If freelancing were a religion, firing a client would be considered blasphemy. But there comes a time in every freelancer’s life, when for the sake of her freelancing business (and sanity!), she must do exactly that.

Maybe it’s the client who’s difficult or maybe it’s you who finds the work soul crushingly boring and want to move on. Either way, the choice of walking away from a gig is as much yours as the client’s.

Yes, it’s a tricky situation and if handled wrong, it can spell disaster. The good news is that if you play your cards right and keep things professional, the whole thing will go smoothly enough.

Here are five ways to fire your client without ruining your reputation or your relationship with them.

Word of caution: Before firing a client, make sure the problem isn’t you. Correcting your own shortcomings is a lot easier than going to all the trouble of firing clients and dealing with the aftermath.

1. Raise your rates

You know that amount you dreamed of ultimately charging your clients? It’s time to raise ‘em to that level.

A quick email to your client saying ‘Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be raising my rates to xyz. In case these rates don’t work for you, please let me know. I’d be happy to recommend another freelancer.’ is all it takes

If the problem is the client, they’re probably going to balk at paying more. Trouble clients usually just believe in troubling their freelancer and not in going to the trouble of paying more for great work.

If the problem is your lack of interest or motivation, quote a number you’ll be happy to continue writing for in case the client agrees to your new rates.

2. Find more work

A lot of times freelancers balk at firing clients because they’re worried about the loss of income. So spend a few extra minutes scouting for new clients every day until you land more clients who will more than make up for the soon-to-be fired client.

Once you have work lined up, letting your trouble client go by telling them you’ve gotten too busy to do them justice and refer them to someone.

3. Lessen your workload

Another way to get rid of the client from hell is to lessen your work load – drastically. Deciding to let a client go can be a wake up call. What might have started out as an excuse for firing a client could be the nudge you needed to revamp your freelance business.

Do you really need to work for so many clients? What if you could earn the same amount by working for fewer clients?

4. Take the blame

Sometimes, you need to come clean and tell the client that you can’t work with them anymore. You don’t have to tell them you’re parting ways because if you continue working with them you’ll go insane.

Instead of slogging through the work, do the right thing by letting your client know and save yourself hours of agony.

Give them the classic ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech.

Refer a couple of freelancers you know will take good care of your client and make a graceful exit.

Delivering the bad news

Firing a client requires diplomacy. You may have your reasons ready but how you deliver them is more important.

The simplest way to tell your client is to sandwich the bad news between good news.

Good news –> Bad news (You’re being let go) –> Good news

Start off on a positive note by telling them it has been great working with them. If your experience has been really bad and you can’t bring yourself to say it, use words like enlightening, interesting etc. – any positive words your stomach can… stomach.

Move on with mentioning how your business has evolved and grown during this time to the point where you’re making some big changes and moving it in a new direction. That’s your first good news.

As a result you will no longer be able to work with them. Give them any of the above reasons. That’s the bad news.

Now reassure your client – whether it’s completing your current project with them or recommending another freelancer. Let them know you’ll take care of them. That’s your second good news.

Thank them for their business and wish them all the best.

Have you ever had to let a client go? How did you do it?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a freelance writer in possession of good writing skills will never be happy writing for content mills.

(If the above sentence sounds familiar, it’s because I stole it from Jane Austen and… modified it Brownie points to whoever guesses which novel it’s from!)

Writing for content mills is no one’s dream job. Granted, content mill writing taught me some important freelancing skills but all in all, it was a suffocating relationship.

Ever since I got past my fear and told the world (through a guest post) about my content mill writing origins, I’ve been shocked at how many writers are in the same boat I was.

They say the exact same things I was saying. I have

• No experience
• No samples
• No referrals or testimonials

Who’s going to hire me?

I remember being this close to pulling my hair one day after I’d read another post on how I needed to quite writing for content mills right now.

Then I wanted to smack the blogger silly.

Stop telling me why I need to stop writing for them and tell me how to do it.

How do I break free from them? How do I convince a client to hire me when that client is convinced that my work is inferior because the only experience I have is of writing for content mills?

It took a long time and lots of trials and errors before I broke free from them. But I managed to do it.

You can break free from content mills too.

I created the Break Free from Content Mills email course to help freelance writers who are stuck writing for content mills.

This email course is my response to the gazillion freelance writers out there who’re asking the same question I was.

If you’re desperate to break free from content mills, work with a real client and earn more, then Break Free is exactly what you need.

Ready to break free from low paying content mills?

If you’ve had it with content mills and are desperate to break free, this course is for you. Click on the link below to see the course overview, read what other freelancers are saying about it and of  course, to sign up!

Click here –> Break Free From Content Mills

Content mills have been a topic of hot debate on almost every freelance writing blog I follow at one time or another. While I haven’t written about them here, I did guest post over at Make a Living Writing about it last year.

What you might not know (unless you’ve read that post) is that I started my freelancing writing for content mills.

With no experience and no writing samples, they felt like a god send. It wasn’t long before I realized that writing for content mills wasn’t doing me any favours. Not only was the money crappy, but I couldn’t land any clients because content mill writing is considered inferior. No one wanted to hire a content mill writer so I stopped mentioning it in the jobs I’d apply for.

Then came the realization that freelancers didn’t respect content mill writers either. While everyone talked about their clients and pay rates, all I had was my content mill work and the few dollars I was earning.

You can bet your behind I stopped mentioning my association with them fast.

While it took me well over a year to break free from content mills, I learned a few things about freelancing along the way that paved the way for my freelance business.

1. Establishing goals & decision making

Any business, be it a freelance one or otherwise, can’t grow without having some goals or targets to meet. To achieve those goals, you need to make some decision that’ll help you do so.

There’s nothing like earning $5 an article to make you realize you’re never going to achieve your goals if you keep writing for these rates.

Whether you like it or not, content mills forces you to make a decision. Are you going to continue writing for low paying content mills or are you going to do something about it and change your life?

Once I figured out I would never be happy writing for such crappy pay, my ‘earning enough to cover the rent’ goal turned into another two-fold goal:

Land my first real client so I could get the hell out of content mills and earn more.

Making the decision to break free from content mills was the scariest decision of my freelance writing career.

All I knew at the point was that I wanted to earn more. With content mills, at least I was earning something. If I left them, there was a good chance I wouldn’t earn anything if I didn’t find clients!

No decision since has been as difficult or as scary.

2. Hard work

If there’s one thing content mill writing teaches you, its hard work. When you’re earning $5 an article, you can’t afford to slack off.

You need to write 20 articles just to bring in $100. And because you’re a good writer, those articles are going to be well researched and well written – which takes time and effort.

That’s not to say freelance writers who don’t write for content mills aren’t hard workers. They definitely are. Content mill writers just have an edge in that department – desperation tends to do that.

A note to prospective clients: If you’re looking for hard working freelance writers, content mill writers are the ideal choice. Not only will they work hard, but they’ll go above and beyond what’s required because they’ll be so happy to have an actual client. Their business growth depends on how good a job they do.

3. Hustling

Content mill writers are one of the biggest hustlers you’ll see out there. Because they know they won’t find better paying work as content mill writers, they do anything they can – no matter how unconventional – to land a client and get work.

When I was trying to break free from content mills, I wrote free samples that I would send in without the client asking for it, I’d follow up on job applications after a week and if I got a rejection – which was often, I’d follow up after a month to see if the person they eventually hired worked out or not.

I used social media to project an image of a – if not successful then a well off freelancer. I’d talk about the articles I was writing and make it sound like really interesting work – no one needed to know they were for a content mill. I’d make a big deal out of taking some time off to go catch an afternoon movie or hang out with friends. Again, no one needed to know that the reason I was taking time off was because I didn’t have any client work.

In short, I hustled.

There’s no condoning writing for content mills. However, no experience goes without teaching us a few lessons.

What lessons did your early freelancing experience teach you?

P.S: Next week, I’ll be unveiling the email course that was inspired by my content mill writing experience. Hint: It involves breaking free from them.

P.P.S: If you want first dibs, sign up for the newsletter below to get more info along with a massive discount. The discount expires at the end of this week so hurry up!

A few months ago, I wrote a post for Hongkiat.com about the benefits of joining online forums. At the time I wrote that post, I was and had been part of quite a few forums with varying degrees of success. Ultimately though, I gave up on all of them.

I tried free ones and paid ones. Forums that charge you an arm and a leg and ones that ‘only’ charge you a month’s worth of your kid’s lunch money – okay I’m being dramatic here.

Every forum I joined made some big promises – promises of free or discounted stuff, webinars, boot camps etc. And they stuck to it too!

So why didn’t I stick to them if they were delivering on their promises?

Because it got overwhelming.

Some had too many sub forums. Some forums were so large you had to wait for your turn to ask a question from one of the experts.

Thanks to John Soares’ Productive Writers blog, I recently discovered Anne Wayman’s and Lori Widmer’s “About Writing Squared – Home of the 5 Buck Forum” – and was shocked!

My first thought was “Whoa… $5?!”

And by such big names as Anne Wayman and Lori Widmer? I’ve paid 5 times that for forums run by less experienced freelancers.

I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about it and went off to sign up for it immediately.

Inside About Writing Squared

Once inside, it took me less than 5 minutes to acquaint myself with the forum. About Writing Squared comes with no bells and whistles attached. It’s a simple forum that focuses on providing support and help to fellow freelancers.

I particularly like the Tip of the Week section where Lori and Anne post a tip you can use that week go grow your freelance writing business. I implemented the most recent tip Lori had posted and it resulted in me contacting an old client who gave me a referral to another client.

Then there’s the Odd & Ends sections which is the virtual water cooler for us freelancers. It’s the perfect place to hang out if you’ve got a few minutes and want to talk to other freelancers.

The forum community is unbelievably helpful and welcoming. They offer the kind of support I wish I had when I started out and got stuck writing for content mills.

In fact, had this forum been there when I was writing for content mills, I’d have gotten free from them much sooner than I did and saved myself tons of misery and insecurity.

Whether you’re a content mill writer trying to make it as a freelancer writer or an established one who just wants a place to hang out with other freelancers, About Writing Squared is the place to be.

At $5 a month, you have absolutely NO reason not to sign up.

Even a content mill writer can shell out $5 for a forum that has enough information and support to help achieve his writing dreams.

I’m not going to apologize. I’m just going to tell you what’s been happening. This year had started of really well for me. I had plenty of freelancing clients, I had started blogging again, my guest posts were popping up here and there and every time one would be published, I’d be bombarded with more work.

Then at the end of May, I got recruited for a full time position as a Community Manager for a start up in Dubai. Check out JadoPado.com if you’re curious. The work is fun and the exposure is great for a place like Dubai – which is where I live in case you haven’t checked out my about page.

Naturally, I stopped freelancing and only kept a couple of staff blogging and editing gigs. And that too only because I get credit for it along with pay. I may have started working full time but the pull of seeing my name under an article or blog post is still strong!

To be honest, I don’t know what will happen to this blog. For now it’s still there but I have no plans of publishing on it for now. I’ll be removing the free ebook you get if you sign up  for my newsletter and instead turn it into an email course after adding more stuff to it.

I have plans for the book – mainly that I’ll update it, have it edited, and then put it up for sale.

So this is it for now. I’m loving the new turn my life has taken even if it means I’m busier than ever spending every free minute I have with my daughter. I now write on my way to work on the train – 20 minutes in the morning and 30 in the afternoon. I’m getting more writing done in these 50 minutes than I thought possible!

I’m still around and am always on Twitter (@samarowais) if you want to keep in touch. You can also reach me via email (contact [at] samarowais.com) for anything that requires more than 140 characters to communicate

See you around!

Want to earn a six figure income through writing?

New freelance writers are often so busy trying to make ends meet that they forget to do the one thing that is guaranteed to grow their business. They don’t invest in their business.

When I was contacted by AWAI (American Writer’s and Artist’s Inc.) to review their course, I jumped at the chance. I’d already read Laura Spencer‘s review and trusted her judgement. I wasn’t disappointed!

AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting is a comprehensive course that will teach you the basics of copywriting, get you started and make sure that by the end of it, you have all the skills needed to make a success of your copywriting careers.

When I say this course is comprehensive, I mean there’s no way you can digest all that info in 6 weeks – unless you study for a solid two hours every day. You’ll definitely start earning in 6 weeks but this course is so in depth that it will continue to teach you for a long, long time.

The biggest selling point for me as I went through the course was the access to so many copywriting experts. While Michael Masterson is a big part of it, he’s not the only one sharing his experience, secrets and insights. It’s been created by several other successful copywriters who have either learned from Michael or worked with him. They’ve all collected their knowledge and revealed their copywriting secrets to help you earn more through direct sales copywriting.

The one thing that these master copywriters drill into you is that you don’t have to be a gifted writer to be earn 6 figures as a copywriter. Then they go on to prove it throughout the course.

Stuff I liked about this course

What I best liked about this course was the examples, case studies and exercises included in this course. They don’t just teach you theory, they give you practical exercises too. For a show then tell learner like me, this course was just perfect!

But that’s not all. With the course, you get access to AWAI’s extensive site and community. They hold regular webinars, release reports and post copywriting jobs.

I highly recommend this course for anyone looking to up their copywriting game. There is serious money in copywriting. Why stumble around for years trying to make it on your own when a little guidance can put you on the right track in just a few weeks?

The Downside of this course

The downside of this course is the same as it’s upside. Because this course is so comprehensive (13 chapters equalling 518 pages + writing exercises + bonus webinar and reports) it can be too overwhelming to go through.

To overcome that, my advice is to read the introductory chapter thoroughly and make notes. Then skim through the rest and keep jotting down notes on areas you want to concentrate on or learn more about.

Whether you finish this course or just study a few lessons, you’re going to learn enough to drastically improve your work and start earning more. And if for any reason you’re not satisfied with the course, AWAI offers a 30 day money back guarantee.

Are you ready to take your freelancing to the next level?

So take a look at your freelancing business. Does it need an investment that will reap you benefits and rewards within a few weeks? I’m willing to bet it does.

To find out more about the AWAI’s Program For Six-Figure Copywriting you can go to their sales page or read their testimonials.

Just remember, buying the course alone won’t make you money. You have to put in the time and effort to study the material, do the exercises and keep practicing. This isn’t a onetime investment – it’s a life time’s.

Are you ready to invest in your freelancing business and enter the big leagues?

P.S: The price for this course is $497 and they have an easy payment plan as well. But if you buy the entire course in one go, you get a $100 off.

Regardless of your freelancing experience, you’re bound to run into your share of bad clients. Even if you don’t, I bet you’ve had people sending you request for quotes that scream trouble. Yet, against your better judgement you find yourself in talks with clients who you’re not sure about.

You’re not alone. Most freelancers have the same problem. Whether that’s because of our inability to let an opportunity go without exploring it or just curiosity, here’s a simple idea that’s worth repeating a few times a week:

 Not all clients are worth working for.

When you’re considering taking on a new client, keep your eyes, ears and gut tuned for the following warning signs.

The client:

1. Is vague about his needs

If your client is not sure what they want, there’s no way you’ll ever be sure either. Take me, I’m a great writer. However, I make a horrible client to freelance designers.

I’m the client they were warned about.

Even though I had a clear picture of what I wanted when I started looking for a designer, I kept changing my mind as the whole process moved forward.

My solution was to tell the designer up front about my unfortunate tendency to not know what I wanted. Luckily I’m friends with the designer I hired and she asked me some really hard questions when I g0t too fussy. Occasionally she also told me to zip it so she can do her job.

Your prospective client won’t give you that liberty. He’ll probably expect you to know what he wants even though he hasn’t clearly told what that is.

2. Had a lot of problems with previous freelancers

Consider it a red flag if your client has a history of going through a lot of freelancers and has mentioned having problems with them.

Granted, it’s entirely possible that they hired the wrong people but can one choose the wrong person every time?

Listen to your gut and watch out for how the prospect deals with you. Do they treat you professionally? The answer to this question will never lead you astray.

3. Is too focused on the price

Does the prospect mention the price too often? Or emphasize that they’re looking for an affordable freelancer?

An good client is one who is willing to pay for the services he’s buying. It doesn’t have to mean that they pay through the nose but it doesn’t mean that get those services dirt cheap either.

Avoid cheap client like the plague. Especially if you’re not sure of your own rates and like it to decide on a client by client basis.

4. Thinks he can do a better job

It all boils down to respect. If your prospective client keeps mentioning that it’s an easy job and he could do it himself or get his intern/niece/secretary to do it, you might want to say bye-bye to this prospect.

A client who doesn’t give your expertise due credit is going to be a nightmare to work with.

Ever worked with a nightmare client or let go a project because the client seemed like trouble? How did you handle the situations?

No matter how much planning a freelancer does to meet deadlines, there are times when things spiral out of control. Maybe you fell ill or had a request for a rush job you couldn’t refuse, or (God forbid) your computer crashes!

The last is what happened to me a few weeks ago. My computer didn’t crash but my laptop’s charger and battery died – at the same time. To say that I wasn’t expecting it would be an understatement. My laptop was less than a year old and still under warranty!

After staring like an idiot at my laptop hoping it will somehow, magically come back to life, I started to panic. It was after 5 on Friday and everyone knows the kind of customer service there is on the weekends. The ‘none at all’ kind.

With a big deadlines looming on Monday, I thought I was screwed. Even though I back up my files weekly, there was no way I could have planned for the death of my laptop battery and charger. In fact, I was in the middle of writing an article when my laptop went blank.

What’s a girl to do when her work’s trapped inside a dead laptop?

Grab a paper and pen

She grabs a paper and pen, that’s what.

With no laptop and no way to get my work out from the machine, I was completely clueless on how to proceed from there. Okay, not all that clueless because I took out a notebook and started scribbling furiously.

All the articles and blog posts due next week got outlined. The article I was working on got written by hand. It was a frustrating experience and presented a new problem. Half of that article was trapped in my laptop and the other half was on paper. Crap.

Use your smart phone

I was done with the outlines and articles in a couple of hour. After that I looked around and realized I could use my smart phone! Since my internet was still working, I connected my Nokia via wifi and opened up the Evernote app in my phone.

(Note: Always have apps installed in your phone even if you don’t use them.)

Before long I was opening up my saved up research and adding more notes to my outline.

I also checked email, updated my calendar and made lists. Lots and lots of lists. And then I came to a dead end. There wasn’t anything else I could do regarding work without my laptop any more.

Talk to Hound customer service

Since it was the weekend here, I figured I wouldn’t get any help from HP. But I still included them in my tweet about my battery & charger dying on Saturday.

Much to my surprise, they contacted me within a few minutes and asked for my contact details to forward to their customer service.

Sunday morning came and I still hadn’t heard from their customer service (not that I was expecting to) so I DM’d HP again and asked them when I could expect an email from them as I really needed to meet my deadlines and had work trapped inside my laptop.

Miracles of miracles, their customer service got back to me within the hour with all the info I needed.

Of course, I was lucky to get great customer service. You’re screwed if you don’t so choose your laptop wisely. To be honest, when I got my HP, customer service was the farthest thing from my mind. There was a major sale going on at one of the electronic retailers and I got was getting the specs I wanted at an unbelievable price so I just snatched it up.

My good luck that HP Middle East has awesome customer service.

Run like the wind

Once I had the info from their customer service rep, I raced to their office in my city and burst in with laptop in tow. Knowing my problem, they gave me a charger so that I could start work immediately and put in an order for the battery since they didn’t have it in stock.

Two days later, I had the battery as well.

I was able to meet my deadlines – thanks to the time difference between UAE and US. If you’re not as lucky as me, the only option you have is to write from scratch all over again and rush to a friend’s place if you don’t have another computer available.

To prepare for emergencies like mine, you have two options:

• Save your work in Google Docs
• Save your files in Drop Box

This way you’ll be able to work from another computer even if your can’t access yours.

Moral of the story: No matter how prepared you are, something will happen that will make all your preparation useless.

Have you ever had computer issues before a big deadline? How did you manage and what did you do? Share your stories and tips!

Got Writer’s Block? 23 Writing Tips That Don’t Involve Writing was a reminder that there are other ways to find writing inspiration. There’s no rule saying you have to write to get past a block. These tips are guaranteed to charge you up and get you excited about writing again.

How to Write Thousands of Words Every Single Week came at just the right time. I’ve been swamped with work and have been struggling to stay on top. What looked like a slow month at the start has turned into my busiest yet! In order to meet all my deadlines, I literally need to write around 5k words per week.

Ali’s post made me stop hyperventilating and gave me a game plan.

Recover from Writing Burn Out: 18 Tips for Writing with Gusto not only listen tips for writing but gave causes and symptoms of a writing burnout. The second tip (Mind your own business) was like a smack on the back of my head.

I’m very guilty of looking at what the writers I admire are doing. And you know what? They always seem to be doing and achieving more than I am! For me, this post was a winner just because of this one, simple tip.

The rest of the article is pretty great too.

That’s it for this edition. Read something that made you stop and think? Share the links in the comments!

Truman Capote might have been scoffing at Jack Kerouac’s writing style but to write well, one must first type.

While I don’t believe in writer’s block, I do believe in using writing exercises to get the words flowing.

Whenever I’m stuck or having trouble expressing myself through words, I turn to my favourite writing exercises. The way I see it, my writing doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t have to be spell checked or published or even read. It just needs to be written.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or simply want to get the crappy writing out of the way so you can get to the good stuff, these writing exercises are an excellent place to start.

1. Prompts

Writing prompts have been around since the first cry of writer’s block. Prompts don’t clear a block. They hone a skill. They give you a reason to write.

Websites like oneword.com are extremely popular and effective. One word, 60 seconds. Nothing like a prompt and a timer to get your fingers typing.

If you’ve been using prompts trying to produce works of art then you’re probably failing spectacularly. Prompts can give you a start but they can’t give you polished prose.

Using writing prompts is a great way to exercise your skills. It’s a break from the norm and gets your creative juices flowing.

2. Write free style

Free style writing usually means writing about whatever comes to your mind. It doesn’t have to be work and it doesn’t have to be fiction. Writing freely is more of a brain dump. You write down all the extra stuff that’s in your head so that there’s only room for thinking about what you want to write.

Somehow, this technique has never worked for me. The idea of a brain dump seems so unpractical. How do I decide what to dump and what not to? And there’s a part of me that keeps thinking it won’t solve anything. I’ll be wasting precious time writing crap. Time, that will be better spent on writing what I need to write.

So now, instead of writing about anything that pops in my head, I write down all my jumbled thoughts and ideas about the topic I need to be writing about. Works wonders and I get to go back and pick and choose the stuff I want to include in the final write-up.

3. Jot conversations

Sometimes it’s all about working the kinks out of your fingers. If you find yourself writing in fits and starts then it’s probably because your brain can’t seem to connect with your fingers. What you’re trying to say isn’t being translated on the keyboard. There’s a handy exercise to fix it.

Head out to a cafe or turn on the TV if you can’t. Start writing what you hear. If you’re in a cafe, concentrate on any one of the conversations happening around you and start typing it down. The same for TV.

Eventually it will become mindless typing and a part of your brain will go back to focusing on what you were writing before. But since you’re not actively focusing on it, there won’t be any pressure to write. And once you feel like your fingers have warmed (so to speak), you’ll find writing easier.

One good thing about writing conversations you hear on TV is that you’ll learn to recognize action words. And how to write dialogues that show instead of tell. Nice side benefit eh?

4. Comment on blogs

Every one talks about commenting on blogs as a way to network, increase traffic and getting your name out there. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that commenting on blogs can be used as a writing exercise too.

Reading blogs and posting thoughtful comments puts your brain in the ‘zone’. You’re concentrating on someone else’s work for a chance. More importantly, you’re thinking like a reader.

So not only does leaving comments on blogs give you a writing exercise, it also gives you a fresh perspective. Once you’ve commented on a few blogs, you might find that your thoughts are more streamlined and connected – which will naturally translate in your own writing.

5. Stop the clock

Setting a timer and writing works for many writers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t for me. What does work is not looking at the clock or worrying about the time. Doing that allows me to simply write. I’m not ruled by deadlines or my own idea of how long it should take me to write something.

Once I take the time pressure out of the equation, I find that getting stuck writing isn’t as stressful. And since there’s no clock telling me I’ve been toying with a single paragraph for almost an hour, there’s nothing stopping me from doing so!

Sometimes all you need is the freedom to play around with your writing – even if t means rewriting a sentence more than a dozen times.

Have you tried writing exercises? Do they work for you?