CFG Workshop – Getting the most from your CFG Membership

16 Dec 2022
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Getting the most from your CFG Membership begins with knowing more about the services we offer.

This session is intended to be a combination show-and-tell and individual curated workshops to help accomplish that aim.

There have been a lot of changes at CFG recently, and one of the most significant is the move from a long list of individual pages for member services into a digital one-stop shop that gathers them into one, organized and easy to use page.

https://canadianfreelanceguild.ca/en/member-services/

Learn how to pitch an idea to Story Board, how to suggest a panel discussion or presentation, and access our Video Library.

We’ve also being doing our best to bring as many members as possible to our two-way communications channel with the launch nearly a year ago of our CFG Discord channel. This is intended to replace the Digital Deli, which was always a bit of a hack and not widely adopted.

We’ll have a crew on hand for individual breakout sessions about Discord, the member services page, how to complete / update your member profile, and so on.

Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas to this unique session.

If this works to members’ satisfaction, we’ll schedule similar sessions throughout the coming year.

We’ve put a lot of time and effort into improving your experience, and its all for naught if you don’t take advantage of your services and benefits.

After all, knowledge is power and we’re doing our best to put the power into your hands.

CFG Author's Interview - donalee Moultonn

CFG Members, did you miss our recent event with author donalee Moulton on the business of publishing and her first mystery novel, “Hung Out to Die”?

The interview is now available in our video library and it comes just as we’ve launched the CFG Online Store where you can donalee’s book for half price. (That’s the digital edition. We’ll be adding the paperback soon.

But wait, there’s more! We’re looking for more Canadian Freelance Guild members who have recently published or are about to publish their own books. If you’re interested in sharing your experiences and getting your work out there, we want to hear from you.

Simply click on the authors sign-up form link here and tell us a bit about yourself and your work. You could be our next featured author.

Thanks to all who joined us for this fun and interesting interview.

Making AI work for you - ChatGPT Workshop with Owen Brierley

Owen’s highly anticipated machine learning and Artificial Intelligence tutorial and workshop is now available as a pre-recorded video!

In this hands-on workshop, Owen guides us through the process of signing up and getting started with ChatGPT, an innovative breakthrough application with huge potential impact on our members.

One of our members even volunteered to sign up and start using the application live. Check out how easy it is.

Owen also showed us how easy it is for ChatGPT to be spectacularly wrong about basic facts, as he corrects the ficitionalized biography the application assembled for him.

Whether you are new to ChatGPT or looking to expand your knowledge, this tutorial is a must-watch.

“CFG Experts Panel: Finding Corporate Work”

Traditional media transformed to the point where every organization is now a publisher and broadcaster. Plenty of freelancers have taken their journalism skills and turned them to corporate work, where most clients are ill equipped to take on these new media responsiblities.

We invited four long-time freelancers and CFG members, to discuss the ways they have found success in finding and producing corporate work.

“Ask the Experts: How do you publish your first book?”

Should You Self Publish? Or Follow The Traditional Route?

We lined up four Canadian Freelance Guild members who’ve been there. Join us. Hear their stories. Ask your questions.

• Julie Barlow, author of eight books including Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong and The Bonjour Effect
• Sandra Phinney, author of four books including Waking Up In My Own Backyard—Explorations in Southwest Nova Scotia, with two more in the works
• Robyn Roste, who’s going through the publishing process now, with five other titles in the works
• Nadine Marie Robinson, self-published author of a Canadian best seller

“Is A.I. Coming for your Freelance Clients?”

A.I. – artificial intelligence – isn’t just coming. It’s here and expanding it’s range and capabilities.

Just last week, The Atlantic published an article written by a bot. The Guardian did the same thing more than two years ago.

We’ve all seen ads – thanks to our searches related to ‘freelancing’ and ‘writing’ – about Grammerly and how it will fix your writing.

Photographers and graphic designers were sent reeling a few months ago following the release of Dalle-e, an A.I. bot that can whip up a high-quality image on demand.

A.I. isn’t just coming: it’s here and playing an increasing role in our digital lives.

This webinar includes a look at A.I. and a Q&A session with Owen Brierley to learn how we can use A.I. tools to our advantage.

“Understanding Freelance Contracts”

This panel explained common freelance contract clauses and terminology, including the most dangerous clauses freelancers are often asked to agree to when it comes to indemnity and liability. Our panelists also discussed how to make counteroffers and negotiation tips on language and payment.

Our Panelists: As a creative entrepreneur and organization co-founder, Tracey Arial has thirty years of experience dealing with contracts.

Don Genova was the founding organizer of the CFG’s former president of CMG Freelance, where he negotiated contracts with the CBC along with his freelance writing and broadcasting outside of the Corporation.

Alison Motluk has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years. Her work has appeared in The Economist, The Walrus, Maisonneuve, Toronto Life, The Local, Nature, The Globe and Mail, New Scientist, Quirks and Quarks, TheCurrent, The Sunday Edition, IDEAS, and others. She always reads her contracts very carefully.

“Pitching for Success – Sell That Story!”

You have the story. You know you can write it and deliver it. But how to get the editor’s attention—and a green light to proceed?

CFG Founding Member Sandra Phinney takes you on a journey down the freelance “pitching for success” path. This workshop covers:

• today’s most common complaints from editors (and how to capitalize on that knowledge);
• how to analyze magazines, newspapers and websites before creating a pitch;
• tips to make your query jump off the page;
• sample pitches/queries are included, along with a real-life email trail with an editor, from pitch to filing story, including negotiating the best rate.

Watch the video of her presentation below, and if you want to go back over her slides you can open a pdf of them from this link.

“How to Win Government of Canada Contracts”

How would you like to land a client that spends ABOUT $20 BILLION YEARLY on goods and services?

That client exists: The Government of Canada.

Even sole proprietors can sell directly to the feds: no matter where you are in Canada, whether or not you offer bilingual services, you’ll benefit from this guide to the basics led by Ottawa-based Marion Soublière of M.E.S. Editing and Writing Services.

Marion has been winning Government of Canada contracts since 2008.

This has been one of our most popular Business of Freelancing sessions ever. And it’s now FREE OF CHARGE TO CFG MEMBERS and our affiliates.

“Tax Time for Freelancers – 2021 Tax Year”

Financial guru Shannon Lee Simmons helped us last March get ready to file our 2021 income taxes.

Guess what? The deadline is fast approaching to file for 2022.

Get ahead of the curve as Shannon takes you on a deep dive into eligible and ineligible deductions, GST / HST returns, income from foreign sources, and yes, what to do if you end up taking that shoebox full of receipts to a tax professional.

Shannon answered nearly 30 question in a fast-paced back and forth with the audience.

This webinar is now FREE TO ALL CFG MEMBERS and to members of our associate partners.

We plan to bring Shannon back live this year to help you prepare for your financial year end with another of her fact-filled sessions.

“Investing Basics For Freelancers”

This co-presented webinar focused on the two main retirement saving vehicles for freelancers: RRSPs and TFSAs. Helen and Rita covered the key benefits and also the potential pitfalls of each, including ways to maximize tax efficiency in asset allocation.  Rita Silvan, Chartered Investment Manager, is an award-winning former publishing executive who has held leadership positions in print and digital publications. Her freelance writing has appeared in RBC’s Inspired Investor, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and many more. She’s passionate about personal finance and investing as a means to a happy and self-empowered life.

Helen Burnett-Nichols is a Hamilton, Ont.-based freelance writer with more than15 years of experience covering investment, business, legal and personal finance topics. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Globe and Mail, National Post Legal Post, Golden Girl Finance, Benefits Canada, SAGE Magazine, EY Reporting and Tangerine Bank’s ‘Forward Thinking’ brand. Helen completed the Canadian Securities Course in 2010.

“Getting The Most Out of LinkedIn Learning”

LinkedIn Learning is one of the most valuable benefits you receive as a member of the Canadian Freelance Guild. The resource contains thousands of training videos to help you learn skills across many disciplines. To buy it for yourself would cost $342 a year.  If you’d like to register for a LinkedIn Learning account, please contact the CFG Organizer  for instructions.

In the webinar, CFG member Michael Strickland gives you a basic introduction to the learning platform, then talks about his experience, what he liked and what he’d change. Then he takes you through snippets of courses that he thinks are of value to freelancers and does some live searches on topics that participants ask about.

“Managing Your Social Media Expectations”

In this hour-long session, presenter Rebecca Coleman looked at the different social networks and which ones may be important for freelancers to participate in,  talked about some best practices for those platforms, and then there was a great Q&A to help answer all your social media questions!

Rebecca Coleman teaches Social Media Marketing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), and is a Social MediaStrategist. She is also a blogger and the published author of two cookbooks, and regularly contributes to the GoDaddy Marketing Blog.

Rebecca passed along some helpful links to videos she mentioned during her presentation:

How to start a Facebook business page

Three types of posts for Facebook pages

Understanding the Facebook Algorithm

How to use Creator Studio to schedule content 

How to post to Instagram

And a couple of her personal favourite social media resources and the pdf of her presentation: 

https://later.com/blog/

https://blog.hootsuite.com/