Freelance Writing

As a freelance writer, you are a self-employed professional. For this reason, you have the right to accept or decline any project that comes your way. If you are like most, you are probably most comfortable writing on particular topics. Personally, I try to stay within my knowledge base because it not only makes the work easier, but it also goes a long way in ensuring that the client will enjoy the finished result. Of course, there are times when I decide to accept projects that I don’t know much about. The question is: is this a good idea for me or any other freelance writer?

I have written about everything from airplane technology to dog breeds over my years as a freelance writer. Any topic in which I lack knowledge, I spend some time familiarizing myself before accepting or declining the project. With the help of the internet, I can usually get a good idea of what obstacles I will be faced with if I decide to take on a topic that is new to me.

There is nothing wrong with accepting projects that you do not know a lot about. Even though it can take some time to learn the material and finish the job, you should keep in mind that you will be expanding your knowledge; and as a freelance writer this is always a good thing. The first time that I wrote about dog breeds I was unsure of what I was doing. But now when a client asks me to take on a project under this topic, I have much more confidence. The bottom line is that more knowledge can never hurt your freelance writing career. This is not to say that you should attempt to specialize in every topic, but there is no reason to turn down a good learning opportunity if you are confident in your skills.

I do not always accept projects that I don’t know a lot about. With that being said, it is not because I am afraid of the challenge or don’t want to learn more. I may have other things going on, or simply feel that I am not the best person for the job.

If you have the time and do not mind doing some research, you should consider taking on jobs that may not be right up your alley but ones that you are more than capable of completing. Who knows, you may find a new subject that you thoroughly enjoy! 

Once again this week I received several email from readers asking why I work so many hours. I assume that since my freelance writing income is regularly high that some feel I work 15 hours per day. To be honest, my freelance writing work schedule fluctuates from day to day. Sure, there are some days when I work 10 hours or more, but this is not the norm. Although I do not keep track, I would venture to guess that I have been working an average of 40 hours per week thus far in 2008.

When it comes down to it, you should work as many hours as it takes to get your work done. If you do not have enough work to stay busy, spend some time marketing and searching for new clients. Remember, you can always find something to do as a freelance writer. If I wanted to work 24 hours per day I could do so; in theory at least. Even if you are only submitting articles to Associated Content, at least you are doing something to better your career. All in all, any sort of freelance writing work is better than none.

Don’t take this the wrong way. You do not want to overdo things. I have said many times that early in my freelance writing career I was working entirely too much. This led to wrist pain, no sleep, and eventual burnout among many other issues. Your goal should be to find a happy-medium sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, there is not “set” answer on how many hours freelance writers work. Since you can set your own schedule and find your own work, your hours are up to you! 

As of late I have spoke with several aspiring freelance writers who all asked the same question: can blogging help my career? In my opinion, blogging is only natural for freelance writers. After all, it is a great chance to not only write, but to hopefully make some contacts along the way.

When I first started this blog I did not have much direction. Generally speaking, my main goal was to simply help others who were interested in becoming a freelance writer. Over time the shape of the blog began to become clearer, and I think I have finally honed in on the direction that I want to take.

There are two ways that this blog has helped my freelance writing career. First off, it has brought a few clients my way; several of them pay quite nicely. This is not the main goal of the blog, but it is definitely an added bonus. While my blog doesn’t make much money through traditional advertising, I get some added income from clients who find me here.

Additionally, blogging has also afforded me the opportunity to connect with many others. For instance, Michael Kwan, who runs one of my favorite blogs, recently sent a client my way. He did not have the time to work with the client, but thought of me. Would I have received this referral if I did not run this blog? Of course not. Connecting with others as a freelance writer is so important for many reasons. Sure, it can help you to find more work, but as somebody who works at home, it is always nice to have people to correspond with via email, instant messenger, etc.

Although I update this blog at least once per day, this is not a frequency that you have to follow. Anytime that I am asked, I tell aspiring freelance writers that it is a great idea to start a blog.  

As you can imagine, some freelance writing projects pay much better than others. And if you are like most writers, you want to locate the types of jobs that will pay the most money for the smallest amount of work. Unfortunately, not all jobs can fit this mold. With that being said, I have found that some types of freelance writing projects generally pay more than others. For this reason, I know where to focus my attention when it comes to seeking new clients.

Personally, I have found that mid-size magazines pay a great wage for the amount of work that they ask for. Sure, you could earn more money by writing for national publications, but as I mentioned earlier this week, that is a tough door to knock down. In my experience, it is easiest to break into mid-size magazines if you are diligent in sending query letters.

What is the average pay of a mid-size magazine? While this will change depending on the publication that you are working for, I have found the average pay rate to be between $.35 and $.65/word. In other words, for a feature article of 1,000 words you would earn between $350 and $650. A piece of this length can take several hours to put together, but if you leave yourself plenty of time before the deadline you should be just fine.

Moving on, if you are interested in breaking into the “sales letter arena” you will be able to make some big time money. Late last year I completed a 500 word sales letter for a long time client for $750. Believe it or not, this is far from the high end of the industry. I have spoken with several freelance writers who charge in excess of $2,000 for a well crafted sales letter. Corporations are always interested in a sales letter that will yield results. And in order to get results, they know that they have to pay a professional writer a high rate.

Finally, do not rule out keyword articles as a great source of income. You are not going to get rich from these articles if you are working for pennies, but there are clients who will pay a nice rate for this type of work. I still write keyword articles for some clients at a rate of $15 per 500 words or so; sometimes even less. I don’t have a problem with this because I can take my time and it is a great way to boost my income. But on the same token, I have several clients that pay in excess of $30 for 300 words. It is all about the clients you target!

Any freelance writing project can pay well if you are working with the right client. Do not be afraid to take jobs that pay reasonable but not great. Just like me, as your career builds you will be able to raise your rates which will directly effect your income.

Over the past few weeks I have received several emails asking how to start a freelance writing career while still working a full-time job. Since it can take a while to get a freelance career up and running, most people want to stay on board at their current company in order to ensure that they always have access to some cash flow. While it is never easy to start a freelance writing career while still working full-time, it is more than possible.

1. Set aside time for your freelance writing career. If you do not do this, you will find yourself slacking off soon enough. The question is: when are you going to find time being that you will still have a full-time job? Generally speaking, you have two options. You can either rise early in the morning in order to get some work done before shoving off to the office, or you can do so at night when everything settles down. The option that you choose will be based largely on your personal situation. If you have children, you may find that working in the morning before they get out of bed for school is the best option. You may have to try both options in order to determine which one is best.

2. If there is help to be had, make sure that you ask for it. For those who are married, this is something to definitely consider. If you are lucky, your spouse may be willing to pick up the slack around the home so that you can spend your downtime building your freelance writing career. Sure, this could be tough on your significant other at first, but as your freelance career builds, things will settle down. Your ultimate goal should be to replace your full-time job with freelance work. Once you do this, you will find it simple to handle everything at home because you will be there all day long.

3. Do not bite off more than you can chew. This is a common problem among people in this situation, and one that could lead to burnout. Make sure that you only take on freelance writing jobs that you have time to complete. If you have too much on your plate, you will find yourself working well into the night to complete the work. Sure, this means extra money, but you do need to sleep sometime, right?

4. Take breaks when need be. Since you are still making money from your full-time job, you can afford to take days off from freelancing when you begin to wear out. There are going to be times when you simply feel like resting because you have been working two jobs, day in and day out. When you need a break, take one right away. It is better to take time off when you need it than to go too far and make yourself sick.

5. If you are like most people with a full-time job, you probably work five days per week. In this case, make the most of the two days that you have off. This is not to say that you should work eight hours a day when you are not at your full-time job, but this is definitely time that you can use to catch up and make some headway on chasing down your dream of becoming a full-time freelance writer.

It is never simple to work full-time and attempt to build a freelance writing career on the side. But if you follow the tips above and are truly dedicated to making this work, you will be able to realize your goal soon enough.

No matter how hard you try, there will probably come a time when you are going to miss a freelance writing deadline. This can happen for a number of reasons. You may get bogged down with other projects, or have a family emergency that pulls you away from the office for an extended period of time. No matter what your reason, you need to make sure that you appropriately communicate with your client. This way they will be able to make any necessary changes on their end.

If you think that you are going to miss a deadline, the first thing that you need to do is tell your client. You may find that they are open with their cutoff date, and that you have a few more days to get the work done. But even if they are upset, it is better off to tell them sooner rather than later. You do not want to sour a good relationship based on one missed deadline. The relationship may fade away anyway, but if you are open and honest you may earn a shot at a second chance.

Moving on, just because you are going to miss a deadline does not mean that you have to do so by several weeks. Try to work as fast as possible so that you do not put any additional stress on the client. For instance, if your project is due on Monday and you know you will be late, try to send it by Tuesday or Wednesday as opposed to later in the week.

Since you are the one in the wrong, make sure that you listen to and take any suggestions that the client may offer. They may suggest that you hold off on the piece until the next month, or that you cut it short in order to give them something to use. No matter what, make sure that you are willing to work with the client. It is never fun to miss a deadline, and by putting yourself in the client’s shoes you will be able to realize what they are going through.

As a freelance writer, you should work hard to ensure that you never miss a deadline. But if something does come up that gets you behind, you need to do whatever it takes to make the client as happy as possible.

As a freelance writer you probably have many goals. For many, one of the most common goals is to break into a national publication. These are the popular magazines that have a large circulation, and are always found at the doctor’s office. For example, I am a huge sports fan and doing a piece for Sports Illustrated would be a thrill. Not only are national publications a great way to get your name in front of a lot of people, but you can make quite a bit of money at the same time.

The question is: how are you going to turn this dream into a reality? Although my work has yet to be accepted by national publications, I have gotten close a couple of times. As of late querying these magazines has taken a backseat to my other work, but I plan on picking this back up in the near future. When it comes down to it, you have no chance of working with national publications unless you show them that you are interested. Obviously, the best way to do this is through a well written query letter.

Personally, I believe strongly in the power of Writer’s Market. For a small fee you can become a member of the online version which grants you access to information on hundreds of publications. A couple weeks back I queried a sports publication and was promptly rewarded with a 1,500 word feature article at a rate of $.15/word. This is not a huge project, but $225 is much more than I spent to become a member of Writer’s Market. Additionally, it is my hopes that this one article will turn into a monthly gig.

There is no easy way to break into national publications. You have to send out plenty of queries, and hope that an editor thinks enough of your idea to give you a chance. When this finally happens, you will have reached a goal that many freelance writers strive for.

Do you rely heavily on freelance writing contracts? This is a question that I am asked time after time. Generally speaking, this is a difficult question to answer because there are many different situations that I deal with on a day to day basis. In some cases I will have a contract in place, but other times this is the furthest thing from my mind.

Here are four details that can and will affect whether or not you use a contract for a particular freelance writing job.

1. In many cases, the size of the project has a lot to do with whether or not there is a contract in place. For example, is it necessary to write up and sign a contract for one 500 word keyword article? In my opinion the answer is no. Of course, if I am going to be working on a 1,000 article project I will definitely want to have a contract in place.

2. Do you trust the company or person that you are doing business with? If the answer is yes, you may not need to use a contract. But remember that trust can often times be misleading. You must be 100 percent sure that the other party is genuine and good for the money. If you have any doubt, and the project is of a decent size, make sure that you have a contract.

3. How much money are you getting paid to complete the project? This should not have a lot to do with signing a contract, but it usually does. Larger freelance writing jobs often times requires a contract more so than smaller ones. This goes along with the size of the project; bigger jobs usually pay more.

4. If the client wants you to sign a contract before starting, good for you. This will show you from the get-go that they know what they are doing, and that they are serious about working with you. No matter what, if you are asked to sign a contract, and you agree to the terms, you should comply.

As you can see, a freelance writing contract is not always necessary. Use the four details above to determine if you need to have a contract in place, or if you can do without. 

Hope everybody is having a great Easter. Even though it is Easter Sunday I am sure that some of you are working a little bit here and there. If this is the case, make sure that you take some time off as well. After all, tomorrow is Monday and you can work as long as you want!

In the meantime, take a look at two posts from March that have become quite popular:

Can anybody be a Freelance Writer?

Freelance Writing Income

Once again, Happy Easter!
 

There are always things that you can do to make your job as a freelance writer a bit easier. One of the best is to make sure that you always have the right supplies on hand. No, office supplies are not going to make you a better writer, but they will allow you to work more comfortably and efficiently everyday of the week.

One of the nice things about being a freelance writer is that you do not need tons of supplies to do things right. From day one, if you purchase the correct items you will be on your way as far as this part of your business is concerned.

Perhaps the most important item in your office is your computer with internet connection. Even if you do not have the money for a new computer, as long as you have one that is reliable with a word processing program you will be fine. Many new freelance writers think that they need a brand new computer to succeed. Sure, this would be nice, but the beauty of freelance writing is that you do not absolutely need a high line computer.

Less expensive, miscellaneous office supplies are also very important. This includes stamps, envelopes, sticky notes, rubber bands, paper clips, printer paper, and notebooks. In my opinion, it is best to purchase all of the items you need at once so that you have them for months to come. For instance, I purchased a 10 pack of sticky notes on day one of my freelance writing career and I remember thinking after a year that I was finally running out. It is always nice to have the supplies you need on hand so that you can concentrate 100 percent on writing related duties.

With the right supplies, you will find that your job as a freelance writer is easier and hopefully more productive.