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Did you ever get a catalog in the mail and want to read it cover-to-cover?
Most catalogs are pretty boring. And since I’m not the shopping type, most catalogs go right in the trash.
That is, unless my wife intercepts them. (I have to start sorting the mail in the garage before I come into the house.)
Anyway, I received a Duluth Trading Co. catalog the other day and I was hooked. I’ve seen the catalog before, but never took the time to browse.
The copywriting is superb.
I talked about Duluth Trading’s catalog copy on my business blog, but I’m so pumped about it, I wanted to turn my enthusiasm into a challenge.
Can you write engaging catalog copy like this?
Are you losing thousands in freelance fees to PayPal?
Back in the Jurassic period of my career, there was no World Wide Web. So there were no nifty online payment services for billing freelance fees.
I’d invoice clients the same way I sent them copy: in the mail. Yes, I’d print an invoice, address an envelope, and drop it in a mailbox. The client would get the invoice a few days later.
Today, we have PayPal.
Billing clients with PayPal is about as easy as it gets. You can send an email invoice or use PayPal’s “request for money” feature. When the client pays, it comes to your PayPal account and you get a notice upon arrival.
Some clients like PayPal because they can use a credit card to pay you, and they don’t have to fumble with checks or bother with sticking bits of paper in the mail.
But this convenience comes at a cost, namely PayPal’s transaction fees.
In the U.S., you’re charged 2.9% of your invoice plus $0.30 for each payment. So to receive payment on a $1,000 invoice, you lose $29.30. If it’s an international payment, it’s an extra 1.0%, so you lose $39.30.
The freelancer’s quick job hunting guide – Part 2
In part 1 of this short job hunting series, I said that it’s possible for some freelancers to get tired of chasing clients, fretting over cash flow, and feeling burned out.
While it’s a great way of life for me and many others, freelancing full-time forever just isn’t for everyone.
So you might wake up one morning and decide that it’s time to look for a real job.
No shame in that. As long as you’re not giving up on freelancing too soon, which is the biggest mistake newbies make, my advice is to do what’s best for you.
We’ve already talked about some of the challenges freelancers face when hunting for a job and a few things you can do to lay the groundwork for a job hunt.
Now, as promised, let’s look at a few commonsense tips for how to leverage your freelance expertise, set yourself apart from other job hunters, and land the job you really want.
