Personally, I always find this time of the year one of the most difficult for keeping my freelance writing career on track. There is a lot going on at the end of December, and every year I seem to get off track even though I try not to. While there is nothing wrong with taking some time off for the holidays, I always find this difficult to do. This time around, I hope to cope a bit better than in the past.
There are two main reasons that this is a difficult time of the year for me.
1. With so many distractions, it can be hard to concentrate on the task at hand. After all, I have to buy presents, entertain family, and of course, think about the gifts that I will receive! In all seriousness, this can begin to slow any freelance writer down as Christmas gets closer and closer. I must say that this year I have done a great job staying on schedule with my work. In fact, as of today, my freelance writing income is ahead of pace for the month of December.
2. During every other month of the year, clients are usually quick to respond and offer new work. But in between Thanksgiving and the new year, this slows down considerably. Just like me, I am sure that my clients have a lot on their plate as well. In addition to personal tasks, they also have to get their business ready for the upcoming year. For this reason, you do not want to pressure your freelance writing clients too much during this time. Instead, give them some room to breathe, and then regroup after the first of the year.
When it comes down to it, you do not want your holidays to get ruined because you are too caught up in your work. Even though I work hard day in and day out, this time of the year should be for relaxing as well. With that being said, I know that I will be at my computer checking emails the first thing Christmas morning. Oh well, I guess I am addicted!
Many of my recent posts have been based around setting freelance writing fees. With the new year on the way, this is a topic that a lot of aspiring writers are interested in. After all, the first of the year is among the best times to put new fees into effect. Of course, if you do not know what goes into setting your freelance writing fees, you will be a bit lost when it comes to doing so.
Here are three important factors that will affect your freelance writing fees.
1. How much experience you have is essential. If you are a beginner, you will have to start out at the bottom of the food chain. This is not to say that you should short change yourself, but at the same time you will not be able to command the same rates as an established veteran. Base your experience on how long you have been a freelance writer, as well as the samples that you have compiled.
2. What are your competitors charging? While it is impossible to get information on every competitor, you should do your best to collect some details. For instance, many freelance writers have websites that publicly offer pricing information. When you find this information, bookmark it or begin to make a list. Just remember, you must consider the experience of the writer in correlation to their fees.
3. How bad do you need new business? If you are struggling to find work, there is a good chance that you may want to temporarily lower your freelance writing fees. This will definitely help you to attract new clients, especially if you have experience. But remember, you do not have to keep your rates low forever. After you secure new business and are comfortable with where you are at, you can then slowly increase your fees.
By now, you are probably working on your freelance writing fees for 2008. When doing so, keep the three factors above in mind. They will help you to best position yourself for success in the new year.
Although most people see freelance writing as writing for magazines and websites, there is another area that you may want to consider: fiction. Personally, I do not write a lot of fiction, but I know many freelance writers who make a good living doing so. If you have a creative mind, you may want to consider this option. Even if you only compose fiction pieces from time to time, it can be a great way to break the monotony of fact based content.
I was recently offered a freelance fiction writing job by one of my regular clients. Although I do not have a lot of experience in this area, the project is intriguing to me for a couple of reasons. First off, it will give me the chance to break away from fact based writing and put my creative juices to good use. To go along with this, it is always nice to have both fiction and non-fiction samples. While I have hundreds of non-fiction samples to send out, I lack in the area of fiction. After I complete this project, it is safe to say that I will have plenty of samples for future clients who may be interested in fiction based content.
For me, writing freelance fiction is pretty new. For this reason I do not know a lot about how much I should charge, or how to get a project started. Although this can be intimidating, I am sure to figure it out one way or the next. The fact of the matter is that until I try, I will never know if fiction writing is something that is of interest to me. Who knows, this project could be the time of my life, and I could start concentrating more on fiction in 2008.Â
Personally, I always charge freelance writing clients on a per project basis; very rarely do I rely on hourly pricing. But with that being said, there are times when hourly pricing may be the best option. Here are a few examples when this may hold true.
1. In some cases it can be difficult to charge a per project price. The client may not have precise details, or the project may only be in the planning stages. If you run into this situation, you may want to tell the client that you are willing to work on an hourly basis until more details are ironed out.
2. Depending on the stage of your career, charging hourly rates for small jobs is probably the best option. For example, you would not want to charge the same for a 1,000 word sales letter as you would a 500 word sales letter minor edit. If you do, it is safe to say that your client will consider you crazy. In this case, you could simply tell them the estimated time for completion, and give them an hourly rate. This will help you to stay on track as far as time is concerned, while also giving the client the chance to save money.
3. If you are a freelance writer, there is a good chance that a client will get the impression that you can do it all. For instance, I have been asked to help with everything from social bookmarking to editing to brainstorming on a conference call. If you are going to do work outside of writing, you may want to consider an hourly rate. This is best since you do not really know what you are getting into.
Of course, charging an hourly rate comes with additional responsibility. In fact, there are two things that are important to communicate to your client.
1. First and foremost, tell your client what your hourly rate is. Believe it or not, they may be surprised when you say $50 or $60/hour. If they question this, explain to them that it is a great savings when compared to the per project price.
2. Although not always possible, you should give an estimate on how long the work will take to complete. When doing this, always err on the high side. It is much better to be able to charge a client less than to break it to them that you underestimated and they owe more than they thought.
Finally, to be fair you will want to keep track of the hours that you work. When you are charging by project, you only have to concern yourself with when the job will be done. But when it comes to charging an hourly rate, you need to keep close track of when you work. Not only is this fair to the client, but it will also ensure that you get paid for all of your time.
While I do not like to charge hourly freelance writing rates, there are times when this is the better option.Â
Time and time again I have preached that freelance writers need to treat their work as an actual business. Just because you do not work for somebody else does not mean that you should throw all business theories out the window. One of the many details that go into running an effective business is marketing. Do you know how to market your freelance writing services? Believe it or not, the ways that you market and advertise your services will have a lot to do with your success; at least early in your career.
Here are three of the best methods for freelance writers.
1. You need to have a website which offers the following: a bio, pricing information, samples, and several methods of contact. It is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a website; something functional will do just fine. A website will give you a place to send interested clients, while hopefully bringing visitors from the search engines as well.
2. More and more freelance writers are finding that a blog is a great way to market their services. Although the main point of this blog is not to increase my freelance writing workload, I have received several quality jobs from readers. The nice thing about a blog is that clients will be able to get a good feel for who you are, as well as your writing style.
3. It is not fun for most people to make cold calls, but this is a sales and marketing method that freelance writers should not overlook. When you call somebody on the phone they are more or less forced to deal with you on the spot. At the very least you will be able to tell them who you are, and give them some information on yourself. You are not going to be successful with every cold call that you make, but you never know when your big break will come. And remember, just because somebody tells you no the first time you call does not mean that they won’t get in touch when their needs change.
This is not my first post on how to market your freelance writing services. The reason that I talk about this so much is that it is one of the more important aspects of the industry. If you are going to be a successful freelance writer, a lot of it will fall back on how well you market your services. Use the three points above to put together a killer marketing plan for 2008.
Freelance writers deal with ups and downs throughout the year. In my past experiences, the month of December is one of the worst for business. Although I am not 100 percent sure of why this happens, my guess is that a lot of it has to do with the holidays. Not only did Thanksgiving just end, but Christmas and the New Year pretty much shut the month down a week early. In turn, this means that you only have three weeks or so of good work time; and even that is a stretch in most cases.
Last December I earned just around $4,000. Although it was a disappointing month, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Luckily, I am doing much better this December, and hope to break the $5k mark with ease.
What are freelance writers to do if work is slow during December? Try the following ideas to stay busy until 2008.
1. If you are not writing, strongly market your services so that you can hit the ground running in 2008. Remember, December may be slow, but you want to make sure that the new year does not start off at the same pace. Personally, I love to have a solid month in January as to set a positive tone for the rest of the year.
2. Update all of your files. This includes everything from payment receipts to contact lists. By doing this now, you can avoid being bogged down next month. The bottom line is that you want to free up all of your time for actual writing related tasks starting January 1.
3. Make a list of both short and long term goals. When doing this you want to set big goals, but not ones that are impossible to reach. If you are constantly failing, it will begin to take a toll on you.
There is a good chance that you are having a slow month; this is common among freelance writers in December. But remember, just because you do not have a lot of work, does not mean that you cannot be productive.Â
I just wanted to send a quick thanks to all of my RSS readers. Today is the first time that I broke the 100 subscriber mark! Although this is a long way from where I want to be, it is one of the many goals that I set for myself upon starting this blog.
To tell you the truth, I don’t have any secrets on how to increase this number, etc. Unlike some of the big “make money online†bloggers, this number is not a measure of success for me. Generally speaking, my main goal is to provide high quality, useful information, and then let readers decide if they want to add me to their reader; some do, some don’t.
Many have told me that reaching 100 subscribers is the most difficult. Hopefully 200 will be right around the corner.
Thanks again, and if you have yet to subscribe, you can do so here!
Are you thinking about increasing your freelance writing rates in 2008? Is this something that you want to do, but are a bit afraid of? If so, you are not in an uncommon position. After all, every freelance writer has to deal with this as each new year starts. The fact of the matter is that increasing freelance writing rates is not as easy as it sounds. In other words, you cannot simply ask for more money without giving it any thought.
Here are several details to keep in mind if you are considering increasing your rates.
1. How much of an increase are you thinking about? This is the most important detail because it can make or break your business in the new year. It is very important that you increase your rates enough to make a difference, but not so much that your clients will object. For instance, you may charge $200 for a sales letter right now. In my mind, a fair increase in 2008 would be $50 or so. If you attempt to double your past rate to $400, you may run into some resistance. This is especially true with clients that you have worked with in the past.
2. What are you basing your rate increase on? You need to have some sort of reasoning and method to your changes. Your best bet is to consider your current rate sheet, experience, and what others are charging. From there, you will have a better idea of the percentage increase that you should put into effect. The bottom line is that you should not make a change for the sake of doing so. If you do, you may find yourself backpedaling during the first few months of the year.
3. If you increase your rates and later find that it was a mistake, you can always switch back to 2007 pricing. Remember, as a freelance writer you are your own boss. This means that you can do whatever you feel is best for your business. If you are not generating enough clients due to higher pricing, you can tweak this until you find a happy medium. Of course, you want to avoid changing your pricing too often; this will become confusing for both you and your clients.
Personally, I am not going to make too much of a change to my freelance writing rates in 2008. I feel comfortable with my rates as they are right now, and my clients have not expressed any concerns. Even though I may be able to get away with charging a few more bucks on each project, at this time I see no point in doing so. Instead, I am going to attempt to increase my income by increasing my output and adding new income streams.
With all of that being said, how do you plan on handling pricing in 2008?
At the beginning of every month I write a post detailing my freelance writing income for the previous month. Within the post I include information on how many projects I completed, how I was paid, and of course, the total income. While this gives a lot of information to the reader, some of you have asked for further information on how much each project pays.
Instead of getting into all of the finer details, I am going to touch on a few of the projects that make up my monthly total. This will give you a better idea of what percentage of my freelance writing income comes from large projects, and what percentage is made up of smaller jobs.
First off, let’s take a look at three of my biggest money makers. These three projects consist of just around 50 percent of my total income. While not exact, if I earn $5,000 it is safe to say that half of it will be from these three projects alone.
These jobs differ in how much they pay, but in most months each one consists of anywhere from $800 to $1,000. Again, this shows that these three projects usually make up half of my monthly income.
The months where I earn more than $5,000, such as October, I always receive a lot of smaller jobs. While jobs that pay $200 to $400 may not sound like that big of a deal, by completing five of these in a month, it adds an extra $1k or $2k to my bottom line. If it were possible, I would always complete these jobs as to keep my income above $7k. But as mentioned above, these are not regular jobs but instead come through from time to time.
There are a lot of people who believe that one or two projects should not make up your entire freelance writing income; and I agree with them. After all, if you lose that client your business will suffer until you have the chance to replace them. With that being said, it can often times be difficult to control this situation. If you feel that one or two clients are making up a large percentage of your income, begin to market your services more heavily. This will give you the chance to diversify your income.
Hopefully this will give you a better idea of the size of the projects that I complete. Of course, the income levels listed above change from month to month. It all depends on the amount of work that I am doing, and what the client is asking for.Â
In order to fully understand the freelance writing industry, you must first have a better idea of why clients hire for this type of help. When you know why a client may hire you, it will make it easier for you to position yourself for success.
Here are four common reasons that a client will hire a freelance writer.
1. In many cases a client may want to do the work on their own. But due to time constraints, they are forced to hire a freelance writer. Just as you do not have time to take on every job, the same thing holds true for your clients.
2. You can do the job better. Freelance writers specialize in creating content that works. Believe it or not, some companies do not have anybody on staff that is capable of writing with a high level of success. In turn, if they want to get the job done right the only option is to hire a freelance writer.
3. In many cases, hiring a freelance writer is cheaper than having somebody in-house do the work. This holds true for two reasons: 1. An in-house employee already has enough work to do. If they must also work on writing projects it can affect their quality across the board. 2. Hiring a full-time employee for nothing more than writing related tasks can be quite expensive. But on the other hand, outsourcing jobs to freelance writers is cost effective.
4. A freelance writer can bring a fresh outlook to the client. The fact of the matter is that a company often times gets stuck “inside a box†because they do all of their own work. A freelance writer will be able to offer insight and suggestions for improvement.
Of course, there are many others reasons that freelance writers are hired; these are simply the more common ones. Now that you know why you may get hired for a job, you should be able to better position your offerings. For instance, you can play up the fact that hiring you is more cost effective than having a full-time employee. Get creative with the marketing ploys that you use to increase business.
All in all, companies have been hiring freelance writers for many years, and this will never change. By playing off of the four points above, you should be able to come up with several new marketing ideas.Â
