I can still remember by first day as a freelance writer. I was scared of many things including not being able to find any clients. There is no denying that landing your first client can be difficult. It took me a week or so to find a client who was willing to do business with me. Fortunately, after that first client things began to speed up quite a bit.
If you are having a difficult time landing your first freelance writing client you should keep the following tips in mind:
1. Stay patient. Even though this is easier said than done, it is very important. If you get down on yourself and begin to give up you are never going to achieve success. You may get lucky and find a client on your first day as a freelance writer. Or you may have to work hard for a few weeks to achieve success. No matter what, stay patient and stick with what you are doing until something breaks your way.
2. Do not limit yourself on how you are attempting to find your first client. Some freelance writers only search online job boards. While this may work, they are missing out on other opportunities such as cold emailing, cold calling, bidding sites, etc. Be sure to keep all of your options open when it comes to your marketing plan.
What if nothing is working for me? How long should I wait before giving up once and for all? This is up to you. If nothing is working you need to make some changes. Again, don’t stick with one type of marketing if it is not working for you. Instead, change your approach to see what else is out there. It is your right to give up on your freelance writing career whenever you want. But remember, quitting now will only make it more difficult to jumpstart your career in the future.
Even though landing your first freelance writing client can be difficult, once you do so you will be off and running. Â
Many freelance writers in my course tell me that they do not like getting up early because they can never get off on the right foot. This is a common problem, and I used to deal with the same thing. Fortunately, I found out soon enough that getting an early start was not all that hard and it can be quite beneficial.
If you want to start your day off right, follow these three tips:
1. Eat breakfast before heading to your computer. For some people, all it takes is a little bit of food to get a huge boost of energy. This is something that you should definitely do no matter what time you are waking up. As soon as I began to eat breakfast in the morning my productivity increased.
2. Do not rush. Even if you are getting up early so you can work, it is important that you are not in too big of a rush. Give yourself time to wake up, get ready, and hopefully grab a bite to eat. Tip: set your alarm a few minutes early so you do not have to feel as if you are in a big rush.
3. In contrast to number two, you do not want to take too long to get to your computer. Getting up early is a great idea. But if you are spending too long in the bathroom, at the kitchen table, and on other related tasks you are not going to get an early start on your work.
This post is not meant to tell you that you have to wake up early. Instead, it is for those who want to start their day early but are finding it difficult to do so for one reason or the next.Â
Even though I have good and bad days, there are not many when I have a hard time getting motivated. From the moment I wake up in the morning I am excited to get to work. This is one of the main reasons that I got involved with freelance writing. I knew from the start that it would excite me, day in and day out, and this is still the case many years later.
If you are not motivated to work it is time to make a career change. Not only does a lack of motivation make you feel bad on a personal level, but it also puts you in a tough spot when it comes to actually getting your work done. When I worked as a sales manager there would be days when I was gung-ho about making money and landing as many new accounts as possible. But there were also an equal amount of days when I felt like staying in bed, or worse yet, going to sleep when I finally arrived at the office. This is how unmotivated and bored I was with my job!
As a freelance writer there are many things that motivate me. Not only do I want to do good work for all my clients, but knowing that I can earn a good living is also something that keeps me going. This does not mean that everyday is a good day. Just like everybody else there are times when I get frustrated and feel that time off would be nice. But unlike past jobs, these bad times are few and far between.
If you are working as a freelance writer and are always motivated to do your best you are in position to succeed. But on the other hand, if you are unmotivated, no matter your job description, now may be the best time to make a change.Â
