No matter your career you need to be motivated to reach your goals, whatever they may be. You don’t have goals? Well, in my opinion, that is downright crazy. In order to stay motivated and to build a successful freelance writing career you need to have goals, both short and long term. Your goals will serve for motivation, which will in turn allow you to be in the best possible position to achieve future success.
What motivates you as a freelance writer? If you don’t know the answer to this question you can probably look within and around your goals. Here are three things that motivate me, and may suit you as well:
1. Success. It is nice to succeed. To me success is helping others and building relationships with new people. Of course, this may mean something different to you; and that is fine. Know what success means to you, and then build this into your goals.
2. Money. Who isn’t motivated by money? Sure, I work hard to help others but at the same time I know that this will also result in more money over the long run. If you are looking for a quick way to motivate yourself set a goal based around your income. For instance, you may want to set a goal stating that you will earn $100k in 2009. There is no denying that this will get you in gear when January 1 rolls around.
3. Keeping your career and the benefits it offers. Success and money are very important, but you should also be motivated to do your best because this will allow you to keep your career as a freelance writer. I never want to go back to a 9 – 5 job, and for this reason I am always motivated to do my best. As long as I work hard and do by best I know that my career as a freelance writer will be long and prosperous.
No matter what, you need to know what motivates you to keep ticking as a freelance writer.
Are you truly excited about your freelance writing career? Do you feel good about the direction you are headed? If you can answer yes to both of these questions you are in a good place. This is a topic I have touched on in the past, but it is one that is important to keep in mind at all times. If you are not excited about your career you are going to find it difficult to have fun and to also earn a decent living. Sounds a lot like working a 9 – 5 job, doesn’t it? Simply put, you don’t want to work a job, no matter what it is, if you are not excited about the future.
Of course, you need to know the difference between never being excited about your career and being in a rut. Even though I love my job there are days when I feel down and out and would rather take some time off. Does this mean that I am no longer excited about being a freelance writer? Definitely not. It simply means that I hit a minor snag that must be overcome.
If you need to “reignite†your career you can do so in a number of different ways. One way is to find new clients that offer different types of projects. If you are always working on web content projects, and they are becoming boring, maybe you can consider sales letters or feature articles. Anything that will break up the monotony of your day can help to add some excitement to your career.
Do you remember how bad it used to be when you worked a regular 9 – 5 job? Think back to those days and you are sure to realize just how exciting and beneficial it is to work as a freelance writer. If this does not get you excited, nothing will.
The more excited you are about your career the better chance you have of achieving success in more ways than one. I have found that the freelance writers who make the most money are those who truly enjoy what they are doing.
If you are in a rut do your best to reignite your career and find some new excitement.Â
As a freelance writer you probably spend a lot of time marketing your services with hopes of landing new clients. And when your marketing plan pays off there is no denying that you will be quite excited. That being said, there are times when a client simply isn’t worth the effort. It is always better to find this out sooner rather than later, but things don’t always work out this way.
Below are two situations you may face:
1. A client wants to work with you but you are unsure of whether or not the relationship will be mutually beneficial. For instance, you may be offered a group of 50 keyword articles. Sounds good, right? On the surface, yes. But if the client is only offering to pay a total of $100 you are probably better off moving on. Remember, you need to be selective about who you work with. Clients that want high quality work will have to pay for it.
2. You are already working with a client but your relationship is rocky at best. Over time you may find that some clients are no longer as accommodating as they once were, for whatever reason. Maybe they are treating you poorly or wanting to pay you less for the same type of work. Even if a client offered a lot in the past there may come a time when they are no longer worth your time and effort. It can be difficult to dissolve a relationship but you must keep the wellbeing of your career in mind at all times.
I have many great clients that are fun to work with. At the same time there have been times in the past when I moved on from a client because things were no longer working out. There may come a time when a freelance writing client is no longer worth the effort. If you are feeling this way, consider the pros and cons of dissolving the relationship before making a final decision. Â
