2. I don’t think it’s always bad to accept lower paying work starting out. But here’s the thing. If you do that thinking those low paying gigs are going to lead to higher paying gigs, the vast majority of the time you’ll be wrong. Low paying clients beget more low paying clients. And what you write for them won’t be on par with what higher paying clients expect to see in a portfolio (as in seeing you’ve written for comparable markets / clients). There are some people who are exceptions, but it’s never smart to assume you’ll be an exception to the rule. If you need the portfolio pieces badly, read this for some ideas. One is to only write for free or low pay for well-respected nonprofits. If you write for cheap webmasters, you tell future clients you don’t value yourself enough to charge professional rates (and undercharging is actually a huge turn-off for many people with bigger budgets). Instead, do a free piece or two for a nonprofit. Not only do you get a more respectable portfolio piece but you also get the PR benefits. So choose a cause you can really get behind and see if there’s a local branch that could use your skills.

3. As for getting your name out there, low paying gigs isn’t the way to do that. All that does is associate your name with those low-paying markets, often saturated with sub-par work. You don’t want people lumping you in with that group. Are there good writers working for content mills for example? Sure. But until they stop associating themselves professionally with all of the bad apples there, most will struggle to consistently land high paying jobs (and if they could, there would no longer be a reason to write for those mills because their schedules would be filled with better options). Instead get a professional website set up and work hard to optimize it for keyword phrases potential clients would search for when hiring a writer like you. For example, I focused on things like “business writer” and “professional business writer.” Then get your name out there in other ways. Join forums and social networks where your target market is. Start a niche blog in your specialty area. Guest post on other specialized blogs. Comment on other blogs. Release a short free e-book, report, or white paper to create some buzz and drive purchases. There’s a lot you can do. Here’s an article with 30 platform-building ideas to give you some more options.

Freelance writers are professionals and should think of writing as a business; and also value themselves.

Interestingly, I didn’t know when I wrote this that it was going to be such a timely issue. I found out after the fact at least two other big blogs in the niche talked about similar issues this week. Apparently I’m far from the only one fed up by the demands in ads these days. Thankfully I don’t have to deal with things like this with my own clients, but I truly feel for those who do!

Perhaps freelancers should start to ask for credit scores from prospective clients? As a sample from them that they will pay the future invoice…:-)