Comments on: 5 Foolish Mistakes Freelance Writers Make

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Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:35:20 +0000

[...] foolish mistakes freelance writers [...]

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:05:24 +0000

Very valid points, and unfortunately I’m failing at a couple of them. But one major step I’ve just taken was to change from advertising one of my businesses at the local chamber, which was never going to get any work from the members, to a different business, which has the possibility of getting business, and that includes my writing business as well. It will make it so much easier to set up the proper 30 second elevator speech for this crowd.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:19:34 +0000

This is great advice for writers. I’d like to add that most freelance writers do not know how to market themselves or are afraid to do so. They’re too shy or intimidated to ask their clients for referrals. If you’re clients are happy with your work, ask for a referral. It doesn’t hurt to try.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:39:26 +0000

I saw a content mill writer recently make the most ridiculous claim that because he could count on steady work from the content mill he basically didn’t have to waste time marketing. So it doesn’t surprise me when other writers find themselves struggling, when that’s the kind of bad business advice they’re exposed to. It’s sad. Anyone who’s truly successful as a writer knows that you can’t rely on one client, and there WILL be slow times (just because his haven’t come yet doesn’t mean they won’t — it just means he won’t be prepared when they do). The roof analogy is a good one. It’s easy to be complacent about it and keep putting it off. But you can’t. I think one of the issues is that people hear “marketing” and assume they have to do something pushy. Just keeping an active blog can bring in work requests. Social networking does the same. More freelancers just need to get comfortable with the language of it and learn how to set marketing goals with the things they’re doing anyway. Marketing yourself every day doesn’t have to be much different than what you’re doing now anyway.

By: Matthew Stibbe

Matthew Stibbe — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:23:46 +0000

This advice is absolutely spot on. Particularly, the feast-or-famine nature of freelance marketing. It’s like the farmer with a leaky roof: when it’s raining it’s too wet to fix it and when it’s dry, it’s just as good as any other house. I find the discipline of the ‘daily pitch’ to be a useful antidote. If you do something everyday to market your business, busy or not, then you maintain a constant pressure.

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Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:29:18 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jennifer Mattern, Jason Green, Daniel Arlt, Carol Tice – Writer, Amanda Werner and others. Amanda Werner said: RT @Swansonitize: 5 Foolish Mistakes Freelance Writers Make | All Freelance Writing http://bit.ly/6iSkg5 #freelance #writing [...]

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:14:58 +0000

The issue of being bogged down with too much work to market yourself is a very common one in low-paying markets. That’s why it’s so important to set your rates correctly from the start. If you don’t, moving up means targeting a completely different market in many cases, but you’ll be forced to spend so much time working for peanuts just to make ends meet that you won’t have any time left to pursue those better markets. People put themselves in a lose-lose kind of situation (lose the potential to better your career or lose the income you need right now). It really doesn’t have to be that way.

By: Carol Tice

Carol Tice — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:36:40 +0000

Great list Jenn — sort of the flip side of my post this week on the Make a Living Writing Blog – the 7 Habits of Highly Paid Freelance Writers – http://www.caroltice.com/blog/39

Carol Tice
http://Twitter.com/TiceWrites

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:27:02 +0000

Here’s a variation of one – writers pin themselves in with so much work that they can’t market very well to others or never learn how to market. They luck into a gig, are thankful to have it and then never take the time to build up a brand or presence in the communities and markets they hope to work with.

If you have 15 hours a week to write, for example, you can’t spend all 15 working or you’ll eventually hit a wall. It takes time to build up a sustainable workload and client list. In business, continuous growth is called negative entropy and it means the same thing. Either you’re moving forward and growing or you’re facing a fade out and failure.