Rachel

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - January 28, 2025 at 08:57 PM

I haven’t read the full report yet so maybe it’s in there, but to @Amanda Henry’s point, I’d be curious to see ranges on these too, or approx. ranges. When I worked in-house (been a couple years at this point), I never made close to $91k, even as a manager.

#freelance-talk - January 24, 2025 at 03:06 PM

I grab a one-month sub to SEMRush or Ahrefs usually once a year to do some bulk analysis of projects I’ve worked on and get some nice numbers for pitches / case studies, as relevant. But I don’t subscribe on an ongoing basis. If I do a big strategy project and my client doesn’t have a subscription already, I’ll sign up for the duration of that project too.

#freelance-talk - January 24, 2025 at 03:04 PM

• Superpath Pro
• Notion ($12/mo. plan)
• Calendly
• couple Substack newsletters
• Canva
• Keywords Everywhere
• Docusign

#general - January 23, 2025 at 03:20 PM

For Reddit, it completely depends on your audience — for example, if you work in travel, you might follow r/vacations, r/travelhacks, r/studyabroad, etc. Or if you work in B2B SaaS, you might follow r/projectmanagement, r/agencies, etc. Take your product’s / offering’s main features and your key audiences and find the reddit spaces where they would probably hang out and look for advice.

Or — check out some of your top / most coveted keywords, and see what reddit threads are ranking for them. (Almost always some, but if not just add “reddit” to the end of the keyword and see what comes up). Then follow the subreddits those threads are in.

#local-boston - January 23, 2025 at 03:09 PM

Cafe Neros are a great staple! We have one near me too and I used to be a regular there until Tatte opened 😅

#running - January 22, 2025 at 03:22 PM

The worst!! Are you able to swim or do something else low-impact? I find that having something to keep that active-movement-endorphin rhythm helps a lot when I’m tending an injury! Hang in there!

#local-boston - January 22, 2025 at 03:10 PM

@Lisa Kalner Williams @Dana Fugate oooh, the Studio Cafe looks so cozy!! I’ll have to check it out sometime. @Chloe Thompson that’s so funny, I was just saying to a friend yesterday how I’m always getting ads for Capital One cafes and was wondering if they were any good and if anyone works from there! Do you prefer a coworking spot or a coffee shop?

#local-boston - January 21, 2025 at 07:54 PM

hi hi boston folks! fun to see some familiar faces and new ones (to me) in here too! What are y’alls favorite restaurants in the area? Or favorite coffee shops for working if you work remotely? 👀

#local-boston - January 21, 2025 at 07:53 PM

I haven’t heard of that!

#general - January 15, 2025 at 02:44 PM

Definitely start with an audit of your existing content — see what’s been working, what’s working now, what has been working and isn’t now — then seek to figure out why. Maybe it’s an old post that needs an update, more expert opinions, needs to be better interlinked with other blog posts, more product tie-ins, etc. as Nicole said.

Then, try to look at what your competitors are doing, major gaps in content coverage related to your product use cases and features and core audiences, and major keyword misses, and focus there next. Filling in those gaps — either by updating and expanding existing content to better fill current needs or writing net-new content — should serve you well.

Email newsletters are big right now and one of the only real “owned” distribution channels left (as opposed to say, social, which isn’t owned). Great way to drive traffic, especially if you can get some great, truly useful email lead magnets set up and a helpful, regular newsletter.

New ideas can come from anywhere — looking at competitors, understanding the search landscape, snooping on reddit threads or other forums or spaces related to your industry / where your buyers hang out, etc.

Feel free to DM if you have more questions! Hope that helps spark some ideas or next steps!

#running - January 09, 2025 at 02:20 PM

I haven’t decided on one yet but I’m hoping to do another half this year hopefully in early fall!

#running - January 09, 2025 at 02:20 PM

You got this!! Once you get the hang of it, swimming is so awesome — my favorite soothing workout!

#general - December 19, 2024 at 03:47 PM

@Lee Densmer I do, lol! 😂 Basically do exactly what you’re working on, haha, feel free to DM me if you wanna talk through it more or have more questions. ScreamingFrog & SEMRush / Ahrefs are gonna be your best friends to figure out what’s bloat and what could be awesome 🤝

#general - December 19, 2024 at 02:25 PM

I’ve done this before for companies with hundreds or thousands of blogs, it’s a beast.

In my case, I was doing an SEO audit so I was trying to decide what to cut, what to redirect where, what to update, etc., so I started with GA data to figure out what wasn’t getting any traffic / what wasn’t relevant at all, cut those.

Then I used ScreamingFrog to find 404s / redirect those. Then I used SEMRush (AHrefs is great too) to pull all kinds of other traffic / SEO data to decide what to do with the rest.

TL;DR: Don’t feel bound to that one excel sheet you have. You can pull URL + traffic + other data from a variety of tools and it’ll give you more to work with and then you can organize / export / etc. from there to create the audit you want! Also, using Airtable / automations and formulas in Excel / GDocs if you know how, can be really helpful and speed up some of the analysis!

#general - December 18, 2024 at 05:49 PM

When I worked in house I did localizations for these three regions a lot! My best advice is to (a) make online friends with a few people that live in those places who you can tap for “does this land?” questions, and (b) watch some Youtubers / TV / podcasts with hosts from those places, particularly within the topic you’re writing about. It takes more time, but it’ll start paying off fast, and give you a much better idea of how people talk, slang, messaging, cultural odds and ends, etc.

#general - December 05, 2024 at 02:49 PM

#general - December 05, 2024 at 02:48 PM

that happens to me too, specifically with announcements!! I go to the tab where the notification is and toggle on “unreads” with the announcement window open and then it clears it haha

#freelance-talk - November 20, 2024 at 08:25 PM

I’m interested but also feel like I navigate a lot of these things with other tools right now (i.e. time tracking / invoicing / accounting / payroll) so I feel like it’d have to make a great case for migrating… but definitely interested in more support / advice on the legal / tax side of things

#general - November 18, 2024 at 08:58 PM

This is my go-to resource to share around briefs! https://www.beamcontent.co/resources/briefs-guide

#freelance-gigs - November 11, 2024 at 07:45 PM

It sounds to me like you’re looking someone to do the pre-writing / planning steps — coming up with topics (maybe), doing the research on how those pieces should be put together and doing market / audience research, and then putting the brief together.

I would look for someone who knows and understands content strategy — they often have packages that include those things, and in many cases, they’ll also support project management, SEO, etc.

In general, it’s going to be a retainer (flat-rate for X hours a month or X created briefs per month) and in general this is going to run anywhere between $1k - $10k a month depending on volume, experience (of the agency / freelancer), what’s involved with the package, and how much they’re involved with the day-to-day ops processes.

I work tangentially with an agency who offers something pretty similar (I think) to what you’re looking for in their “consulting services” on a monthly retainer, which starts at $5k. An individual freelancer would likely charge less.

IF you’re more interested in the market research / outlet pitching side of things, I think that would be more of a PR specialist in many cases.

I hope that helps get at what you were looking for!

#freelance-talk - October 23, 2024 at 03:07 PM

Best of luck!! I hope you find someplace awesome! I need to get out of the house a few times a week, so I totally feel your struggle.

#freelance-talk - October 23, 2024 at 02:31 PM

No I totally feel that! This coffee shop has an absolutely insane amount of seating, so I never feel bad staying for a good while, but I totally feel that way in smaller shops and that’s totally fair!

#freelance-talk - October 23, 2024 at 02:00 PM

I have a local coffee shop… it’s not a dedicated co-working space of course, but it has an amazing community feel, I tend to see a lot of the same regulars on the days I go (usually 2x a week) and I know all the baristas now, so it’s a good balance between seeing some friendly and familiar faces and getting work done. Plus it’s $15 a week for coffee and bagels instead of $100s a month 🙃

I tried all the coffee shops within a few miles of me to figure out which ones were best for working and what the vibe seemed to be! 10/10 recommend as an alternative! Local libraries are amazing for working too!

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - October 16, 2024 at 08:50 PM

Suggestion: You could REALLY lean into the yo-yo-yo if you showed up to zoom calls with an ACTUAL yo-yo. And yo-yo tricks.

#freelance-talk - October 14, 2024 at 04:55 PM

Thank you!

#freelance-talk - October 14, 2024 at 04:00 PM

Copyeditors: What do you typically charge for hourly rates?

I typically do writing so I charge project-based rates, but I’m working with a new client that is interested in editing and I’m curious to get a sense of the “going rate.” Feel free to DM me if you don’t want to post rates in the open! Thanks!

#freelance-talk - September 27, 2024 at 02:56 PM

Agree with Antonio — that’s not a free dinner, it’s a timeshare pitch 😂

#general - September 24, 2024 at 02:12 PM

I also find this problematic — even for jobs that are hiring US only, they’ll often do location-based adjustments now, i.e. paying more if you live in NY/LA/SF/DC, and less for other places. But what if I’m working in NY and then my husband gets a new job and we move to Virginia? Do I have to take a pay cut even though I’m doing the same work?

What if I’m living in San Francisco but I decide to become a digital nomad and move to South Africa for a year? Or Portugal? Or wherever? Does my pay grade change because I moved?

I see so many logistical issues to this, aside from the obvious disparities and ethical concerns. Just pick a pay rate for the role and pay it regardless. If you can’t afford to deal with international taxes, regulations, etc. then don’t hire globally.

FWIW, I never earned close to that $111k average when I worked in-house as a content marketer. All of my in-house roles ranged from $40k - $75k. Not to dismiss your concerns as the global pay gap is a major problem and I don’t know the details of your situation, but just to say when you’re considering whether you should take this potential offer or not, not every content job is paying close to $100k even for US residents. Make of that what you will based on the situation you’re in!

#freelance-talk - August 23, 2024 at 03:21 PM

(FWIW, definitely not saying that I haven’t done plenty of work for people I’ve first ‘just been friends’ with or that you don’t need more nurturing in your sales workflow, but just that a one-month turnaround time for that probably isn’t that realistic. Most of the work that I’ve gotten from people I’ve gotten to know over time has come 1-2 years after I first started getting to know them.)

#freelance-talk - August 23, 2024 at 03:19 PM

IMO, the best time for making friends is when you have plenty of clients and you’re actually happy to just connect with people under no pretenses.

If you’re in need of work and need to be pitching, then just go for it. It’s honest. Less than one month from “let’s just connect and be friends” to closed deal is probably not that realistic (in my experience). That said, when I need work quickly to fill a gap, I have much better luck when I reach out to people who are actively seeking freelancers, whether that’s through Superpath, looking on LI, other job boards, asking friends for referrals, etc.

Searching linkedin for “Looking for a [insert what you do]” and then filtering by “posts” “in the past week” has been helpful for me in the past. Best of luck!

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - August 13, 2024 at 05:58 PM

super excited for an Erica AMA! let’s gooo

#running - August 13, 2024 at 03:54 PM

Not personal experience, but I see TONS of parents around here jogging / running with Uppababy strollers. Their jogger model must be awesome, or else maybe my town is secretly sponsored by Uppababy?

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - August 07, 2024 at 09:18 PM

Also loving the pole vaulting! I have always had a secret hunch that I could be an amazing pole vaulter (in any case, it looks really fun).

Super looking forward to the new Superpath events and happenings! 👀

#general - August 07, 2024 at 06:22 PM

Don’t have personal experience to speak of (yet!) but this thread from Culture Study (run by the brilliant and thoughtful journalist Anne Helen Petersen) has LOTS of experience, wisdom, and camaraderie! Plus lots of links to other resources. https://annehelen.substack.com/p/friday-thread-menopause-brain/comments
https://annehelen.substack.com/p/are-you-in-the-portal?utm_source=publication-search

I bet you’d find plenty of people you can also DM further there as well! The community there is lovely! These might be paywalled (sorry) but I think a one-month subscription is only $5. Hopefully this helps give you some leads!

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - July 30, 2024 at 08:35 PM

@Eric Doty (Superpath) ugh, another great benefit of living in Canada! Yes, you have to pay for Peacock (do I pay for peacock, no but shoutout to my roommate…) You might be able to watch NBC coverage for free with an antenna but idk, it might be only cable now.

#general - July 30, 2024 at 07:38 PM

The problem for me is that whatever it is, it is usually the cheapest version of that thing — really awful square mugs, barely-inked pens, etc. Anything can be cool if it’s a REALLY great version of that thing! Something to keep in mind.

Otherwise, something practical, or as Francisco said, unique and local to the conference area is usually a win!

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - July 30, 2024 at 07:37 PM

also a big hattip to peacock’s marketing team who will be screenshotting and sharing their subscription and views numbers from this week forever and having to account for the churn next month 🫡

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - July 30, 2024 at 07:36 PM

also yes to the Olympics, I’m now an expert in every sport. anyone else watching the gymnastics this afternoon instead of being productive, because 🙋

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - July 30, 2024 at 07:35 PM

“If you can’t handle me at my Macarena-est, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my No Diggity-est.”

never thought I’d see that line in an email… or ever 👏

#freelance-talk - July 24, 2024 at 08:48 PM

And to that end, “brief” varies a LOT from client to client. So I think it kind of depends on how much the client is including in their brief too. Some clients send me briefs that are a half-page, others have like 9-page briefs, so… it depends 🥴

#freelance-talk - July 24, 2024 at 08:46 PM

^ That’s about what I charge, unless it includes heavy lifting on the strategy side. I expect to do a bit of keyword research, ideation, etc., but I also expect that they’ll already have some prioritization / strategy in place to work from.

#freelance-talk - July 23, 2024 at 03:33 PM

“Research, pitch, and write 2600- to 3000-word articles in a custom CMS with a one-week to one-day turnaround, depending on the topic and timeliness of the article
…. Compensation: 8-10 cents per word, depending on the type of assignment”

one-day turnaround for 3000 word articles? 🙃

#general - July 22, 2024 at 03:52 PM

Not to mention that if the recruiter found out that a potential candidate only had six months to live, they more than likely wouldn’t hire them anyways… 🙃

#general - July 22, 2024 at 02:21 PM

This is a ridiculous question 😂 If I only had six months to live I wouldn’t even be doing this interview….

#freelance-talk - July 19, 2024 at 02:59 PM

Happy to chat through how I do it if you want!

#freelance-talk - July 19, 2024 at 02:58 PM

✨ NOTION ✨

I keep everything for my side of things / my business work / goals / tasks / etc. in Notion and find it immensely helpful! Notion calendars / to-do lists / tables are great for organizing disparate pieces and projects and keeping them organized by client while also having them in one place

#freelance-talk - July 18, 2024 at 09:28 PM

I do! It’s usually pretty fast for clients and I can reuse them for my website or other marketing.

#general - July 17, 2024 at 03:19 PM

I’ll also put a plug for Notion here! I use it for my portfolio and it’s hosted as a website — I see a lot more people doing it now and it’s much cheaper than using a dedicated website if you only need a page or two! https://www.notion.so/help/guides/build-a-website-with-notion-in-seconds-no-coding-required

#general - July 15, 2024 at 01:45 PM

I think context matters here.

• Is someone writing a post looking for advice / how other people do things and you just wrote an email newsletter or article on this topic? In which case, it makes sense to say “here’s what we’ve done that’s worked, we actually just wrote a whole article on this, here it is!”
• Is someone writing a post on [X topic] and that’s related to your industry, so you comment and say “great post, we’ve also written about this, here’s the link?” Feels irrelevant and probably won’t do much for your brand or business

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - July 09, 2024 at 12:51 PM

…. wow nailed it! 🤯 just a reminder that people 400 years ago were just like us (currently roasting in a heat wave and not wanting to do ANYTHING)