One of the biggest benefits of working as a freelance writer is that the costs are low. It does not take a lot of money to start a freelance writing career, and the same holds true as the years go by. Even though your expenses will not be large, there are times when investing in your career is the right thing to do. Do you know when to pull out your checkbook and reinvest some of the money you have been making?
1. When you need new equipment. If you need a computer, printer, or anything else for your office be sure to purchase it right away. The equipment and supplies that you use are essential to your overall success – don’t skimp in this area.
2. When you need help. There is nothing wrong with spending a few dollars to buy the latest version of Writer’s Market, or to hire a website designer. Everybody needs help at some point in time. When your time comes don’t be afraid to part with some money to get what you need.
3. When you need to market your services. There are some ways that you can market your freelance writing services for free. On the other hand, you may have to spend some money on this from time to time. This includes both query letters and online marketing. Even though you are spending money in the long run you are giving yourself the chance to earn it back, plus much more.
You may not want to spend money on your career everyday, but the three situations above call for some sort of investment.
Are you the type of person who is paranoid about losing their work? Hopefully your answer is yes. As a freelance writer you should get into the habit of saving your work on a regular basis. If you don’t do this it will probably bite you in the neck sooner rather than later.
I got a wakeup call a couple weeks back. My part of the country was hit with a giant snow storm. In turn, the power was going out from time to time. Since I made it through the large part of the storm unaffected I figured there was nothing to worry about. But of course, I was wrong.
I was in the middle of writing a feature article, had yet to hit save, and the power blew. After a few minutes it came back on and I rebooted my computer. While I was glad that everything was safe with my machine, you guessed it – all of my work was gone. At that point my only option was to start the project over.
It is so silly to not save your work. It only takes a second to hit the save button, but for whatever reason many of us forget to do so from time to time. I learned my lesson a couple weeks ago, and am now trying to make a conscious effort to save my progress every few minutes. Has anything like this ever happened to you?
The beginning of the year is always most busy for my freelance writing course. I attribute this to the fact that many people decide early in the year to find a new career. This year is no exception. My course has been hopping, and I wanted to give you all a quick update.
As of right now, I have two openings in my freelance writing course. That being said, I do have a waiting list of people who may be quick to act. If you are interested in joining, please contact me as soon as possible – the spots usually stay open for 24 hours or less.
I was glad to hear from three past members (all from November and December 2009) who have taken the leap from part to full-time freelance writing. It is always nice to know that I helped these people reach their first goal of many.
In the months to come I look forward to working with many more of you guys and gals! Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
If you are completing jobs for clients you want to get paid, right? Even though there are many options for receiving payment, some freelancers have a difficult time deciding which one is right for them. In fact, I get more questions about this than just about any other topic.
So, how are you getting paid? There are three methods that I have used time and time again over the years. All of them are perfectly acceptable, although you may be more interested in one or another:
1. PayPal. In my opinion, this is the best way for freelance writers to get paid – especially when working with web based clients. The great thing about PayPal is the speed and efficiency with which you can receive payment. The only downside is that some of your profits will fly out the window by way of PayPal fees. That being said, I have found the fees to be quite fair for the service provided.
2. Check. Many of my clients pay via check. With this option you have to wait a big longer for payment, and once received you will need to head for the bank. That being said, there are no fees involved which means you get to keep every dime that you earn.
3. Bank wire. This is nowhere near as common as the two options detailed above. That being said, I have two clients that use this on a regular basis. All they needed was some basic information from me, such as my bank account and routing number, in order to get started. While this makes payment quick, keep one thing in mind: your bank may charge you a fee for sending and receiving wires. You may want to check on this before agreeing to this form of payment.
I know that this is a very basic topic. Most freelance writers know how to get paid, as well as which method they prefer. Try to be fair to both you and the client when working out payment details. The majority of the time you will be able to settle on something that is mutually beneficially.
Are you interested in learning more about freelance writing? To receive top notch information you can look in one place: other freelance writers. Believe it or not, you can learn quite a bit from other writers – especially those who have a proven track record of success.
Learning from other freelance writers may not be as hard as you think. Here are three ways you can begin to do this:
1. Ask for help. Over the years I have found most freelance writers to be quite helpful. If there is somebody you really admire, send them a quick email and see where it gets you. The worst thing that can happen is you never receive a reply. I always try to answer emails from other freelance writers. Not only is it nice to help, but I am always looking to forge new online friendships.
2. Read their blog. As you probably already know, many freelance writers have a blog. This one, for example, touches on the basics of becoming a freelance writer and sustaining a career. While I cover a lot of information, many others have blogs that focus on other areas of the industry. Read as many freelance writing blogs as time allows.
3. Join a course. I have a freelance writing course that has become very popular with at least 20 members per month. That being said, there are many other courses out there that are just as helpful and probably more popular. Don’t be afraid to spend some money on a solid course. This is a great way to get one-on-one attention from an experienced, successful freelancer.
If you have any desire to learn from other freelance writers you should follow the three tips above. Soon enough you will be picking up knowledge from some of the biggest names in the game.
I know entirely too many freelance writers who will work for whatever the client suggests. In other words, they are afraid of negotiating for one reason or the next. Some don’t want to get turned down; others don’t want to ruffle any feathers. It is important that you become comfortable negotiating with clients. The better you get at this the more money you will earn in the long run.
Practice, practice, practice. The only way to become comfortable negotiating with clients is through practice. Of course, this does not mean that you should negotiate just to negotiate. The next time this situation presents itself feel free to work for the best possible deal. Once you get the first negotiation out of the way you will have more knowledge of what to do in the future.
What are you afraid of? If you cannot answer this question you have no reason to avoid the negotiation process. If you can answer it, you need to find a solution sooner rather than later. Your client is trying to get the best deal, and you should be doing the same. Giving in and working at whatever rate is suggested is not the best way for you to grow your career. You know what you are worth and how much you should be charging for a particular project. Now all you have to do is negotiate to get it.
If you are comfortable negotiating with clients good for you – you are ahead of the game. If you aren’t, now is the time to change your ways and work on this part of your career. Good negotiating skills can help you achieve more success and earn more money.
This is going to be a short post – the title says it all. As a freelance writer you need to embrace rejection. Simply put, this is something you are going to run into day in and day out. Rejection is part of becoming a freelance writing success, and you need to get this through your head sooner rather than later. Sure, it can be difficult to be turned down by an editor, publisher, etc. But once you learn that this is part of the game and it is all business, you will be much better off.
No matter how much success you have as a freelance writer you are going to be rejected from time to time. This comes in many forms. For instance, I send query letters to magazine editors on a regular basis. And guess what? Most of them end up in some form of rejection. This has nothing to do with my skills or what the editor thinks of me. Instead, it is more about the publication and what they are looking for. If I let rejection letters get me down I will never have the confidence to move forward and search for that next gig.
Instead of fearing rejection you should embrace it. Learn what you can and realize that it is nothing personal. Rejection is part of being a freelance writer, and no matter who you are you will face it at some point in time.
What makes a client choose one freelance writer over another? This is a question you have probably asked yourself many times. There are so many answers that you will never be able to pinpoint them all. That being said, there are a few things that standout in my mind.
If you have something special to offer you have a much better chance of becoming a successful freelance writer. This will give clients more of a reason to choose your services.
Here are three things that you can “play up” when searching for clients:
1. Specific knowledge. Do you pride yourself in knowing more about one subject than anybody else? If so, you should find clients in this area, no matter what it may be, and then concentrate on showing why you are the best hire.
2. Customer service. Every client wants to know that you care about them. Even though great customer service is something that every freelance writer can give, many never realize how important it is. From the very first contact with a potential client you should show that you are willing to do whatever it takes to service all their needs.
3. Experience. In most cases, a client is interested in hiring a freelance writer with experience in a given field. Being able to show work samples can go a long way in making clients fall in love with you. Remember this: any type of experience can be used to your advantage.
Anything that sets you apart from your competition in a good way is a detail you should use to your advantage when selling your freelance writing services.
The number of people interested freelance writing is astonishing. Everyday I receive a couple of emails from aspiring writers, asking me what they can do to get their career off the ground. Along with this, 90 percent of those in my freelance writing course are new to the industry and hoping to take off in the near future.
This leads to the question: why are so many interested in freelance writing?
1. You are your own boss. I think that this is the main reason why freelance writing has become so popular. To me, it appears that more and more people are getting fed up working long hours so somebody else can get rich. When you are a freelance writer you are in charge – it is that simple.
2. The internet makes it easy. Let’s be honest, freelance writing is not what it used to be. Gone are the days of using snail mail and fax to communicate. With the internet anybody can create a website, add samples, and begin to search for clients. Ease of entry has definitely led to more interest in freelance writing.
3. Money, money, money. Everybody wants to make good money, and as a freelance writer you have the chance to do just that. There are quite a few top level writers earning tens of thousands of dollars per month. While it may take a few years to reach the top of the industry, hard work and dedication will get you there soon enough.
Did you get your start in freelance writing thanks to any of the reasons listed above? Do you have any other ideas as to why this career choice has become so popular? It is safe to say that freelance writing is growing in popularity, and that this trend is not going to settle down anytime soon.
Before I get started with this post, let me define what I consider to be a freelance writing budget. This is the amount of money that you can comfortably spend on items that you need to sustain and/or advance your freelance writing career. Now that this is cleared up, we can move onto why it is so important to have a budget.
First things first, a budget helps to ensure that you do not spend on things you don’t need. Everybody loves new office equipment. There is nothing better than buying the latest and greatest computer, printer, fax, etc. But guess what? You probably don’t have money in your freelance writing budget to do this every few months. Don’t buy a computer (or anything else) just to do it. Instead, save your money now so you have it when the time finally comes to make a purchase.
Moving on, you don’t want to put all your profits back into the business. There is nothing wrong with spending money to make money – I strongly believe in doing this. That being said, you need to save some of your income as well. After all, you have bills to pay, expenses to save for, etc.
Finally, a freelance writing budget will make you feel as if you are in more control of your business. This is definitely a great feeling. When you know of every dollar that is coming in and out of your business you will be confident in all financial related decisions.
Do you have a freelance writing budget? If so, how has it worked out for you in the past? This is one area of being a freelancer that many people forget about. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
