Hi Reader, I use the "important and urgent" framework to decide what to work on. It's a four-quadrant grid that sorts tasks into (1) important and urgent, (2) important and not urgent, (3) not important and urgent, and (4) not important and not urgent. Here's how this framework might look for my freelance business: (While creating this diagram, I had to tell myself that tweaking it to perfection is not important and not urgent, so I would stop doing this and MOVE ON, lol) If something is...
18 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Last week, I read this tweet by John Loeber: Sometimes, an acquaintance will reach out to me to "catch up" casually. There's nothing I like more than a nice wide-ranging conversation with no agenda, so I usually say yes. Then, 30 or 45 minutes in, they try to be very sneaky about this, they bring up -- oh-just-by-the-way -- some commercial request: an intro to so-and-so, maybe I'll consider buying their product, funding their company, whatever, and it's so disappointing: the last...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, I went through two rounds of interviews for a freelance writer role a few weeks ago. The first interview was a screener, while the second was the more substantive interview with the people I'd work with. To prep for the interviews, I did my research as usual—but I also decided to try getting AI's help since I recently signed up for a paid Claude plan. After my AI-assisted prep, both interviews went well. I didn't have trouble with the questions, and the interviewers also said they...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, I love collecting client testimonials. I mean, who doesn't love it when people say nice things about you? 😂 Not only that: these testimonials serve as social proof of the amazing work you do. Just check out what a client recently said about mine: And when you've gathered a nice collection of testimonials, they can influence potential clients to hire you. Here's my client testimonial process. Feel free to steal it. Decide who to ask for a testimonial The standard approach is to ask...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, I caught Lea Salonga's concert over the weekend. If you aren't familiar with her, she's a very famous actress and singer who has performed on Broadway and provided the singing voices for Disney princesses Mulan and Princess Jasmine, among other achievements. The concert was very very good. She sang SO well, it was insane. And I was so inspired while watching her. For one, I think we—as a society—should nurture the artistic talents in our community. Yes, science and math are...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Gentle reminder that personal income tax-filing season has begun! The filing deadline is 18 Apr 2026, but I wouldn't leave tax filing to the last minute. Here are IRAS' tax resources for self-employed persons. Happy filing! And now, on to today's main topic: When you start a business—freelance or otherwise—you can't just take a backseat and let things coast after the business takes off. So many things could happen to throw your business off course: Others see your success and start...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, It's been a while! 🫡 I was travelling for a couple of weeks, and I thought maybe I'd do some light work while abroad, including keeping up with these fortnightly newsletters. Well, I was wrong. I practically got no work done at all and have no regrets. 😂 But with holiday mode and the Chinese New Year festivities winding down (happy CNY btw!), I'm kicking back into high gear—including finally resolving some technical website issues. Which is the focus of today's email. I've been...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Happy New Year! You might have realised that this newsletter is a week late. 😬 I was caught up with the festivities, but now, I'm correcting things by sharing my (week-late) 2025 year in review. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a recap I do at the end of every year to reflect on how the year's been for me. Work was a blur My schedule was generally full, being booked weeks in advance for most of this year.* Which led to a lot of internal screaming on my end as I fulfilled my...
5 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Being a freelancer, I charge clients money to provide them with services. But I'm also a consumer who pays businesses (including freelancers) money to get services from them. Because of this, over the last few weeks, I've been acutely more aware of both sides' interests—and how these interests conflict: As a consumer, I want to pay as little as possible for the services I need. As a freelancer, I want to charge as much as I can for the services I provide. In other words, my getting...
6 months ago • 3 min read