Jennifer Mattern We get questions from new writers both here in the forum and on the blog. But when we’ve been at this work for years, sometimes we forget what it was like to be new. So today let’s look back. When you were just starting out in freelance writing, what were the biggest questions you had? For me, the biggest question was “how can I educate
When you work as a freelance writer, you probably don’t have someone who can fill in for you when you become ill. You might have deadlines set well in advance that can’t be re-worked. And when it comes to chronic problems, you probably just have to find a way to work through things. Even the best laid plans could take a serious hit from an
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.
When we work from home as freelancers, sometimes we don’t have much control over our work environment. For example, some writers work from their kitchen tables. A benefit of working in a pre-established area of the home is that you don’t have to worry about furnishing a separate office space. But what if you do have a freelance office, but not a huge budget to furnish it?
Recently I was looking over one of my favorite resources on book outlining — Karen Wiesner’s First Draft in 30 Days. Toward the end of the book she has a section on outlining your career as an author, including a one-year plan and multi-year planning. It was a bit of a kick in the pants (given that I forgot this section existed). You see, I have plenty
Some work days as freelancers are easy. We wake up ready to face the day. We enjoy the projects we’re working on. And everything seems to go as planned. Then there are days when nothing seems to go right. I’ve had several of these lately — from backlogged work I’m still trying to catch up on to a neighbor who disrupts almost every work day
With the start of June right around the corner, we’re nearly halfway through the year. Just one more month. When I realized how fast time was flying by, I went back to review some of my business goals and resolutions for 2012. I decided it was time for an early mid-year check-in. Why spend another month waiting when I can start improving things today? Basically,
I consider writing for a living to be a pretty sweet career opportunity. And if you’re reading this blog, I imagine you do too. But as great as freelance writing can be, it does have limits. You’re essentially charging people for your time, even if you don’t bill on an hourly basis. You can’t mass produce freelance work the same way you can with products.
Very little hurts a freelance writing business as much as poor productivity. For example, if you feel too overwhelmed with client work, you might run out of time to seek out new clients (leading to a later lack of work). Or you might get so caught up in writing that you neglect important administrative duties. Or you might just work so many hours that you
When you work as a freelance writer, you run a business. And when you run a business, market research is essential to your continued growth. Yet I often see freelancers make rash decisions about their businesses with no market research whatsoever to help them make those choices. They just wing it. First, why is that? Are they simply not serious about their businesses (maybe treating them
Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s another new year already. I usually have my goals and resolutions set by late October or early November. But I’m a bit late to the game this year. In fact, I’ve been somewhat absent here for months. I had a crazy year in 2011. My guy and I started looking for a new place around May. That
This article is part of a follow-up series for Demand Media Studios writers interested in moving past the content mill to find higher paying freelance writing jobs. This series features freelance advice for five writers tailored to their individual needs and goals. First let me apologize for the delay in starting this series. My schedule is a bit wonky these days as we’ve been moving
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
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. In our last post we talked about marketing your freelance writing services and how you should focus on basic market research, specialty target markets, and creating a marketing plan instead of aimlessly trying new ways
This week we’re running a five-post series for writers looking to leave content mills like Demand Media Studios behind them. Yesterday we took a look at three types of freelance writing jobs you can pursue, starting today. If you’re considering a change to grow your business, you should start there and narrow down your specialty area. Once you have a freelance writing specialty in mind,
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
As some of you might know, Demand Media recently emailed their DMS writers about pending changes. Here’s what it comes down to. This business model was hit hard by Google recently — a big source of both traffic and income for content mills, farms, networks, or whatever we’re calling them this month. Demand realized they have to change things. For example, you can’t have repeat
We’ve talked about setting freelance writing rates and figuring out when you need to charge more. But the amount you charge isn’t the only potential problem with your freelance writing rates. Your rate structure can be equally problematic. For example, are you charging per word when you should be charging per article? Are published hourly rates turning off prospects and sending them to the competition? Let’s
Can you believe it’s already October? That means the holiday season is just around the corner. And holidays can wreak havoc on our freelance work schedules (or at least they do for mine). Don’t let the holiday season get in the way of work, or let work stress keep you from enjoying the holidays. Let’s look at a few ways you can stay productive throughout
Some freelancers are natural networkers. They have no problem introducing themselves to clients and colleagues, and they know how to build real relationships that benefit both parties. Other freelancers don’t have the same social skills. In general, that’s okay. I’d like to think we’re a fairly welcoming bunch overall. But every now and then someone takes networking or marketing too far, and they come across
Business writing gigs can be some of the most lucrative writing work you’ll ever take on. You can easily earn $100 per hour and more with this kind of work. You can take on projects for corporate clients. Or you can work for small businesses if you prefer (and contrary to popular belief, they often significant budgets to hire professional contractors). What are some examples of
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,
I ought to be declared the queen of the tech gremlins given how much time they like to spend around me. If you didn’t catch my Twitter rants, I recently had my server hacked (this site was fine). As soon as that was settled, my laptop hard drive died. The data was not recoverable. Of course, things weren’t backed up as recently as they should
Are you interested in publishing a nonfiction book? Do you already have a blog in that niche? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you might be a prime candidate for turning your blog into a book. This is largely what I’m doing with my own nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer. I used my freelance writing blog to help me organize the book
Today I’d like to share a special program from American Writers & Artists Inc. Do you wish you could rake in six figures writing for businesses? If you’ve ever considered a freelance writing career as a copywriter and you want to learn how make some serious dough, AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting might be the kick you need. I’ve been promising these nice folks
I’ve been a bit of a hypocrite lately, not following my own rules about maintaining a work-life balance. Working late happens more often than it should (including today). And I haven’t felt very rested — which makes me feel mentally drained all day, which hurts my productivity even more and leads to more late nights. It’s a lousy little cycle. Sometimes it’s completely our fault
This post is based on a comment I recently left on Lori Widmer’s “If it Didn’t Work with Huffington….” Writing for ad revenue is usually a bad idea for writers. Some of the big networks have been doing it for years, and the problems have been clear for a long time now. It’s easy to justify it though. I’ve been there myself. I’ve crunched numbers
Quick question: what’s your favorite way to market your freelance writing services? For me it’s blogging without a doubt. While you have to stick with it to keep growing, every post you write as the potential to help you market yourself indefinitely (especially thanks to search engine traffic and long tail keyword phrases). More than that, blogs keep you connected with your professional network —
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