by Rachel Smith
21 December 2018
It’s time for our last ‘official’ post of the year – the round-up of our best Friday blog posts. I often forget what we’ve written about (especially this time of year when my brain is fried), so it’s a great exercise for me before we start our blog planning for 2019 in earnest. We see what’s been popular, what got people’s feathers ruffled and the stuff that just inexplicably tanked for no reason (what the?!). Without further ado, let’s take a look at the year that’s been!
In Jan and Feb, it’s usually pretty quiet, but for those back at their desks, Leo wrote a lighthearted piece about the signs you might be a freelancer who needs to get out more. We ran two fab freelance Q&As – one with the ever-inspiring Lilani Goonesena and the other with long-time Lister Darren Baguley (both well worth a read if you missed them). We wrote about the importance of freelance comrades and how to break up with bad clients – and Melbourne-based writer Kylie Orr also penned a well-received post about dealing with rejection when you freelance (yup, we’ve all been there).
March kicked off with a somewhat silly post about office chairs (still one of my favourites), successful part-time freelancing tips and dealing with that negative little voice in your head. We talked to freelancer Tracey Porter (a funny and hugely popular post for us). We continued in April with our ‘So you think you can…’ series – as freelancer Michelle Bateman wrote So You Think You Can Be a Beauty Writer. Leo wrote about turning your passion into payment – and we had a lot of feedback too about Lister Megan Blandford’s personal post about how to take a break from your freelance business. I also wrote about a strategy many freelance writers use to get work, which had some interesting comments.
In May, we quizzed readers about how they scored on freelance success and travel writer Carrie Hutchinson continued our So You Can series with the must-read post, So You Think You Can Be A Travel Writer. Leo also covered ways to beat writers block and how to get multiple stories from the one idea – definitely a post to bookmark. June started on a sobering note with warning signs that a company has gone bust (and that you won’t be getting paid what you’re owed). We also wrote about things a disgruntled writer can’t help editing, interviewing mistakes even veteran journos make and how to deal when you lose a long-term client.
In July and August, posts included a WeWork Pyrmont review, the freelancer’s guide to being ill, and ways to personalise your invoices to clients. We also posed the question on whether you take things too personally as a freelancer and covered digital detoxes and professional ghosting. The blog also threw up two of our most controversial posts of the year: most insulting things that have ever happened to you as a freelancer, and the flip side: editors’ #badfreelancer stories. Both are posts not to miss!
We loved Lister Steve Colquhoun’s September post on freelance retainers (another one to bookmark), and Nigel Bowen’s equally popular piece on whether ‘following your passion’ is actually the worst career advice ever. I also spoke at Mumbrella Publish this month, and wrote about internships and what I think they should look like (in an ideal world).
When do you know it’s time to quit freelancing? That was our first Friday post in October, followed closely by tips on avoiding eye strain as a writer – and how to reconnect with old clients and nurture new ones. Leo also did a healthy home office checklist which is a great one to revisit when setting up your home office for the new year.
In November, Paul Cochrane continued our ever-popular series with his So you think you can be a sports writer post. I also put together our annual Xmas gift guide and we asked Listers for their writing rituals (an insightful read!). We also welcomed copywriter and storyteller Rashida Tayabali’s awesome post on secrets to writing great marketing copy. December has been pretty quiet, but we know many of you enjoyed Leo’s last quiz of the year about what stage your career is at (a bit of fun!) and Kylie Orr’s interesting post about whether men and women pitch differently.
Looking back, it’s been a rockstar year for the RL. It’s been great getting to know more of you and enjoying some great new voices on the blog. We hope you enjoyed the content in 2018 and we can’t wait to return in 2019 with more helpful and how-to posts, freelance Q&As and regular series. Thanks for reading!
Photo by Janos Richter on Unsplash
You’ve covered such a great range of topics. Thanks for sharing a snapshot of a fab year!
Awww thanks Kylie and for your stories this year too!