How to Kill the Scope Creep Beast

Written by James - 2 Comments

Welcome to the fourth installment in our Freelancing SMART series written by Elizabeth Fayle.
If you missed the first three posts, you can find them here: The Grand Introduction, Step One: Being Specific, and Step Two: Getting Measurable
Up for discussion today, Step Three: Is It Agreed Upon
Welcome to the next post in our series on freelancing [...]

Is Your Email Address Losing You Clients?

Written by Taylor - 65 Comments

New freelancers make a few mistakes that no one will tell you are mistakes, because they don’t want to offend you, or they may have already disregarded you because of this stupid mistake and don’t wish to become mired in the soup of your (sure to be squalid) company.
Now, I know your company is neither [...]

Want More Clients? Explain Yourself.

Written by James - 32 Comments

I recently wrote about how and why arTEESTes piss me off, and I used the example of an average guy I called Joe, who doesn’t really know why one copywriter or web designer should be worth more than another. He chooses the lower-priced freelancer out of sheer practicality.
It’s simple: Two guys do the same [...]

Drive-By Shooting Sunday Special: Adventures of a Barefoot Geek

Written by James - 9 Comments

“Ow.” He picked his foot up and grimaced. “Ow-… Look, this is not good. Never again, man. Ow.”
“Quit complaining.” James lifted his feet and placed them carefully on the gravel, wincing a bit. “It’s job hazards. Gotta do what we gotta do.” The sun was blindingly bright, and James pulled his grey sweatshirt hood over [...]

How to Measure Your Worth

Written by James - 0 Comments

We’ve been pleased to see so many freelancers enjoying our series on working SMARTer. Welcome to the third installment, written by Elizabeth Fayle. She’s whipping us back into shape – but you get lucky. All you need to do is read this post.
Here at Men with Pens, we’re working SMART:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Agreed Upon
• Realistic
• Time-based
If you’re not sure what [...]

Drive-By Shooting Special: Cheryl’s Casual Contemplations

Written by James - 13 Comments

James squinted at the figure on the tiny video screen. The man seemed confused, wandering at the side of the building for a minute before staring straight up into the closed-circuit camera that watched his every move. He put one hand to his ear as if to scratch it, deftly balancing two pizza boxes in [...]

How Does Writing Make you Feel?

Written by Taylor - 28 Comments

There are days when I don’t feel like writing.
If we’re going to be perfectly honest about it, there are many days when I don’t feel like writing.
In fact, there hasn’t been a single day in recent memory in which I bounded out of bed just dying to get my hands on a pen or the [...]

Are You a Snotty Artist?

Written by James - 65 Comments

There’s a debate online (and probably offline too) that divides writers, designers and more into two camps: those who consider their work a trade, and those who consider their work an art form.
Now, for those of you who know me or have read older posts on this site, you’ll know that I firmly sit in [...]

How to Freelance the Specific, SMART Way

Written by James - 3 Comments

And she’s back, folks! Please welcome Elizabeth Fayle.
Not long ago, I wrote about the concept of freelancing the SMART way:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Agreed Upon
• Realistic
• Time-based
You can read more on that introduction to SMART freelancing by clicking here. It’s a good read; I even suggested that James needed some SMARTening up.
“Yes, and we figured you’d [...]

Slaying Writer Dragons: Epic Skill #3, Physical Prowess

Written by Taylor - 28 Comments

This is the final installment in our series on how to fight the dragons of writing.
We explained why being a writer is like getting commissions to go out on an epic quest in exchange for monetary reward, and why that makes you pretty awesome. We also explained why you need to train your awesomeness mentally, [...]

Next Page »