As of late, more and more clients and potential buyers are asking to speak with me on the phone. For me, this is like a dream come true. I know a lot of freelance writers would hate this, but I enjoy speaking with others in “real time.†Not only does this give me the chance to communicate, which is hard to come by at times as a freelancer, but it also allows me to form a better relationship with the person on the other end of the line. That being said, a phone conversation does not leave a trail of information like email. How are you going to remember what was said?
During every phone conversation, no matter who I am speaking with, I always take notes. Sometimes I do this with a pen and sticky note, and other times, when there is a lot to talk about, I use a text document so that I can save it directly to my computer.
While taking notes is important, make sure that you do not get so caught up in this that you lose track of what is going on. In other words, you need to become proficient at taking quick notes while also keeping up with the conversation. After all, you do not want to miss something important.
Remember, your notes do not have to be perfect. I only write down the important parts of the conversation, and even then I never form full sentences or record information verbatim. Instead, I write as much as I can and then clean things up after the conversation comes to an end.
No matter if you are speaking with a long term client or being interviewed, make sure you take notes. This may sound like a waste of time, but these notes will come in handy in the future.
As a freelance writer you cannot expect to be perfect. Sure, it would be nice to avoid mistakes all the time, but this is simply not possible. You should always strive for perfection, but also realize that you may make a mistake from time to time. And if this happens, you need to be open and honest with your client.
Just last week I made a mistake interpreting what a client wanted. When we first spoke the project was taking one direction, but soon enough he changed his mind and things were moving another way. Unfortunately, I did not grasp the change and more or less stayed on track with the original plan. When it came time to send the completed work to the client I realized what I had done. At that point I had one of two options. I could either blame the client, or be honest and let him know that I made a mistake. Of course, I chose the latter. Fortunately, the client understood the mix up and had no problem giving me a few extra days to get back on track.
Are all clients going to be this nice? Of course not. Some of them will expect you to be perfect at all times. And while you may be able to avoid mistakes most of the time, you never know when this will change. The only thing that you can do is admit your error and tell the client that you will do whatever it takes to fix the problem. In most cases, through my experiences, this is enough to smooth things over.
If you make a mistake there is no reason to feel stupid. Remember, your clients make mistakes as well. If you are open and honest most of them will understand your situation and be willing to give you a chance to fix things.
Mistakes happen, and the way that you deal with them will determine the relationship you have with your client in the future.
Starting a career as a freelance writer is scary for many reasons. One of the most common is fear that your career will not take off soon enough. This is especially true among writers who leave a comfortable day job to chase their dream. While fear is natural, quitting shouldn’t be. In other words, don’t give up on your freelance writing career until you give it your all. And even then you may need to continue to push in order to reach your goals.
It is easier to give up than to work hard day in and day out. I promise you, the most difficult part of becoming a freelance writer is the first two months. Once you settle in and land even one client, you will feel much better about the direction of your career. As I have said many times before, I earned $52 my first month as a freelance writer. Did I think about quitting? I was afraid that I may have made a bad decision, but I never gave up even though it would have been easy to do so.
You have to give your freelance writing career a chance to develop. It takes time to learn the industry, to make contacts, and to land clients. For me, it took three months to really get a grasp on my career and the direction that I wanted to take. Even now I am still learning a lot and working on new ways to increase my income and better myself. If I would have given up after the first month I would not be writing this blog, or earning a decent living as a freelance writer.
Time after time I hear from freelance writers who thank me for assisting them but have decided to move onto another career. The shame of this is that many of them are giving up after a couple of months.
If you are going to chase a career as a freelance writer you need to be patient. Over time your career will develop if you stick in there and work hard. Â
