Freelance writers take on a variety of projects. I am pretty much open to any and every type of project as long as I understand what is being asked of me and enjoy the topic. You may be a bit different – that is your choice. At some point you need to decide what type of freelance writing projects you enjoy. This way you can concentrate in these areas, while avoiding jobs that do not fit well.
First things first, remember this: there is more to freelance writing than web projects. Sure, there are millions of people out there looking for SEO articles. While these jobs can be fun and profitable, you want to keep in mind that the internet is not the end all.
You should consider other types of freelance writing projects such as magazine features, corporate content, sales letters, etc. If you can write it you can work it into your career. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.
Should I only accept jobs that I enjoy? This is a tough question to answer. Early in my career I did not know which types of projects I liked the most. For this reason I was willing to try everything. While I still feel the same way to a certain extent, I try to be a bit more selective about who I work with.
If you do not know what type of freelance writing you enjoy you should continue to work hard day after day until you formulate an answer. It may take a couple of years to really find your niche. When you finally realize what works for you, your future becomes much clearer and the path to success opens up.
Every so often I like to look at my freelance writing career and where it is headed. Is this something that you do on a regular basis? It is important to know how your career is progressing. This will ensure that you make the best decisions as the days go by.
What should I be looking for? This is a difficult question to answer because everybody is at a different stage of their career. On top of this, your goals are not going to be the same as mine or the next person. That being said, I always look at the past, the present, and where I want to go in the future. This alone shows me if I am making enough progress, and of course, how the future is shaping up. Obviously, if you look at the past few months and realize that you were lazy it is safe to say that you will be anxious to change things around in the days to come.
Don’t be surprised if you look around and realize that your career is not progressing as you thought it would. Even though I am happy with my current client load and income, there are some things that I wish I would have done differently earlier in the year. It is never fun to play the “what-if game” but looking at the past and learning from it is the only way to ensure that your progress in the future is what you want it to be.
If you are happy with the progress of your freelance writing career you should continue on the same path. On the other hand, if you are not heading in the right direction now is the time to make a change.
As a freelance writer one of the most difficult things you have to do is manage your time. This sounds simple enough, but as your business grows you will find yourself realizing just how difficult it can be. The better you become at time management the better chance you have of achieving both short and long term success.
Here are three time management tips that I use on a regular basis:
1. Prioritize. What needs to get done first? It is very important to take care of everything on your plate, but at the same time you need to know which order to work in. Simply put, some projects and tasks are more important than others. Make sure you know your priorities and then work in the proper order.
2. Have a to-do list. With a list in front of you at all times it becomes simpler to manage your time in an effective manner. This gives you the ability to know what needs done weighed against how much time you have.
3. Make changes as time goes by. For example, I used to wake up between 8 and 9 in the morning. Soon enough I realized that this was not working for me from a time management perspective. As soon as I bumped up my start to 6am things got better for me. An early rise helps me feel fresh in the morning, while also giving more time to complete more tasks.
To achieve great success as a freelance writer you need to manage your time effectively. The three tips above have worked for me, and hopefully they can do the same for you.
Increasing your rates as a freelance writer is one of the best ways to start earning more money. That being said, some don’t do this for a number of reasons. One of the most common is feeling uneasy with clients. The last thing you want to do is keep your freelance writing rates low because you are worried about offending your clients. Sure, you may put some of them off but this goes along with running a successful business.
Entirely too many freelance writers apologize for increasing their rates – this is a big mistake. Here is a good example of what may be said: “It has been a pleasure working with you over the past few months. Unfortunately, I am increasing my rates. I hope this does not bother you, but it is something I have to do.” While this may not be exactly what you would say, it goes to show you that apologizing for increasing your rates is a bad idea. I would never want to say this to a client, and hopefully you feel the same way.
Keep this one tip in mind: as a freelance writer you are in charge of setting and changing your rates as you see fit. You do not have to clear this through a boss, or make sure that everybody is okay with it. While you do not want to go overboard, it is important to know that the final decision is yours.
If you are in the midst of increasing your rates you will need to tell your clients. Be careful about how you do this. Those who play this situation smart can keep all their clients onboard, while earning more money.
Last week I made a post: Additional Income Streams for Freelance Writers. In it, I explained that I would shortly be starting a blog showing others how to earn money through the Google AdSense program. As promised, the blog has launched and I am hoping that a lot of you will head on over, give it a look, and subscribe to the RSS feed and/or for email updates.
The new blog is called ChrisAdsense.com. As you can see, I kept with the “Chris” brand. Over there, all the posts will be based around my goal of earning more money with AdSense. I plan on posting almost everyday on the steps I am taking to build out more sites and increase my income. You will find everything from how I choose my topics to best keyword research practices to how much money I am earning.
Just like this blog, I hope to supply high quality information that can help many of you take your online income to the next level. Working for yourself as a freelance writer is a great joy – it has treated me well over the years. With additional income streams, such as Google AdSense, you may be closer than you realize to replacing your 9 – 5 job.
So, if you get a chance check out my new blog. I am confident that you will enjoy the content!
As a freelance writer you may be looking for additional streams of income. There are many ways that you can earn money outside of your client work. What you decide to do depends on your experience, and of course, what you are most interested in.
I enjoy freelance writing so much that I plan on it always being my number one income stream. That being said, I have been growing other areas of my business. Most notably, I have been building AdSense sites as a way of generating some extra money and setting up a passive income stream.
Over the past few weeks many members of my freelance writing course have asked me to talk to them more about my other income streams. While I don’t have a problem doing so with members, I don’t want to bring the topic into this blog too often. After all, most of the people who come here are interested in learning about freelance writing. For this reason, I have decided to start another blog showing others how to make money with AdSense. I plan on it being a “journal” type blog in which I show readers what I am doing everyday of the week. To go along with this, I hope to include some income statistics for motivation.
Once the blog launches, which should be in a day or so, I will post the URL and invite everybody over. From there, I hope to build a solid and dedicated readership – much like the one that Chrisblogging.com has.
So, if you are interested in additional income streams I hope to be able to help you in the very near future. Stay tuned!
Are you the type of person who talks about something so long that they eventually get tired of it? If so, you don’t want this to happen with freelance writing. Follow this advice: if you want to become a freelance writer you eventually have to stop talking and go for it. I know too many people who missed the boat because they never took the leap. You don’t want to be next – this is a horrible feeling.
Don’t get me wrong, you definitely want to research the freelance writing industry and receive as much advice as you can. But at the same time you can only learn so much before you have to get started. The more you think about something the easier it will become to find a reason for not doing it. In the end, this may hold you back from ever chasing a career as a freelance writer.
How long have you been thinking about becoming a freelance writer? What has been holding you back? Once you answer these two questions you will have a much better idea of where you stand. For instance, if you have been talking about this for a year, but have yet to do anything, something is wrong. You need to change your ways soon or you will never make any progress. You also need to know what has been holding you back. Obviously, some people have a very good reason for not going full steam ahead. Others think they have a reason, but really don’t.
Don’t continue to talk about becoming a freelance writer. Instead, take action. You probably have all the knowledge you need for the time being. As you start your career you can continue to learn and grow as a person and professional. When you decide to “go for it” you are closer than ever to reaching all your goals!
From time to time I receive client requests that just don’t make sense. Whether it is me being dense or the client not being clear the fact of the matter remains the same: some sort of clarification is needed. If you do not understand what is being asked of you it is very important to clear things up before you move forward.
I don’t want to ask for clarification because it makes me look dumb. Nothing could be sillier than this. You should never use this excuse because it does not make any sense. Your client would rather have you admit that you are lost than to complete the job based on the wrong specifications. You don’t have to be rude or make yourself look bad when asking for clarification. Instead, explain that you do not totally understand what is being asked of you. Believe it or not, 99 percent of clients will do whatever it takes to make you better understand.
Try this tip: call the client instead of using email. No matter how hard I try there are times when I do not understand what a client is telling me. In this case, I get on the phone and ask the appropriate questions. It is a waste of time to send email after email when a quick phone call will allow both parties to get on the right track. Don’t be afraid to call your clients – this will show them just how much you care.
Anytime you are confused you need to ask your client for clarification. This may come before a project starts, or maybe as you are completing the job. When you know what is being asked of you it becomes much easier to complete the project with 100 percent success.
So, you want to increase your freelance writing income? How many times a day do you think about this? Most freelance writers, including myself, are always looking for ways to take their income to the next level. The question is: what are the best ways of doing so?
Instead of overcomplicating things, I want to show you a few simple ways to increase your freelance writing income:
1. Take on more work. If you are being paid for more projects it goes without saying that you are going to earn more money. This may not be the ideal way of earning more money, but it is the method that most freelance writers turn to.
2. Ask for more money. Instead of finding new work you can simply ask your current clients for a pay raise. Some are afraid to do this, but it is not nearly as bad as you may think. On top of this, you may be surprised at how many of your clients like you enough to increase your pay rate.
3. Add other income streams. This may not be directly related to freelance writing, but it is definitely something to keep in mind. For instance, many freelance writers earn additional money by selling their own products, such as ebooks, through blogging, or with programs such as Google AdSense. Just because you are a freelance writer does not mean you have to avoid earning money in other ways.
Yes, these tips are very basic. That being said, they can really help you increase your freelance writing income. I hope you now see that earning more money is not a big secret or something that only a select few freelance writers can do.
Are you the type of person who enjoys working weekends? If so, even you may get annoyed if a client tells you that you have to do this. Believe it or not, I have heard many stories about freelance writers being “forced” to work on both Saturdays and Sundays. To me, this sounds a bit ridiculous for several reasons.
To start, why do you have to work on the weekend? Does the client have a good reason for this? If there is no pressing need I cannot understand why this conversation would have to take place. Of course, if your job is to cover breaking news stories you may have to be “on call” on the weekend.
Why are you listening if you don’t want to? One of the top benefits of a freelance writing career is that you are your own boss. If you don’t want to work on weekends you should feel comfortable discussing this with your client. You may find that a simple discussion can solve your problem. In other words, it is not always as hard as you think to open your client’s eyes to your point of view.
If you enjoy working on the weekends, which I do from time to time, this may not sound like a huge deal. On the other hand, some freelance writers simply won’t do work on their days off – and I cannot blame them.
My best advice is this: if a client asks you to work on the weekends you should strongly consider your answer before giving it. If you decide against this explain your reasoning to the client and see if you can work out a solution.
