Today’s guest is Cassandra Le, owner of The Quirky Pineapple Studio, a brand strategy and content marketing studio that works with Black, Indigenous and people of color, queer folks and intersectional feminists.  Cassandra is originally from Virginia in the United States, but she now lives in Spain. For more than 13 years, she has been creating content across all mediums (written, graphics, audio, video, photography), and through her business. She works with mission-driven brands and thought...

On today’s show I provide a recap of The Content Byte Summit, which was held in Sydney, Australia, September 15-16. I attended virtually and was super impressed with the content, particularly all the discussion around artificial intelligence. There was also a lot of great tactical advice about running your freelance business, so even if you’re not a writer, I think you can learn from some of the advice I’m sharing today.   Here’s what I share with you in this episode: A panel about humans...

The podcast is back after my summer hiatus! Thanks for continuing to listen and support the show.  Here’s what I share with you in today’s episode: The importance of taking breaks for your mental fitness and for better client work.  The types of breaks you should be thinking about and planning for. Why planned and unplanned mental health breaks are important. What happens when you neglect your networking and marketing and slow down too much.  Why you have to work at getting referrals.  How...

Deliberate Freelancer is on a summer hiatus and will return toward the end of August or early September. Take this time to listen to some previous episodes or relisten to favorite guests! Or make a playlist of specific topics, like finding clients or pricing projects.  The Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group will be active during this time, so please join us over there for great conversations with other listeners. You can ask for advice and share your experiences.  If you have benefited...

Today’s guest is Austin Church from Knoxville, Tennessee. Austin helps e-commerce founders stand out online with their brand strategy. Lately, he’s been working as a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO), consulting for creator economy companies. He also coaches freelance creatives. Austin was one of the six-figure freelancers I featured on the show in May 2021. We’ve since become friends, and his podcast, Freelance Cake, was in my ears during my recent solo business retreat — because I...

Today’s guest is Helen Jane  Campbell. Helen is from Wales and recently moved from Hay-on-Wye, Wales, to Worthing, England. Helen is a life and business coach for ambitious and creative entrepreneurs, bringing authenticity and energy to all she does. Clients turn to Helen when they feel ready to bring more joy, energy, and abundance into their lives and their teams. She helps people create space and reconnect with their self-worth and creative freedom. Prior to becoming a coach, Helen...

On today’s show I share my structure, agenda and my action plan developed during my most recent solo business retreat. Here’s what I share with you in this episode: Please leave a rating and review for Deliberate Freelancer on Apple Podcasts or any other podcast platform.  Why I chose Thomasville, Georgia, for my latest solo business retreat. How I structured my retreat and my theme for the two days. What happened when I stopped consistently following my Always Be Marketing rule. How...

Today’s guest is Eman Ismail, an email strategist and copywriter who is originally from England and now lives in Finland. She also coaches copywriters.  Eman is the person to call when you want to make money from your emails. As an email conversion strategist and copywriter, she helps six-figure-plus online business owners and ecommerce brands fire up their conversions, evergreen their sales and turn fans into superfans. Eman is also the host of the podcast Mistakes That Made Me, which asks...

On today’s show, I discuss how I found myself in the dreaded “famine” part of the feast-or-famine cycle and what I’m trying to do about it. Here’s what I share with you in this episode: A few tips when you’re in the “feast” phase. How to tell clients no — and turn down work when you’re too busy.  My three-pronged approach to get out of the famine stage.  The importance of figuring out where your potential clients are and getting involved in that space. The upcoming Content Marketing World,...

Today’s guest is Ernie Smith, a longtime writer for nonprofits and membership associations. He also has a lot of experience in graphic design, content strategy, content management systems, newsletter creation, and content. Ernie is also a tech writer — that includes writing about technology for Vice magazine — and Ernie is a self-proclaimed tech nerd. His name and voice might sound familiar because I just had him on the ChatGPT episode a few weeks ago. That was episode 156.  So, I thought...

On today’s show I discuss some client wins, a fail and some ongoing challenges in my freelance business so far in 2023.  Here’s what I share with you in this episode: A win in which I didn’t dismiss the client because it wasn’t a straightforward proposal and I had to customize it.  A “bridge service” win, in which I took an existing service and skill I’m good at and went beyond it a bit, expanded it to create a new, great project. A win in which I fired a client that forced me to often...

Today’s guest is Eva Stabenow, a Pilates teacher and movement coach who helps freelance writers, translators and other desk workers heal their bodies through movement while continuing to pursue the work they love.  In the early 2010s, after a successful career as a German medical translator, Eva began to suffer from severe shoulder and wrist pain caused by long hours at her desk. After years of searching, Eva finally found lasting relief through corrective Pilates. This inspired her to seek...

Today’s episode features several guests who all have an interest in ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI). Their varying backgrounds and experiences in tech, writing and editing provide unique insights into the potential and risks of generative AI such as ChatGPT.   ChatGPT has risks and opportunities. Most of us are hearing how ChatGPT plagiarizes, how we can’t fact-check what the sources are, and how formulaic and repetitive the writing is. But we also have to remember this...

Today’s guest is Michelle Jackson of Denver, Colorado. Michelle is a freelance content creator. She has been blogging, writing and talking about personal finance for the past decade—although she will tell us in today’s episode how she’s pivoting her business away from that.  But, I’ve been following Michelle on Twitter for a while and learning from what she has to say about earning and managing money as a freelancer. So, I invited her to come on the show to talk about how we can prepare...

Today’s guest is Miranda Marquit. She lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Miranda has been writing and podcasting about money on a freelance basis since 2006. Her work has appeared in various media, including CNBC, NPR, Forbes, and TIME.  She has a background in journalism and enjoys telling stories about finances and creating your own financial journey. Miranda has created a successful six-figure freelance career and recently released the second edition of her book about freelancing, “Confessions...

I finally have had a moment to reflect on last year and look at my numbers. I reflect briefly, taking a qualitative look back, but this is mostly a quantitative look.  Here’s what I share with you in this episode: My 2023 income goal (big and audacious!) My 2023 word of the year  A reflection on how 2022 was for me My Q4 recap, including an analysis of income and time tracking My 2022 total income  My weekly average number of hours worked last year The number of weeks of vacation I took...

Today’s guest is Mary Tindall. Mary launched Mary Tindall Communications in 2018. She is a content marketer and thought leadership strategist in Orlando, Florida. Mary leads a boutique agency team that specializes in healthcare content marketing, working with leading institutions and innovative startups across the U.S.  Mary became a six-figure freelancer in 2020, which was a goal of hers. Then she grew even more and began to earn $200K in gross revenue on her own. As revenue continued to...

As the year ends, please consider supporting this free podcast at Buy Me a Coffee. Your support is helpful financially, obviously, but it also boosts my spirits and keeps the show going.  Today’s show is my special wrap-up episode where I share my top 10 books of the year. I read 65 books in 2022, as of December 19, and narrowed down my favorite to 10. Eight of the top 10 were published in 2022, while two were published in 2021. Those were two books I didn’t finish in 2021 and purposely...

Podcast news: After much deliberation, I’m changing the schedule of Deliberate Freelancer slightly. We will stick to weekly Thursday episodes, and the episode format will remain the same. However, I will now publish in two big seasons, with breaks in between. So, after December 22, 2022, the podcast will go on hiatus until February. Then, the schedule will resume through May. I will take a summer hiatus, likely June through August, then return for the fall season. I will take another break...

Podcast news: After much deliberation, I’m changing the schedule of Deliberate Freelancer slightly. We will stick to weekly Thursday episodes, and the episode format will remain the same. However, I will now publish in two big seasons, with breaks in between. So, after December 22, 2022, the podcast will go on hiatus until February. Then, the schedule will resume through May. I will take a summer hiatus, likely June through August, then return for the fall season. I will take another...

If you’re like me, you’ve learned the hard way that if you don’t plan for January right now, you might have a very slow start to the new year.  A lot of places shut down between Christmas and New Year’s Day, which can make that a great time of year to take off from your freelance business — but it can also be a great time to catch up on work or work on your business,  But those last two weeks of the year are not usually a good time to reach out to clients. I highly encourage you to do...

This week I’m excited to recap the third quarter of my business. Some great news first: I’m starting to feel like myself again, after a summer of grief and anxiety. Even before that, I was definitely languishing through the pandemic, and I’m not sure I’ve felt this great since before the pandemic—almost three years ago!  As for quarter three, you might have noticed there was no Q2 recap, in the midst of my horrible summer. So, I’ll mention it briefly here, as it relates to Q3.  In quarter...

I have been at a client’s conference all week, so I wanted to share a previous episode that I hope you find it valuable. I originally recorded this episode in February 2020, but it’s definitely relevant today—we all need reminders from time to time on the importance of setting boundaries in your personal and work life.  In this episode, I aim to give you a mix of a pep talk, tactical advice on how to set boundaries, and actual language on what to say to people. I hope you find it...

Today’s guest is Erin Brenner, an editor in Massachusetts. Erin is the owner of the editorial services agency Right Touch Editing, which specializes in providing small and midsized organizations with writing and editing teams. Erin also offers training in writing and editing, particularly for editors and for professionals who write.  Today, Erin talks about how she is building a team of contractors for her editorial agency. I believe her advice and the lessons she’s learned will be...

Today’s guest is Lauree Ostrofsky, who is a coach and speaker living in the Hudson Valley of New York state. Her business is called Simply Leap. Lauree’s clients are A-students and introverts wanting to feel more confident putting themselves out there in a bigger way, including in their own businesses.  Lauree has written two books: a happy how-to called “Simply Leap: Seven Lessons on Facing Fear and Enjoying the Crap out of Your Life,” and “I’m scared & doing it anyway,” about...