When I first started my career as a freelance writer, I spoke with as many people in the industry as possible. Additionally, I was always browsing the internet looking for new and useful freelance writing blogs and sites.
While it is my hopes that aspiring and established freelance writers read my blog for good advice, it is safe to say that I do not know everything. For this reason, I am still reading as much as I can about freelance writing even though I have been around the block a few times.
One of my favorite freelance writing blogs is Beyond the Rhetoric by Michael Kwan. Not only does Michael offer top notch information on freelance writing, but he also mixes in a lot of other posts touching on things such as technology, movie reviews, and other interesting topics. If you are interested in getting involved with freelance writing, Michael will be able to give you some direction. He has a lot of experience within the industry, and works closely with one of the top online money making gurus, John Chow.
If you are interested in the concept of freelancing, but are not the best writer, you should check out another favorite blog of mine, FreelanceSwitch. The great thing about this blog is that it is devoted to freelancers of all types. While my content is geared mainly towards writers, FreelanceSwitch touches on subjects that affect anybody who works on a freelance basis. As you can imagine, I can easily identify with 99 percent of the posts.
You are never too experienced to learn from others. I have come across many great freelance writing blogs from people who leave comments here.
If you have a freelance writing blog that you want to plug, feel free to do so in the comment section. I am sure myself, as well as other readers, will check it out!
With more and more webmasters wanting to make money online, the need for keyword articles is higher than ever before. The main issue with writing these articles is that many clients expect to pay a dollar or so for 500 words. As you can imagine, this is not going to advance your freelance writing career in any way, shape, or form.
One of the most common questions I receive from potential clients is whether or not I offer lower prices for bulk work. Obviously, this is not a question that comes from large companies or magazines that only require a feature article or two each month. But instead, these sorts of inquiries come from webmasters who are in need of hundreds of articles each month.
Whether or not you offer lower than normal prices for bulk work is up to you. Take this example for instance. If you usually charge $20 for a 500 word article, you would make $2,000 for a 100 article project; which is not a bad earner if you have the time. But as mentioned above, most clients will want a discounted rate since they feel like they are giving you an above average amount of work. If you decide that offering a bulk rate is a good idea, you could drop your price to $15/article. This would result in a total per project fee of $1,500. As you can see, by lowering your price you would lose $500 on the job.
Personally, if I am taking on a large order, I will consider offering a lower price. Of course, there are certain criteria for doing so. They include:
1. The size of the project. Make sure that you know the answer to this question up front. I have had clients tell me they would order 200 or so articles so that they could get a bulk price. Soon after sending them the first 25, they decide that the project is not worth their time. Make sure you are 100 percent sure that you are lowering your price for a large order.
2. If you are going to drop your price, you must still make sure that it will be profitable for you to get started. The best way to do this is to determine how long the project will take to complete, and then calculate the hourly rate that you will earn. If it fits into your normal rate, you should be fine to proceed.
3. In order to protect against the scenario in number one, ask for at least 50 percent of payment up front. This way the client will never think twice about canceling the project. Not to mention the fact that receiving up front funds will protect you from nonpayment after a lot of work.
There is noting wrong with lowering your price for bulk work. But before you do this, remember to make sure that you calculate your overall hourly wage. You do not want to lower your price just to find out that you are working for minimum wage or less.
One of the more frustrating parts of being a freelance writer is dealing with on-again off-again clients. Have you ever had to deal with a client like this? They are the ones who have a job for you today, tell you there will be more next week, and then disappear for a month. But of course, this is not the last you hear from them. After a month or so, they contact you again to say that they need some more work, with a promise that this time they will stay in touch.
I have always said that a client is a client; no matter how much work they give you, or if they disappear for extended periods of time. But my problem with on-again off-again clients is that they take up a lot of time, and can never give concrete answers on what they want.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been dealing with a client like this. Here are three things that have become semi-frustrating with our relationship.
1. The client starts out with a direction for the project, but then decides to change things several times. In my opinion, most on-again off again-clients are indecisive not only with when they want to work with you, but also with the project itself. This can result in loads of frustration and lost time due to changes to the overall scope of the project.
2. Communication started out good, and emails were exchanged at least once or twice per day; this is ideal for me. But after a few days, response times lengthened which made it more difficult for me to deliver work, and ask questions about future direction.
3. This morning I woke to an email saying that the project was abruptly ending, and final payment would be sent right away. Did the client offer a reason as to why they were calling it quits? Of course not. It could have been something that I did, but more than likely, it was a lack of direction and concentration on their end.
It can be difficult to spot an on-again off-again freelance writing client before you start to work with them. If you do run into this sort of client, my best advice is to keep your cool and expect things to be slow. For those of you who do not like to deal with situations like this, you would be much better off breaking ties early on.
It only makes sense that the more productive you are, the more you will get done. To go along with this, increased productivity usually leads to increased profits as well. With that being said, do you know how to increase productivity within your freelance writing career? As a new writer, you may not be concerned with this. After all, you will simply be trying to establish yourself. But as you become more comfortable with your career, you will surely be interested in increasing your productivity.
Here are five tips that I use to stay productive day in and day out:
1. Work during the time of the day when you are most productive. For most, this time is between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Of course, this all depends on your personal life, as well as the schedule that you are used to. Believe it or not, some freelance writers find that they are most productive when they work the graveyard shift; albeit a small percentage.
2. For each project, make sure you brainstorm before you start. I never begin a new freelance writing project until I put together an outline. This helps me to not only get started, but to also have something that I can fall back on during the project. Yes, it takes time to brainstorm, but in the long run it saves you much more.
3. I prefer to work when I can do so in an uninterrupted manner. Personally, there are not too many things more annoying than being interrupted in the midst of an important project. When this happens, I lose my concentration, etc. Of course, this is part of the business. If I am working on a project and another client calls, I do not have a choice but to answer the phone. The best way to combat this problem is to make sure that you set aside large blocks of time to work each day. Again, for most, this is eight or so hours between the time of 8am and 5pm. But remember, one of the biggest benefits of being a freelance writer is that you can set your own schedule. If the only uninterrupted time that you can find is at night, so be it.
4. If you run into writer’s block, there is nothing wrong with stepping away from the computer or working on another project. Since you are trying to stay as productive as possible, it is not going to do you any good to stare at your monitor. Instead, do something that will help you move forward.
5. One of the best ways to kill your productivity is to forget to save your work. A couple weeks ago I was in the middle of a project when the power blew in my office. Even though my work automatically saves every so often, I lost about a page of copy. Was this a big deal? Not really, but it was bothersome. Not only did I have to redo the work that was deleted, but I also lost about 30 to 60 minutes of valuable time.
With these five tips, you will be able to increase your freelance writing productivity.
It is not too often that I ask my readers for anything, but I thought I would give it a try. As you may have noticed, you can now subscribe to my RSS feed via email. This feature has been enabled for a few weeks, and it has helped to push my count to an average of 135.
Of course, my goal is to reach as many aspiring freelance writers and entrepreneurs as possible. By subscribing by email you can ensure that you never miss a post. After all, each one will be delivered to your inbox like clockwork.
Within a couple of months I hope to reach 200 RSS readers. If you have yet to do so, subscribe now, and join the rest of us on our trip to freelance writing success! Â
This week has been a busy one for me as far as checking email is concerned. While I always receive a lot of email, it seems like this week was above and beyond. Of course, this is not a problem. In fact, I always give out my email address because I love hearing from other freelance writers, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anybody else who will take the time to touch base.
Three questions continuously pop up in my email account. I’ll never stop answering them individually, but I would also like to make the answers available to every visitor.
1. How can I market my freelance writing services? This is a topic that I talk about on a regular basis, but a question that will never go away. When it comes down to it, the way that you market your freelance writing services is up to you. Personally, I think you should try the following: cold calling, sending query letters, a blog, a service based website, and cold emailing. Chances are that if you add these things to your marketing plan you will secure some projects.
2. I am having the hardest time getting started – any suggestions? I have one good answer to this question: go for it! The more time you waste, the easier it will be for you to leave your freelance writing dreams behind. To build a successful career, you must get started. Sure, it can be scary and intimidating, but procrastinating is not going to get you anywhere.
3. Is there enough room in the freelance writing industry for me? Of course there is! Not only is the internet expanding rapidly, but there is always room to freelance for magazines and newspapers if you offer solid writing skills. Remember, there is competition in every industry. If you let this hold you back, you will never reach your freelance writing goals.
These are three of the most common freelance writing questions that are asked of me. Are they the only ones? Of course not! If you have anything else on your mind, feel free to send me an email. Like always, I’ll try to get back to you right away.
As of late, I have been thinking a lot about which months are best to me as far as freelance writing income is concerned. Obviously, some industries have particular times of the year where they do more business. But is this the case with freelance writing?
After a lot of thinking and plenty of number crunching, I cannot find a solid answer to this question based on my past income. For instance, last January I eclipsed $8k for one of my biggest months ever. But through three weeks of January 2008, I am nowhere close to that mark. Is this because January is a slower month, but last year I got lucky? Does the economy and fear of a recession have anything to do with this?
On the same token, you would expect December to be a traditionally bad month due in large part to Christmas, etc. But once again, comparing my last two years of income did not get me very far. In December of 2007, I earned $6,304.50. But in 2006, I only broke $4,500.
By looking at my freelance writing income stats, there is no trend pointing towards the best and worst months. Of course, this does not mean anything; it could just be me.
What do you think? Are there some months that are consistently better in terms of income? If you take a look at your past stats, you should be able to see if there are any trends. For now, I’ll go along thinking that freelance writing is a great money maker during all 12 months! Care to change my mind?
As a freelance writer, you have the ability to set your own schedule. But even though this is a benefit in many ways, it can also act as a drawback as well. Since you do not have anybody telling you what to do, you are responsible for staying on track and getting your work done on time. One of the most common ways to get yourself in trouble with clients is to send them work past deadline. Not only will this infuriate them, but it will probably force them to leave you and find a new writer.
For me, the best way to save time for writing is to cut out extracurricular activities during the workday. Personally, I like to work between the hours of 700am and 5pm. While all of this time is not spent on writing, most of it is for business related activity. Early in my career, I had a difficult time staying at the computer all day long. After all, I had never worked from home with the freedom to do whatever I wanted.
Some of the most common time wasters for freelance writers include:
1. Watching television and/or listening to the radio. Not only will this slow you down, but it will also mess with your concentration at the same time. In the end, this will result in lost time as well as sub-par work; both things that will bring down your freelance writing business.
2. Leaving your home office for personal reasons. While this is often times impossible to avoid, you should give it your best shot. For example, you may want to do your grocery shopping during the day, but if you are supposed to be working, you should fight the urge. Flexibility is a great part of being a freelance writer. Just make sure that you do not abuse this benefit.
3. Spending time checking email and/or browsing the internet. All in all, this is the number one time waster for freelance writers as well as other professionals. In fact, many companies are coming up with new and innovative ways to block employees from wasting too much time online. Of course, since you have no boss, you will need to exercise self restraint. It is entirely too easy to look at one website, which turns into two and then more. Before you know it, you will be losing valuable time without even realizing it.
As a freelance writer, your main goal should be to write as much as possible during your business hours. This does not mean that you should get rid of your flexible schedule, but you definitely need to cut back on any extracurricular activities that waste time and steal your attention.
On most business days, I usually receive at least one email from a potential freelance writing client. Although not all of these turn into a project, it is always nice to see what people have to say and offer. If you are like me, you will want to take these inquiries very seriously. After all, you never know where your next client is going to come from.
It is very important that you know how to respond to a potential freelance writing client via email. While this is usually simple enough, I have seen how some writers correspond – and it is not pretty. Here are three tips that will help you to successfully answer an email from a potential client.
1. Carefully read the email that you received before doing anything else. In the past, I have been guilty of not doing this. I will browse a long email, and then shoot back a reply before knowing all the details. The end result is the client writing back asking the same questions as the first email; this makes the writer look bad. Do yourself a favor and always make sure that you know what is being asked of you before you respond. Some clients will simply want a price quote, and others will be ready to send upfront payment within the hour. You need to know what you are dealing with.
2. Even if the job is not up your alley, make sure that you are cordial with your reply. If you do not plan on taking the job, thank the person for their time and explain to them why you are passing. Remember, you never know when somebody will come back to you in the future. Of course, if the project sounds intriguing, you will want to be just as nice. It never hurts to be accommodating to everybody who gets in touch with you.
3. In addition to answering questions, ask any follow-ups that may be on your mind. It is better to get your questions answered sooner rather than later. This way, if the client does not agree with you on something, you can either compromise or move on. It is always better to move on early in the process; this way you do not lose too much time.
Once your initial reply is sent, you may correspond via email for a few days. As you know, some freelance writing clients move much slower than others. Every situation is different, and you need to be ready to deal with anything that comes your way.
For the most part, the three tips above should help you to successfully correspond via email with potential freelance writing clients.
Last month, I made quite a few posts about getting off to a good start in 2008. As I mentioned, one of the best ways to do this is to put both short and long term goals in place. Now that we are three weeks into the new year, you probably have a better idea of how your freelance writing goals are coming along. While you have probably yet to touch on your long term goals, you should at least be able to determine if you are on the right path.
There are two situations that you will find yourself in: 1. You had your freelance writing goals set, but have been putting them off for the first few weeks of 2008. 2. You have attacked your goals, and are well on your way to reaching them on time.
If you fit into the first category, there is still time for you to get back on track. Remember, it is only January 22. Even if you wanted to start working towards your goals already, you have not lost too much time. But remember, if you do not start moving in the right direction soon, it will be February before you know it.
On the other side of things, if you are working nicely towards your goals, you should be proud of yourself. In fact, if you have done everything you wanted, why not reward yourself? It does not have to be anything huge, but a small reward will help to keep you motivated.
It may be time for you to rethink the freelance writing goals that you set last month. If you need to make a change, now is the time to do it. The longer you procrastinate the more time you are going to lose. You do not want to look back on your 2008 goals in December, just to find out that you missed on them all.
