A top pet peeve about this industry

How you can avoid it

Author

Diana Kelly Levey
April 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

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You’ve probably had it happen to you.

I’ve experienced it one too many times.

It’s a one-off assignment.

There’s the excitement that happens when someone asks if you want to do an assignment and you say yes.

You turn in great work. They’re pleased with it.

They send over your invoice for payment processing.

Then, it’s crickets.

Wait, you did a fantastic job so, why don’t they want to work with you again?

It’s not you. It’s not necessarily them. But there are a few things that might be happening here.

👉 You didn’t send an article pitch soon after you turned in the first assignment.

👉 You didn’t screen the client to see if they had enough work for you. When a new client approaches me these days, I usually like to send over a client intake questionnaire to see if they’re a good fit for me and I’m a good fit for them. I have some ‘screener questions’ on there that let me know we’re in the same range for budgets and if they have ongoing work.

👉 You didn’t let them know about other services you provide. This can be helpful if you hear back from the editor that their budgets are drying up for editorial content. See if they need help with B2B writing or marketing copy if you have those skills.

👉 You didn’t follow up. You’re simply waiting around for them to give you a new assignment. Ask if they’re looking for steady freelancers to give work to each month or if they’d be open to pitches and if they need pitches, which topics and seasonality are they looking for?

Discover four more reasons you don’t want to fall into the trap of landing lots of one-off assignments.

The way out?

Treating your business like a business.

Creating contracts or retainers.

Securing anchor clients.

Learn how to build a successful, high-earning freelance business in my course.👇

Thanks for being a subscriber and reader.

Diana

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What’s Happening in Business and Life This Week

What I’m watching: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills streaming on Peacock. We cut cable recently. (It’s okay if you judge, but sometimes reality TV is what my brain needs.)

What I’m listening to: The podcast ‘Boss Responses’ by Treasa Edmond was recommended to me as one of the top podcasts for freelancers to listen to and I’m enjoying it so far.

What I’m reading online: 3 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block (without AI)

What book I’m reading: Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port.

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