Freelancer Lessons to Live By
David Hochman started this post at the Upod Yahoo group:
Okay, this is a call for a list of rules for freelance living. What are your three or five or ten most reliable or useful guidelines, philosophies, personal strategies, etc. for surviving, nay, thriving as a freelancer? Anything come to mind? Here are three from me:
1. Measure Twice, Cut Once: Think before sending emails to editors. Proofread before submitting pitches or articles. Research before doing interviews. Be prepared.
2. Write like a Supermodel: If you’re fast and write beautifully and don’t agonize or let your time fritter away with run-on sentences like this one, you can make $1,000 a day or more.
3. It’s All About Relationships: Pitches don’t matter, ideas don’t matter, clever sentences don’t matter — unless you have an editor willing to buy your stuff. Focus on the relationships and the rest will follow.
I thought this topic deserved being opened up to more people. So come on, fess up: what are some of your freelancer lessons to live by? Send them in, please–yours could make somebody else’s day. (Let me know if you want credit and a link or what have you.)
Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our 
