No matter if you work as a freelance writer or in some other line of work, there is a very real possibility that you will begin to burnout at some point in time. While this may sound silly to you right now, it is anything but a joke when it happens. This can quickly drag you down, and force you into taking some time away from your computer.
Simply put, burnout is the result of working day after day without taking enough time off. Some freelance writers don’t experience this very often. Others, it seems, run into this issue on a more regular basis.
If this is becoming a reality within your career you will know it soon enough. Not only will you feel mentally exhausted, but your interest in freelance writing will wane as well.
Is this something that will keep me down for the long term? How long it takes you to recover from burnout depends on several factors. For instance, are you willing to take some time off? Believe it or not, a day or two away from the computer can do wonders for you. If you are the type to forge ahead, no matter how you are feeling, you may eventually run into a brick wall. Often times, burnout can lead to a feeling of downright exhaustion. In turn, you will have no choice but to take some time off in an attempt to recover.
Just because you experience burnout does not mean that you need to change careers. That being said, you do need to think about the schedule you are working and any changes that you may be able to make.
Don’t let freelance writing burnout become a bigger problem than what it really is.
Some people avoid a freelance writing career because they are worried about the costs associated with getting up and running. While this is a definite concern, it is one that you should be able to handle if you put your mind to it. No matter how much money you have, starting a freelance career is a possibility – even if it is a very small amount.
If you are on a tight budget the first thing you should do is search around to see what you currently have. For instance, if you have a perfectly good computer you should use it as opposed to buying a new one. The same holds true for your printer, scanner, fax, etc. Early in your career you should use what you have as opposed to buying everything new.
Once you know what you need to spend money on, weigh your options against your budget. Those who do need a computer, for example, have many choices. Rather than go out and buy a $2k laptop, you could opt for a lesser priced desktop. This may not be the ideal situation, but as you are getting started it is important to get what you need without spending too much money on it.
In most cases, once you get all your expenses out of the way you are in good shape for the time being. You will find out soon enough that there are not many ongoing expenses. Things will come up from time to time, but nothing that should eat too far into your profits.
Even if you are on a tight budget you can still start a freelancing career. It does not take much in terms of expenses to get moving!
Before you become a freelance writer you need to ask several important questions. The one that you want to start with is this: do I have any writing experience? While your answer may not affect you as you move forward, it is one that you want to keep in the back of your mind nonetheless.
If you have writing experience you are going to find it much easier to start your career as a freelance writer. This is particularly true if your experience is related to web, magazine, or newspaper writing. That being said, even if you have only written term papers or essays you are ahead of the crowd.
But I don’t have any writing experience! This is one of the first things I hear from many aspiring freelancers. They think they need to have a lot of experience in order to get started. As noted above, experience is a good thing. But once again, it is not a requirement. When you begin to write you will get all the experience you need, plus much more.
If you don’t have any writing experience, why not go out and get some right now? You don’t need a client telling you what to do in order to get started. All you have to do is choose a topic that interests you and then get started. Once completed, you will have experience along with a sample to show prospective clients as you attempt to land your first project.
Even though it is nice to have experience, if you don’t you can still become a freelance writer. With dedication and patience, you will begin to gain experience and collect the knowledge needed to succeed in the long run.
Do you ever take the time to meet with your clients in person? In the past, it seemed as if I never had the opportunity to do this. As of late, things have changed quite a bit. It seems that every other week I am meeting with clients face to face. While this can be a bit strange at first, over time you will probably find it to be a lot of fun.
If you are worried about meeting in person with local clients, these tips will go a long way in helping you out:
1. Be prepared. When speaking on the phone or communicating via email it is easy to prepare as you go along – the same cannot be said for an in person meeting. You are going to be put on the spot, time after time, and you need to know exactly what to expect.
2. Don’t be afraid to turn the tables. Most freelancers feel that a client meeting is time for them to answer one question after the next. While this is sure to be the case, it is important to open your mouth at the appropriate times. There is nothing wrong with asking questions of your own, and leading the conversation when the opportunity arises.
3. Get an agenda in advance. This goes along with point number one. Unfortunately, many people overlook this detail. Before you meet with a client, ask them what they want to discuss, if they need anything in particular, and so on. It is much easier to prepare for a meeting with confidence if you know what is going to take place. You won’t always know exactly what is going to happen, but you should attempt to find out as much as possible.
At some point you may find yourself meeting with local clients on a regular basis. When/if this time comes, follow the three tips above.
If I become a freelance writer what hours will I work? It is amazing how many times I receive this question every week. Although it is a legitimate concern, there is no right or wrong answer. After all, I don’t even work the same hours every day.
One of the biggest benefits of being a freelance writer is that you are able to set your own schedule, within reason. In other words, if you want to work one set of hours today and another tomorrow you are able to do so without any problems at all.
Of course, I have an opinion on this subject. Over the years I have found it best to work the hours that suit my clients. For instance, a couple times per week I have conference calls scheduled during the afternoon. As you can imagine, I have to be working during this time. Sure, I could request to change the call but in most cases things work out just fine.
Some freelance writers are intrigued by the thought of being able to work late night hours. In turn, they either sleep during the day and/or head out to have a little bit of fun. This is definitely a possibility, as long as you are not hindering your ability to efficiently communicate with clients.
As of late, my work schedule has been pretty steady. I get started around 6 am and begin to slow down around 5 pm. During this time I take a couple of breaks, and am usually on the phone with clients or prospective clients for an hour or so. Even though I officially quit at 5 pm, I always find myself sneaking back for more work during the evening hours.
If you work as a freelance writer take advantage of the flexibility that comes along with setting your schedule.
As a freelance writer you have many important decisions to make. Quite a few of them are based around getting paid. Are you the type of freelancer who always asks for payment upfront? Or do you trust clients enough to pay you upon completion?
Most freelance writers agree that getting paid some money upfront is very important. In some cases this may be 50 percent, but in others you may be able to receive the entire payment before getting started.
With new clients, I always ask for at least half of the payment before getting started. This helps to protect me against non-payment, which has happened from time to time. At least if I get half of the money to start I am not totally out should the client decide to disappear.
What about with existing clients? This makes things a bit stickier. If you totally trust the client because they have paid in the past, you may feel comfortable waiting until completion to send an invoice. But even then, make sure you are careful about what you are doing.
In March, I completed a job for a client who has been sending me work for a year or so. While he always paid on time in the past, for one reason or the next, the money has yet to arrive for this project. If I would have requested payment upfront this would have never been a problem. Unfortunately, I trusted the client because they were fast and efficient in the past.
Whether or not you get paid upfront is your decision. At the very least, you should do this with new clients. Once you find payment terms that work, stick with them.
Over the past few years I have seen a big change among a large number of freelance writers. Many of them prefer web writing over any other type of project. While I am not totally sure why this is the case, I have a few ideas.
It goes without saying that more and more webmasters and companies are in need of web writing. For this reason, freelancers are flocking to these positions in an attempt to pickup additional work. In other words, they are going to where the jobs are at – and this is a very good idea.
With so many web writing jobs you would be a fool to pass them by. But remember this: you don’t want to pass up other opportunities because you cannot see past the internet. If you do, you may miss out on writing feature articles, marketing copy, books, and much more. Do you really want these opportunities to pass you by?
Web writing is a lot of fun, can pay well, and many times results in ongoing work. In short, these projects definitely have a lot to offer. Just make sure that you are not focusing all your time and effort on this one type of project. You need to spread yourself around, ensuring that all your eggs are not in one basket.
With so many benefits, as well as a lot of open jobs, there is no wondering why web writing has become so popular. As long as you continue to seek out other opportunities, these types of projects can help you grow as a writer while making a nice living.
Last week, I dealt with an interesting situation. A client that I had been working with for many years got in touch and needed a few web articles. As always, I quoted him the rate that we always work at. Soon enough the project was underway, and everything seemed to be progressing as usual.
A day or two after our first conversation the client emailed and asked me to send my best quote. As you can imagine, this confused me for a couple of reasons. First off, I thought we already agreed to the same price as always. Along with this, the job had already begun.
After sending an email back, he responded that he was hoping to spend less money this time around. I never saw this coming, and was having a difficult time understanding what he was trying to do.
In the end, things worked out as the client decided to pay his “usual rate†and leave well enough alone. Of course, this didn’t change the fact that the entire situation was quite strange from start to finish.
When a client attempts to change a detail like this, it is important that you do the same as me. First off, communicate your feelings with the client. In some cases, this is all you need to do in order to get back on track. Along with this, don’t back down just because you want the work. If details were agreed upon upfront, both parties should be willing to stick with them throughout the project.
While it would be nice to avoid situations like this altogether, doing so is not always as simple as it sounds. The best thing you can do is be 100 percent prepared for anything that comes your way.
Some clients are easy to get along with, and willing to make things as simple as possible along the way. Others are overly demanding and not much fun to work with. Although dealing with demanding clients can be a pain in the neck, there are a few things you can do to ease the tension.
Here are three tips to keep in mind:
1. Be clear from the get-go. As long as the client knows how you work and what to expect from the start, they can only do so much in terms of making demands. It is important that both parties are clear as to what they expect from the project. Along with this, don’t be forced into agreeing to something that you are not satisfied with.
2. Don’t let them push you around. I have had clients demand that I work on weekends. I have also had those that demand that I show up at their office a certain number of days per week. While there is nothing wrong with negotiating details like this, you have to stand up for yourself and the way that you like to run your business. Remember, the relationship is supposed to be mutually beneficial.
3. It’s not all about the money. Some freelance writers will continually work with overly demanding clients because they are paying a halfway decent wage. While money is important, you don’t want to be pushed around, day after day, just to make a few extra dollars.
The next time you are faced with an overly demanding client consider implementing one or more of the above tips.
No matter how great of a freelance writer you are, there are going to be times when you receive a rejection letter or email. This happens to the best of us, even when the job seems to be a perfect fit. Although a rejection is disappointing, you can learn quite a bit from it.
Here are three things you can learn from any rejection:
1. Determine what went wrong. If you are lucky, the editor will send back a brief note explaining why your query was rejected. You may find that your article suggestion was not right for that particular publication. Or maybe they loved what you had to say, but they just aren’t looking for freelancers at this time. No matter what, it is important that you know why you were rejected. This way you can better position yourself for future success.
2. Did you do anything right? You may have to dig to find this answer. As noted above, some editors will happily write back, tell you what they do and don’t like, and let you take things from there. But with others, you will have to sift through the rejection and pull out both the good and bad.
3. How to be resilient. The last thing you want is to get down on yourself every time something goes wrong. Freelance writers have to be resilient. No matter how many queries you send out, whether it is a few or 100, you are probably going to receive rejections. This is all part of being a freelance writer.
Don’t get in the habit of ripping up or deleting rejections before you take the time to learn from them. The more you learn the better chance you have of success with the next one.
