Three Types of Freelance Writing Goals
In my last freelance writing income report, I talked a bit about missing some of the income goals that I set for myself. In my opinion, it is very important for every freelance writer to set goals. While this may seem like a broad topic, there are actually three types of goals that you can consider setting for yourself.
1. If you are like most freelance writers, you probably dream of making a lot of money; I know I do. For this reason, you should set income goals that you can chase. You can break your income goals down by day, week, month, quarter, or year. Personally, I set goals in this area for each month, as well as the entire year. By having these numbers in front of me everyday, I can chart my progress to make sure that I am staying on track.
2. You should consider setting timeline based goals. For instance, you may want to set a goal of becoming a full-time freelance writer by the end of 2008. This is one of the most common time based goals, but certainly not the only one.
3. As I have mentioned in the past, day to day project goals are very important. This is why I always have a to-do checklist sitting on my desk. While getting through my daily work is not a huge accomplishment, it is a small goal that I set for myself each day. Even though I have been doing this for a while, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when the last item on my daily to-do list is checked off.
As you can see, not every freelance writing goal has to be based on how much money you earn. This is a common trap that many writers fall into, but one that you want to avoid. You will find that reaching smaller plateaus will allow you to reach your income goals in the long run.
No matter where you are at in your freelance writing career, make sure that you always set goals for yourself. It is very easy to slack off and get sidetracked if you do not have anything to work towards. Even if your goals are simple, you will still have something to strive for each day that you sit down at your computer.
