There are many reasons to become a freelance writer and the fun and excitement that this career offers is one of the most important. I never liked any of my past jobs. Sure, they paid the bills and were fun to a certain extent, but they were nothing to get overly excited about. But when I became a freelance writer, this all changed. I realized that there was money to be made, and that I would be able to have fun day in and day out.
What makes a career as a freelance writer fun and exciting? The great thing about this question is that it has many answers. The reasons that I find freelancing to be fun may not match what you think, and vice versa.
For me, the real fun of freelance writing is getting to “do it all.†I get to write for a living, but at the same time I take part in sales, marketing, customer service, accounting, and much more. For many, this may sound boring and tedious. But for me, it is a lot of fun.
Over my time as a freelance writer I have had the chance to meet and become friends with many people. Some of them just like me, others famous for one reason or the next. Adding to my network is always fun. And not only is it fun, but it is also profitable in the long run.
If you are not having fun as a freelance writer you should reconsider your career choice. There are other reasons to become a freelancer, but if you are not having fun you are not going to last long. Soon enough you will burn out and realize that moving on would be in your best interest.
You should not have to force things, either. If you truly love your career as a freelance writer the fun will come to you. Does this mean that you are going to have tons of fun every minute of everyday? Of course not. There are some days when I love my job and others when the work piles up and I have too much going on. But even then I realize that this is the best career for me, and that the fun will always be there.
When you start out as a freelance writer you should set goals, both big and small. That being said, make sure they are attainable. There is nothing worse than setting goals that you have no chance of reaching anytime in the near future. This does not mean that you should not reach for the stars. But you should be reasonable so that you can reach your goals from time to time, and in turn increase your confidence and self-esteem.
In my opinion, your first small income goal should be one that you can reach within three months. My first income goal as a freelance writer was to earn $2k by my third month. After the first month in which I earned $52, I was a bit discouraged. Fortunately, I continued to move forward and met this goal on time. Three months is plenty long enough to get your footing, draw up a plan, and reach your first goal. But again, you need to make sure that this goal is a small one that you can reach. If I would have set my goal at $10k instead of $2k, I would have failed.
If you continually reach your small income goals you will realize the big picture soon enough. In my case, once I hit $2k/month I began to strive for $3k. Soon enough, my income goals were increasing along with my workload.
I don’t want to make things seem too easy, though. Just because you set an attainable freelance writing goal does not mean that you will definitely reach it. Even now, I set goals that come and go without me reaching them; it is part of being a freelance writer. You need to realize that goals are important, but that reaching them can be difficult. And unfortunately, sometimes you come up short. When this happens, reassess your goals and work harder to achieve success in the future.
The bottom line: start out with one small income goal. Once you reach this goal, continue to set the bar higher.Â
As you are probably well aware, I frequently talk about how to market your freelance writing services as well as why it is important. That being said, I have never discussed the power of business cards. But what better time than now?
The good people at UPrinting.com have generously offered to sponsor a contest for free business cards. And since I know all of you guys and gals want to better your freelance writing career, I accepted the offer.
Here are the details of the contest:
1. I am giving away 250 business cards each to three readers.
3. Once subscribed, leave a comment telling us how you would use these business cards to advance your career. Not only will this enter you into the contest but it will also help us all to better understand how to successfully use business cards as a marketing tool.
4. Next Tuesday I will randomly select three winners.
* UPrinting.com can only ship to the United States and Canada.
Once the winners are selected, I will post them here. Make sure that you leave an email address (matching your RSS address) along with your comment. This will allow me to get in touch with the winners.
Here are some details of the prize at stake, straight from UPrinting.com:
They can choose any of our stocks, including the eco-friendly cover stock (13 pt. Cover Uncoated – Recycled) or the 14 pt. family in Matte, AQ, or UV at any custom size we offer such as square cards, odd sizes like 3×3, 2×2, etc.
As you can see, winners are going to get much more than basic business cards. The company is well known for their high quality business card printing. Even if you do not wind up a winner, I would still suggest UPrinting.com for all of your business card and related printing needs.
It is time to get started. I look forward to reading all of your comments, and providing three of you with 250 free business cards!
As a freelance writer, you want to establish good relationships with all your clients. This goes without saying, but believe it or not, it is an area that many forget about. Remember, your goal should be for each client to want to work with you long term. If this does not pan out, you at least want them to get in touch with you in the future if they have any writing related needs. Without a good relationship, it is safe to say that you will complete one job for a client and that will be that. Simply put, this is not the way to build a successful, long term freelance writing career.
Here are three tips for establishing a good client relationship:
1. Follow through on deadlines. Clients love freelance writers who meet deadlines. This is a big problem for many companies when hiring freelancers. Better yet, if you can beat your deadline you will show the client that you truly care about them.
2. Go above and beyond. If there is anything extra that you can do for a client, go for it. This does not mean that you have to write for free or give a huge discount, but just a little something, such as adding images to an ebook, can go a long way. Again, when you go the extra mile the client is going to remember this.
3. Stay in touch with all your clients! Even if your deadline is two months out, make sure that you stay in touch. Update the client on your progress, and let them know that you are available to answer any questions that may come up, etc.
You do not have to work overly hard to establish good client relationships. In fact, if you are genuine and respectful, while also following the tips above, you will be on the right path.
If you are a full-time freelance writer you probably work eight or so hours a day. Of course, there are times when you will work more or less. After all, this is one of the biggest perks of being a freelance writer. If you work part-time, chances are that you have even less time to work on freelance writing projects. For this reason, you need to make the most of all the time that you have available.
There are many distractions that are sure to pop up while you are working. This includes everything from emails to personal phone calls to your favorite song playing on the radio. But it only takes two minutes to take a phone call, right? Wrong! I have answered personal calls during the day thinking that I will be done within a couple minutes. A half hour later and I am just getting off the phone to find that I need to regain my focus.
It is easy to waste time as a freelance writer. There is no boss to answer to, and nobody looking over your shoulder to ensure that you are getting your work done. If you want to work effectively you are responsible for doing so. The more time you waste the less time you have to get your work done. In the end, less time means less pay.
An efficient use of time is important if you are going to be a successful freelance writer. Know how many hours you are going to work, and then stay focused and on track during this allotted time.
No matter how much experience you have as a freelance writer, there is going to come a time when you are asked to work for free. I have found that new freelance writers are more prone to falling into this trap. But of course, some experienced vets also do the same. If you want to earn a real income as a freelance writer, you need to get paid for your work. Remember, the client is going to profit from the work that you give them for free. Why should you be the only one who misses out?
Some clients will straight-out ask you to work free of charge upfront. They make no bones about it, and tell you that they do not want to pay. If you run into this, explain your side of the story and see where it gets you. If a client is bold enough to ask for free work there is a good chance that your career is better off without them.
Other clients will tell you they will pay, but quickly begin to bargain for freebies as you move through the project. One of my favorite lines is “But I thought that was included.†If a client tells you this, they are usually looking for a way to get what they are paying for plus a little bit extra. How should you respond? In a professional way, tell the client that what they are asking for was not included in the original quote. From there, explain that you would be more than happy to add the work to the overall price.
You should avoid working for free. The best way to earn a solid freelance writing income is to get paid what you are worth. And even if you are new to the industry, you are worth more than nothing!Â
As a freelance writer, your marketing plan will play a key role in your success. If you expect to earn a good income and have enough work to keep things steady, you need to market your services on a regular basis. That being said, I hear the same complaint time after time: my marketing techniques are not working. Believe it or not, there may be one easy fix for this. Do you know what it is?
Time is something that you need when it comes to marketing your freelance writing services. In other words, you cannot expect immediate results. There are times when I send query letters, forget about them, and then receive a call from an editor six months later. Marketing does not always yield immediate results.
There is no way of saying how long it will take for your marketing plan to take over and show results. As noted above, you may have to wait for several months to hear back from a potential buyer. But of course, I have sent cold emails and received a positive response within an hour. It all depends on who you are getting in touch with, as well as a little bit of luck.
Just because your marketing plan is not taking off right away does not mean that it won’t do so in the future. Time will tell if you need to tweak your plan, or if it is fine the way it is. Just remember, you need to market your services no matter how you do so or how long it takes for things to swing in your favor. The biggest mistake that you can make is abandoning your marketing plan and schedule because you have not garnered immediate results. Give it some time, and then change your plan accordingly.Â
Freelance writers need to concentrate on the clients and work that is in front of them at the time. That being said, you should never stop marketing. And when it comes to marketing, you need to know who you are trying to get in touch with and which markets you want to break into. With all of this in mind, I urge you to chase your dream projects on a regular basis.
Ask yourself this question: what is my dream freelance writing project? Although I have many answers to this question, one would be to write for Sports Illustrated. Is this a project that I chase day in and day out? Of course not. That being said, I like to think that I am working towards this goal by building my sports writing portfolio and making connections in the industry.
What makes a project a dream project? In my situation, Sports Illustrated has been one of my favorite magazines since I was little. For this reason, I would love to see one of my stories appear in the publication. Of course, the amount of money that they pay writers is also something that is quite appealing.
Listen up: your dream project is not going to be one that is easy to attain. In fact, it will probably take a lot of time and hard work to reach your goal. But remember, it is important to have goals to strive for over the long haul. This does not mean that you should give up on other goals, but you should always have one “big goal†that can be called your dream project.
You can have one dream project, or many. No matter what, make sure that you know what this project is and that you chase it when possible. I may never write for Sports Illustrated, but it is something that I think about a lot. Hopefully I am taking the right steps toward making this happen.Â
Do you know where your freelance writing career is headed? Just like the rest of us, the answer is probably no. After all, it is impossible to know exactly what the future will bring. That being said, you do need to have some idea of what you want to happen in the future. This way, you can do whatever it takes to steer your career in the right direction.
Here are three questions to ponder if you are having a difficult time deciding where you want your career to go:
1. What areas do you want to expand into? For instance, you may be a freelance writer specializing in web copy. This is good for now, but in the future you may decide that you want to get involved with feature articles for print magazines. You should have expansion goals so that you are always increasing your workload and capabilities.
2. Do you want to keep your freelance writing business the same size? Or do you want to grow as big as possible? This is an important question to ask. As one person, you can only do so much. If you want to increase your output, you have two options: work more hours or hire others. I like the size of my freelance writing business and have no desire to work more hours or hire others on a regular basis. That being said, others are interested in growing their business day in and day out. Do you?
3. Are you interested in additional streams of income? If you want to make more money your answer should be yes. As a freelance writer, you can look for additional income streams within your career or by branching into parallel fields such as blogging, creating niche sites, etc.
You will never know for sure where your freelance writing career is headed until you get there. But this does not mean that you should keep your eyes closed and hope for the best. Ask yourself the three questions above so that you can more or less control the direction of your career.Â
As a freelance writer, you should have an idea of what you charge for particular projects. While your freelance writing rates can and will change over time, you need to make sure that you have an idea of what you are dealing with at the present. This will go a long way in helping you to stay organized, while also making your life easier when quoting potential clients.
Do you ever find yourself saying, “I’ll lower my freelance writing rates for you?†If so, you need to dig deep and determine why you are doing this. It is not uncommon for a buyer to want to negotiate a lower price. In fact, I have found that this happens more times than not. But remember, you are in charge of your freelance writing career. You should never feel pressured to lower your price because you think that the buyer will walk.
You need to think about it this way: if you lower your rates you are saying two things to the buyer. First off, you are telling them that your “set†rate is too high. After all, if you are willing to negotiate down in price you are admitting that you are charging too much. Additionally, when you lower your price you are also saying that you are not worth a higher amount. Remember, you are a professional. You have the right to set your own fee schedule and then stick to it at all times.
When you stick to your guns, you may be surprised to find that the buyer still selects you for the job. In fact, you may gain a lot of respect by nicely saying “my rates are fair and I cannot offer a lower price.†In the long run, this sort of self confidence will work in your favor. It will also allow you to feel better about yourself.
Does this mean that I never lower my rates? Of course not. There are times when I do this. For instance, if I want to get my foot in the door with a large client I may offer a slight discount. And remember, if you are going to lower your rate for a good reason, you still need to make sure that you are working at a reasonable hourly rate.
