It seems that all freelance writers have their “specialty.†This is more or less the type of projects that they work on the most. For some, this is keyword articles, for others business plans or sales letters. One of the best paying specialties to consider is feature articles. If you can break into this area you are sure to increase your monthly income.
As you probably know, feature articles are used by magazines of all sizes. These are the articles that are featured in the magazine due to their depth, detail, and most of the time length. Early on in my freelance writing career I did not concentrate much on feature articles. After all, these gigs are difficult to tie down because there is a lot of competition for them.
After a few months I began to send out query letters to mid-size magazines that matched my expertise. Soon enough, I landed a couple of regular jobs and was on my way from there. Check out a feature of mine in Insight Magazine; this is just one of many that I have completed in the past few years.
The most difficult part of breaking into feature article market is getting that first job. Without a lot of samples this can be difficult, but if you send out enough queries you are sure to get a bite sooner rather than later. From there, you can begin to narrow down your targets and build your career. Your first gig may not pay great, but it is a start nonetheless.
As mentioned briefly above, feature articles can pay very well. This is not always the case, but bigger publications pay $1/word and up. I have never earned that much per word, but have been close a couple of times. Just like anything else within the freelance writing industry, your pay will increase as you become better known and more proficient at writing feature articles.
No matter what stage of your career you are at, attempt to break into feature article writing sooner rather than later.
Once or twice a day I usually receive an email from an aspiring freelance writer. In most cases, they all have a similar question based around what it takes to make a full-time income. I have said time after time that I really didn’t do anything special to get my career started. Generally speaking, it took a lot of patience, hard work, and maybe even some luck.
Outside of the basics of being able to write, there are three things that every aspiring freelance writer should have in common:
1. Dedication to your craft is very important. If you are going to be successful with your freelance writing career you need to stick with it, day in and day out. There are going to be times when you feel down and out, or want to give up because nothing is going your way. You must treat every client and every project with a high degree of respect. When you are dedicated to your work, it will pay off largely as time goes by.
2. Having the right attitude is essential to starting a successful freelance writing career. If you are not in the right frame of mind, you might as well save your time. The right attitude consists of taking pride in your work, not being afraid of failure, and staying positive at all times. It is not always easy to keep a good attitude, but to be a success this is crucial. If you are negative all the time and are simply working to make a buck, this will show through in your work. And guess what? When that happens, your clients will catch on and you will be out of a job.
3. You have to realize that freelance writing is a business. No, you are not shipping products or making sales calls all day, but this is a business nonetheless. By treating your freelance writing career as a business you will find it much easier to act professionally. Remember, there is a big difference between having a freelance writing business and writing as a hobby.
When I was starting out as a freelance writer, I hung my hat on the three points listed above. And even though I am no longer new to the industry, I still rely on dedication, a good attitude, and a professional approach to my career.
The more freelance writing jobs that you have in the pipeline, the more money you are going to make. So wouldn’t it be nice if the clients that you currently have would start to offer you more projects? Well, there is a simple way for you to turn one freelance writing job into another and so on. The secret of doing this is easier than you may think: all you have to do is ask.
To illustrate this, let’s take a look at one of my business clients that I have been working with for more than a year. The first job that they ever asked me to complete was 100 keyword articles. While these are not the largest percentage of my business, I do write them from time to time. I figured that accepting the job was a great way to get my foot in the door with a mid-sized firm. Not to mention the fact that they were willing to pay nearly $20/article.
Once the first 100 articles were complete, the client expressed how pleased they were with the work. Anytime that a client tells you how good of a job you did, there is a good chance for more work in the future. Immediately upon hearing their feedback, I offered my press release writing service to them. From reading their website I knew that they were distributing press releases on a regular basis, but that they were not as well formatted as they could be.
By simply asking to become their press release writer, I received another huge project. The client hired me to write two releases a week at a rate of $50 for each one. Although my rate has since increased, the company has kept me onboard nonetheless. It has been many months since I started working for them in this capacity, and each week they send me a couple hundred dollars for these press releases.
Set a goal of trying to turn one job for a client into another. By doing this, you will have a better chance of retaining clients month in and month out, while also giving yourself the chance to increase your freelance writing income.
