Freelance Writing Business

In the U.S. political space, “outsourcing” has become a dirty word with the focus being companies that outsource American jobs to lower wage countries. But outsourcing in and of itself isn’t bad. It’s frequently done domestically too. You wouldn’t even have a job as a freelance writer if it weren’t for outsourcing — that’s what every one of your clients does every time they hire you.

One of the biggest perks of freelancing is the fact that we can set our own schedules. But how should you set that schedule? How do you determine what your working hours will be? My “normal” working hours are 5:00 am – 12:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. But that doesn’t mean I always stick to that, especially now that I have my husband’s schedule to think about.

This article is a part of a five post series for Demand Media Studios writers and others interested in leaving content mills and other low paying freelance writing jobs behind.  We’ve already looked at why freelance job boards aren’t the best places to find gigs and how you can make it easier for clients to find you through your writer platform. But what can you do in between

Last week I reached out to Demand Media Studios (DMS) writers who are upset about the announcement that there will be fewer writing gigs available from the company. Some of these writers are panicked because they aren’t sure where to go from here. As promised, we’re running a five-post series this week for those writers (and any freelance writers looking for a fresh start). To kick things

Do you ever land bad freelance writing clients? Maybe they’re too needy. Maybe they don’t pay on time. Maybe they expect the world while paying next to nothing. These aren’t good clients to have. Yet many freelancers face these situations. You don’t have to. Here are three simple ways you can better insulate yourself from bad writing clients. 1. Be Choosy As a business owner,

Virginia C. McGuire shared a link on Twitter to a local story that caught my attention. It related to legislation that would require small business owners to offer seven paid sick days to their employees. And one Philadelphia diner owner spoke out against it. The problem? He spouts suppositions as facts and admits that while he gives paid sick leave to his real estate employees

When we think about marketing our freelance writing services, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of finding new clients. But what about former clients? Sometimes they get lost in the mix, or are downright forgotten. Do you remember to approach them about potential new writing gigs? Here are a few things you can do to bring old clients back: 1. Reach out.

Maybe you’ve thought about freelance writing but your real interests lie in creative writing. Maybe you find nonfiction writing dull or unrewarding or you’re worried that working with clients will kill the creative side of your work. It doesn’t have to. Here are 11 ways you might be able to turn your creative writing passion into freelance writing opportunities. Some ideas are more traditional, but

When you work as a freelance writer, you’re a service provider. Selling products is technically something different. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other income streams into your business. Sure, you can remain a freelance purist if you really want to. But if you’re looking for new ways to make money with your writing without having to be too reliant on client projects, why

Unfortunately freelancers don’t have some special immunity to becoming ill. We can become sick without a moment’s notice, and it can wreak major havoc on our work schedules. I was recently put in that position. Worse, I got sick over vacation. That meant I was already off and away from clients for a while, and I had to extend that time when they were expecting

When it comes to running a successful business of any kind, including freelance writing, much of that success comes down to the decisions you make. You make good decisions that help you grow. You make bad decisions that hold you back. Or you might make decisions solely to maintain the status quo. Today let’s talk about making better business decisions when it comes to your

When you began your career as a freelance writer, you probably did so knowing that you were giving up some level of job security (assuming you left a full-time job to pursue freelancing). But if we’ve learned anything in recent years it’s that very few “real jobs” are actually secure. That’s often a myth. You’ve probably also heard that working as a freelance writer will

I’ve mentioned before that middlemen clients — SEO firms, marketing firms, etc. — are some of my favorite types of clients to work for. They bring a group of their own clients to your door which saves on marketing time for you, and they tend to bring in bigger orders than most single clients. They also often go for regular monthly work rather than short-term

Diversify, diversify, diversify! If you haven’t gotten that message here over the years, it might never sink in, but I’m going to say it again anyway. DIVERSIFY! Normally we talk about diversifying your freelance writing business in a specific way, by creating your own residual revenue streams such as money-making blogs and e-books. We even give you tools to help you accomplish those goals like

When you hear the phrase “nickel and dime” chances are that you think of being a buyer — asked to pay for ridiculous little add-ons to a product of service, greatly increasing the overall price. Can you also be nickel and dimed as a freelancer? Absolutely. How Freelance Clients Might Try to Nickel and Dime You As a freelance writer, you probably either give a

Just a quick thought / question for you today: Why is it that so many freelance writers can’t seem to grasp the concept of working smarter, not harder? Sometimes when I talk to writers or read other freelance writing blogs I feel like I’m going insane — like this is an alien concept or something. To summarize: in business it’s always better to work smarter

Do you ever have clients ask you to provide additional services with your freelance writing work — maybe article submissions, press release distribution, consulting, or something along those lines? Do you oblige, or do you stick to being “just a writer?” You probably know I used to run a PR firm. A lot of the work I did (most of it in fact) revolved around

I’m not sure why, but some freelance writers I know seem to treat clients as though they’re some mythical creature who, once caught, should be worshipped in some way. Don’t get me wrong. You should be good to your clients. But there’s a fine line between being good to them while being responsible in your work and idolizing them to the point where you can’t

Today we’re finishing up our interview series with our guests: Chris Bibey, Angela Booth, Jenna Glatzer, Kristen King, Allena Tapia, and Anne Wayman. I asked each guest to share some parting words of wisdom or advice for other freelance writers. I hope you’ll find it a fitting close to our series. Here’s what they had to say: Chris Bibey 1. Be willing to speak with

In part three of our series, our guests told you flat out what they thought of querying, and how important they considered the query process in building freelance writing careers. Before that, we found out how our guests land most of their freelance writing jobs these days. And today we’ll turn back the clock and find out how each of these writers landed gigs during

In the second part of our series, our guests shared with you the type of writing they most often do for clients and how they personally get most of their freelance writing jobs. I hope you’ll notice the recurring mentions of things like repeat work and referrals. No matter how you choose to start out, these are the kinds of things you should always strive

I announced previously that we would be hosting a sort of round table interview series here with successful freelance writers to discuss querying, platforms, networking, and the process of landing gigs. While I fully support the query-free way of doing business because of my own background, I know it’s not the only way to manage your freelance writing career, and I’ll never pretend here that

New freelance writers have a lot on their minds. More experienced writers often tell them that they need to build a presence, start networking, and focus on getting referrals instead of simply searching job boards (the best gigs are rarely found on job boards). But they don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to wait a few weeks to a few months to have

You’ll see me talk a lot about building a writer platform here at QueryFreeFreelancer.com, but what exactly is a platform? Your writer platform is basically a collection of tools and tactics that allow you to build and maintain both visibility and demand for your freelance writing services. Think of it as your built-in audience. The idea is to build an audience that will benefit your