Don’t Always Turn Down the Small Jobs
There is no denying that a few big jobs make up a large part of my monthly freelance writing income. But guess what? I also believe that smaller jobs are every bit as important. Sure, I would love to work on high paying jobs only, who wouldn’t? But the reality of the freelance writing industry (at least for me) is that this is not always possible. For this reason, I always think twice before I turn down any small jobs that I am offered.
What does a small freelance writing job mean to me? First off, when I say “small” I mean small in the way of payment. But when you add three and four small jobs together, you end up with one big job. This is why taking on small jobs that will not consume a lot of your time is very important.
Take for instance one specific pet related project that I work on every morning. This project consists of one article per day of 300 words or so. For this, I receive $10/day. That may sound small on the surface, but by months end this has added up to $300; which is a nice sum to bump up my monthly total.
When I finally get to a point where my workload has become too much, I then start to cut back on the smallest of small jobs. But of course, I only do this when I am completely out of time. In the example above, it would be foolish for me to leave $300 on the table when it only takes me about 15 minutes a day to complete one of these articles.
I read a lot of blogs, and one thing that other freelance writers always touch on is that you should get paid a solid wage for your work. And while I agree with this, I think it is foolish to pass by a project just because you are not being offered $.20/word or more. This is especially true if you are new to freelance writing, and are simply trying to get in on the ground floor.
Simply put: do not always turn down the small jobs. Several of these could add up to more money than you ever imagined!
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August 30th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
thanks i appreciate the mention
stumbled!
August 30th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Another advantage of small jobs - sometimes taking a break from a major project to turn out a 15-minute job helps clear my mind and makes me more productive.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Also, you never know when that small job might turn into a bigger job at some point. Businesses grow and people change jobs. So, someone may remember a small job you did and ask you to do a big job.
But, you really have to consider that a bonus. Don’t take lots of small jobs in the hopes that they’ll one day turn into a big job. Odds are they won’t. Just be careful not to burn any bridges when you turn down work.
On that vein, I’ll tell you a story of a salesman many many years ago who walked into my workplace. He took a look around and said something like, “You’re too small for us” and left.
Years later, when the company was big enough, he was back. The company owner remembered him. Guess how that went.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Good advice, I only have small jobs right now but they have made the blog pay for itself, my hosting is covered for most of the rest of this year.
One day there may be big jobs too, right now I am having fun blogging and the wife lies that I don’t spend any of our regular income on it.
August 31st, 2007 at 11:45 am
Good to see that most of you guys and gals agree that small jobs can be worth the time and effort!
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:26 am
I agree Chris - everyone start small and you never know where small jobs will lead you. Even jobs to do for free. I did a couple of volunteer hours editing a newsletter for an NGO, even if it didn’t really help me with my career, I personally have learnt a lot through that experience!