Freelance writers are responsible for every aspect of their career including buying office supplies. If you work a corporate job this is not something that you have to bother with. Instead, when you run out of something, such as printer paper, you either make a request or head to a closet somewhere in your building and reload. Unfortunately, things are not this easy for freelance writers.
While you don’t want to spend too much on office supplies, it is my belief that you should always be well stocked. I hate running out of something that I need, and in turn being forced out of the office during a busy time. For example, you never want to run out of ink for your printer. If you do you will have no choice but to run to the store right away. To avoid this, I always keep a couple of ink cartridges on hand.
The office supplies you need as a freelance writer are not overly expensive. In fact, they can be downright cheap if you know where to shop. As I look around my desk, the supplies I use the most are pens, notepads, sticky notes, and printer paper. None of these items are overly expensive, and most of them will last quite some time.
If you stock up on office supplies once and for all you won’t have to do so again for a long time. In turn, you will always have what you need and will never be forced to leave your office when you don’t have time to do so.Â
As a freelance writer it is easy to fall into the trap of working on the weekends. This is something that I did in the past, and it was not fun. After all, you need a break just like everybody else. There are times when you have no choice but to work on the weekend, but you should do whatever you can to avoid this. If you don’t give yourself time off you are going to hit a wall, both physically and mentally.
The best way to avoid working on weekends is to complete your projects Monday through Friday. This can be done by having a weekly schedule as well as a daily to-do list. As you move through your list you will get a better feel for what needs done before the weekend comes. In turn, you can adjust your weekday schedule to suit your workload.
Do you ever work on the weekends? I get this question a lot. The answer is yes. But you should know that this is not a regular occurrence. In other words, I don’t work every weekend day of the month. If I do work on Saturday or Sunday I like to make sure that it is not on an extensive project that needs tons of time. Instead, I prefer to work on smaller projects that don’t take up a lot of time and don’t need completed in one sitting.
Staying away from your freelance writing workload on the weekends can be difficult. But if you get your work done during the week and realize that your body needs time to rest, you should have no problem saying goodbye to your computer when the weekend arrives.
What should you do if you miss a deadline set forth by one of your freelance writing clients? The first thing you should do is avoid this at all costs. You never want to miss a deadline even if it means staying up all night to complete a project. That being said, every freelance writer runs into this situation sooner or later. For one reason or the next you will miss a deadline. What will you do about this?
If you know that you are going to miss a deadline you should get in touch with the client as soon as possible. Explain what is going on, and ask them if you can have an extension. You may be surprised how understanding many people are if you have a good reason for missing a deadline. But remember, the longer you wait to break this to the client the worse things are going to get. You want to give them enough time to make for other arrangements, if need be.
On the other hand, you may miss a deadline and realize on the due date that this happened. What are you to do in this situation? Your only option, if you can’t get the work done, is to come clean with the client. Tell them you are not going to be finished, and apologize for missing the deadline. Is this going to be good enough? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It all depends on your relationship and the situation that your client is in.
You never want to miss a deadline. Keeping this in mind will allow you to avoid awkward situations in which you have to break bad news to clients. But if you do miss a deadline, give your client as much notice as possible and be sure to explain yourself. This may not make things any better, but smoothing the situation over is important if you find yourself in this position.
I strongly believe that every freelance writer should evaluate their performance from time to time. This is something that I do at the end of every year. By evaluating my 2008 performance I will have an easier time setting goals for the upcoming year. But before you can evaluate your performance you must be organized.Â
Am I jumping the gun? Yes, I know it is only November. That being said, you want to give yourself plenty of time to get organized. If you wait until the last week of December you may find that you are short on time, and in turn you have to push your performance review back to 2009. You don’t want to do this because it is essential that you hit the ground running in the new year.
What preliminary information should you gather? There are three details that I am organizing now so that I can efficiently evaluate my 2008 performance at the end of next month:
1. Income records 2. Client details 3. 2008 goals and progress
With this information in hand I will be able to do two things: accurately evaluate my performance this year, and set new goals for 2009. I take care of both these details at the same time, and you should do the same if you want to stay on track. It is always easier to set new goals after you look over old ones. This gives you the chance to set more realistic goals, while also taking note of what did and did not work for you in the past.
Although you still have a few weeks before the end of 2008, you should begin to think about evaluating your performance for the year. If you begin to organize the proper information right now, you will find the process much more enjoyable when the end of December rolls around. Remember, the new year is right around the bend!Â
It may be hard to imagine, but there will probably come a day when you have too much work on your table. This is better than not enough work, but at the same time it can be a difficult situation to deal with. If your freelance writing load is too large you need to make some changes to better your situation. After all, having too much work can have negative impacts on your career.
If you have too much work the first thing you must do is begin to work more hours; this goes without saying. After you commit to a project and a deadline you have to finish the work. So for the time being, you should put in more hours to ensure that you meet every deadline and that every project is given your full attention.
Once you have cleared some room on your plate, you should then consider how you want to move forward. If you are not careful you will find yourself bogged down once again. In my opinion, the best thing to do is weed out low paying jobs. This may not be the best option for you, but it is definitely something to consider. I know, it can be difficult to tell a client that you can no longer work with them, but this is something that has to be done from time to time. You don’t want to spend so much time with low paying clients that you put off more valuable gigs, and in turn jeopardize future earnings.
There is nothing wrong with carrying a large load of freelance writing work. In theory, the more projects you have on tap the more money you are going to earn. But at the same time, this can lead to problems such as spreading yourself thin or burning out.
Before you decide to cut your client list make sure your freelance writing load really is too large. In other words, you don’t want to cut your list if you don’t have to. Fortunately, most freelance writers have no problem determining when they are stretched thin and working too many hours.Â
Many freelance writers never want to communicate with clients on the phone so they feel there is no reason to have a dedicated business line. Is this a good way of thinking? Even though you may never want to speak with clients on the phone you are not really in charge. In other words, if a client wants to call you or vice versa you need to go along with this. After all, speaking on the phone is often times enjoyable, time efficient, and more effective.
Whether or not you need a dedicated line for your business is up to you. For the first few years of my freelance writing career I only had one phone line. It doubled for both personal and business calls. But as my freelance writing career grew and I was making and receiving more and more calls, it came time to add a business line. Although this costs a few extra bucks each month, it has made my life easier. If my business line rings I know it is either a client who wants to talk or a buyer who is interested in doing business with me. Before my second line I never knew who was calling, or what I was getting into when I answered.
You don’t need a business phone line. I got along without one for a couple of years, and even though it was annoying at times, it was something that I dealt with. That being said, if you have the money and want to give off a more professional appearance you may want to think about adding a business line. You can do this by getting a second landline in your home, or by purchasing another cell phone plan; the choice is yours.
As you move forward with your career and begin to expand you should consider having separate phone lines for personal and business use. This is a simple move that has brought many benefits to my personal life and career.
When you don’t know much about the freelance writing industry it can be difficult to grow as a professional. Just like any career, you will start out at the bottom but hopefully learn more and more as the days go by. Many aspiring writers have a difficult time believing that they will learn what it takes to become a success. Of course, this is not true. It can seem this way early on, but soon enough you will begin to pick up knowledge which you can apply to better your career.
There are many ways to learn about the freelance writing industry:
1. Read as many freelance writing blogs and websites as you can find. You may not find unique information on every site, but any knowledge is better than none at all. The internet is a great way to learn the ins and outs of the freelance writing industry. A few days reading through the many websites on this topic will turn you into a more knowledgeable professional.
2. Find a mentor. This is something that I have suggested in the past, and still strongly believe in. You can find a mentor in a family member or friend with freelance writing experience, or by searching for help online. This is one of the main reasons I started my freelance writing course. I want to give aspiring writers a place to turn if they are interested in working with a mentor during the early stages of their career.
3. Head to the bookstore or library. There are many books on the freelance writing industry that are worth reading. The book that helped me the most as a new freelance writer was “Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $85,000 a Year†by Robert W. Bly. If you are new to freelance writing and want some great advice, I strongly urge you to read this book.
If you are worried about your progress as a freelance writer due to a lack of knowledge, try learning more by following the tips above.
You will face all kinds of situations as a freelance writer. There are clients who will love your work and everything you do, and some who won’t be as happy with what you send them. Dealing with an angry client is never easy, but it is part of the territory. If you are going to succeed as a freelance writer over the long haul you need to realize that you will probably face an angry buyer at some point in time. Are you willing and ready to deal with this?
When dealing with an angry client the first thing you must do is assess the situation. Why is the client angry? Once you answer this question you can then move on. If you are not 100 percent sure of why the client is upset, you need to ask. Believe it or not, some clients will spew venom but make no mention of what is going on. In this case you definitely want to ask in no uncertain terms what the problem is.
If a client is upset with you it is easy to get defensive and argue with them. But is this the best thing to do? I never argue with clients no matter who is “right.†Instead, I make it my goal to resolve the problem and calm the situation as quickly as possible. This will calm the client down, while also giving you the chance to move past the situation and onto other projects as soon as possible.
Don’t let one angry client scare you away from your dream of becoming a freelance writer. This happens in every industry, and you should be ready for it to happen to you at some point in time.
How do you organize the payments you receive as a freelance writer? If you work for a company as a regular employee you probably receive anywhere from one to four paychecks per month. And most of the time they are directly deposited into your bank account. As a freelance writer you don’t have this benefit. Instead, you will receive many more payments each month and all of them will come direct to you in some way, shape, or form.
To stay on track it is important to organize your payments as they arrive. For instance, I have one folder for checks that come in the mail and another for payments that are sent via PayPal. With PayPal, you will also receive an email stating that a new payment has arrived; I have found this to be quite useful from an organizational point of view.
When should I cash checks? In the past I was a bit lazy about cashing checks that came in the mail. Instead of heading straight for the bank I would hold onto these checks until the next month. I stopped this practice a few months back, and now head to the bank once per week on average. While this means I have to take time out of my day, it is beneficial in the way that it helps me to stay organized.
I have never found it difficult to organize payments for the most part. After all, this is one of the most exciting parts of being a freelance writer. Does it get any better than receiving a PayPal payment or check in the mail?
