Did you know that there is more to freelance writing than online content and feature articles for magazines? Many aspiring writers think that those are the only two types of projects that they can take on. While web content and feature articles are fun and plentiful, there are other options to consider. Remember, the more projects that you are open to the better chance you have of increasing your income.
So what are some of the other types of freelance writing projects that are available? While it would be difficult to list them all, here are a few: annual reports, brochures, business plans, direct mail letters, film scripts, newsletters, press releases, sales letters, speeches, technical writing, and television commercials. Even though this is a detailed list, it is far from being complete. There are many other freelance writing projects that you may be able to take advantage of.
While it is important to narrow down your list of offerings, you want to be careful as to not back yourself into a corner. Sure, you may love writing sales letters, but if you only take on these projects you may have a hard time finding enough work to build a steady income. It is much better to choose several types of freelance writing projects as opposed to one. In other words, get good at many types of projects.
When I started my freelance writing career I had no idea what type of projects I wanted to concentrate on. Like most aspiring writers, I was simply looking for work. Over time I began to get a better idea as to what jobs were the easiest to secure, and of course, which ones I liked the best. This eventually shaped my opinion on each type of project, and pushed me towards a select few. With that being said, I am still willing to try new projects if the price and time are right.
If you have the chance, you should complete every type of project listed above at least once. This is easier said than done, but by doing this you will definitely get a better feel for what you like and dislike.
Now that you know that there is more to freelance writing than the web and feature articles, you should be able to expand your offerings and workload. As your career moves forward, begin to narrow down your services as to become an expert within your specialties.
As a freelance writer, you definitely need to have a website that displays everything from contact information to a bio to samples. While this may sound foreign to you, as it did to me early on, it is not nearly as bad as you may think. If you are having a hard time deciding on a hosting company, let me make the decision for you: work with BlueHost.
I have worked with no less than five hosting companies over the years, and BlueHost blows them all away; at least from my perspective. There are several reasons that I feel this way.
1. I find it hard to believe that there is a better customer service team than BlueHost. Not only are they available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but they always answer your questions accurately and efficiently. I have found their live chat feature to be helpful no matter what time of the day it is. A few weekends back I had an issue with a problem that I caused on my own, and despite the fact that it was Sunday I was walked through the solution step by step.
The bottom line is that freelance writers do not always have good technical skills. When you can rely on a customer service rep to help you through the rough times, it makes life much easier.
2. You can host an unlimited number of domains with a BlueHost account. A few years ago this may not have been a big deal to me, but it is a huge selling point now. I currently have several blogs and websites, and am always adding to this list. With the ability to host unlimited domains, I never have to worry about any problems in this area.
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If you are in the market for web hosting, or need to make a change because your current service is not up to par, give BlueHost a try. You will definitely be glad with this decision in the end!
How do you track your freelance writing income? Hopefully, you have an answer to this question. If you simply collect your payments and go about your business, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. The fact of the matter is that you need to have a good system in place that allows you to track, manage, and organize all of the income that you earn from your freelance writing career.
You do not need to do anything special when it comes to tracking your freelance writing income. Although my system is far from advanced, it works just fine month in and month out.
1. I have a separate folder in my email account where I store emails from PayPal that state when and how much I was paid. It is important to store these emails in a separate folder so that you can find them quickly if need be. Of course, you could simply rely on your actual PayPal account for these records, but I prefer to have something for myself as well.
2. Once I receive a PayPal payment, I head to my account and print out the invoice. This says how much money I received, when the funds entered my account, and who the money came from. From here, I keep the paid invoices in a folder labeled “Received Payments.†I do the same thing with payments that are made by check, wire transfer, etc.
3. I keep two Excel spreadsheets: one that shows money that is owed and the other for money that I have received. At the end of each month I simply add up the money that I have received, and mark down the total; this is my freelance writing income for that particular month. At the end of the year I add the totals for all 12 months, and that is my income for the year.
Are there better ways to track income? I am sure there are. In fact, I know that there are many software programs that are much more advanced than my method. But with that being said, I have had good luck with this way of doing things for many years; changing now does not make that much sense to me.
When it comes down to it, you need to track every freelance writing dollar that you make. This will not only allow you to keep close tabs on how much you are earning, but it will also help big time when tax season rolls around. Remember, there is no end of the year pay stub that will show how much money you earned.Â
It does not matter how you track and organize your freelance writing income as long as you are accurately doing so.
