A Guest Post by Claire Meyerhoff, a Guest Expert in the “Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program

Not long ago, I was talking with my college pal Julie Malkin. Like me, she’s a recovering broadcast journalist who went over to the dark side of professional communications known as “public relations.” For the record, Julie is Public Information Officer for Lucas County (Ohio) Children Services, so her work with at-risk families places her on the nobler edge of the PR dark side. That said, she still qualifies for an unflattering nickname used by journalists for bazillions of years. The nickname?

Flack.

Flack. He/She is the keeper of the information gate who alternates between promoting and holding back. Flacks don’t just say whatever they want; they think about every word they say, then think about how those words will play, then deliver those words to the reporters who call them Flacks. As in . . . . “That Flack knew I had a deadline and didn’t call me back until it was too late. How $%#@ convenient.” Or, “That Flack is a pain in the a$#, I wish he’d stop sending me press releases.” Or . . . “I’m a journalist, I could never be someone’s Flack.”

Until now.

And that’s what Julie and I were talking about, how our friends in the news business are finding themselves downsized, laid off, salary-reduced or just plain kicked to the curb. Left and right, reporters, editors, producers and anchors are losing their jobs or being asked to take insulting pay-cuts, like the network news producer who spent 25-plus years with the same outlet. Management told him he could “reapply” for his job. Only now “his” job comes with someone else’s salary. Someone management figures will do the job for a fraction of his salary.

Who cares that this new person will not have been through eight presidential elections or was even born when one of those presidents clung to life after being shot by a mad man. And this new producer will not even be able to name the mad man or the actress the mad man was mad about or know where the mad man is “incarcerated” today and especially won’t know why the word “incarcerated” is in quotes. (BTW, the producer reportedly declined management’s kind invitation to reapply for his job).

But I digress. Because this blog post isn’t supposed to be about “what happened to the news business” or “old geezers are better news people because we had to hunt down pay phones to file stories.” This blog post is about the conversation Julie and I had about public relations. Specifically, working for nonprofits.

We were talking about how many of our friends are now taking a good hard look at Flackery.

They need new jobs and are attracted to nonprofits, foundations, government agencies and other mission-based organizations because that seems more dignified than pimping for an ugly conglomerate. They figure if they can’t work in news, they might fit in with an organization that promotes the health, safety and well-being of our good citizens and their pets.

Since Julie and I have now been doing the nonprofit thing for a while, many of our friends are asking our advice. They’re hopeful they can slide into a PR job, and for some that’s true. If the stars are aligned, that can happen, but securing a good job in a new field usually comes with a learning curve. Making the transition from journalist to public relations professional takes more than getting a LinkedIn account and putting “Public Relations Consultant” as your job (what job?) title. There are a whole host of reasons why you’re a great candidate for a nonprofit job, and one of the best ways to get your foot in the door is by freelancing.

That’s where the “Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program comes in.  It’s not for journalists specifically, but for anyone who feels that the nonprofit world would be a good place for their communications skills.  I’m working with Kivi on the first webinar in the coaching program and I’ll be talking about some of the key insights I’ve learned since I started working for nonprofits, like

• That business thing. There aren’t the same measures of success like profit, output, circulation, ratings that journalists are used to. How does this affect the work culture?
• The reliance on volunteers. How this can help you get a foot in the door (just call it “pro bono”!) — or hurt you when people don’t think they need to pay for all your good stuff.
• The board. What’s that all about?
• How to speak nonprofit-eze.
• And the all important — how to figure out if a nonprofit has any work for you, or the money to pay you.

We’ll even talk a little bit about what you might expect to earn, how to bill and a few other nuts and bolts.

So many people are interested in freelancing for nonprofits that the March program sold out a week after Kivi opened registration in January. But there’s a waiting list, so if you are interested, add your name to it and we’ll see you for the next session later this year.

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

I recently hired a freelance graphic designer for a small job, in hopes that he would really impress me and I could give him lots of assignments. It didn’t happen. Granted, this person is working full-time and freelancing on the side and appears to be a newbie.

But I’m always looking for good, fresh talent to help with client projects, so I’m willing to give the freshmen a try. Sometimes they work out; sometimes they don’t. My latest experience definitely fell in the Don’t category and I’m turning it into a lesson in customer service for creative professionals new to freelancing.

1) If you don’t know a client’s gender, don’t guess. After emailing a few times, Designer Guy called me, and asked for Mr. Miller. This was a call to my business line, so while I am married to a Mr. Miller, I said “There is no Mr. Miller here.” To which Designer Guy replied, “Oh! OK. I thought you were a man.”

Yes, I have an odd name. But why not just ask for Kivi and go from there? I was annoyed with the sexist assumption and should have ended it there, but I decided to give him a second chance.

2) When a client gives you specific instructions, follow them. I gave Designer Guy two specific instructions: no bleeds and make it go with the design of a new website I’m putting up. I gave him two photos to use. I also asked for two different mockups from which to pick.

What did he deliver? One version with a full bleed of one of the photos with my text thrown on top of it. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the URL I asked him to match. Strike two.

3) Don’t take jobs if you can’t meet the deadlines. When I asked Designer Guy where the second comp was, he said he didn’t have time to do it. I admit this was a rush job (he had four days in between getting my copy and photos and producing a draft for me), but I was perfectly clear about the schedule when I described the job.

If you don’t have time, don’t take the assignment. If you run out of time, be upfront with the client – don’t hope they won’t notice. Strike two and a half.

4) Don’t change your terms at the last minute. When I told Designer Guy that the draft didn’t work, because it didn’t meet my two main criteria (no bleed and matching the URL), he demanded full payment before he would deliver the final product. Mind you, I hadn’t even seen a product that met my needs yet, nor had he previously requested any payment upfront, even though we did discuss his total estimate for the project.

Because my deadline was nearly upon me, the only way I could have paid him anything was if he took credit cards or PayPal. But he wouldn’t take either, insisting on cash or a check. I had no way to get him payment and get the final product within the time I had left (less than 24 hours), even if I were willing to do so. If he had taken credit cards or PayPal, I probably would have given him 50% and hoped that his second draft worked. But the idea that I would pay in full when the only thing delivered completely failed to meet my needs was laughable. Strike three. He’s out.

I stayed up late and did it myself.

I had a nice chat yesterday with a woman from Ohio named Pamela who has been working for many years as a nonprofit fundraiser and is thinking about starting a freelance writing business to serve nonprofits. She called to ask my advice and here are a few of the tips I shared.

–Nonprofits usually don’t know what to do with “writers.” They do know what to do with “newsletter writers” and “website content writers.” Be specific about what you can write and you’ll connect much more quickly with the potential client. Think in terms of the product you will deliver as much as the service you will provide.

–Consider offering more than writing. Most nonprofits who need a writer will also need to fill gaps in other communications and marketing skills. I started out offering only writing and editing, but now offer print and online graphic design, publications management (e.g. editorial calendars, working with printers), communications strategy development, coaching/training, and more. I subcontract with a variety of other professionals to get all the work done well. But to the client, I’m a one-stop shop.

–Networking is essential to business development. I tried straight advertising in magazines read by nonprofit managers when I first started out and it was a complete flop. Nearly all of my clients have come from word-of-mouth referrals, networking at nonprofit events, and online networking via my nonprofit communications blog.

–Be flexible in how you structure fees. I offer clients the ability to pay by the project, by the hour, or by the word, depending on the task and how they want to pay. Sometimes clients are limited in how they can pay for your services, either by their own accounting rules or by the way they received the funding that they are using to pay you.

–A website and/or blog is critical. I have landed several new clients simply because of my online presence. I supply samples and client testimonials on my website and those have been enough to please several clients who emailed or called and offered me a contract with no additional marketing required on my part.

What tips do you have for freelance writers who are thinking about entering the nonprofit marketplace?

Some freelance writers have nice safety cushions in place when they start out, like spouses with six-figure salaries or inheritances. Others start freelancing later in life, as a second career, when they’ve had a chance to weave a safety net of their own. Neither was the case for me, when I took the jump into full-time freelancing at age 29. I had a little bit of savings and had just moved in with my husband (then boyfriend), who was paying the mortgage on his own. But other than that, it was pure guts.

I am the only person in my family who is self-employed. Most of my family members have comfortable government or military jobs. At the time, I didn’t even know that many self-employed people. But I was still confident that I could make it work, because of a healthy streak of independence and self-confidence that I thank my mom and my aunt for giving me as I was growing up.

My mom stayed at home with my sister and me, and my Air Force dad was often on assignments long from home, for weeks and months and, in one case, more than a year at a time. She took care of everything for us, including the more stereotypical “dad” jobs. Mom made all the big decisions in our house, whether dad was home or not (or at least it seemed that way). Even though she looked like a quiet housewife on the outside, that woman knew how to get any job done! She always figured out a way, no matter what the problem was. Watching her all those years gave me the confidence to know that I’d be able to handle anything that came my way as a small business person, without the back-up of a big office of support staff or management to solve problems for me.

My Aunt Robin also taught me about independence. Many times over the course of her life she has made up her mind about what she wanted to do, and then did it, without worrying about what others would think. She may have labored over these decisions in ways I never saw, but to me, she always looked like a take-charge, just-do-it, live-life-now person. She decided early on she didn’t want kids (she had great nieces after all), moved overseas for several years, changed careers, and always made decisions that were right for her. She describes some of her decisions as “selfish,” but to me, I saw a confident woman who trusted her instincts.

Thanks Mom and Robin for giving me the guts to go it alone in the business world!

Two questions are most common from beginning freelance writers: “How do I find work and how do I set my rates?”

Most people starting out set their rates too low. They don’t take into consideration all of the costs associated with being self-employed. You usually can’t get the same kind of money working for nonprofits as you can for corporations, but you can still get paid a fair and reasonable fee.
Debra Jason has a good, but long, article on setting rates. She reviews all of the major considerations and also provides some real numbers. All new freelancers should go through this exercise, and experienced pros should also run the numbers every few years to make sure they are still on track.

My quick and easy method for knowing if you are in the ballpark? Find out what an independent plumber charges in the same city where your client is. Of course, the jobs are different. But freelance writers and plumbers are both independent contractors providing specialized services that most people could probably do themselves, but not all that well.

While I strongly prefer project fees over hourly rates (more on that in another post), if you establish an hourly rate, and can accurately estimate how long a job will take, you can come up with a project fee that works.