In today’s day and age, the most common way for freelance writers to communicate with clients is via email. Personally, I usually receive in excess of 25 emails per day. To go along with this, I send out just as many myself. This is not to say that I never use the phone or meet with clients in person, but these methods of communication are not nearly as common.
When sending email to clients, there are several tips that you will want to keep in mind.
1. Your subject should be clear and concise. Remember, you do not want the recipient to think that your email is spam. If you are not clear with your subject, this can and will happen. I like to use my name and a short blurb in the subject line. For instance “Your Name, Blog Project.†This will ensure that the client knows who the message is from, as well as what it is about.
2. You know your clients better than anybody else. If they usually respond with short emails, it probably means that they are busy. For this reason, you should get to the point as quickly as possible. This way you know that the client read your message, and that you did not take up too much of their time.
3. Just because you are using email does not mean that you should forget about etiquette. For instance, you never want to use curse words when communicating via email. Many people think that this goes without saying, but you would be surprised by how many emails I receive that are laced with curse words. Simply put, show respect to the recipient. You never know when your words will be misconstrued. Believe it or not, offending a client in an email could lead to them terminating your work.
As you can see, you need to put time into each email that you send. Follow the three tips above, and also make sure that you proofread your email before hitting the send button. Remember, once an email is sent, there is no getting it back.
Have you ever asked yourself why you became a freelance writer? If you cannot answer this question, there is a chance that you are not happy with your career. After all, you got into this line of work for a reason, right? Personally, there are several reasons that I decided to join the wonderful world of freelance writing. Here are just a few of them:
1. I love writing! I received my college degree in journalism, and even though it took me a while to get involved after graduation, I was always thinking about it. If something keeps coming to mind time after time, it is safe to say that you should find out why.
2. Even though I was always told that working as a freelance writer was a low paying job, I never really believed it. After all, there are many who are earning a freelance writing income in excess of $100k. I may not make that much money, but it sure beats sitting in a cubicle and working for somebody else.
3. I like to work independently, and call my own shots. This is not to say that I try to avoid others, but the flexibility of working on my own is definitely a huge draw of being a freelance writer. I get to set my own schedule, work at my own pace, and control my income to a certain extent. If you work in the corporate world, you are well aware that taking orders is a part of life.
The above are three reasons why I became a freelance writer. Of course, there are many other benefits of this career such as making friends with clients and colleagues, the opportunity to learn, and the chance to expand into other areas of business.
If you are thinking about becoming a freelance writer, decide why this is the career choice for you. It is much better to consider the pros and cons of this career before starting, rather than getting involved just to find that you made the wrong choice.Â
If you use forums such as Digital Point to find freelance writing work, make sure that you watch out for scams. This is not to say that every buyer is a scammer, but there are quite a few that are. While I have written about this in the past, I never supplied any samples of “scam emails/private messages.†Well, this time things are different.
Check out this private message that I received at Digital Point last week:
We need over 300 Articles for our website,
But as a sample, we would like to have 1 article supplied to us for its validation, before work is given for whole 300 articles bunch.
We require an American Native, to write it and not an Englishman, as it will be targeted to Americans.
The topic of Sample article to be supplied is –
” Experian credit report ”
It should pass copy space, and have 800 – 1000 words.
If the article is passed by us, you will get order of whole 300 articles together. So we want an American Native to do this work for us.
You can read reference article to know what kind of work we are looking for :
Work to be completed in less then 24 hours for this just 1 article, and rest full 300 bunch can take upto 1 month or less by you.
Reply me fast with your msn and sample article on topic above, so we can deal over.
Upon receiving this, I knew immediately that it was a scam. Not only did it read like a scam, but I noticed that the sender also forwarded the same message to four other writers. This is a common ploy in which the scammer asks for one free sample in exchange for bulk work in the future. Of course, they simply take the samples from each writer who falls prey, and then use those on their website or blog. In the end, they get solid content without paying a dime.
In order to keep things going, I sent a quick reply and waited. Sure enough, the scammer sent another private message. This time it said:
Hello
As mentioned, sample article will be checked so that we can provide you 300 article work.
We can maximum pay $ 1900 for the work, 60 % advance , rest after work.
But for that your sample has to be approved by us, which should be –
The topic of Sample article to be supplied is –
” Experian credit report ”
It should pass copy space, and have 800 – 1000 words in american tone.
So send me sample article fast, as i am already counting on few people and will send advance to one who is fast.
Sample article is not included in 300 articles job, it is JUST SAMPLE work from you for us.
Thank You
As you can see, there are quite a few dishonest people lurking around these forums. And unfortunately, they are not just on forums. These scammers will also send you emails, and many times get the nerve to call on the phone.
To avoid being duped, make sure that you are very careful about any job you accept. And of course, never complete any work unless you get paid first!Â
