, there’s a lot of freelancing out here that’s happy to eat your life […]
Protect Ya Neck: 4 Ways to Prevent Freelancer Non-Payment (and Underpayment)
I’m a big believer in defensive freelancing — handling problems before they become a problem. Tactics like using contracts, expectation management (which we’re covering in the Academy this month), and even using your website to communicate your price ranges and processes can go a long way in preventing freelance issues…and if there’s one area where […]
Companies Making Freelancing Look More Like Employment (Updated for 2020)
Updated 12/27/2019 With the gig economy in full swing and the percentage of freelancers exploding toward 50% in the U.S., we were bound to see some entrepreneurial folk stepping in to take some of the edge off. Right now it looks like the primary targets are going to be the inevitable freelancing gaps like […]
What is “Strategic Freelancing” Anyway?
I’m a big believer that most of our freelance “failures” eventually point back to not being able to state why we’re freelancing in the first place, and then not having a plan that’s grounded in that ‘why’. If you follow me over on Twitter you’ve probably seen me mention “Strategic Freelancing”. It’s a concept […]