Canada’s meeting place for freelance writers and creators

Established 2010

Savvy freelancers are always looking for ways to streamline their workflow. The right tools can make your freelance business run more smoothly and allow you to spend more time on the creative work that earns you money. Here are a few of the best tools for freelancers we've run across lately.

Transcription

For freelance journalists, transcription can be one of the most time-consuming parts of the job. While it's often useful to listen back to full interviews and type out transcripts, shortcuts can be helpful -- especially during busy times. 

Otter is a transcription service that allows you to record interviews on your phone or in a web browser. You can also import or sync recordings from other services. You'll get real-time streaming transcripts and searchable notes. "You can get 600 minutes per month free, and if it works well for you, there's paid premium service.

And if you do prefer to transcribe your interviews manually, oTranscribe is still the best tool we've found for manual transcription.

Rate calculator

It's important for freelancers to know what their work is worth. One way to think about how much you should be charging is by calculating how much you need to make per year and working backwards to figure out an hourly rate. This rate calculator can help you work that out. 

Clipping saver

The internet can be a fickle and rapidly-changing place. If you're a freelance writer, you might have had the experience of losing online clippings when publishers you've written for have gone under. It's a good idea to screenshot your work, but turning those screenshots into PDFs can be a time consuming process.

This personal clipping service is an easy solution. Sign in with Twitter, enter the URLs of your work into the search field and Save My News will keep an archive of all of your published online work. Easy!   

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.  It's a warm day in July so I've selected a sloppy old t-shirt to wear while writing this post.It's faded over the years but has…
In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian freelancers to share a few details about their work habits and their strategies for navigating the ups and downs of freelance life. Ayesha Barmania is an independent journalist, radio producer, audio artist and podcast consultant based in Peterborough, Ontario. They're the co-host and…
by Lesley Evans OgdenAssemble any group of freelancers at a networking event, or Google “freelance challenges,” and a common set of discussion topics tends to emerge.How can we write the best pitches? How do we negotiate contracts? And for some: How do I get started?Navigating freelance challenges to survive and thrive in the gig economy was…
by Don GenovaIn early May I was asked, in my role as president of the Canadian Media Guild Freelance Branch, to participate in an exercise called ‘The Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards’, a panel sponsored by the federal government aimed at reviewing and updating working conditions within any federally-regulated workforce. The…
By George Butters Ever heard of a fishing hole?That’s a place where fish congregate, and where savvy fishers go with line and hook.Conferences are where ideas are said to congregate, along with the people who espouse them. So for freelancers, conferences are a double whammy: attend the right conference and you’ll get the ideas and the contacts…
Freelancers in the Vancouver area are invited to a "say hello to summer" get together on Tuesday, June 18 at Red Racer Taphouse (871 Beatty St.) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. CMG Freelance president Don Genova will be in town so if you have any questions about pitching, freelance contracts or other aspects of freelance life, come down for a drink and a…
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.  I know most people don't normally associate the phrase "workplace injuries" with the act of writing.One non-writer friend joked,…
by Sue Horner Google made me do it. My website refresh has been in the back of my mind for months. I had a few changes I wanted to make, but nothing seemed urgent and the project fell off my radar.I finally set things in motion after a few reminders about Google’s view of sites that don’t have “secure HTTP.” Basically, HTTPS in the web…
Applications are now open for the 2019 Portenier Human Rights Bursary competition. Freelance journalists and independent documentary makers with projects that focus on human rights abuses can apply for the bursary, which provides the winner with $3000 to attend hostile environment training.The bursary is offered by the Canadian Journalism Forum…

Page 10 of 63

First 8 9 10 11 12 Last