Thursday, May 27, 2010

Kill them with Kindness

Sometimes there are days in a freelancer's life when everything seems to be going wrong. Sources flake out of you. Editors are breathing down your neck. The words aren't flowing. It's rough. (Thankfully for me today is not one of those days, which is why I opted to write about it now.)

I've found often times the sources tend to be the most frustrating thing. They want to review their quotes and have small changes they want to see fixed. They won't return phone calls, or don't like being put on speaker phone. Sometimes the men think that you must not know too much since you're a girl, which I find to be especially true in business writing. All of this can lead to a difficult interview, in-person or over-the-phone.

The best solution, is a two-fold approach. First, kill them with kindness. Make it apparent you are on their side. Just searching for the facts. Not out to malign them or their reputation. Second, help them see you are knowledgeable about the subject matter. You know what you are talking about. You are aware of the terms and players.

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