Freelance Writing

Earlier this year I posted about the possibility of offering a freelance writing course/ training. As of late, I have revisited this idea due to an increasing number of emails asking for one-on-one assistance. In fact, I already work with two aspiring writers in this capacity and from what I can tell, they are quite happy with the service.

So my question is: would you be interested in signing up for a freelance writing course in which you would have access to one-on-one assistance and training? Of course, it may be difficult for you to answer this question without all the details, so I am going to outline some preliminary points below:

1. Due to time constraints, I am only going to take on 10 new “trainees.” As mentioned above I am already working with two writers, and in order to be fair to everybody involved, I am only going to make this opportunity available to 10 more. When somebody drops out I’ll open up the spot until another writer jumps in.

2. One-on-one assistance and training via email, instant messenger, and/or telephone. While I am not sure on the exact number of hours I will offer each member per week, it is safe to say that it will be enough to address any questions, concerns, etc.

3. In addition to one-on-one communication, members will also receive email updates several times per week. Updates include tips, job openings, and basic correspondence to ensure that everybody is moving in the right direction.

4. Information from my past. While you are probably familiar with my monthly freelance writing income report, as you can imagine, there are more details to be seen. I will share my spreadsheets, project breakdowns, and much more with members. 

5. Based on the setup with my two current trainees, the price is $100/month with no obligation to stay on board longer than you want. By paying in advance, either by quarter or annually, a discount is available. I was not going to offer this until my second trainee asked if they could pay in advance, and I decided it was only fair to offer a discount for their loyalty.

This freelance writing course and training may not be the right move for every aspiring writer. From email conversations and past posts, I am confident that all 10 spots will fill up in a relatively short period of time. Both members that I am working with right now are happy with the results and the cost that goes along with the course. By working with them for the past few months it gave me a good idea of what I should offer, when I should make the course open to new members, and how to get started.

Any comments would be great. And if you are interested in getting a jump on the competition to ensure your spot, send me an email. Within the next week or so the course should be open to everybody via a page on my blog. But as noted earlier, you can email me your request to be added as a member to ensure entrance.

I get a lot of emails asking about my freelance writing routine. As always, I tell these people that the life of a freelancer is never the same two days in a row. In other words, I do not have to be in my office at a certain time or leave for lunch when my boss says so; after all, I am the boss. That being said, I try to keep a basic routine in order to ensure that all of my days move forward in a similar fashion. This helps to keep me productive while also ensuring that I do not burn out.

Time to Wake Up

Monday through Friday, I get out of bed around 7 am. I know many freelance writers who sleep until noon and then work through the night, but that would never work for me. I prefer to work “normal hours” when I can, and getting up this early in the morning allows me to do just that.

After I roll out of bed, I head for the computer and check all of my email accounts as well as traffic and income stats from the day before. I like to slowly move through this process so it usually takes me approximately 30 minutes or so. Of course, this can change based on how many emails I received throughout the night, etc.

Time to Start Writing

On most days, I begin tackling my projects sometime between 730-8 am. Since I write a to-do list at the end of each workday, I do not have to spend time trying to determine how to get started or which project to take on first. Instead, I simply check out my list and start at the beginning. Some days I have more projects than others, but in most cases I have approximately 10 items on my must-do list and several others that I hope to get to during the day.

Time for Lunch

Like many workers, freelance or not, I usually take a quick lunch break around noon. Of course, it is tough to stay away from the computer for too long so I usually eat lunch at my desk. This gives me time to once again catch up on email and other related tasks.

Time for more Writing

The afternoon is pretty much a mirror image of the morning. After lunch I usually have a better idea of how much progress I am making on my to-do list and what still needs to be done before I call it quits. On most days I am done with my freelance writing projects sometime between 3 and 4 pm. At this time I put together my to-do list for the next day, and usually move onto reading some blogs, researching new projects, or just relaxing as I browse the internet.

Miscellaneous Tasks

Throughout the day I tend to take care of many miscellaneous tasks that go along with being a successful freelance writer. This can include anything from paying bills to responding to emails to following up with clients on the phone. There are times when I complete these tasks between writing projects, and times when I save them all for the end of the day. It simply depends on how much work I have, as well as my progress for the day.

As you can see, my freelance writing routine is nothing special. This is a basic outline of what my workday looks like. But keep in mind that no two days are alike when you are a freelance writer. In my opinion this is one of the biggest benefits of being self-employed.

Many people have a difficult time believing that they can get paid to write. Of course, getting paid to write means something different to everybody. When I started as a freelance writer my goal was to earn a couple thousand dollars per month. Over time this changed quite a bit, and now my freelance writing income is considerably higher.

If you want to get paid to write, there is one thing that you must first do: realize that this is a possibility. When you compare a freelance writing career to a more traditional office job it is obvious that there are quite a few differences. If you are not careful about your way of thinking and are easily swayed by others, you may never chase the dream of becoming a freelance writer. Simply put, there are a lot of roadblocks standing in the way between wanting to make money writing and actually doing so.

While you will be asking yourself “can I get paid to write” others will be saying “can you really get paid to do nothing more than write?” As you can see, you not only have to answer to yourself but there will also be others who want to talk about your career move as well. My advice in this area is simple: explain your situation, as well as the freelance writing industry, to anybody who asks or questions your decision. Many people think that becoming a freelance writer is a bad idea because they do not really understand what it entails. Believe it or not, many think that freelance writing is nothing more than writing books and feature articles for magazines. This is definitely a part of the career, but far from being the end all. If you explain what freelance writing is all about, including the opportunities available from a project and pay point of view, it is safe to say that you will open some eyes.

There is no denying that you can get paid to write. Even if you are struggling with this question internally and others are questioning your decision, you should always remember that this goal is attainable. It may take you one month to reach your first income goal, or maybe it will take one year. But one thing is for sure: if you stick with your freelance writing career and do not let yourself or anybody else talk you out of this choice, success will come your way soon enough. 

I receive a lot of emails asking what topics the majority of my freelance writing projects cover. I assume that many people think that some subjects pay better than others. While this may be true in some cases, you should not get stuck in this train of thought for too long. If you only take on projects that pay a lot, you are going to find out soon enough that you are bored with the content that is staring you in the face. I find it much easier to enjoy my job if I am making a decent wage writing about topics that I enjoy.

At this time, I am working on projects based around a wide variety of topics. Some of them include: insurance, real estate, sports, gambling, health care, and software among many others. Do I enjoy writing about every one of these topics? I sure do! Although some of them are more exciting than others, they are all subjects that are of great interest to me. Over the years I have found that writing on subjects I enjoy makes it easier to complete a project while also learning a lot at the same time. By learning from every freelance writing project that you complete it will make your job much easier in the future as you ponder and accept new jobs.

The bottom line is simple: although money is important to a freelance writer, you do not want to chase projects that you perceive as high paying if they are not of interest to you. Believe it or not, every topic, no matter what it is, can be turned into a high paying project. I have worked for large companies with thousands of employees that paid in excess of $.50 per word. At the same time, I have worked with smaller firms in the same industry that paid just as much or more. In most cases, it does not matter what industry you are working in but the company or publication that you are working for.

All in all, concentrate more on topics that interest you and less on those that you feel will pay the most money. Remember, there are well paying clients within every industry. It is your job as a freelance writer to find them and then break in where possible.

If you are interested in writing feature articles, you will need to become skilled in the art of writing query letters. When it comes down to it, a query letter is what you will use to get in touch with editors and hopefully land yourself a project. That being said, writing a query letter is not always easy; especially if you are new to the freelance writing industry. When I got my start I spent hours on end trying to put together the perfect query letter. Luckily, once you write a few of these you will settle into a groove and in turn find it easier in the future.

Here are five tips for writing a killer query letter:

1. Make sure that there are not mistakes of any kind in your query letter. This includes both spelling and grammar related errors. If you cannot put together a quality query letter how can you expect an editor to trust you with a feature article? It is very important to proofread a query letter several times before forwarding it to an editor.

2. In most cases, you will be best served writing your query letter before you write the actual article. Many new freelance writers are under the impression that the majority of their inquiries will result in a project. Unfortunately, this is far from being true. You will find out soon enough that most query letters end up being rejected. Of course, this should not stop you from sending more and more as you find the time. By holding off on the article before you have an actual job offer, you will be able to save yourself a lot of time. And as a freelance writer, this is quite important to say the least.

3. Make your query letter as interesting as possible. Remember, many editors receive hundreds of letters each month. If yours is not interesting and to the point, the editor may toss it in the junk pile before they read what you have to say. You should include detailed information on your article idea, as well as some background details on yourself.

4. Find the right editor. The best way to do this is by using Writer’s Market. If you do not send your query letter to the right editor it may never get to the person in charge. By using Writer’s Market you can be rest assured that your query letter will get into the hands of the hiring editor 99 percent of the time.

5. Where can I find publications that accept freelance writers? As noted many times before on this blog, you should either purchase a copy of Writer’s Market or subscribe online. By doing this, you will have access to thousands of publications and editors who accept queries.

These five tips should help you to compose the perfect query letter. From there, all you have to do is forward your letter to the appropriate editor and wait for a response.

Many people have asked me how they can stay up to date with the posts that I make here at Chrisblogging.com. The easiest way to do so is to sign up for my RSS Feed. If this sort of technology is a bit too advanced for you, consider signing up to receive email updates. By doing this, every time I make a new post it will be delivered directly to your inbox. If you are like me, you check your email more than once each day; so missing a post will be quite difficult to do!

At this time, my RSS readership is hovering around 260. As you know, this number changes by the day. My goal by the end of July is to have more than 300 readers. With the blog’s current growth rate, this should be an attainable goal.

So if you have yet to sign up for my feed, either traditionally or by email, I would appreciate you doing so today. Not only will it ensure that you never miss a good freelance writing tip, but it will also help me to reach my goal!

What does it mean to you to be a successful freelance writer? I receive quite a few emails every day stating that I am successful because of my freelance writing income. While income is definitely one way to measure success, it is not the only thing that you should consider. In fact, a high freelance writing income is nice, but if you do not enjoy other parts of your career you are going to burn out sooner rather than later.

In my eyes, a successful freelance writer is one who enjoys their job while also earning enough money to support themselves; you cannot have one without the other. In other words you do not want to love your job but earn no money. Or earn tons of money but despise getting up in the morning because you know what the day will bring.

If you can reach both happiness and financial freedom within your freelance writing career, you will begin to see yourself as a success soon enough. This does not always happen in a hurry, but those who work hard and are dedicated to their craft will reach this goal in time. I always knew that I would be happy working as a freelance writer. For this reason, I simply needed to work out the income side of things. By my third month, I had reached $2,200 in earnings and from that point on I felt good about my career and the direction it was heading.

Do you have a different feeling on what makes for a successful freelance writer? 

What is the best freelance writing advice that you have ever received? This is a question that I have thought about a lot lately due to many people asking me for general advice. You would think it would be easy to give basic freelance writing advice, but this is far from the case.

I usually answer this question the same way: work hard day in and day out and good things will come of your career. Sure, this is vague and may not work for everybody, but in most cases it is good advice to follow. Even if you have no experience and are yet to make any progress as a freelance writer, you can begin to achieve success if you are simply willing to work hard everyday of the work. In my opinion, hard work will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Of course, this type of advice does not even scratch the surface. Yes, hard work will help you to build a successful freelance writing career, but what does this mean, exactly? In other words, what does it mean to work hard? Obviously, getting into all of these finer details is much more than a bit of basic advice. The way that you work is up to you. What one person considers working hard another may consider nothing more than a half day’s work.

The bottom line is simple: no matter what freelance writing advice you receive, you need to do your “own thing” with it. Advice from a successful freelance writer is a good start, but only if you take it and work it into your career. 

Over the past three days, I have detailed three common types of freelance writing projects: keyword articles, sales letters, and feature articles. Next in line are newsletters. Believe it or not, you can earn quite a bit of money by focusing on this niche. I have one friend in the industry who charges $400/page for a newsletter project. It may not be easy to find clients that pay that well, but believe me, they do exist.

What is a Newsletter?

A newsletter is content that a company sends out to employees as well as anybody else who may be interested in what is going on within the business. I have written one page newsletters, as well as some in excess of 10 pages. Generally speaking, a client will base the length of a newsletter on two things. 1. The amount of information that they wish to send out. 2. The amount of money that they can afford to spend on the newsletter; if they are hiring a freelancer, of course.

Many freelance writers avoid newsletters because they are more specific by nature, and usually take more research and time to write. After all, when writing content for a newsletter it has to be based around the company. For this reason, you will probably have to do a lot of research including interviews, competitor analysis, and much more. Of course, the more work that you put into a project the more you can charge your client.

Newsletter Payment

As mentioned above, you can earn a lot of money by specializing in newsletters. A lot of companies are interested in sending out a regular newsletter, but hold back because they cannot afford an employee to handle this task. By offering your services on a freelance basis, you will find that there are many companies willing to throw some business your way. It is not uncommon to find clients who are willing to pay $100 or more for a single page of newsletter content.

In my experience, there are two ways to charge for newsletter projects: by the page or by the project. I like to charge per page because you never know how long a piece will be, or what changes will be made. By charging by the page, it not only protects me but it does the same for the client.

Finding Clients

Are you ready to move forward with newsletter writing? If so, you need to find clients. The best way to do this is to cold call as many businesses as possible. If you are told by a company that they already have a newsletter, ask if they would consider adding you as a contributor.

The best companies are those that do not yet have a newsletter, and do not want to add an employee or delegate this task to an existing worker. In this case, you will be able to sell your services by showcasing your expertise and benefits to a company.

You can earn a lot of money as a newsletter writer. Additionally, it can be tons of fun to write these pieces. They give you the chance to learn a lot about the company you are working for, while also networking along the way. 

With so many types of freelance writing projects out there, it can be difficult to know where to start. Over the past two days, I posted about keyword articles and sales letters. Today, I want to talk a bit about feature articles. These pieces make up a large portion of my business, and for this reason I truly believe that every freelance writer should look into moving in this direction.

What is a Feature Article?

Many people are under the impression that a feature article has to appear on the front page of a magazine or similar publication. While this can be true, it is not a prerequisite of being considered a feature article. In fact, I can only think of a couple past pieces of mine that have been mentioned on the front cover.

Generally speaking, you will write feature articles for magazines. But keep in mind that these publications also ask for other pieces such as small fillers, etc. In most cases, your editor will be able to tell you whether your article will be used as a feature or in another capacity. When writing a query letter, I usually make it clear that the piece is going to be long enough to qualify as a feature. This way there is no confusion and the editor knows what to expect.

Feature articles can vary in length. I have put together pieces as small as 500 words, whereas others have exceeded 2,500 words. The length of your article depends on many factors. In most cases, your editor will give you guidance in this department.
 
Feature Article Payment

How much money can you get paid for writing a feature article? For many freelance writers, this is the best part of these types of projects. Once again, the amount that you get paid depends on the publication that you are working for. Small, local magazines may only pay $.05/word. Although this may seem low, it gives you a start which will allow you to more easily break into larger publications over time. Speaking of larger publications, they have a bigger budget which allows you, the freelance writer, to earn more money. It is not uncommon to come across publications that pay $1/word or more. Keep in mind that these publications are the most difficult to break into. After all, who wouldn’t like to write for $1/word?

In most cases, I receive anywhere from $.25/word to $.75/word. After writing a few features for one publication they may decide to offer you a pay increase. This is why it is important to keep a good relationship with every editor, and to always turn in your best work. 

Finding Markets

Are you interested in writing feature articles? If so, you must start out by finding magazines that accept freelance writers. As I have mentioned many times in the past, the best way of doing this is through Writer’s Market. You can either purchase the book or signup for an online subscription; I do both. Once you have access to Writer’s Market, you can then search for publications that suit your experience level, desired pay rate, and topics of choice. In my opinion, there is no better way to break into writing feature articles.

It can be a lot of fun to write feature articles. In fact, some writers earn so much from these pieces that they never have to dabble in other projects. Once you begin to form relationships and receive repeat work, you will find that increasing your regular income through feature articles is a definite possibility.