It is important to know what is working for you as a freelance writer. This holds true with sales and marketing, as well as the actual projects that you are completing for clients. If you do not know what works, how will you know when to make changes? What if you change something that has been working without knowing it?
Personally, I keep a close watch on my marketing efforts to determine what is working best and what I can do away with. This doesn’t mean that I change my marketing plan every week, but a few tweaks here and there can go a long way.
Should I try to fix something that hasn’t worked in the past? This is a good question, and one that you should address. There is nothing wrong with trying to fix particular aspects of your business, but you do not want to spend too much time doing so. For example, if cold calling has not been working for you, you may want to change your approach. But if you continue down the same path and find that you are still seeing no results, giving up on this strategy for the time being would be in your best interest.
Remember, there are only so many working hours in a day. You need to spend your time on what benefits you, your career, and clients, and avoid anything that is taking away from your success. The only way to do this is by paying attention to what has worked in the past, and then let this guide you towards a brighter future.Â
Yesterday I wrote a post about working on the weekends. Today, I want to talk about working late hours as a freelance writer. This is something that many of my freelance writing friends do. That being said, I am not the type to work into the wee hours of the morning. Instead, I prefer to rise early because this better fits my schedule.
Speaking of schedules, yours should determine when you work as a freelance writer. For instance, if you do not have a lot of time in the morning, for whatever reason, there is a good chance that the nighttime will be the best time to work. Take for instance somebody who has children. This person may spend their morning getting their kids off to school, preparing meals, etc. But when the nighttime rolls around, and the kids are in bed, things begin to die down. It is at this time that getting to work makes the most sense.
As long as you are on top of your game there is nothing wrong with working late hours. For me, this would not be a good idea. I always feel better in the morning, and only like to work on freelance writing projects when I am energized and have a perfectly clear mind. By the time 9 or 10 pm hits my brain is beginning to shut down for the most part. This doesn’t mean that I never work late hours, but I do try to avoid it when possible.
One of the biggest benefits of working as a freelance writer is that you can set your own schedule. If working in the morning and/or afternoon doesn’t suit you, there is a good chance that you can get things done after the sun goes down. Once you get on a schedule, no matter what it may be, you will be better about the progress you are making as a freelance writer.Â
Working on the weekend is never a lot of fun. Sure, this is a great way to make some extra money and advance your career, but you definitely need time off if you are going to achieve long term success. When I started out as a freelance writer I always worked on the weekends, as well as every other day. But soon enough I was feeling burnt out, and realized that this was not the best idea.
If you are tired of working on the weekends, follow these three tips:
1. Work harder on Fridays. I know many freelance writers who put in extra work on Fridays so they do not have to do anything on the weekends, or even early the next week. Do you have the time and energy to get more work done at the end of the week? If so, this will benefit you on the weekends and maybe even into Monday.
2. Have a to-do list. When you have a to-do list you will stay on track Monday through Friday. This makes it much easier to get all of your work completed during the week. There is nothing worse than forgetting about a project, and realizing that you have to work on a weekend to complete it. With a to-do list this will never happen.
3. Don’t take on tight deadlines. When accepting a new project you need to be aware of the deadline, how much available time you have, and whether or not this could force you into weekend work. If you are not comfortable with a deadline you can always negotiate this.
These three tips should help you to avoid weekend work. Even though there are times when I work on Saturday and/or Sunday, I try to avoid this for the most part. The tips above allow me to do just that most of the time!
