Once again this week I received several email from readers asking why I work so many hours. I assume that since my freelance writing income is regularly high that some feel I work 15 hours per day. To be honest, my freelance writing work schedule fluctuates from day to day. Sure, there are some days when I work 10 hours or more, but this is not the norm. Although I do not keep track, I would venture to guess that I have been working an average of 40 hours per week thus far in 2008.
When it comes down to it, you should work as many hours as it takes to get your work done. If you do not have enough work to stay busy, spend some time marketing and searching for new clients. Remember, you can always find something to do as a freelance writer. If I wanted to work 24 hours per day I could do so; in theory at least. Even if you are only submitting articles to Associated Content, at least you are doing something to better your career. All in all, any sort of freelance writing work is better than none.
Don’t take this the wrong way. You do not want to overdo things. I have said many times that early in my freelance writing career I was working entirely too much. This led to wrist pain, no sleep, and eventual burnout among many other issues. Your goal should be to find a happy-medium sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, there is not “set†answer on how many hours freelance writers work. Since you can set your own schedule and find your own work, your hours are up to you!Â
As of late I have spoke with several aspiring freelance writers who all asked the same question: can blogging help my career? In my opinion, blogging is only natural for freelance writers. After all, it is a great chance to not only write, but to hopefully make some contacts along the way.
When I first started this blog I did not have much direction. Generally speaking, my main goal was to simply help others who were interested in becoming a freelance writer. Over time the shape of the blog began to become clearer, and I think I have finally honed in on the direction that I want to take.
There are two ways that this blog has helped my freelance writing career. First off, it has brought a few clients my way; several of them pay quite nicely. This is not the main goal of the blog, but it is definitely an added bonus. While my blog doesn’t make much money through traditional advertising, I get some added income from clients who find me here.
Additionally, blogging has also afforded me the opportunity to connect with many others. For instance, Michael Kwan, who runs one of my favorite blogs, recently sent a client my way. He did not have the time to work with the client, but thought of me. Would I have received this referral if I did not run this blog? Of course not. Connecting with others as a freelance writer is so important for many reasons. Sure, it can help you to find more work, but as somebody who works at home, it is always nice to have people to correspond with via email, instant messenger, etc.
Although I update this blog at least once per day, this is not a frequency that you have to follow. Anytime that I am asked, I tell aspiring freelance writers that it is a great idea to start a blog. Â
As you can imagine, some freelance writing projects pay much better than others. And if you are like most writers, you want to locate the types of jobs that will pay the most money for the smallest amount of work. Unfortunately, not all jobs can fit this mold. With that being said, I have found that some types of freelance writing projects generally pay more than others. For this reason, I know where to focus my attention when it comes to seeking new clients.
Personally, I have found that mid-size magazines pay a great wage for the amount of work that they ask for. Sure, you could earn more money by writing for national publications, but as I mentioned earlier this week, that is a tough door to knock down. In my experience, it is easiest to break into mid-size magazines if you are diligent in sending query letters.
What is the average pay of a mid-size magazine? While this will change depending on the publication that you are working for, I have found the average pay rate to be between $.35 and $.65/word. In other words, for a feature article of 1,000 words you would earn between $350 and $650. A piece of this length can take several hours to put together, but if you leave yourself plenty of time before the deadline you should be just fine.
Moving on, if you are interested in breaking into the “sales letter arena†you will be able to make some big time money. Late last year I completed a 500 word sales letter for a long time client for $750. Believe it or not, this is far from the high end of the industry. I have spoken with several freelance writers who charge in excess of $2,000 for a well crafted sales letter. Corporations are always interested in a sales letter that will yield results. And in order to get results, they know that they have to pay a professional writer a high rate.
Finally, do not rule out keyword articles as a great source of income. You are not going to get rich from these articles if you are working for pennies, but there are clients who will pay a nice rate for this type of work. I still write keyword articles for some clients at a rate of $15 per 500 words or so; sometimes even less. I don’t have a problem with this because I can take my time and it is a great way to boost my income. But on the same token, I have several clients that pay in excess of $30 for 300 words. It is all about the clients you target!
Any freelance writing project can pay well if you are working with the right client. Do not be afraid to take jobs that pay reasonable but not great. Just like me, as your career builds you will be able to raise your rates which will directly effect your income.
