This is a heads up to all clients and potential clients, not-so-cleverly disguised as an informative blog post. I am raising my rates at the beginning of April by about 10%. This is both a cost-of-living raise and reflects my improving skill-set and specializations. If you are a current client – don’t fret, I’m not going to raise the price halfway through a project. Rates for future projects may be slightly higher, or not, depending on several factors. 

If you are a new potential client and would like to lock in a project at the current rates, then contact me now – I’ll be quoting based on current rates till the end of the month.

The rates charged for different freelance services vary drastically between individuals. What I charge $50 for, another writer might do for $10 and another for $120. While there are definitely market bands in freelancing, they are often more fluid than you realise, and it’s impossible to get a “standard rate” by which you can benchmark yourself.

That’s why it’s important for freelancers to consider raising their rates every year. You need to take a look at your business and figure out if you’re earning what you’re worth, whether your rate needs to go up, and by how much. The same goes from anyone in a non-freelance business – year-end time is coming up fast and it’s a good chance to assess your pricing and whether it’s time for a change.

Read On…

I like to share some of my work with you, in case you feel you don’t get enough of me on my own sites. I’ve been busy writing my way across the web, with often humorous results!

• I had a lot of fun writing this post - Writing Tips from Blackbeard the Pirate - for the Men with Pens blog, which is one of the most popular writing blogs online. I had a lot of positive feedback about my comparison of the writing process with the notorious pirate. Please have a read and let me know if you agree!
• Marketing Creativity is a site run by Lisa Jacobs, an amazing woman who’s made a full-time career out of her Etsy shop – Energy Shop Jewelry. She uses her blog to offer other online handmade sellers advice on business and creativity. Lisa invited me to contribute some articles to her site, and I jumped at the chance to talk about one of my favorite things – creativity in business. My most recent article, Soothing Troubled Waters: Dealing with Unhappy Customers and Negative Feedback, is up now, and is timely for the Christmas season, where mistakes can be made and postage delays can leave customers feeling brassed off.
• And, if you like to keep up with the latest blogging tips, you might have seen my recent Problogger article, 40 Cool Things to Do With Your Post AFTER You Hit Publish. I love writing list articles like this one because the format forces you to get creative with your list items. This article has over 40 comments, and was retweeted more than 500 times, so it seems my ideas resonated with the blogosphere!
• The Disabled Shop is one of my oldest blogging clients, and as I live with a disability myself, the subject matter and audience are very close to my heart. Some of my favorite recent posts include Christmas Gift Ideas: Children’s Books About Disability, and Top Ten UK Disability Blogs. The last article was shared more than 100 times, which is big numbers in a small niche like this.
• And, lastly, over on Empty Easel, I put on my illustrator/artist hat, and write about 6 Powerful New Years Art Resolutions, and well as 10 Ways to Increase Your Christmas Art Sales this Holiday Season.

So there you have it – plenty of reading to occupy you for the rest of the afternoon! Now, you tell me, what have you been writing and reading online lately?

Does your blog need a little rock-star attitude? If you’re looking for a professional ghost-blogger, check out my work in my blogging portfolio, and contact me on steff@grymmandepic.com to discuss your needs. Or you could join the Grymm & Epic Gazette for a fortnightly dose of business tips, special deals on writing services, and general silliness.

Christmas is Coming, if the Mayan Apocalypse doesn’t get us first.

What did you do on December 21, the day the Mayan calendar supposedly stopped? I officiated a gothic Victorian wedding – I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the end of the world!

Although, I don’t really understand why everyone was so worried. I read recently on the Atlantic Wire that archaeologists found new astronomical tables in the city of Xultun. These new tables pre-date the previous codex, which mysteriously stopped on Dec 21, 2012, and span over 7,000 years into the future. So it seems we’re not doomed yet. It’s just that the Mayan writing down the codex got a sore hand and went down to the pub for a drink instead.

What Does The Mayan Apcoalypse Have to Do With MY Business?

Not much, actually, come to think of it. Except for the fact that since it didn’t happen, chances are high you’ll get to enjoy your Christmas turkey, go to the beach (or the ice skating rink) and sip vodka through a straw or whatever it is you get up to on New Years.

You’re out-of-commission. On Holiday. And that means your business is going to have to tick along without you.

Is YOUR business prepared for that responsibility?

Read On…

For years I’ve been an advocate of a regular posting schedule for your blog. I reckon if you set a goal to write a post every day, or every week, and you work hard to stick with it, you become a better blogger. Because you’re forcing yourself to practice everyday – in the same way a guitarist noodles away every night no matter how shite his day at work was or how much he’d rather finish that George R. R. Martin book – you’re going to get better. Right?

Not necessarily. Sometimes you just get pissed off.

Sometimes you don’t have anything to write about. Sometimes you’re terrified of facing that blank page again. Sometimes you think, “Goddammit, if I have to write ANOTHER word about death metal/weddings/cat pictures/personal finances/zombies/tofu recipes/chicken coops today, I am going to stick that chicken coop so far up the universe’s backside it will be raining chickens in Russia.”

How many blogs do you actually read? I mean, really read? Not just add to your reader, skim the titles and think “oh, that sounds mildly interesting, I’ll come back to that”, and never do. How many writers are so awesome they create something new every day or every week that you have to devour, word by glorious word? How many?

Read On…

I swear by the gods there is a black hole in my stationery drawer.

Pens go in, and never come out. Art supplies are purchased and promptly lost into the abyss. Staplers that I SWEAR I saw in there only a few days ago disappear without a trace.

After the umpteenth time I barged into his office yelling accusations of stationery theft, my husband (not-so)gently pointed out that maybe “they’re hiding somewhere underneath the piles of crap on your desk.”

“‘Piles of crap’? What ‘piles of crap’?” I cry in indignation.

Read On…