How much are you charging your clients? If you don’t have any clients there is a good chance that your freelance writing rates are too high. In this case, you need to make an immediate change. There is nothing wrong with charging what you are worth, but there is definitely something wrong if you cannot get any work because of your rates. You can escape this trap in two easy steps.
1. Come to the conclusion that your rates are too high. Many freelance writers want to insist that they can receive a lot of work despite their high rates. If this is the case you need to go out and land some clients. If you have no work and buyers are telling you that your rates are too high you need to take this to heart. Owning up to the fact that your freelance writing rates are too high is the first step to overcoming this problem.
2. Lower your rates. Is this easy? No, it never is. But if you are not finding work at a higher rate you need to adjust your way of thinking. This does not mean that you have to cut your rates by a huge percentage. For instance, if you are not finding any work at $.25/word you could reduce your rate to $.20/word and see where this gets you.
The market will determine if your freelance writing rates are too high. If you are consistently landing new clients your rates are probably perfect for the time being. On the other hand, if buyers want to hire you but are constantly saying you charge too much you may want to rethink your positioning. A minor tweak to your rates can go a long way in making you a more successful freelance writer.
Applying for a freelance writing job usually means that you will be up against some competition. In fact, it is not uncommon for a company or webmaster to receive hundreds of applications for a single position. Are you intimidated yet? If not, good for you. There is no reason to be scared. If you know what you have to offer you can use this to your advantage. Hopefully this will result in your resume being pushed to the top of the pile.
Why should a client hire you as a freelance writer? The answers to this question will determine whether or not you land the job or miss out.
1. Show the client that you have the experience to do the job. The best way of doing this is by sending relative work samples. For instance, if a webmaster is hiring a freelance writer to create 50 articles on the wedding industry you will want to send related samples. This alone will give you a better chance than somebody who sends no samples or samples that are not related to the wedding industry.
2. Quality counts. Anybody can put together slop, but this is not what clients want to pay for. It is your job to show that you complete quality work time after time. Again, you can show this easily enough by sending samples.
3. Your rates are competitive. You must be very careful with this. I did not say that you should lower your rates in order to win a job. But I did say that you should be competitive. Yes, this is a difficult decision to deal with. On one side you want to keep your rates competitive, but on the other side you know that you are worth the high end of the scale. I deal with this situation on a case by case basis since every buyer is different.
Give every buyer a reason to hire you. If you show your experience and quality, while also offering a reasonable rate, you will be in the game when it comes time for a hiring decision to be made.
If you are a freelance writer it does not mean that the rest of your life is going to stop. You may have kids at home during the day, or other errands that you must take care of. In this case, it is safe to say that your freelance writing schedule is going to be turned upside down from time to time. You need to learn how to steal hours when they are available.
I love working a set schedule, but as a freelance writer I have the ability to mix up my hours if necessary. Anybody else who works as a freelancer probably has the same freedom. If you are interrupted during the day for one reason or the next you will need to steal hours later on to ensure that you get your work done. For instance, I have been working 7 am to 4 pm. If for some reason I would have to leave the office for three hours, I would steal this time back later in the day. I would probably tack on these three hours to the end of my usual day and stay at work until 7 pm or so.
Having a set schedule is great, but it is even better to know that you can change things around to accommodate other areas of your life. If you can’t follow a regular schedule there is nothing wrong with stealing hours when you have the time. This may not make things easy, but you should be glad that you have the freedom of a freelancer.
Guess what? If you work a regular 9 – 5 office job your boss isn’t going to let you take time off during the day if you promise to make it up at night. You should never take the freedom of being a freelance writer for granted.
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The way you use your time as a freelance writer is important. You need to work efficiently to ensure that you complete all of your work, while also leaving time for other tasks such as marketing, paying invoices, etc. Over my time as a freelance writer I have found three ways to bog down my day. Of course, none of these are good. If you bog down your day you are going to find it difficult to complete your to-do list without working extra hours.
1. Are you spending too much time checking email and browsing the internet? Both of these can kill your productivity as a freelance writer. Although you will need to use the internet from time to time, you should only do so when necessary. In other words, you don’t need to check your email each time you complete a project. Instead, move on from one job to the next to ensure an efficient use of your time.
2. Taking personal calls can bog down your day. One personal call may not seem like a big deal, until you find you have been on the phone for 30 minutes. It not only takes time to talk on the phone, but to also get back to the task at hand once you hang up. Avoid personal calls at all costs. This is not always possible, but you need to know when to take a call and when to leave it for later.
3. Don’t sleep in when you should be working. I know a lot of freelance writers don’t like to get up early. While there is nothing wrong with this, you need to make sure you are still working the proper amount of hours. As of late my freelance writing schedule has been 7 am to 4 pm for the most part. If I were to sleep until 11 am I would have to work until approximately 8 pm. Knocking off at 4 pm would not allow me to complete my entire workload.
If you avoid these mistakes you will find that you are making the most of the hours you work without being bogged down.
No matter what career path you choose, it is safe to say that you will have to start at the bottom of the ladder. In other words, you cannot be a CEO before you pay your dues somewhere along the line. The same thing holds true if you decide to become a freelance writer. It is important to develop your freelance writing career step by step over time. You don’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on yourself early on by setting goals that are unattainable. If you do this, you will become frustrated with your career and its path in no time.
The steps that you take when developing your freelance writing career are up to you. Although I had a mentor of sorts when starting in this business, I more or less did things my own way. Did I make some mistakes? I sure did. But that being said, these mistakes, along with many successes, helped to shape my career. It is up to you to decide which steps you are going to take.
Although I can’t tell you what to do, the first step in becoming a successful freelance writer is having short and long term goals. Know where you want to go, and how you are going to get there. To go along with this, it is important to have a business and marketing plan in place as well. Although my goals and plans have changed time after time, I have always had something to strive for. This type of structure can go a long way in helping you build a successful freelance writing career.
As you move from step to step you will find that your career is advancing nicely. Early on, you may find that each step is only taking you a little bit closer to your goal, whatever it may be. But as you gain more traction within the industry, you will find that each step is now doing more in terms of career growth and income.
If you take a step by step approach to developing your freelance writing career you will be on the right path to future success.Â
You never know what a freelance writing client is going to act like until you start your first project with them. In the past I have talked about clients who change their mind halfway through a project, or decide that they want to take a new direction for one reason or the next. This has happened to me many times, and dealing with this situation is never easy. Additionally, this is sure to stress you out and it may even anger you. There is nothing worse than starting a project just to have your client tell you they want to change direction and you need to start over.
In some cases you will be able to tell if a freelance writing client is unsure of what they are doing before you get started. If you sense this it is important to work with them to define a direction for the project. It is better to take the time upfront than to get started and have the client make adjustments then.
Of course, there are clients who seem to know what they are doing but you find out soon enough that this is not the case. This is when you will run into problems. If a client wants to change direction after you have already begun, there are a few things that you can do.
First off, listen to what your client has to say. Things may not be as bad as they sound. In this case, you may be able to alter your way of thinking and complete the project without making any major changes.
If your client wants to take an entirely different direction, this is when you need to hold your ground. You do not want to argue with your client or come across as being disrespectful. But you do need to tell them that you have completed a lot of work, and that starting over from scratch will adjust how much you charge. It is important that you explain your position so that your client does not think you are simply trying to earn more money from them. In my experience, most clients realize that they are making major changes and are more than willing to pay you more money if need be.
Some freelance writing clients are very easy to work with, but others are unsure of what they want and make things difficult at all times. It is never easy to deal with unsure freelance writing clients, but this goes along with the territory.Â
As a freelancer writer you should take great pride in finding repeat, long term clients. There is nothing wrong with completing a “one and done†project for a client, but in the long run this is not the best way to build a successful freelance writing career. Your goal should be for every client to order from you on a regular basis. Again, this is not always possible, but it is a goal that you can set for yourself nonetheless.
There are two ways that you can increase orders and establish long term relationships with clients:
1. Learn how to successfully market your freelance writing services. If you struggle in this area you will want to check out my post on the many different ways of marketing. This will put you on the path to developing and maintaining an efficient and results producing freelance writing marketing plan.
2. Communicate with clients. I have said time after time that you need to ask for more work in many cases. In other words, once you complete a job for a client make sure you ask for another. If you are writing for a magazine, for instance, have another query ready before you complete the current article. This will give the editor something to think about, and hopefully allow you to form a long lasting relationship. Remember, many clients want to work with a freelance writer on an ongoing basis. If you provide quality work and are able to provide more, many clients are willing to sign you on for the long haul.
If you know how to market your services and are willing to communicate with clients, you will find yourself landing long term gigs time after time. Not every client will want to work with you long term, but many of them will. As more and more clients send regular work, your freelance writing career and income will grow at a steady pace.
How fast do you write? This is a question that is asked of me all the time. When I speak with others about the projects I complete each month they always assume that I am a super fast freelance writer. Generally speaking, I don’t consider myself a “fast†writer. That being said, what does it mean to be fast? Until you answer this question you will never know if you are truly a fast writer.
I don’t know what it means to be a fast freelance writer. Does this mean that you can write a 500 word article in 10 minutes? Am I slow it if takes me 20 minutes? To me, fast is a silly word to use when it comes to describing a freelance writer. Sure, it is better to write fast than slow. But this is only the case if you are putting together quality content.
Many aspiring freelance writers feel that the faster they write the more money they can earn. In other words, it is better to churn out 20 articles per day than 15. I guess this holds true to a certain extent, but remember that your clients do not care how fast you write. What they do care about is quality content that is delivered on time. Are you compromising quality because you are rushing? If so, you will find your clients moving on soon enough.
All in all, you can write as fast as you want as long as you are not trading quality for speed. I will never know what it means to write fast. I research each project, and then get started. If I get done in a hurry, great. If it takes me a bit longer, that is fine too. As long as I am producing high quality content I never think too much about speed.  Â
As a freelance writer the amount of effort that you put into your career is very important. This holds true when it comes to marketing your services, as well as the content that you write. If you are not going to put a lot of effort into bettering your career you might as well move on.
In my opinion, freelance writers who are willing to work hard will reach their goals in the end. Those who think freelance writing is easy money usually fall down and never get back up.
The time and effort that you put out directly corresponds with the clients you land and the amount of money you earn. I have found that my clients really like when I go the extra mile, and strive to make them happy. It takes a bit of extra effort to show that I care, but in the long run it is well worth it.
Don’t get me wrong. A good work ethic alone is not enough to earn a full-time income as a freelance writer. You must also be equipped with knowledge of the industry, as well as high quality writing skills. But along the same lines, you can be a freelance writing wiz with tons of experience, and if you don’t put the effort forth you will never make any progress.
Hard work is important if you are going to succeed as a freelance writer. Put out your best effort no matter what task you are facing. By doing this you will find that your freelance writing career is growing, and that your clients are happy with your performance.
