While walking out of a restaurant last night, an elderly gentleman began to make conversation with me. Soon enough he was telling me about his many careers, and then asked me what my occupation was. Upon telling him that I was a freelance writer, he looked at me strangely. “You shoulda been an engineer,†he said. Not knowing where he was coming from, I asked why. “Being a freelance writer is nice but you can’t make any money.â€Â
It is a common misconception among many that freelance writers have no opportunity to earn “real money.†It is of my opinion that this misconception brings down writers in more ways than one, and makes many of them believe that they do not deserve to be paid reasonable wages.
Sure, some engineers make a lot of money, but there are just as many who are stuck as the bottom of the industry trying to make their way to the top. There may be some freelance writers who don’t make enough money to support themselves, but there is nothing that says you have to join them. When it comes down to it, the sky is the limit. As an engineer, for example, you will work for a company that sets your salary. As a freelance writer, there is nobody to hold you back. If you want to earn more money you do not have to ask for a raise or change jobs. You can simply work harder, do better work, and expand your client base.
Don’t let the perception of not earning enough money keep you away from following your dream of becoming a freelance writer. Just like any other career, you can start out at entry level wages and then increase your income as time goes by. Maybe I should have told that gentleman to check out my freelance writing income report for March?
Most freelance writers that I know communicate with clients primarily via email. For me, this holds true most of the time as well. Of course, there are times when I speak with clients over the phone or in person. But with email being so easy, quick, and effective, it seems to be the preferred method among most freelancers.
The key question is: how often do you communicate with your freelance writing clients? This is different for every writer and every client, but you definitely want to keep in mind that it is important to keep in touch. If you go too long without communicating, your client may feel as if you are out of touch too much. In the long run, this may put strain on your relationship.
One thing that I have found helpful is to communicate with clients even if my deadline is nowhere in sight. For instance, I have a large project due at the end of May for a regional sports publication. While I could wait until the last day to send the project, this would be a huge mistake. Not only would it put my back against the wall, but it would do the same to the editor. Instead, I check in once per week to update the editor on my progress and to ask if he needs anything. In most cases this is nothing more than a short email, and that is usually enough until the next time around.
Base your communication on the type of client you are dealing with, and what they have conveyed to you in the past. Many clients tell me up front that they want me to check in every so often. And believe it or not, some even tell me that they don’t need to talk until the project is complete. If you take cues from your client and your past experiences, you should not have any problems determining how often to communicate with them.
As a freelance writer, you need a wide variety of skills to succeed. Perhaps the most important skill outside of good composition skills is the ability to successfully market your services. Keep this in mind: if nobody knows that you are a freelance writer you are never going to succeed.
I feel strongly that you should market your freelance writing services everyday. While this can be a difficult pace to keep, it is crucial to your overall success. This is not to say that you have to spend hours on end marketing your business, but a few minutes here and there will definitely help.
How can you market your services on a regular basis? As of late, I have been doing this in several ways. First and foremost, I have been sending query letters like crazy. There are some days when I send out three to five queries without thinking twice. Have I had any success? Over the past month, three queries have turned into a project with two of them being long term. This is not the greatest percentage, but sending queries is a number game. If you get enough of them in the pipeline you are sure to find publications that are willing to work with you.
Moving on, marketing your freelance writing services through cold calling and emailing can work to your advantage as well. When doing this, you will be targeting businesses as opposed to magazines and other like publications. Even if you are turned down, you never know who will call you back in the future. I have been told no on hundreds of cold calls, but soon enough some of these people call with a request for help. Simply getting your name “out there†will help you immensely.
Whatever you do, make sure that you are marketing your services on a regular basis. It may be difficult to do this on a daily basis if you are extremely busy, but try your best. As you increase your marketing initiative the amount of work that you receive will follow suit.
