ASLU 087: Creative Canadian Tiffany Mayer: The Biggest Freelancer Mistakes

Photography by Kelly Horkoff

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This episode is brought to you by Fine Lime Designs Illustrations

Author, journalist and freelance writer Tiffany Mayer initially thought she’d like to be a veterinarian when she grew up. This was despite the fact that some of her earliest memories revolve around taking copious amounts of books out of the library and surrounding herself with them while she wrote and wrote and wrote.

She never did become a veterinarian but nothing has stopped that early passion for writing - something that took her through journalism school at the University of Regina and eventually landed her in the Niagara region of Ontario. The Niagara peninsula and its burgeoning food and wine scene would become her muse. She spent years working as an agricultural reporter and freelance food writer in the region, launched the blog Eating Niagara and went on to pen the book Niagara Food: A Flavourful History of the Peninsula’s Bounty. She continues to promote the area’s rich and diverse food scene (and perhaps even more importantly, the stories of the people who grow, harvest and cook that food) via her freelance writing and her social media channels.

But, like all freelancers in the creative arts, she’s made her share of mistakes and in this episode, Tiffany and Melissa talk through some of the biggest mistakes freelancers make and how to, if not avoid them entirely, minimize the impact they have on your business. They discuss everything from the fear of saying no, operating from a scarcity mindset (what if another job never shows up?), ignoring red flags, the ongoing pricing struggle, setting client boundaries and just how common making big tax mistakes can be (you talk to your accountant regularly, right?).

This Episode Is For…

This is a great episode for anyone who:

  • is just starting out as a freelancer in the creative services (writing, photography, design, marketing)

  • struggles with saying no

  • has a hard time figuring out how to justify their pricing (or who isn't charging enough!)

  • doesn't always listen to their red flag-o-mometer

  • needs a reminder on why an accountant and a lawyer are so important

If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.

Listen To the Episode

Here’s a link to this week’s episode. You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!

having a big impact

doesn’t require a big audience

in this episode we discuss:

  • Tiffany’s creative journey as a writer and journalist

  • how she found her focus reporting on and writing about food and agriculture

  • how doing a piece on the 100 Mile Diet (and living the experience) in the Niagara region solidified her love for the area’s food scene

  • her biggest mistake as a freelancer

  • some of the other big mistakes creative services freelancers make (and how many of them are directly related to mindset issues!)

  • how to avoid or minimize those mistakes

Mentioned in this episode

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Podcast Episode, Inspiring WomenMelissa HartfielS3, creative mindset, creative enterpreneurshp, Tiffany MayerComment