Comments on: Turning Negative Situations into Positive Opportunities

By: 85 Hacks to Help Your Freelance Writing Career : Freelance Writing Jobs

85 Hacks to Help Your Freelance Writing Career : Freelance Writing Jobs — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:51:48 +0000

[...] are no setbacks, only opportunities: Don’t let negativity get you down, turn it into a positive experience. If you’re rejected by a client, seize the opportunity to work on your problem areas. If a [...]

By: 10 Important Things to Consider When Applying to Freelance Writing Jobs : Freelance Writing Jobs

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:59:37 +0000

[...] out. I like to use these experiences as opportunities to do better. As far as I’m concerned negative situations can be used as reminders and tools to aid us in seeking positive opportunities. I think I made most [...]

By: NancyP

NancyP — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:50:05 +0000

College costs a bomb, student loans are less available and parents don’t owe kids a free ride through college. My parents sat me down and told me what they could afford to contribute and suggested I think long and hard before going into mega-debt or signing up for an ROTC scholarship (my grades were good). I took their advice, went to UCLA and got a great education and a marketable degree at a bargain price. Ironically, if I’d gone to a high-cost private college in Calif., it would not have paid off the way my nationally-recognizable UCLA degree has. Everyone’s heard of UCLA. It helped.

It is OK to make a tough situation work for you. It’s a good lesson to learn early on, actually…life isn’t perfect, and we have to make the best of things.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:18:54 +0000

I know I’m super late to this party, but this is really a great post Deb. I am SO negative. I usually don’t even bother reading stuff like this, because I’m that negative. LOL But I figured… well, it’s Deb…

Totally off topic, but:

@Phil – I laughed so hard that coffee came out of my nose when I read the disc jokey thing. I know I don’t know you THAT well, but that was just too funny to me. I used to want to be a lawyer, if that’s any consolation. (You can laugh right back.) Then I went to work for lawyers, because I couldn’t afford school yet, and I decided against it. Big money saved.

By: TOG Monday Link Love | The Office Gal

TOG Monday Link Love | The Office Gal — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:09:24 +0000

[...] Turning Negative Situations into Positive Opportunities at Freelance Writing Jobs. [...]

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Ann G.,

Best of luck with college financing, even though it’s a few years off. My oldest is a HS junior, so we’re looking at it right now, and she didn’t understand (despite our efforts) the importance of good grades until the third quarter of this year.

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:28:22 +0000

@Phil – Harvard’s plan sounds like the one Stanford just established. We’re definitely going to look into that for our son. To date, he’s only had A’s and now in 8th grade is taking some high school courses because the school couldn’t keep up with him. He’s enrolled in all Advanced courses for his first year of high school and if he can keep his grades up, I think he’ll be okay for a college scholarship. Our daughter’s a different story though – she still does well but all Bs won’t be as impressive to a college.

By: Phil

Phil — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:41:49 +0000

Ann G.,

If you children have the grades (mine don’t), look at Harvard. The university’s endowment fund has done so well, that Harvard is providing nearly a free ride for children of parents below certain income levels (I think the figure is $60,000 annually) who are accepted.

It’s not just marketing flack, either. Talked to someone recently who said they were able to get a son through Harvard for less than $10,000 for four years.

Another possibility may be to ensure they qualify as beinbg independent from you and have them borrow the money themselves. Granted, college was a lot less expensive when I went, but I repaid all loans, including the money I borrowed from my parents. When I repaid my parents five years after I graduated (meaning I ate a lot of tuna and tomato soup), it paid for my youngest brother’s first year of college.

By: John Clausen

John Clausen — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:20:35 +0000

I would take mild issue with your thoughts on handling a picky editor. I’ve been on both sides of the desk and I know just how short of time an editor can be. Most of them would be loathe to sit down with a bitter and whiny writer who thinks his or her deathless prose have been violated. As a freelancer, my policy is: If the editor hasn’t inserted an error of fact or grammar, I’m not going harras him or her. I’m more likely to contact the editor if the checks are not arriving on time. In either case – bum editing or slow pay – I’m inclined to accept it as part of the business (I’ve been doing this for 30 years now). If it continues, I will seek work elsewhere. There are something like 100,000 magazines in this country alone, not to mention copywriting and commercial buyers. There’s no reason to go without work. Try – as a general goal – to have 100 queries or pitches for new work in the works. I’ve never gotten to the 100 mark (or anywhere near it) before I was covered up with plenty of work. It’s part of my business plan, something that any freelance writer should have. Feel free to drop by my website (www.writingformoney.com) and take a look at the Freelance Writng Plan in our Writer’s Resource section.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:58:27 +0000

Recently, I learned how important it is to make sure there is absolutely no ambiguity when it comes to the financial terms of agreement for an assignment. A client told me he’d pay $100 for me putting together a press release for him, briefly mentioned later about it needing to get into print and then told me that he couldn’t pay me for my efforts because a) it didn’t get into print and b) he’d spent $80 to get it web published. I was a little confused on why he spent that money to get it web posted when he told me he couldn’t pay me because it wasn’t printed. He then told me that my “payment” was getting my name out there in the open. Sorry, but when you have a wife, 3 kids, a crummy place to rent and bills to pay, it is far more preferable to get PAID.

In my experience, the time it takes for press releases to get made into finished articles can be anywhere from a few weeks to several months.

The experience has turned into an invaluable lesson for me. Needless to say, I won’t work for this client again.