Five Rarely Thought of Freelance Writing Tips
There have been a lot of factors that have contributed to my freelance writing success. In many cases, it was the small details that have helped me to succeed along the way. Too many aspiring freelance writers get caught up in the large details that are on the surface, and in turn forget about the minor tasks that need to be taken care of in an efficient manner.
Here are five rarely thought of freelance writing tips. They are sure to help no matter what stage of your career you may be in.
1. First and foremost, you do NOT have to be a great writer in order to succeed in this business. Believe it or not, I do not think of myself as a great writer. Do I have solid writing skills? Of course. But this does not mean that I am better than everybody else. As long as you have a good command of the English language and can follow what your clients want, you should be just fine.
2. Your marketing skills are almost as important as your writing skills. Even if you are a great writer, nobody will know that you exist unless you also learn how to market yourself. Take the time to try out different marketing techniques ranging from starting your own service related website to cold calling.
3. Hard work will pay off when it comes to freelance writing. How bad do you want to start a career in this field? For me, failing as a freelance writer was never an option. I had no other job at the time of starting, and I needed the money to pay the bills. If you have a sense of desperation, you will be able to turn your freelance writing career into a successful one.
4. Do not worry too much about money during the early days of your freelance writing career. Does this mean that you should work for less than what you are worth? Maybe, maybe not. But when it comes down to it, you need to start somewhere; and for many, this is with low paying jobs. My first jobs only paid a dollar or so per article. I would never work for that rate now, but back then I was glad to have money coming in.
5. Guess what? Freelance writing can get boring. Even if you love writing, as I do, from time to time you are going to hit a wall. When this happens, it is always nice to have another project to work on. And that is why I have started several blogs over the past year or so. A blog combines what I like about freelance writing with other business related aspects.
Can you put these tips to good use? If you are a freelance writer, your answer should be yes. When it comes to freelance writing, the big things do not always mean the most.

October 17th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Your first four tips are excellent. I made my living as a freelance writer for many years and am now in a full time writing/editorial position. You give great advice about all of the things that new writers often misperceive. I can’t say that I understand # 5, though–after more than two decades in the writing business, I’ve been frazzled sometimes, exhausted sometimes, even broke sometimes…but definitely never bored.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Tiffany - Thanks for the comment! Maybe “boring” was a bad choice of words? But there are some days when I feel like typing one more word will all but drive me crazy. Anyway, glad to have you here! Hope to see more comment from you in the future…