Freelance Writing|Freelance Writer

Check your Email often

Have you ever heard about how unproductive it can be to check your email too often? While I agree with this to a certain extent, there are times when you need to be checking for new emails on a regular basis. Why do some people think that checking email too often is a bad thing? Simply put, they believe that this wastes time and decreases productivity. This can be true, but as a freelance writer you need to realize that going overboard and avoiding your email account can be a bad thing.

I check my many email accounts several times per day. This is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do before retiring for the night. And as you can imagine, I check for new emails many times throughout the workday as well. What is the point in doing so on a regular basis? I do not like making my clients or potential buyers wait too long for a response. For instance, if a client has a question I want to make sure they get an answer at once. This not only makes them feel better, but it makes me look good because it shows I care.

How do you know when you are spending too much time checking your email? This is a difficult question to answer but keep this in mind: if your “email stalking” is holding back your progress in other areas you have gone off the deep end. There is nothing wrong with refreshing your email every hour, but the moment that this begins to effect how you work you need to make a change.

How many email accounts do you have? This will greatly effect how much time you spend checking for new emails. If you only have one account you can do this quickly enough. But if you have several accounts you are going to spend more time going through all of them.

Finally, keep this tip in mind: just because you check your email often does not mean that you have to respond to every message you receive. You want to read every message and once you do you can then determine which ones to reply to right away and which ones can wait until you have more time.

I believe it is important for freelance writers to check their email often. As long as this does not stunt your progress and productivity you have nothing to worry about. 

Three Ways to Win Clients Over

Winning over clients is a good thing no matter how you look at it. The better your relationship with a client the more chance there is that you will work together long term. Unfortunately, winning over clients is not always as easy as it seems. This is particularly true if you are in the early stages of your relationship. That being said, there are ways that freelance writers can win over clients without going overboard.

1. Be prompt. No matter what you want to be prompt. You never want to miss a deadline, or leave a client hanging on for too long. If you receive an email from a client it is important answer it as soon as possible. It is not difficult to be prompt at all times. In fact, once you get into the groove it will become second nature. For me, missing a deadline is not an option.

2. Competitive pricing. This is an area that can be difficult to deal with because every client has different expectations when it comes to pricing. For instance, I have some clients who do not think twice about paying $.25/word for web content. But on the other hand I receive regular emails from potential buyers asking me to work for $.05/word or less. To go along with this they don’t have any problem adding that this is a “great rate” for what they need. By offering competitive pricing you will be able to win clients over and keep them happy month in and month out. But remember, your rates are your rates. You need to stick to your guns at some point and realize the difference between satisfying your clients and harming your chance at earning a solid income.

3. Do you respect your clients? If not, you are going to find it hard to strike up a long term relationship. No matter what comes up and what position you are in you need to show the proper amount of respect. Remember, when you respect your clients they will do the same in return.

As a freelance writer you want to form long term relationships with clients. By implementing the three tips above you should be able to win over clients and make them realize that you are an important piece of their success.

When Upfront Payment is a Good idea

As a freelance writer you need to protect yourself as much as possible. It is unfortunate, but there are many people “out there” who will try to scam freelance writers as well as many other online professionals. One of the best ways to protect yourself it to request upfront payment. There are times when this is a good idea, times when it may not work, and times when you don’t have to even think about it. Do you know what you are doing in this area?

The best time to request upfront payment is when you are working with a client for the first time. This does not mean that your new client is trying to rip you off, but by requesting payment upfront you can put your mind to ease. Remember, the client may be as apprehensive as you so they may put up a fight if you request 100 percent of the money. To solve this problem you can meet in the middle by asking for 50 percent upfront and the other 50 percent upon completion.

Although it is a good idea to receive upfront payment there are some situations when this is not going to be possible. For instance, most magazines are not going to pay you upfront for your work. In fact, it may take a few months to receive any payment at all. And while this may be a hassle it is not as bad as it seems because most magazines want to uphold their reputation. For this reason they are not going to scam you. It could happen, but it is not common. And since you don’t have a good chance of receiving payment upfront anyway it is a risk you will have to take.

Once a client proves they are reliable you don’t have to continue being paid in advance. Instead, you can get on a schedule in which the client pays when you complete the work. But of course, if they want to continue to pay upfront you shouldn’t argue.

Payment upfront is a good idea when working with a new client. Once you establish a relationship you can forget about this and know that you will get paid for the work you complete. There is nothing better than having clients that you can trust to pay on time.