#24194
Sell Your Technical Writing Services 
Times are changing. Before 2001, when you went to sell your technical writing services, you might have checked a job board, read a newspaper, or called the manager of Human Resources and then referred to a written job description. In 2004, things are different.
Walsh, Tina K. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Writing>Technical Writing
#24201
Selling Yourself as an Interaction Designer
Interaction design incorporates a lot of skills from other disciplines, such as technical writing and information architecture. This article discusses the unique areas of interaction design with which technical communicators may not be familiar. Expanding your skills in these areas will help you sell yourself as an interaction designer.
Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. and Jennifer B. Square. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Interaction Design
#27833
Small Claims Court: How to Avoid Big Headaches
As professionals, we know to make every effort to obtain payment from clients before resorting to legal action. Doing things such as calling the person with whom you've worked on the project, calling the company's financial officer, calling the company's general manager and/or owner, following up with letters, and following up with more letters sent by certified mail are all good ways to let your client know that you won't be ignored. But sometimes our best efforts fail and the only recourse is legal help.
Aglaia, Debra. Editorial Freelancers Association (1997). Careers>Freelance>Legal
#24309
So You Want to Freelance as a Webzine Writer?
The Web offers a second universe for writers. Web publications have opened up just as the paper markets have shrunk for journalists, humorists, essayists, fictioneers, and yes, freelancing technical communicators. Webzines appear at a time when pay rates for magazine articles and books have begun to mirror the economy’s split into poor and rich, with fewer lucrative contracts in the middle. But now the opportunity exists for a writer to make a middle-class living on the Web.
Price, Jonathan R. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Freelance>Journalism>Writing
#18173
So You Want to Freelance as a Webzine Writer?
The Web offers a second universe for writers. Web publications have opened up just as the paper markets have shrunk for journalists, humorists, essayists, fictioneers, and yes, freelancing technical communicators. Webzines appear at a time when pay rates for magazine articles and books have begun to mirror the economy’s split into poor and rich, with fewer lucrative contracts in the middle. But now the opportunity exists for a writer to make a middle-class living on the Web.
Price, Jonathan R. Communication Circle, The (1998). Careers>Freelance>Writing
#19527
So You Want to Get Paid on Time? Here's How to Make It Happen
'I love everything about being self-employed--except for waiting to get paid! My paychecks never seem to arrive on time. Sometimes my clients forget to send my invoices to Accounts Payable or the invoices get misplaced; other times the process just bogs down and takes forever. Whatever the reason, I'm stuck waiting for checks that don't come.' This article addresses the question: How can I get my clients to pay on time?
Fugate, Alice E. TECHWR-L (2003). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#27842
Some Principles for Negotiating with Clients 
Assume that negotiation is part of freelancing. When called about a job, express an interest in the proposed project and its terms, but don’t feel compelled to accept the whole package immediately.
#30452
Spec Work Can Damage Your Business
Speculative work, or free pitching, 'spec' for short, is considered unethical among leading graphic design associations around the world.
Airey, David. DavidAirey (2007). Careers>Freelance>Graphic Design>Contracts
#14648
STC's U.S. Independent Contractor/Temp Agency Employee Survey
STC presents the results of its 1999 Independent Contractor/Temp Agency Employee Survey.
#24301
Successful Independent Consulting Workshop
To succeed as an independent consultant, technical communicators must master basic business concepts. These include properly setting up the business, marketing, and understanding basic contracts. When setting up their business, independent consultants must consider the legal form of their business, required licensees, insurance, retirement plans, and industry going rates. Marketing methods are divided into passive and active techniques. Independent consultants must know how to market to two main channels: agencies and direct clients.
Florzak, Douglas. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#28194
Surviving Life as a Contractor
One of the biggest temptations as an independent is to watch the money roll in and just focus on the number in your bank account. If you are incorporated, then you know the importance of strict accounting; out of that number, you have to take into account corporate taxes as well as personal income tax. However, if you are a sole proprietor or undeclared, you only have to take into consideration personal tax withholdings and the other associated costs (insurance, retirement, etc.), right? Wrong. In both cases, it's important to set aside a portion of your earnings in a savings account for rainy days.
Torres, Derek. TECHWR-L (2006). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#27845
Talk to Me: Getting Feedback from Clients
Constructive feedback can help you feel more confident about your skills at a number of stages of your career. Whereas you might feel that you need client feedback more as a new freelancer than when you’re established, assessments of your work can also be valuable when you have moved to a new area, are working with a new client, are trying to break into a specialized field or type of publication, or want to negotiate for a better rate.
Wright, Cornelia Bland. Editorial Freelancers Association (1991). Careers>Freelance>Collaboration
#18255
Technical Writing for the Freelancer
Discover if technical writing is right for you, and if it is, find out how to learn what you need to know.
#26028
Ten Tips to Reaching Financial Success as a Freelance Writer
You're more than a writer, you're a business owner. You're a manager, a marketer, a negotiator, a technology guru and more.
Bachel, Bev and Jennifer Lawler. Writing World (1999). Careers>Freelance>Writing
#26275
Ten Ways to Keep and Get Clients
Realistically, it will be impossible to keep every client due to any number of factors; the marketing director you've worked with for years leaves or another design firm offers a 'loss leader' project. While some scenarios are out of your control, many are not and taking a proactive stance can do wonders.
Schultz, Derald. Creative Latitude (2005). Careers>Freelance>Graphic Design
#30453
That Monster called Free Pitch
No matter what you call it, Spec Work, Free Pitch, etc the concept is the same. I'll get a handful of designers or studios to come up with a handful of concepts for my website, and the winner gets my business. Great concept? No! There are no winners here.
Burke, Miles. MilesBurke.com.au (2007). Careers>Freelance>Graphic Design>Contracts
#21367
The Indie life: Talking with Louis Rosenfeld
Think you'd like to set up shop as an independent information architecture consultant? Polar Bear book co-author Louis Rosenfeld has a few words of advice: it's not your IA skills that are necessarily the most important ones.
Nattress, Paul. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Careers>Freelance>Information Design
#32049
Personally, the growing distress over the recession actually represents a lack of long-term thinking. Freelancing by default is less stable than the corporate world.
Contract Worker (2008). Careers>Freelance
#31332
Tips for Starting a Solo Career
Many years ago I was taken to lunch by two legislative analysts for a large law firm who figured that if I could do similar work on my own then maybe they could, too. As we talked, it became clear that what they were really looking for was a job-sharing venture that would give them more time to spend with their young children. When I asked them what they would do if two different clients needed something at the same time, they looked a bit stunned.
Steigman, Daria. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Careers>Freelance
#24283
Traps Freelancers Fall into and How to Get Out of Them
Every trap can be instructive if you realize what’s happening, when it's happening. There are dozens of possible scenarios, and if you get a roomfull of independent consultants together, they’ll all have at least one war story to tell about their nightmare client. We pooled some of our worst experiences. Then we came up with solutions. Some of the solutions came to us as the situation unfolded; some solutions came only with wizened hindsight.
Chisnell, Dana E., Susan Becker, Frank Elley and Mavis Wall. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Freelance
#15217
Trends in Technical Communication: An Independent's View
Responding to articles from a previous issue of Intercom, Frick reacts to professional trends that affect her independent consulting business.
Frick, Elizabeth A. 'Betsy'. Intercom (2000). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#14147
Twenty Questions for Your First Day on the Job as a Contractor
It's hard enough your first day at work as a permanent employee. There are forms to fill out, introductory meetings to attend, tools to learn. But people are likely to cut you a little slack at first, while you come up to speed. Then there's your first day as a contractor. You're expected to hit the ground running, ask what you need to know, and get productive as fast as possible. How can you minimize your initial minutes of floundering around, and get to work quickly? The sets of questions below, while by no means comprehensive, will help you figure out how your new environment works. They are grouped, but not prioritized.
#24196
Many of us (myself included) get caught up in our day-to-day work and forget the value that comes with meeting people face to face. I was reminded of the importance of these meetings in January, when I attended the STC-James River Chapter 2004 Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference sessions covered everything from intercultural technical communication to XML migration strategies. For me, the conference was an opportunity to find out what was on the minds of technical communicators in the area. As it turned out, some of those concerns related to the theme for this issue.
Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Collaboration
#26273
We creative professionals tend to be a right-brained bunch, harnessing our creative talents to create practical solutions for our clients. Creating pricing structures, estimates and invoices are not high on our enjoyment list. But we can avoid some common pitfalls and potentially unhappy clients by pricing our work based on project value rather than an hourly rate.
Stuart, Valarie Martin. Creative Latitude (2004). Careers>Freelance>Graphic Design>Estimating
#18266
When the Customer Isn’t Right: A Workshop in Handling Conflicts When Clients Behave Unethically
As consultants and freelancers, we try to adhere to the theory that our clients are always right. However, clients are sometimes dead wrong. Most of us at one time or another face situations in which clients ask us to behave unethically or treat us unethically. How do we handle such situations and maintain good client relations? This workshop explores the use of a value analysis model in resolving ethical dilemmas, using representative case studies.
Allen, Lori A. and Dean Graves. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Freelance>Ethics
