As a freelance writer, I am always searching for long term clients that offer steady work. This is the best way to grow my income, while also making it easy to plan my money from month to month. But of course, there are times when a client will only offer one job and then move on. While there is nothing wrong with this, I have found that keeping in touch with these clients is a great way to garner future business.
Last year I completed a large project for a client that I met on GetAFreelancer. At first, this was a one time job, and I was fine with that. For 10 articles of 500 words I got paid just about $1,000. Once the project was over the client told me that he had no more work, but would keep me in mind for future jobs. So what do you think I did? About once per month I emailed him just to check in. And up until a few days ago he would always say the same thing: “nothing yet, but I will get back to you when I have something.â€
Finally, he did get in touch a few days back, and I am quite happy about this. His new company just signed me up for a one year contract worth $8,000. This consists of nothing more than writing 20-25, 500 word articles per month; this is less than one per day.
The point is this: you need to keep in touch with past clients. Even when I feel that they have nothing for me, I always send a quick email just to make sure. You never know when something will come up. As long as you are fresh on their mind, you will more than likely get first dibs on the work!
One of the most difficult things about being a freelance writer is earning a steady income. When I worked in the corporate world, a set amount of money would show up in my bank account twice per month. But as you probably know, self employed writers do not have this luxury.
Through my experience, there are three reasons that ones freelance writing income may begin to decline.
1. You may see a decrease in income if you decide to start working on other projects outside of your primary career. For instance, this blog has taken a bit away from my freelance writing income. Even though I made nearly $5,000 last month, this is several thousand less per month than earlier this year. While I am not happy about this, taking the chance to build this blog is something that I hope will pay off in the end.
2. Losing a big job can greatly affect your freelance writing income. For instance, if I were to lose a $1,000/month job, my income would drop to $4k/month right away. If this were to happen, I would immediately begin to search for a way to make up some or most of this money. My backup plan always has been, and always will be Associated Content. I know that I can write for them whenever necessary, and if I can do so in quantity, there is money to be had.
3. Simply put, when the quality of your work decreases, so will the amount of money that you make. This may not happen right away, but shoddy work will lead to clients dumping you. In turn, your income will suffer.
Some of these things are unavoidable, so it will not do you much good to worry about them. Instead, do your best to build your freelance writing income to a steady level. This way, you can at least have a ballpark figure of the money you will earn each month.Â
For me, one of the most essential components of a successful blog is being organized. And by being organized I mean keeping a to-do list. I have a list for anything related to my blogging or freelance writing work. While these lists never stay the same due to a varying work load, they are always next to my computer no matter what.
My blogging to-do list is nothing special. Generally speaking, at the end of each work day I write my blogging tasks for the next day on a sticky note. There are two details that I always include as well as some extras that change from time to time.
1. Topic ideas for the posts that I want to write the next day. It is important for me to have topics in mind a day in advance as opposed to thinking them up on the spot. This not only helps the quality of my content, but also ensures that I do not have a run in with a bout of writer’s block.
2. The times that I want to add my blog posts. As you can imagine, this can change based on my freelance writing work and many other variables. Even though I could probably do without this reminder, it helps to keep me on track. Since I have to work in blogging around my freelance writing work, it is always nice to have a “set time†each day that I can devote to this.
Some of the variables that are often added to my to-do list include: marketing efforts, replying to emails and comments, researching new monetization methods, etc.
It is safe to say that I take things to an extreme when it comes to being organized. But this is only because I have found it difficult to stay on track with my blog if my work is not scheduled.
Do you think I am overdoing it? Do you have a blogging to-do list?
