On today’s show I share two timely new resources: Introducing Deliberate Freelancer Clarity Calls! These are 45-minute Zoom video chats to talk through 1-2 challenges with podcast host Melanie Padgett Powers. Are you feeling stuck in your business and need help reigniting your momentum? Do you have a million ideas but need help zeroing in on the best one for you? Are you overwhelmed with your to-do list and need help cutting through the noise? Are you feeling insecure or uncertain about a proposal, project rate or pricing structure? Schedule a Clarity Call with Melanie — she can be a sounding board to help you cut through the noise and allow your best ideas to shine through. You can talk through roadblocks to help reignite your momentum. Or you can work together to uncover fresh solutions to client and project challenges. Clarity Calls are for any creative — any independent business owner — in any industry who is selling services. These calls are for those who are already freelancing and have at least a couple of clients — not someone who hasn’t started yet. This is a soft launch, with four slots open in May and in June. Each Clarity Call is $149. Learn more about Clarity Calls! FREE! Growth Without Burnout Summit May 6-9, 2025 24 speakers Podcast guest and friend Austin L. Church created this amazing summit. While it is especially for freelance writers, much of it is focused on the business side, so I think all sorts of freelancers and solo business owners can benefit. Learn more and get your Growth Without Burnout Summit free ticket. Purchase a Growth Without Burnout Summit VIP Pass. What I Learned This Week: Schedule worry time. The Bookshelf: “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden Resources: New! Deliberate Freelancer Clarity Calls Growth Without Burnout Summit free ticket Growth Without Burnout Summit VIP Pass Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee
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#206: How to Stay Afloat During Turbulent Times, with Michelle Rafter
Today’s guest is Michelle Rafter, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Michelle is the owner of WordCount Editorial Services. She is a former journalist who is now a ghostwriter of books, research reports and articles for CEOs and management consultants. She’s a former newspaper staff writer, wire service columnist and freelance reporter who covered business, enterprise technology and workplace issues. Michelle has weathered several economic downturns in her longtime journalism and freelance career. She recently updated her blog post “How to Maintain Your Freelance Business in Bad Times,” so I invited her on the show to go through some of her tips. I also crowdsourced questions from the Deliberate Freelancer community so we could address your questions and concerns about the economy right now and how that may be affecting freelance businesses. Another potentially helpful resource: The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is hosting a webinar at 1 p.m. E.T. on Monday, May 19, called “What the Trump Administration Could Mean for Freelancers.” In this episode, we talk about: The turmoil in the U.S. right now and the “tariff economy.” How you can make clients happy by going back to the basics. How to be a team player and be flexible with clients, while also sticking to your boundaries. How to be the freelancer that your clients know they can count on, especially when they’re stressed or in a jam. How to break down larger offerings into smaller, more affordable pieces. How to bridge your services to a new service or new niche. “Low key” marketing versus marketing during turbulent times. How to reach out to former clients, as well as following up on past conversations (that maybe didn’t lead to work at that time). Invest wisely when deciding to learn a new skill. The importance of having an “abundance mindset.” The importance of community and reaching out to a fellow freelancer who “gets it.” Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Michelle’s blog post “How to Maintain Your Freelance Business in Bad Times” ASJA webinar on May 19: “What the Trump Administration Could Mean for Freelancers” (recording available to purchase afterward) ASJA on-demand webinar: “Canva Tips and Tricks for Freelance Writers” ASJA on-demand webinar: “Strategies to Sustain Mental Health in a Turbulent Time” Episode #199 of Deliberate Freelancer: Struggling? How to Get Clients Now, with Rosanna Campbell
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#205: Embedding the “A” of DEIA into Your Business, with Sara Kobilka
Download transcript of episode 205. Today’s guest is Sara Kobilka, who lives in New York state. Sara is the owner of Renaissance Woman Consulting. Sara has an insatiable curiosity that has driven her career in many different directions that she’s been able to connect in her freelance work. She primarily works in the STEM space. Sara is also a career coach, primarily for people looking to change industries or disciplines. She hosts LinkedIn sprints to help freelancers and others increase their presence on LinkedIn. She is passionate about incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion, access, accessibility, belonging and justice (DEIAABJ) throughout her work. In today’s episode, we focus on accessibility — how we can support people with disabilities and embed accessibility into our work. In this episode, we talk about: The current political climate in the U.S. and how it affects DEIAABJ. Why the term DEI is limiting. The wide variety of disabilities and the five primary categories of disabilities — it’s so much more than a person who uses a wheelchair. The “curb cut effect” — how accessibility designed for people with disabilities ends up benefiting the larger population. The disability community is one of the only (or only) marginalized groups you are able to join (when you break a bone, suffer chronic pain, have a temporary condition). The movement away from the term “invisible” disability. Remember: Progress over perfection. Areas to start with: alt text, hashtags, closed captions. Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Episode #176 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Use Conscious Language in Content Creation, with Crystal Shelley Sara’s website, RenWomanConsulting.com Sara’s LinkedIn Sprints Sara on LinkedIn Sara on Facebook Sara on BlueSky Sara on Instagram Lily Zheng’s FAIR framework Lily Zheng on LinkedIn AccessibleSocial.com The Open Notebook’s list of Diversity Style Guides for Journalists BetterAllies.com Meryl Evans’ TED Talk: “The Pandemic’s Influence on Accessibility” Meryl Evans on LinkedIn Sara’s blog post “Finding Resources to Support Accessible SciComm Efforts” “10 Resources to Advance Disability Inclusion and Justice” by Lindsey Mandolini
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#204: January and February By the Numbers
In today’s episode, I recap what my business looked like in January and February. This includes: Why I got a slow start to 2025. Why I’ve been focusing only on current clients and not marketing. How much I earned in January and February. How much I worked in January and February. The number of clients I did and the types of work. How I’m thinking about so-called “low-paying clients.” How I offered two options in a proposal for a new client. What self-care means to me. How I’m playing around with ChatGPT. What I Learned This Week: Goat therapy is awesome. The Bookshelf: “The Silence in Between” by Josie Ferguson Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Episode #200 of Deliberate Freelancer: WTF 2025! (Plus, My 2024 Recap) Episode #198 of Deliberate Freelancer: November By the Numbers
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#203: Embracing a Fractional Role + Becoming an In-Demand Freelancer, with Matthew Fenton
Today’s guest is Matthew Fenton, who lives in Oregon wine country with his wife and two cats. Matthew is the founder of Three Deuce Branding, a one-man consultancy with a simple mission: “to help good people build great brands.” Since 1997, he has helped hundreds of clients — including Fidelity Investments, Wrigley and Valvoline — to achieve what he calls “brand clarity” by better positioning, strategy, and messaging. Matthew also spent seven years in client-side brand management, including two as a chief marketing officer. During that time, he launched White Mystery Airheads and led Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers to become the best-selling gummy worm in the U.S. Matthew is also the founder of Winning Solo, a coaching business designed to help other independent consultants and creatives to enjoy longevity, balance and success on their own terms. Today’s conversation is divided into two halves: Matthew recently became a fractional chief marketing officer for a longtime client. A “fractional” role has become a buzzword, at least in the U.S. freelancing world, and Matthew is the perfect person to talk about what this means and how we might consider becoming a fractional “whatever” — the role is not limited by industry or service. Then, we talk about a conversation that he and I had started offline about the importance of improving both the quality of your work and how you are to work with from the client perspective. In this episode, we talk about: How he was failing at the start of his freelance career. How he is focusing on his physical and mental health in the chaos of 2025. How his career took an unexpected pivot recently. What a fractional role is — and what it is not. The three qualities you need before you market yourself as a “fractional.” How to protect yourself as fractional when it seems you might be putting “all your eggs in one basket.” The benefits of being a fractional. How to set boundaries with a fractional client so you are not seen as an employee. The importance of doing outstanding work and improving your craft every single day. Strive to be in the top 5% of your craft. The problem with focusing on personal branding first and not your craft. “Talent” is not a good enough reason to rehire someone if they are difficult to work with. The four areas to evaluate so you can improve as a freelancer: core skills, adjunct skills, the work that brings in the work, and character traits. Three ways to ask clients for feedback so you can continue to improve. How time tracking has helped us improve our business — but also our craft. Ways you can begin to improve your craft. Resources: Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee Book that Matthew mentions: “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works” by A. G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin Matthew on LinkedIn Matthew’s consulting website Winning Solo website
The show for those who want to build a successful freelance business. We are NOT about the hustle. We are NOT about the feast-or-famine cycle. We are about building a business. Deliberately.
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