The Subtle Art of Saying No

Saying no is just as critical to running a freelance business as saying yes. You can't say yes to the right opportunities if you're filling up your time with assignments that don't pay well, or where clients mistreat you.

This week, Wudan and Jenni address reasons why you might say no to a freelance assignments (including if the pay rate is lower than you'd usually charge, if the project presents ethical dilemmas, or if your schedule is too full to allow you the time you need to do good work). We talk about how to say no without breaking off the relationship completely, so you can leave the door open for working together in the future.

Because saying no is tough, we've also called on veteran freelance writers, editors and journalists Brent Crane, Lesley Evans Ogden, Josh Sokol, Emily Krieger, and Alice Driver. In this episode, they offer tips for turning a yes into a no, and they talk about why saying no is so important to their business models.
Now that season one is over, we've compiled every episode's resources into a workbook, which you can buy here. We also have a brand-new new offering: If you're just getting started with your freelance business, you'll want to enroll in freelance biz school @ The Writers’ Co-op Academy! We're offering two courses: One that helps you build a business plan (Biz Basics) and one to help you understand media contracts. It's like 1-1 coaching, but cheaper.

You're invited to support the podcast by becoming an official Writers' Co-op member on Patreon. All members $3 and up get access to event discounts, a Q&A form, and more. All-Access members receive special worksheets and other downloads along with each episode, plus an exclusive episode at the end of each season, and access to our Slack channel. And if you're a VIP or Pod Squad member, you also get monthly coaching sessions along with the aforementioned resources.  If you're not a member, you can buy each episode's accompanying resources a la carte on our website. Episode transcriptions are also available there.