Freelance Writing

Did you know that there is more to freelance writing than online content and feature articles for magazines? Many aspiring writers think that those are the only two types of projects that they can take on. While web content and feature articles are fun and plentiful, there are other options to consider. Remember, the more projects that you are open to the better chance you have of increasing your income.

So what are some of the other types of freelance writing projects that are available? While it would be difficult to list them all, here are a few: annual reports, brochures, business plans, direct mail letters, film scripts, newsletters, press releases, sales letters, speeches, technical writing, and television commercials. Even though this is a detailed list, it is far from being complete. There are many other freelance writing projects that you may be able to take advantage of.

While it is important to narrow down your list of offerings, you want to be careful as to not back yourself into a corner. Sure, you may love writing sales letters, but if you only take on these projects you may have a hard time finding enough work to build a steady income. It is much better to choose several types of freelance writing projects as opposed to one. In other words, get good at many types of projects.

When I started my freelance writing career I had no idea what type of projects I wanted to concentrate on. Like most aspiring writers, I was simply looking for work. Over time I began to get a better idea as to what jobs were the easiest to secure, and of course, which ones I liked the best. This eventually shaped my opinion on each type of project, and pushed me towards a select few. With that being said, I am still willing to try new projects if the price and time are right.

If you have the chance, you should complete every type of project listed above at least once. This is easier said than done, but by doing this you will definitely get a better feel for what you like and dislike.

Now that you know that there is more to freelance writing than the web and feature articles, you should be able to expand your offerings and workload. As your career moves forward, begin to narrow down your services as to become an expert within your specialties.

As a freelance writer, you definitely need to have a website that displays everything from contact information to a bio to samples. While this may sound foreign to you, as it did to me early on, it is not nearly as bad as you may think. If you are having a hard time deciding on a hosting company, let me make the decision for you: work with BlueHost.

I have worked with no less than five hosting companies over the years, and BlueHost blows them all away; at least from my perspective. There are several reasons that I feel this way.

1. I find it hard to believe that there is a better customer service team than BlueHost. Not only are they available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but they always answer your questions accurately and efficiently. I have found their live chat feature to be helpful no matter what time of the day it is. A few weekends back I had an issue with a problem that I caused on my own, and despite the fact that it was Sunday I was walked through the solution step by step.

The bottom line is that freelance writers do not always have good technical skills. When you can rely on a customer service rep to help you through the rough times, it makes life much easier.

2. You can host an unlimited number of domains with a BlueHost account. A few years ago this may not have been a big deal to me, but it is a huge selling point now. I currently have several blogs and websites, and am always adding to this list. With the ability to host unlimited domains, I never have to worry about any problems in this area.

3. Price! What more can I say? Even if you have a lot of money, you don’t want to spend more than you have to on web hosting. With BlueHost you can take advantage of a large list of features for $6.95/month. You may be able to find something for a few dollars cheaper, but it is safe to say that the features will not stack up.

If you are in the market for web hosting, or need to make a change because your current service is not up to par, give BlueHost a try. You will definitely be glad with this decision in the end!

How do you track your freelance writing income? Hopefully, you have an answer to this question. If you simply collect your payments and go about your business, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. The fact of the matter is that you need to have a good system in place that allows you to track, manage, and organize all of the income that you earn from your freelance writing career.

You do not need to do anything special when it comes to tracking your freelance writing income. Although my system is far from advanced, it works just fine month in and month out.

1. I have a separate folder in my email account where I store emails from PayPal that state when and how much I was paid. It is important to store these emails in a separate folder so that you can find them quickly if need be. Of course, you could simply rely on your actual PayPal account for these records, but I prefer to have something for myself as well.

2. Once I receive a PayPal payment, I head to my account and print out the invoice. This says how much money I received, when the funds entered my account, and who the money came from. From here, I keep the paid invoices in a folder labeled “Received Payments.” I do the same thing with payments that are made by check, wire transfer, etc.

3. I keep two Excel spreadsheets: one that shows money that is owed and the other for money that I have received. At the end of each month I simply add up the money that I have received, and mark down the total; this is my freelance writing income for that particular month. At the end of the year I add the totals for all 12 months, and that is my income for the year.

Are there better ways to track income? I am sure there are. In fact, I know that there are many software programs that are much more advanced than my method. But with that being said, I have had good luck with this way of doing things for many years; changing now does not make that much sense to me.

When it comes down to it, you need to track every freelance writing dollar that you make. This will not only allow you to keep close tabs on how much you are earning, but it will also help big time when tax season rolls around. Remember, there is no end of the year pay stub that will show how much money you earned. 

It does not matter how you track and organize your freelance writing income as long as you are accurately doing so.

I recently had a long conversation with an aspiring freelance writer. Although we talked about many aspects of the industry, the conversation kept coming back to whether or not making “real” freelance writing income was a realistic goal. Even though I make a solid living this way, some people still have a hard time believing that they can join me in doing so.

In my opinion, as long as you have above average writing skills and the will to succeed, you can make it to the top as a freelance writer. I never tell people that it will be easy or that they will earn tens of thousands of dollars in their first year, but it is more than possible.

Time after time I hear of aspiring freelance writers who quit chasing their dream for the same reason: too many people told them that it was a bad idea, so they simply put this career path “on hold.” Of course, they never come back to it, and end up working for somebody else the rest of their life. It is very important that you do not fall into this trap. If you do, it is safe to say that a career in freelance writing is going to elude you. Remember, there are always going to be people telling you that working for yourself is a bad idea. They will tell you everything that is wrong with being a freelance writer, but nothing from the positive side.

To build a successful freelance writing career, it is important to set small goals while closely tracking your progress. For instance, your month one goal may be to earn $100. After you reach this mark, set another reasonable goal and move on from there. Taking small steps and hitting your goals along the way will make the process simpler.

In short, if you want to be a freelance writer you need two things: good writing skills and the ability to stay dedicated to your career no matter what others are saying. With these points in mind, begin setting goals and working towards achieving success.

Generally speaking, if you can increase your freelance writing workload you can also increase your income. In other words, more work equals more money. This is not always the case, as I have mentioned before, but it is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind.

Consider these three tips for increasing your freelance writing workload.

1. A large number of my freelance writing jobs come from current clients passing my name along to others. Make sure that you are the type of writer that people will want to refer. Getting jobs this way is a huge benefit because you do not have to spend time on marketing. Instead, the interested party comes to you.

2. Put together a resume and samples that prospective clients will want to see. Too many freelance writers make the mistake of including their favorite pieces in their portfolio, as opposed to those that will help them to garner new projects. Remember, your freelance writing portfolio will change from time to time. Once you find samples that seem to be working, stick with them for a while. Soon enough you will have confidence in your resume and portfolio.

3. Simply put, be good at what you do. This holds true no matter what type of freelancer you are. If you are not churning out good work, you are not going to succeed. Sure, you may trick a few people with sub-par work, but sooner or later you are going to hit a wall and your career will come to a grinding halt. Additionally, bad work never turns into referrals. If you are going to take the time to become a freelance writer, you might as well take the time to produce quality content. 

These are three simple tips to keep in mind if you are interested in increasing your freelance writing workload. When you do more work, there is a good chance that you will see a positive increase in your monthly income. 

How much money does it take to start a freelance writing career? This is a common question that aspiring writers ask others as well as themselves. As you probably know, freelance writing is a good career to get into if you do not want to deal with large up front costs, as well as recurring expenses. When it comes down to it, starting a freelance writing career is one of the most cost efficient for anybody who is interested in working for themselves.

So what are the costs involved with starting a freelance writing career? It is difficult to list every expense because some people already have the basic items. With that being said, the list below is compiled based on somebody starting with nothing.

1. The number one thing on your list should be a reliable computer; you can buy either a desktop or a laptop. While computers used to be expensive, in today’s day and age you can find a good unit for $300 or so. Remember, you do not need anything special. The three things that you do need are: a good word processing program such as Microsoft Word, a reliable machine, and one that will allow you to connect to the internet. Additionally, consider buying a computer from a manufacturer that is tossing in a free printer. Believe it or not, there are plenty of these deals to be had at the major electronic stores. 

2. Speaking of the internet, this is an expense that a freelance writer cannot do without. Gone are the days when you could complete assignments and mail or fax them to clients. While I do send projects in the mail from time to time, this has become more or less obsolete in the freelance writing world. You need to pay for internet access, and if you want the best of the best, splurge for cable instead of dial up.

3. You will need miscellaneous office items. This includes everything from stamps to pens to notepads. You do not need a lot of office supplies, and what you do buy should last you for quite a long time.

As you can see, it is quite cheap to start a freelance writing career. For approximately $400 you can get set up with everything you need. And as you know, if you already have a computer, your biggest expense is behind you!

What traits do you need to become successful in the field of freelance writing? I can’t tell you how many times I get asked that question every week. Although it is a valid question, it is tough to answer because there is no right answer. There are some freelance writers who excel despite the fact that they never follow any of the “standard” thoughts that have been generically outlined.

With that in mind, I wanted to share three basic traits of work at home freelance writers. You do not necessarily need to have these traits to be a success, but you might as well put them into effect. In other words, having these traits can only help you; they will never harm your chances of success.

1. You need to be comfortable working at home by yourself. Remember, work at home freelance writers do not have any supervision, or other employees to gossip with during breaks. Simply put, if you do not enjoy being a loner during the workday, you may struggle to start and sustain a successful freelance writing career.

2. Are you money motivated? Anybody who is self-employed, especially freelance writers, need to be motivated by money. You only get paid when you work hard, secure new clients, and turn out quality work. If you are not motivated by the money at the end of the rainbow, you will probably be better suited with a job that offers a guaranteed, steady paycheck.

3. You don’t like to be supervised or supervise others. This goes along with number one, but puts more credence on the latter half of the statement. In many cases in the corporate world, you will have a supervisor while also being the boss of others yourself. Simply put, some people do not like telling other employees what to do; they are not comfortable with this. When you are a work at home freelance writer you answer to yourself, and are never forced to supervise others.

Are these traits general? Sure are! But even then, you need to keep them in mind. If you do not like one of the three points above, there is a chance that you will not be able to sustain a long freelance writing career. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule; these traits are just a jumping off point!

In terms of income and advancing my career, 2007 was quite good to me. Of course, there is always room for improvement. Even though my freelance writing income was solid and steady for all 12 months of this year, I am hoping to take things to the next level in 2008. I plan on doing this in three ways:

1. Although I am happy with the progression of freelance writing career, I want to turn things up a bit. I plan on doing this by sending out at least 3-5 query letters per week. To go along with, I am also going to contact several businesses every week to attempt to sell my services. Simply put, the more contacts I make the more income I will earn.

2. I love writing, but am also interested in breaking into other areas of business as well. To get this started, I will be doing business under a new name effective January 1, 2008. I decided to start my own company as a way of expanding my offerings, and of course to keep things legal and safe.

3. Forming partnerships is a great way to increase business. I have done this extensively during the past few months of 2007, and plan on continuing this well into next year. By setting up partnerships I will be able to obtain new work without always having to do all of the marketing on my own.

At this time, there is nothing I would change about my freelance writing career. But with that being said, I want to expand into other ventures, increase my monthly income, and begin to move my new business forward.

What goals have you set for 2008? If you have yet to do this, get started right away. In my opinion, having goals will help you to stay on track from day one the new year!

Over the past few weeks I have been asked several times why I never moved forward with making my “new design” live. While I have mentioned a few of the issues in past posts, I wanted to get into more depth as to help everybody else avoid the problems that I had to deal with.

First things first, let’s take a close look at why I decided to keep the current design for the time being.

1. The new design was not compatible with Internet Explorer. Although a lot of people are switching to Firefox, this is not the case across the board. Obviously, if you cannot view the blog properly with IE, it is a huge problem.

2. The search button and RSS button were not working as they should. While this is probably a simple fix, for somebody like myself with no technical skills, it would have taken quite some time.

3. Perhaps most importantly, it was not widget compatible. During my initial consultation with the designer this was the detail that I stressed the most. For me, it is essential to be able to drag widgets and quickly add information to the sidebar when necessary.

Why didn’t you tell your designer what you needed? Well, this exactly what I did after noticing the problems the day that I made the site live. The designer was accommodating at first, and even left a comment on a post stating:

“we’re the designers for Chris’ new website design and we’re working on the new design edits for IE issues. We’ll have them all complete tomorrow afternoon/evening.”

Thinking that everything would be fixed within a day at the most, I was not worried. Well, after a week or so of no contact, it was obvious that the designer decided to move on without taking care of the changes. Even when I would hear from him stating that the problems would get fixed, there would be several days of nothing to follow.

In my opinion, I made two mistakes during the hiring of this designer:

1. I paid for the entire job upfront. This was understandable because as a freelancer, I know that getting payment upfront is a good idea with new clients. But with that being said, sending 50 percent would have been a better idea.

2. I never asked for past work samples or references. Simply put, this is a huge mistake. When a new client approaches me they always ask for samples, and I am more than happy to provide them. This way, they can get an idea of my style and expertise. It is amazing that I didn’t do this, but sometimes a lapse in judgment occurs even when you are trying to avoid mistakes.

So what next? For now, I am going to stick with the current design. It may be one that others are using, but at the same time the blog is growing steadily. Last month was my biggest in terms of traffic and income, and RSS readership is nearing 100. With that being said, at the start of the new year I will be paying for a new design once again. The next time around I will follow my own advice so that I do not end up spending money with nothing to show for it!

I have received several emails and comments regarding my recent post, Three Quick Tips for Aspiring Online Content Writers. Many people seem to agree with every point that I touched on, whereas others are picking on this sentence: “In fact, with my first online content job I was paid $1 per 500 words; that is just about as bad as it gets. Over time this changed, but starting at the bottom is part of the process.”

I wanted to clarify my stance on that point. First off, I can understand why some people would not want to work for low rates. When I started out, it was quite disappointing that my first job paid so low. But with that being said, I still believe that there is nothing wrong with this if you are simply trying to gain some experience. Even though that job was one of the worst I ever had, it also taught me the most about the freelance writing industry. And that is something that I would not trade in for anything else.

The experience of working for low pay and learning how to move up the ladder was essential to my current success. Does this mean that you should work for pennies if you do not have to? Absolutely not. But the bottom line is that some aspiring writers give up prematurely on their career because they think that it is wrong to work for lower rates. If I would have followed that advice, I would have never boosted my freelance writing income to such a high level.

Those who are against writing for low rates have an excellent point; it is simply one that I do not agree with. I am positive that every beginning freelance writer would love to write for local newspapers and publications. But the post that I made was geared more towards those who want to get involved with online writing.

My advice is quite simple: start your freelance writing career getting paid as much as you can, but make sure that you start. The biggest mistake that you could make would be to hold out month after month hoping for higher rates. By getting involved with the freelance writing industry, no matter the pay, you will find that moving forward is much easier.