Every week I receive emails asking me for advice on becoming a freelance writer. Some people want me to tell them if they are cut-out for the freelance writing game. While I do my best in giving advice and guidance, this is something that you have to decide on for yourself. There is no way of saying if you will succeed as a freelance writer. It is up to you to review your situation, and to decide whether or not you have the skills and determination to make your mark.
In my opinion, freelance writing is not for everybody. That being said, it is a career path that a lot of people should follow. If you are looking for a new career and have always been intrigued by the freelance writing world, you should definitely consider a closer look at the pros and cons.
It takes particular skills to succeed as a freelance writer. On the surface, you would think that writing skills are enough to take you from start-up to success. And while this is true to a certain extent, it is important to note that you need more on your side than the ability to write. The most successful freelance writers are also skilled at marketing their services, organizing their career, and communicating with clients. Yes, the most important skill is the ability to write, but don’t forget about everything else that will help you along the way.
The only way to decide if a career in freelance writing is a good idea is to give it a try. I am more than happy to lend my advice when possible, but in the end it is you who has to decide if freelance writing is the best career move. This is not a career for everybody, but it could be just what you are looking for.
Finding good clients is a goal of every freelance writer. These clients pay on time, are easy to get along with, and always have more work. But what happens when a good client goes missing? This is something that has happened to me in the past. While it was not a huge deal it still made me think about what was going on.
A good client can go missing just as easily as a bad one. In my situation, I had been working for the client for roughly one year providing blog posts. Every month, on time, they sent my money. To go along with this, we had a good working relationship and often times spoke about other topics as well. All in all, they seemed to be the perfect client even though the pay was not the highest.
But guess what? All of a sudden the client stopped answering my emails and phone calls. For many months I attempted to make contact with the people I knew within the company, but had no such luck. If they didn’t owe me money I probably would have walked away without much fuss. But with a few hundred dollars owed I felt that it was worth my time to try to collect.
Believe or not, I have yet to hear back from this client. It is amazing how somebody who was so easy to work with could disappear without paying what is owed.
Instead of letting this client sour my relationship with others I simply wrote them off as a “bad apple.” You never know when somebody is going to get what they want from you, and then decide that the relationship is over. I have no issue with a client telling me that things are not working out, paying what they owe, and parting ways. It is those that don’t communicate and don’t pay that can be frustrating to deal with.
This is not meant to scare you into thinking that all your good clients are going to take off on you. In fact, this has only happened to me a handful of times in all my years as a freelance writer. Nonetheless, you should always be careful about who you do business with.
Do you ever decide to pick up your laptop and head to a “neutral” location to do your work? This is something that many freelance writers strongly believe in. Personally, I have never done this but realize that there are some benefits of doing so.
Those who I have asked about this tell me that working from a neutral location helps them to “break the boredom” of their home office. I can totally see where they are coming from because it is very easy to get bored when you work at home, day in and day out, with nobody around.
My question would be this: how hard do you find it to concentrate when working from a location other than your home base? This could be anything from a coffee shop to a local internet café. I like to have all my essentials close by. Obviously, when working from a neutral location you don’t have the ability to take your entire desk. I guess you could take everything you need, stapler and all, but this would not make much sense from a convenience point of view.
Even though I often times get the urge to try this out, it is one of those things that I never get around to. I would love to hear input on the pros and cons of doing this, as well as how you finally decided to take the leap. Feel free to leave a comment for everybody to read, or send me a quick email if you want to talk one-on-one.
When I have spare time I always try to read as much as possible, both online and off. There are many blogs out there, but not all of them suit my needs in terms of style, content, etc. That being said, there are a few that I try to visit on a regular basis.
If interested, check out the three blogs detailed below. They are among my favorites, and will definitely help you as a freelance writer, internet entrepreneur, etc.
When it comes to freelance writing blogs, I never miss a post at All Freelance Writing. Jenn knows her stuff, and provides top notch information day in and day out. In addition to posts that will help you as a freelance writer, she also lists available jobs. This is the perfect blog for both beginners and established freelance writers.
As far as new blogs are concerned, this is one of my favorites. Wes has been a friend of mine for a few years now. We first met when I completed a few projects for him when I was starting out, and have been staying in touch ever since. If you are interested in information on starting an online business and effective marketing, you don’t want to pass up his blog.
As you know, there are tons of make money online blogs. Some of them are helpful, and some of them are a waste of time. Tyler’s blog is definitely one that can help you get started. He focuses on everything from affiliate marketing to any other topic that fits into the make money online mold.
Do you ever get tired during the workday? If so, you know how hard it can be to stay at your desk and forge ahead. Instead of forcing yourself to do so, you may want to take a quick power nap. Even though you are taking time out of your day, once you return to the computer you will feel refreshed.
The main reason that many people don’t take a power nap during the workday is that they are afraid of staying asleep for too long. I like my naps to last approximately 20 to 30 minutes. This is just long enough to rest my mind and body, and to feel refreshed when I begin to work again. If you are worried about “staying under” for too long there is a simple solution: set an alarm. This is easy enough, right?
Another trick I have found to be helpful is sleeping on the couch in my office as opposed to heading for my bed. When I get into bed it feels like I should be there for a long period of time. But when I lay down on the couch I know that I am simply there for a quick nap. Not to mention the fact that I don’t have to walk far to get to my couch.
There is no point in working when you are dead tired. This can lead to health problems, as well as sub-par work. Both of which are issues that you want to avoid. Instead of forcing yourself to work, take a quick power nap. Once you realize the benefits of doing so you may consider adding this “task” to your daily to-do list!
When I work up this morning I was not feeling well. My neck was stiff, my head hurt, and my stomach was upset. Fortunately, after a few minutes of walking around I began to feel better. During this time I got to thinking about taking sick days as a freelance writer. When you work for a company you can call in sick and forget about your job for the day. Of course, this is not the same if you work as a freelance writer. Since I have so many clients it would be difficult to stay away from the computer for an entire day.
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with taking a sick day as a freelance writer. If you are not feeling well and know that you cannot do your best writing you should think about staying in bed for the time being. It is better to take the day off than it is to head for the computer and complete work that is not up to your standards.
If you are going to take a sick day make sure you are not missing any deadlines. What if I do have a deadline to meet? In this case, I would suggest either doing your best to get the work to your client on time or contacting the proper party and asking them for a one day extension. All of my clients are more than happy to give me an extra day if I have a good reason. Of course, this is not something I abuse because I strongly believe in turning in all work on time.
Freelance writers can get sick just like everybody else. If you wake up one day and realize that you are not feeling up to par, you may want to think about taking a sick day. Just make sure that your day off is not going to negatively effect your clients.
As a freelance writer you want to stay busy day in and day out. This means that you have a lot of work on your plate, which is always a good thing. But there may come a time when you run into some downtime during your workday. If this happens you need to ask yourself a very important question: how am I going to make the most of this time?
When I have downtime, even though this is not very often, I always turn to my marketing plan. After all, if there is time in my day that is not filled a new client would fit in nicely. The way that I market depends on what has been working for me, how much time I have, etc. For instance, some days I may write a query letter or two. But other days I may spend my time searching online for new clients. Either way, it is important to note that I stay busy in hopes of finding more work.
Some freelance writers who face downtime look at this as a chance to rest. While there is nothing wrong with taking a break, you don’t want to spend all your free time during the workday staring at the television. This is waste of valuable time, and you will find out soon enough that you made a mistake. If you want to take a break, so be it. Just make sure that it does not last too long.
In a perfect world you would be able to work eight hours per day on projects, and then call it quits after that. Of course, this is not the case now and in the life of a freelance writer it probably never will be. When you have down time, time when you are not working on projects, make sure you do something that can better your career.
One of the nicest things about being a freelance writer is that you do not have to spend a lot of money to get started or to maintain your career. That being said, you should be spending some money along the way. I don’t want you to think you should blow through your money, but there are definitely times when you should lay out some cash.
As a general rule of thumb I only spend money on my freelance writing career when I feel that it will bring a nice return. For instance, I recently hired a designer to help with several of my niche blogs as well as a new service site. This is money well spent because it will help me to earn more in the long run. When there is a chance for a return I don’t mind spending money.
Of course, there are times when I spend on supplies as well. This can be everything from a new computer to stamps and paper clips. Even though it is not always fun to buy office supplies, they are necessary to keep things running smoothly. If you are smart about when, where and how you buy these supplies you should be able to get what you want at a reasonable price.
Don’t be afraid to spend money on your freelance writing career. Even though you can go many months without spending too much, there will come a time when you have to part with some cash. As long as you spend your money on something that will improve your career you don’t have anything to worry about.
With so much going on in the new year I forgot to post an update on my freelance writing course last month. Fortunately, a few readers were interested in joining and this prompted me to post an update on how things are going.
Even though the course has been pretty full for most of 2009, I do have two spots open at this time. In most cases, when I post that I have open spots they fill up within a day or two. So if you are interested in grabbing one of them I suggest that you send me an email as soon as possible. Of course, if you are a bit late I can always add you to the waiting list for next month.
As each month goes by the course evolves to suit the needs of my members. I have yet to change the overall structure of the course, but have been sure to add new content based on what is asked of me from current and past members. It is always good to receive feedback on any project, and this has helped immensely when it comes to my freelance writing course.
I have been quite pleased with the response so far this year, and hope to keep things rolling until December. As noted above, if you want to join there are currently two spots for the taking. Of course, if anybody has questions about the course before signing up I would be more than happy to answer them.
Every freelance writing client is different. Some of them will be on top of things at all times, and others will be a bit lazier with their work. No matter what, you should be ready to deal with any situation that you face. It is important that you give clients time to respond to your inquiry. This holds true when waiting for a reply after sending a completed project, after asking a question, etc. Remember, not every client is sitting at their computer all day long.
There are times when you may need to give a client a bit of a nudge in order to receive a reply. For instance, if you usually hear back after a day or so and a client has been gone for a week, it is time to find out why. There is nothing wrong with sending another email to get to the bottom of the problem. In many cases your client may have missed your note for one reason or the next, or has been out of the office. Never jump to conclusions and assume that your client is avoiding you; this is probably not the case.
If you really need to speak with a freelance writing client and they are not responding to your email, there is nothing wrong with picking up the phone. I strongly believe in phone communication, even though many freelance writers disagree with me. In my opinion, calling somebody is quicker and more efficient than an email. That being said, I only use this option when I have to.
All in all, be courteous and give clients enough time to respond to your emails. Some will be quick, some will be slow, and some will be in between. Dealing with every type of client is part of being a freelance writer.
