I’m back from Mom 2.0 Summit and I had a fantastic time. I truly did. And I say that as an introvert, which is why I thought today I would spend a little time talking about how to handle conferences if you maybe think you can’t handle conferences.

“But you’re not shy!” People say to me. “You like people! You’ll talk with anyone!” And all of that is true; I do like people and I don’t consider myself shy. Nonetheless, an introvert is someone who is sapped of energy through interpersonal interaction rather than energized by it, and so I am categorically an introvert even though I enjoy this stuff because—by the time I get home afterward—all I really want to do is sleep for a week. It takes a lot out of me.

And I made a lot of mistakes when I first started going to conferences, mostly because I felt unsure of myself and didn’t want to “miss” anything, so I thought it was worth a discussion. The fact of the matter is that now, conferences still wear me out, but I come home feeling good about the experience. And that’s kind of the point, no? Consider this your Cliff Notes on attending a conference as an introvert.
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It’s time for my annual financial freak-out! Hooray!

Oh, wait. That’s, um, not actually good, I suspect. Whoops.

Okay, so today is the day I take my tax stuff to my accountant. I was completely counting on today being a pretty good day, actually, because unlike last year when I was all disorganized and ended up owing a lot of money to the IRS (due to my own underestimation of my year, to be clear), this year I’m organized! I have folders! I’m incorporated! I already gave the government a ton of money!

But—as these things tend to go—I’ve just discovered that a few of my 1099s haven’t arrived. And other ones are issued incorrectly; although I sent my shiny new EIN to everyone for whom I’ve worked this year, many of my clients continued to bill to my SSN, instead, which is bad news for my taxes.

In the midst of being certain that the IRS is going to come drain my bank accounts despite all of the money I’ve already sent them, I thought it would be a good time to review all of the other ways I’m planning to bankrupt myself this year.
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I spend the bulk of my work time in my office, alone, typing at my computer. Sometimes I talk to people on the phone. But most of my client interactions don’t happen face-to-face, and my office happens to be right here in my house.

So while the cliche about freelancers working from home in their pajamas is a cliche, in this case it’s a cliche because it’s mostly true. At least, it is for me. I work in my pajamas a lot. And when I do get dressed I wear what’s comfortable for a work-at-home mom who also runs her kids around town but doesn’t have anyone to impress—I wear jeans and t-shirts, sweaters, comfortable shoes, and other unremarkable items.

I wouldn’t say I’m a slob, exactly, nor would I say what I wear is somehow inappropriate. I mean, the fact that I get dressed at all on days when I never leave the house is pretty commendable, right?

And I know that when it comes to professional events, I have to dress like a professional. And I do.
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Well, it took me a few weeks, but I think today I’m getting to the last of the topics posed when I asked for your burning questions last month.

Today’s topic comes from the lovely EmmaC, who asked:

I’d love to hear your thoughts on evaluating clients and negotiating with them - warning signs that you’re getting into a bad situation, negotiating with client expectations (ie, they think it should take 30 hours and you know it will take at least 50), when to negotiate and when to just turn a project down, etc.

This is something I think a lot of neophytes in particular are nervous about handling; isn’t the client always right? (The answer to that is NO, by the way.) There has to be a balance between sticking up for yourself and losing out to another freelancer who will agree to what you won’t. And figuring out where to strike that balance is tricky. I think the most important thing to remember is that you’re talking about a shifting target; how you approach any negotiation will depend on many factors, most of which vary from week to week and job to job.
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