If you’re planning on visiting Sicily (highly recommend), don’t miss Valley of the Temples. Ancient Greek site, near the south coast. All the details are here: earthtrippers.com/exploring-va...

#FreelanceFriends Here’s what the tree mess was like. All the guys with chainsaws, big trucks.

#FreelanceFriends Oh , here’s something that’s hard on freelancing: when a big tree decides to come down and take some power lines with it. Our lights flashed and are back on but neighbors aren’t so lucky. A car might have got crunched and a pole is leaning at an odd angle. 🤷‍♂️

#FreelanceFriends Off topic. Met with a bunch of freelancers at a meetup in a cafe last night. Gave away a few copies of my books. Some interesting discussions and a few of them doing great things, but for others, a big pity party. Waiting around to get work. WTF?

Oh hey #FreelanceFriends. Notifications? Mostly off, all silent except texts. I’m distracted enough thanks.

Thoughts on money for freelancers and small agency owners. Lots more on how to deal with money and build your business in both of my books. Link to books in bio👆

My friend and partner at my first agency, Simon Burn, just made a feature film, did the photography, and designed the poster. A talented lad he is. Keep your eyes open. The film will be showing soon in North America and Europe.

Giorgio Armani died. He was 91, so a good long life, but still… He was one of the guys you wished would live forever. Does anyone wish you would live forever? It’s a test….

Giorgio Armani died. 91 years old. A true legend. Always felt great wearing his clothes.

Had a dream last night, some kind of “hippie against The Man” dream. Don’t really remember the story, but at the end I was sitting in a movie theatre and the final screen was the theme: Blame it on the others Thought it was a perfect summation of our time.

Be grateful for your life. To quote Keith Richards: I’m happy to be here, happy to be anywhere.

With so much music, it’s sometimes possible to forget some of the truly great albums. This is one of them. Epic. Soulful. Worth your time. Miss Jason Molina.

Something America should think about. Who is their real enemy? youtube.com/shorts/H8H5u...

Vancouver knows how to do cement trucks…

#FreelanceFriends Ah missed the boat again. Sorry. Holidays, time zones scramble everything.

This, from a Canadian financial advisor’s daily newsletter. Money depends on trust. No trust, no money.

#FreelanceFriends I’m obviously preaching to the converted here, but it stuns me that experienced and expensive people in creative fields think someone is going to pay them $300K, $400K, $500K or more forever as an employee. How blind can you be? You’re not an owner or partner, taking no risk. Duh!

#FreelanceFriends I little self promo… I’m writing a post for my blog addressing all the creative guys on LinkedIn moaning about getting “aged out “. They’re typically 50+, recently let go from a big creative director job, and can’t find employment. They went from Big Bucks to Zero. 👇

Hey #FreelanceFriends I’m on Canada’s west coast visiting family, so of course I don’t know what day or time it is. Just occurred to me that today is Thursday. Someone was asking about Q3 plans. Here’s mine…

Philosophy of life from Jeff Tweedy: “You control what you can and double-down on beauty so you’re not just being pounded by existential crises.” Worth remembering and practising.

For my $0.02, I think freelancers should spend more time hunting for prospective clients based on the clients they already have. Think about it from a client’s perspective. They’re hunting for someone to help them, ideally someone who knows the biz and can be up to speed quickly. #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends Re: self promotion, do any of you target clients and contact them with specific offers? Tell them what you do, where and how you could help them? Hunting vs fishing?

I have just one bit of business-related news. I was interviewed for Dennis Geelen’s podcast Happy Accidents. The focus is on what luck played in your business. Well, in my case, luck played a huge role throughout my whole journey. Anyway, it’s here… #FreelanceFriends youtu.be/Yh563j2kcIo?...

#FreelanceFriends what’s up? Any victories this last week?

Hey, #FreelanceFriends! The chat IS on for 7/24 at 11 AM CST. I will host. We are chatting about what we do in our sm businesses, and how we attract leads for more clients/projects/gigs/assignments. I know this varies for every type of business, so it will be interesting to learn from each other!

I was a guest on Dennis Geelen’s Happy Accidents podcast. Was my whole career — agency copywriter, freelancer, 2X agency founder — a happy accident? Much of it was. See for yourself… youtu.be/Yh563j2kcIo?...

I was a guest on Dennis Geelen’s Happy Accidents podcast. Was my whole career — agency copywriter, freelancer, 2X agency founder — a happy accident? Much of it was. See for yourself… youtu.be/Yh563j2kcIo?...

More travel. Vienna a couple of years ago. So much art, architecture… Would go back. So much we missed. All the best of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. #FreelanceFriends

Who’s planning a trip? Where are you going? #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends my coffee meeting was earlier, so here I am, fully caffeinated. ☕️🇨🇦

Someone asked: Multiple small clients or A few big clients? My answer: A few big clients every time. Why? ~ Bigger projects, more money ~ Likely to have repeat business ~ Work more professionally ~ More referrals ~ Portfolio with bigger names Read about it in my book 👆

Once more on project-based vs hourly billing. They feel different. A project is a thing. This is what “the thing” costs. No hours or rates shown. No judgement on you. Hourly becomes a judgement. You’re exposed. Are you really worth $150 an hour? Why does it take you so long?

#FreelanceFriends I wish this for all of you…

Mr “better late than never” is here. #FreelanceFriends

BTW this meeting was postponed. I’ll let you know what happens since I think some of this could be applicable for some of us. Can you grow your business by hiring a salesperson? 🤷‍♂️ #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends Sorry, late to the show. Meeting. What’s up?

Interesting topic. And "elasticity and adaptability" is a more apt description that the overused, "pivot."

This chat is wonderful and helped me get my freelance business off the ground four years ago (as #FreelanceChat on Twitter, not there anymore). Advice, special guests, stories, and good humour — definitely worth attending! #FreelanceFriends

I am meeting tomorrow with a local designer who had posted that she wanted to grow her business by hiring a sales person. I commented gently (don’t think it will work), we chatted a bit, so we’re meeting for coffee tomorrow. Should be interesting. #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends Late to the party. Got home last night after 3 weeks away. Still trying to figure out what day it is.

10 years ago, from my second agency. Here’s why you want to enter awards shows like the Summit Awards: they’re a combo of beauty show and performance. It takes some effort to enter, but it’s great recognition for the clients. Something for their trophy case. Worth it!

Yay, time to chat! #FreelanceFriends @strotebook.bsky.social @angelatague.bsky.social @phendrickson.bsky.social @amylhampton.bsky.social @read-roy.bsky.social @davastewart.bsky.social @snippetsbyamy.bsky.social @tombasgil.com @devonellington.bsky.social @ibeanwrite.bsky.social

#FreelanceFriends Just sticking my face in here. Will likely bail soon. Packing>Rome>Catania, Sicily It’s pouring here today. Italy? ☀️☀️☀️

A2: Business skills we all should improve: Selling (agree with Tom) and asking for projects Pricing and positioning yourself without fear (read Andy's book!) Invoicing promptly and following up on the first day it's overdue with your contact and AP person #FreelanceFriends #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends Won’t be here for the next few weeks. Will be busy stuffing my face with cannoli, arancini, pasta, etc

I’m Andy, copywriter, agency founder, book writer, now mostly retired but still love to write… It’s full on spring in Toronto which makes me happy. #FreelanceFriends

#FreelanceFriends it’s time…

Freelancers, an hour from now, 12 pm EST, it’s #FreelanceFriends right here on Bluesky. Don’t you dare miss it!

#FreelanceFriends so we were going to talk about BlueSky today. For my $0.02… love the vibe, needs more people. Also from a tech perspective, it’s very laggy some days. And search? I dunno. I look for our hashtag, and nothing. Later, lots shows up. Expecting too much?

#FreelanceFriends Today is the day. The hour is near… Chat right here at 12 noon EDT (NYC time). Freelancers, small agency owners, we’re all here. Learn, listen, contribute…. See ya soon!