Freelance Writing

Although the internet and email have a lot to offer freelance writers, it is important to remember that the phone is still a tool that should be used from time to time. I am just like everybody else in the way that I primarily communicate with clients via email. But with that being said, I always offer to speak with them on the phone as well. Why do I do this, you may ask? Well, here are two of the top reasons:

1. Speaking with a client on the phone helps to build rapport. In other words, email is such an impersonal way to communicate. While email is commonly accepted, by offering to talk on the phone a client gets the feeling that you are really interested in learning about who they are and what they do.

Do not go overboard when offering to call a client. Simply give them your phone number, and let them decide whether or not a phone call is necessary.

2. A conversation that would take 10 emails and hours worth of computer time may only take a couple seconds on the phone. If a new client is having a difficult time explaining themselves or need a question answered right away, I always turn to the telephone. It is always easier to clearly and efficiently communicate when you are speaking with a client in real time.

As you can see, offering to speak with freelance writing clients on the phone brings forth many benefits. Some clients never take me up on this offer, and that is fine. But at the very least, they know that I am willing to converse on the phone if necessary.

I recently had a conversation with a fellow freelance writer who was in the process of hiring an assistant. While this is something that I have never thought about, having an assistant could be a good idea for many freelance writers. I regularly converse with writers who work with a part-time assistant, as well as a few who employ a full-timer.

What are the benefits of hiring a freelance writing assistant? This is a question that you need to answer before you decide for or against this.

1. If you are having a difficult time staying organized, hiring a freelance writing assistant may be the answer to this problem. Those who do not work as a writer find it hard to believe that there is so much information to keep organized. But as you probably know, nothing could be further from the truth. I spend several hours each week on administrative tasks such as accounting, clearing out email accounts, etc. As you can imagine, being able to pass these tasks off to an assistant would free up more time for writing.

2. Your freelance writing assistant may be able to act as the middle man between you and your clients. One of the writers I referenced above as having a full-time assistant never personally communicates with clients. Instead, she lets her assistant do all of this for her. I recently asked her if clients dislike this. Surprisingly, she said that none of them have an issue communicating with her through an assistant.

3. Perhaps the biggest benefit of hiring an assistant is that they can help with marketing related tasks. This can include everything from website maintenance and development to following up with leads to implementing an email marketing campaign. Although I do not have an assistant, this is one area that I wouldn’t mind getting some help.

Of course, hiring a freelance writing assistant is not all full of benefits. Here are three drawbacks of doing so:

1. When you have an assistant, you will lose touch with both the industry and your clients. I like communicating with clients on a day to day basis. It allows me to stay familiar with their wants and needs. Additionally, it is important to me to know what is going on within the industries of all my clients. With an assistant this would be quite difficult.

2. Anytime you hire somebody to work for you, it means one thing: you have to pay them. Are you willing to give up some of your profits in order to bring an assistant on board? This all depends on how much money you are making, as well as how you like to run your business. Of course, before you can make this determination you need to get a better idea of how much you would have to pay an assistant, either part or full-time.

3. Just as clients can burn you by not sending payment, an assistant could do the same. Unfortunately, it can be much worse when an assistant tricks you because they will be working from inside your business. They have access to your client base, accounting system, and much more in many cases. For this reason, you need to make sure that you trust your assistant 100 percent. If you do not, this type of relationship will never work.

So what do you think? Will you ever hire a freelance writing assistant? I never think too much about hiring an assistant, but can definitely see the pros and cons. At this time I am not having any trouble getting my work done, including administrative tasks. With that being said, my freelance writing business is expanding quickly and I am diving into other areas such as affiliate marketing. For now, I will probably work solo. But just like anything else, you never know what will change in the future. 

No matter what line of business you are in, increasing profits is something that should be of interest to you. When it comes to the freelance writing industry, there are quite a few ways that you can increase your profits. Believe it or not, you have more options than simply increasing your rates; even though this is something to consider (as you will see below).

Listed below are three of the best ways to increase freelance writing profits. If you can implement any of these into your business, it is safe to say that your monthly freelance writing income will begin to increase.

1. Churn out more work. The faster you write the more work you will be able to take on. And when you take on more work, it only makes sense that this will result in increased profits. If you are going to exercise this option, make sure that you keep quality in mind at the same time. Yes, writing faster can increase profits, but if you are not turning in high quality work you are going to lose clients.

2. Charge more money per project or per hour. This may sound easy enough, but increasing your rates can be tricky to say the least. When doing this, you need to keep a few things in mind.

First off, make sure that you do not increase your rates to astronomical heights. If you do this, you are going to price yourself out of the industry. As a general rule of thumb, be careful that you do not increase your rates more than 15 percent at a time. Of course, you know better than anybody else what your clientele is willing to pay.

Additionally, you should be prepared for clients to ask why your rates increased. You should have a prepared answer such as “I always increase rates at the beginning of a new year.” Even though it may not seem fair to you, clients are always going to ask why your rates increased, and whether or not you can cut them a break.

3. Look into other ways that you can make money as a freelance writer. As of late, the most common option is starting a blog. There are a couple of ways that a blog can help you to earn more money. First off, the blog itself can produce income through the sale of private ads, Google AdSense, etc. To go along with this, you may be able to use your blog as a way of finding new clients. This year alone, my blog has brought in clients who I have billed for more than $3,000. As my readership continues to grow, I am hoping that this trend continues.

These tips should allow you to increase your freelance writing profits. Remember, minor changes can go a long way in helping you to earn more money.

Cold calling companies to sell your freelance writing services is not as difficult as you may think. Personally, I feel that this is one of the most effective ways to drum up new business. The main reason that most freelance writers opt against this is simple: they do not want to take the time to cold call companies, and even more so, they are a bit shy about making these calls. If you can get past these mental blocks you should be able to increase sales.

The question is: how do you approach companies about your freelance writing services without getting hung up on? Below are three tips for increasing your success in this area.

1. Find out who to speak during the first call that you make. In most cases, there will be one person at a company who can hire you to work on a freelance basis. Of course, this can change based on the size of the company, as well as many other factors. But no matter what, you need to make sure that you are speaking with the decision maker. This will go a long way in increasing your chances of receiving a project. When you get stuck conversing with somebody at the bottom of the totem pole, it is going to prolong the process because they will have to get permission to hire you.

The best way to find the decision maker is to ask the first person that you speak with; most likely a receptionist of some sort. Try something such as, “Hi, my name is Chris and I am calling from Acme Co. I am trying to get in touch with the person at your company who is in charge of hiring freelancers.” At the very least, this should put you on the right path to hunting down the person in charge.

2. When you get the chance to speak with the decision maker, you need to make your time count. They may not have a lot of time to speak with you, so make sure that you are quick and to the point. Tell them who you are, what you offer, and how you may be able to help them out. Once you get a good conversation flowing, you will be able to work other details into the conversation such as your industry experience and great rates.

3. You are going to be told “no thanks” more times than not. But this does not mean that the lead is necessarily dead. When I get turned down, the first thing that I ask is whether or not they mind a follow up in a month or so. Most people will say yes, even if they are not interested. At this time, I usually ask for an email address as well. Many times, a follow-up email a few weeks later will result in a job; even if only a small one.

Cold calling is never an easy thing to get used to. But once you begin to achieve some success in this area, you will become addicted. Use the three tips above anytime you are trying to sell your freelance writing services via a cold call.

If you want to get hired as a freelance writer, you need to offer something that a company wants. In other words, what sets you apart from the other freelance writers who are undoubtedly attempting to land the same jobs as you? There are many details that you can tout as unique selling features, and you should definitely know what works in your advantage before you speak with a client for the first time.

Industry Experience

Industry experience is perhaps the best selling feature that you can have. Personally, if I have experience in an industry I always make sure that the potential client is well aware of this fact. Of course, if I do not have experience I do whatever I can to mask this downfall so that it does not sink my chances.

When I first started working as a freelance writer it was difficult to find industries in which I was experienced. But as my career moved forward, this became much easier. Now, I have written a wide variety of articles in many industries which allows me to confidently apply for more positions.

Money

Unfortunately, some clients will base their decision based primarily on money. While these clients may look at what else you bring to the party, they want to make sure that your rates line up with their budget. To increase your chances of winning more jobs, consider setting your rates a bit below the industry average. Yes, this means that you will make less on each job, but at the same time it should allow you to find more work. Of course, this is just a suggestion. You may not have any problems charging a premium for your freelance writing services, and finding clients who are perfectly fine with this.

Professionalism and Customer Service

Make sure that you are professional and customer oriented at all times. When a potential client gets in touch with you, answer their questions as soon as possible. By showing that you are interested in their success, you will have a better chance at winning them over from day one. Nobody wants to work with a freelance writer, or anybody for that matter, who is only interested in their own success. Be professional and show that you care from day one.

All in all, you need to give a company a reason to hire you as a freelance writer. The three unique selling features above are a great place to start.

What qualifications do you need to become a freelance writer? When compared to other careers, the answer to this question is left wide open. In other words, there is no concrete set of qualifications that you must meet in order to become a freelance writer. I know writers who hold a masters degree, as well as some who never graduated from college. Additionally, I spent two years in sales before becoming a freelance writer and many others have done the same in other industries.

Of course, there are some qualifications that will work to your advantage when starting a freelance writing career:

1. A good command of the English language is very important if you want to become a freelance writer. Clients are not going to pay for broken English, or content that does not make any sense. Sentence structure, grammar, and spelling are all very important. Luckily, these are the basics that most aspiring writers learn at a young age.

2. Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? If so, you will have a much better chance of achieving freelance writing success. Remember, being a freelance writer means that you are going to join the ranks of the self-employed. When it comes down to it, many people are not cut out for this; they need the stability of a corporate environment and regular paycheck. Will you feel comfortable working for yourself and relying on your skills to get paid?

3. The willingness to work hard may be the most important qualification. You can be the best writer in the world, but if you do not work hard to find clients and give them what they want, you are going to fail. The freelance writers who have the most success are not always the ones with the college degree and loads of experience. But often times they are the ones who will not take no for an answer, and will go above and beyond to satisfy clients.

4. Speaking of satisfying clients, you need to make sure that your customer service skills are up to par. Remember, your clients are the ones who will be paying you. On top of that, you are their single point of contact. When you treat customers with respect and give them what they want, you will find that they are more than willing to form long term relationships.

5. Do you have any samples that you can use when getting your freelance writing career up and running? There are two ways that you can get what you need. First off, search far and wide for anything that you can use as a sample. Some new freelance writers use articles that they wrote for a college newspaper, or a sales letter that they put together at a past job. If you cannot find any samples from your past, create a few today. This takes nothing more than choosing a topic, and then putting together a killer article.

As you can see, you do not need a lot of qualifications to become a freelance writer. There are some things that will help, such as the five areas listed above, and luckily each one of the points is easily attainable.

When I was getting started as a freelance writer, I spent countless hours browsing bidding sites such as GetAFreelancer. In fact, I found so much work on GAF that I never took the time to sign up with similar sites. Although I do not bid on as many jobs as before, this is still a market that I keep an eye on.

Feedback from readers on bidding sites has not been good as of late. It seems that there are two major issues that many of you guys and gals are running into time after time:

1. Every job on these bidding sites is low paying. And low paying means just a couple of dollars for 500 words or so. While I am all about working for less to get started, you have to draw the line somewhere.

2. They are outbid by writers who are willing to work for pennies, but do not produce high quality work. This is difficult to overcome because the buyer has the final say on who they want to work with. And in many cases, it is the person who will save them the most money.

While looking through some emails this morning, I came across this job on GetAFreelancer. From the get-go I could see quite a few issues:

Hi,

I am looking for efficient and affordable teams for ongoing projects

I need original articles, blogs, website content and re-writes. I need only dedicated teams who can deliver timely work on daily basis without making excuses. Mention in your bid what amount of work you can handle comfortably.There will be no payment if the projects are delayed or quality is compromised. We want you to follow the guidelines exactly. Guidelines will be well explained and in detail.

1. First off, you can see that the buyer forgot to insert a period after the first sentence. Additionally, there are other grammatical and structural issues that are quite obvious. This shows from the start that the buyer is not serious or professional. Everybody makes mistakes, but these are simple errors that should never be published.

2. “There will be no payment if the projects are delayed or quality is compromised.” This is a red flag to be aware of. When a buyer says this, it gives them an “out.” In other words, they can keep your work and not pay you by blaming it on a missed deadline or poor quality. The problem is, who is to say what is poor quality?

Rates will be (no negotiations, you should bid only if you are comfortablewith rates)

Original 250 words article - $1
Original 500 words article - $2.5
Original tech 500 words article - $3
Original 350 words article - $1.5
Re-write 500 words - $1
rewrite 250 words - $0.5

1. These rates are quite low, to say the least. Although you may be able to earn a good bit if you work in bulk, you are going to waste a lot of time to make this money. Getting paid $1 for 250 words of original content or $.50 for a 250 word rewrite is not good; even if you do need to break into the industry. Things have changed a lot over the past few years, and you should be able to find jobs that are higher paying; even if only by a couple dollars.

The projects will be ongoing so need only reliable teams

Attach a sample article of 150 words on “my attitude towards life” or “Role of ecommerce today”

1. As I have said before, beware of any potential client who asks for samples upfront. In many cases they will take one sample from a group of writers and in turn end up with enough free unique content that they never have to pay. This is the oldest game in the book, and one that you want to avoid at all costs. This does not mean that you should never supply samples, but you should definitely expect to get paid if you have to write a unique article.

At this point, there are only two bids on this job. Even though the terms are not that great, you can be rest assured that somebody will accept this position. 

When you come across a quality job at a bidding site you will know it. Simply put, the job outlined above has too many holes to consider it worth your time. 

One year ago I started ChrisBlogging.com not knowing if anybody would ever read what I have to say. Although this blog has not grown nearly as fast as many others in this niche, I am glad that I have been able to help so many aspiring freelance writers up to this point.

In order to make this upcoming year as good as the past 12 months, I wanted to ask for some input from my readers. More specifically: what topics do you want me to cover the most? Is there anything that you want to know that I have been missing? It can often times be difficult to generate ideas that appeal to the majority of readers. For this, I am hoping for some help from you guys and gals!

Once again, thank you for making the first year of ChrisBlogging.com so memorable. As 2008 wears on and 2009 comes into play, I hope that all of you continue to read and comment on a regular basis. And of course, it is my hopes that everybody reaches all of their freelance writing goals.

After posting my April freelance writing income report, I had several people ask me how I make this career so easy. Of course, I cannot help but to laugh on the inside. Although I make a decent living through freelance writing, it is anything but easy. I usually talk about the benefits of this career path, but with that being said, you should not hide from the drawbacks.

Freelance Writing is Hard Work

Despite the fact that it may look simple on the surface, freelance writing is anything but that. I put in long hours day after day in order to earn a decent living. This does not mean that my work is no fun, but nonetheless, it is work. Luckily, if you are truly interested in this career, the work that you complete can be fun; even if there are times that are trying.

Additionally, dealing with clients can be another job in itself. When you work for a company, you are more or less responsible for one position and the tasks that go along with it. But as a freelance writer, you have to be in charge of everything from customer support to accounting to collections. And on top of all this, you need to make sure that you are getting your work done.

Not a lot of Recognition

As a freelance writer you should not expect to receive a pat on the back every time that you meet a deadline, or go above and beyond. When compared to working in the corporate world this is a major change. If you work under a boss or other management, you will more than likely be recognized from time to time for your good work. But as a freelance writer these times are few and far between. Sure, you may receive an email from a happy client, but even then this joy is only short lived. If you are looking for a career where you will receive a lot of recognition and praise, freelance writing is not one of them in most cases.

Bad Clients and Cheats are everywhere

One thing that I have learned over the past few years is that bad clients and cheats are everywhere. While this is true to a certain extent in every industry, it seems as if freelance writers are always dealing with these kinds of people. If you are not ready to deal with impossible clients, while also running into those who will try to cheat you, stay away from a career as a freelance writer. Although I do a decent job of only working with high quality clients, this is far from a guarantee. Every time that I begin to work with somebody new there is a risk that they will be difficult to get along with, etc.

As you can see, freelance writing is not all fun and games. Of course, the benefits of working in this capacity far outweigh the drawbacks. But even then, you need to be aware of the negatives that you may run into while working as a freelance writer.

Anytime I am asked by an aspiring freelance writer how to get their career started, my answer usually contains the phrase “Writer’s Market” somewhere within it. Personally, this is the source that I used to find jobs when I was new to freelance writing, and for that reason I love everything that the service has to offer. With that being said, there are a couple of reasons that people do not want to use Writer’s Market.

1. They don’t know what Writer’s Market is, or what it has to offer. Believe it or not, this is true among advanced writers as well as beginners. If you do not know what Writer’s Market is all about, you should visit their website to find out more. Generally speaking, you can sign up as a member of Writer’s Market online service or you can buy their annual publication at most major bookstores; either way will work. The main benefit to a freelance writer is the information that is included on the thousands of publications in the United States. In addition to a list of publications, each one offers detailed information such as the editor’s name, how to submit a query, payment rates, etc.

2. You have to pay for Writer’s Market. This alone is one of the main reasons that many aspiring freelance writers do not use this service. I will never understand this way of thinking. Even when I was a new writer and my income was next to none, I still spent the money on this book. After all, if you want to make money as a freelance writer you need to know where to look; and that is exactly what Writer’s Market will do for you. As of late I have been using the online edition extensively thanks to its ease of use and convenience, as well as the low $29.99 annual fee. Of course, I have a print copy next to my desk as well.

If you are going to enter the freelance writing world, do so with a copy of Writer’s Market by your side. The information that you will have access to is sure to put you on an early path to success.