Many people are under the impression that freelance writers work a lot for very little pay; sort of like struggling musicians. While this can be the case for some, there are just as many who are earning solid wages. One of the quickest ways to increase your freelance writing income is to break into the markets that pay the most money. Early in my career, one of my main goals was to find publications that paid $1/word or more. Writing for publications like this can quickly turn a meager income into a substantial income. After all, one feature length article could work out to a couple thousand dollars.
Now that you have seen the income potential, you are probably interested in learning how to break into these markets, right? Here are three tips to follow.
1. Before you can do anything else, you need gain some experience. Remember, you cannot start out earning $1/word. You must first gain experience with lesser known publications, and then work your way up. There is no easy way around this.Â
2. While you are working lower paying gigs, take the time to compile a list of publications that pay $1/word or more. This way, you can begin to align your career to match what these publications are looking for. For instance, if you want to break into high paying fashion magazines, write for lower paying publications in this industry. This will allow you to gain relative experience and work samples. To find these publications, buy a copy of Writer’s Market, or become a member of their online service.
3. Make as many connections as you can along the way. In several instances, I have had satisfied editors pass my name along to others in the industry. Additionally, you never know when a current connection will land a new job with a bigger publication. If this happens, you have a contact to call on from day one. Simply put, stay connected with as many editors and writers as possible.
It may take a while for you to break into these high paying markets. But when you do, your freelance writing career will become much more enjoyable. As you can imagine, becoming a regular writer for two or more of these publications will net you big time money.Â
In the world of freelance writing, dealing with language barriers is quite common. And of course, the way that you deal with this issue could be the difference between securing a contract and being turned down.
From my experience, writing web content brings a lot of opportunities to work with people from other countries. While many see this as a negative, it is actually quite interesting to me. Of course, it does pose a problem in many cases because I only speak English. For this reason, I always proceed with extreme caution if I am dealing with a client that does not speak English as a first language.
In the past, I have had some issues with project details and pricing in these situations. For example, I was recently contacted by a potential client who’s English was noticeably bad. Luckily for me, he was open about his struggle with the language, and apologized in advance. But even then, I had my hands full sifting through what he was interested in. It can often times be difficult to decipher what the client wants. In this particular case, it took about 10 emails back and forth to finally narrow down the scope of the project.
When working with clients who do not speak great English, never take anything for granted. Make sure that you always double check the details, and that everything is laid out on the table from day one. This way, you can always go back to prior conversations should something get out of whack during the project completion process.
To go along with the actual details of the project, pricing is also very important. Once again, somebody who is not fluent in English may not understand the American Dollar. It is very important that you also come to terms on the exact cost of the project before you start.
Overall, I am open to working with anybody and everybody, regardless of location. After all, one of the greatest benefits of the internet is that it brings together people from all over the world. Just make sure that you have all the details in line if you are going to be working with somebody who is less than proficient in the English language.Â
Patience is very important no matter what business venture you are getting involved with. Even the largest companies in the world had to go through growing pains, times of doubt, etc. Of course, there are others that took off from day one, but they are few and far between. When it comes to a career in freelance writing, this is something to keep in mind. Patience is essential if you are going to stay within this career field for an extended period of time.
As I have mentioned in the past, a freelance writing career can take months to get up and running. While I found some success after only three months, it was hard to make it that long without giving up. After all, I went from a corporate job earning a solid living to hoping that something would break my way so that I could pay the bills. Without patience, I would have been searching the classifieds after a month as a freelancer.
Of course, there is a big difference between knowing that you need to be patient and actually doing so. To hang in there when everything seems to be going wrong, you need to keep in mind that every job has its ups and downs. If you were to quit your freelance writing career and start applying for office jobs, what would happen? That’s right, you would have to deal with rejections, low offers of pay, and much more. Simply put, you may have a guaranteed income, but being a freelance writer is not the only career with uncertainty and doubt.
Overall, be patient when starting a freelance writing career. Before you ever start, come to the realization that you will be tested time after time. But remember, if you stick around, you will get to reap the rewards in the end.Â
