Drive thy business or it will drive thee.
– Benjamin Franklin
I was a corporate copywriter for several years before recently going freelance. And I’m learning a lesson that, while you read a lot about it, you still may have to learn the hard way.
You have to be your business’ best advocate.
In the corporate world, you couldn’t really say no to projects because you needed to be team player, ready and willing to help. Now, you have to put your freelancing business first and silence your corporate automatic ‘yes’ tics. I’m a caretaker by nature so for me, this really goes against the grain.
Let’s break it down into three behavior categories, the three Cs. You have: Copywriter Me (new freelancer), Corporate Me (plays office politics) and Caretaker Me (wants to help).
Rarely are they on the same page, so you have to herd them into a productive direction. My three Cs were recently tested, and we failed. Tell me if the following sounds familiar.
1. A gentleman approached me about reorganizing and rewriting the website for his startup.
Copywriter Me was intrigued, having done this many times before.
2. He’d done all this work and paid all this money, but his site wasn’t converting a single visitor.
Copywriter Me gets excited at the prospect of a client. Corporate Me gets ready to problem-solve. Caretaker Me wanted to fix this poor soul some chicken noodle soup.
3. We went through his website to assess the scope of the project.
Deep down I knew better, but Corporate Me and Caretaker Me roped Copywriter Me into giving a free consultation. Dang it!
4. When the subject of price came up, I told him that I’d take a few days and get him an estimate. But I clearly stated that I required 50% up front and 50% upon completion.
Copywriter Me felt proud and professional. Corporate Me and Caretaker Me were quiet – this was new territory.
5. He asked if I also offered pricing based on “where a company stands now.”
All three Cs: Huh…? Was this a pricing model I didn’t know about but should? I asked what he meant.
6. He wanted to pay 50% down and “the rest when [he] became profitable.” Like his financial backers agreed to do.
Ah, clarity. Copywriter Me had a hissy fit that Corporate Me stifled for fear of being rude. Caretaker Me kept his chicken noodle for herself.
7. He then tried to tempt Copywriter Me with the potential for future work.
Corporate Me and Caretaker Me: “Are you seriously trying to pull that crap?” Copywriter Me was momentarily tempted before hopping on the Indignation Bandwagon with both feet.
This guy was trying to finagle free work! He wasn’t thinking about the well-being of my business. I was on my own for protecting my own little startup, me.
If he couldn’t pay me in full for the first project, how could he pay me for any other project? I’d never before been expected to work for free. Nor am I one of his financial backers.
And yet I still spent the next week going back and forth with this guy. Why?
Fear of making a mistake. Copywriter Me was afraid of missing an opportunity. Corporate Me was afraid of being ostracized for not being a team player. Caretaker Me thought I owed him since he took the time to drive downtown to meet with me.
That kind of dysfunction will not protect your business. If anything, it will make you desperately take gigs that should be given as wide a berth as a black hole swimming with the Ebola virus.
Instead, play to your three Cs strengths by making them responsible for specific aspects of your freelance business.
- Copywriter You: Owns overall business decisions, including client and project selection.
- Corporate You: Owns project management, quality control, marketing/PR and the care and feeding of current clients.
- Caretaker You: Owns pro bono work, ergonomics, health, office parties, lunches, field trips and taking care of your own well-being.
What’s been your biggest challenge in changing from a corporate copywriter to a freelance copywriter?
Keep paddlin’,
Rubber Ducky Copywriter
Rubber Ducky Copywriter™ 
Hi Erica,
Found you through Carol Tice’s blog today ( guest poster about manual transmissions). My hardest part was knowing that Carebear Me wanted to help and give things away but if I did that, I would really hate myself later. I also told the client (who was new to me) that I required payment upfront and I gave her a PayPal account to pay through, and used PP to send her an invoice for the 2 parts (plus a discount) out of the 3 things she had requested pricing on. I did not write the piece until she had paid. So, I let Corporate Me RULE until we were actually and legally (contracted) in business. Then I let COPYWRITER ME take over and do her things, and then later, I let CAREBEAR get involved. Can’t let Carebear work the business. You almost have to strangle that side of it. I figure if CAREBEAR really needs to do some charity work, I need to find another outlet, or use it for marketing, like doing some Pro-Bono work for organizations where the people associated with it might have their own businesses and be looking for someone they know to do some of their writing.
P.S. My copywriting/freelance website is not up yet. I’m still new at growing the freelance business, and CORPORATE ME wants to be sure the website is good before it goes live.
Hi Diane,
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Sounds like you’ve got your 3 Cs in line. You’re right, Carebear can’t work the business. The other two Cs can at least operate on logic, but the Carebear side…not so much. Too much caring. I’ve found that pro-bono work has really helped distract Caretaker Me. I highly recommend it.
Again, thanks for stopping by! And good luck with your website. Corporate Me decided to just pull the trigger and get mine up – I can always modify as I go. So far, so good. Not perfect, but good and in progress.
Cheers,
Erica the Rubber Ducky