Browse the All Freelance Writing collection of freelance business articles below.
This section covers the business side of freelance writing, from finding better clients and choosing a specialty to setting rates, growing income, and making smarter decisions about how you work.
Whether you’re just getting started or trying to strengthen an established business, these posts focus on practical realities, not vague freelance motivation.
It’s Christmas! If you’re reading this the day it’s posted, I strongly advise you to go and find your favorite Christmas movie to watch before you have to pack it all up for next year. This post will be here tomorrow. Of course, I’m writing this a few days ahead of time so that I have plenty of time to watch all of my favorite
How much do you charge per word? How much should you charge per word? Really, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to freelance writing rates all that matters is your hourly rate and whether or not it’s enough to help you reach your financial goals. Why Per Word Rates Don’t Matter Per word rates aren’t a good tool for comparing writers or gigs for one
Whether you’ve already set your freelance writing goals for the New Year or you’re still deciding what they should be, let’s focus on the big ones today. When you set major goals for your business, how can you keep yourself focused and working toward them all year long? One of my favorite tactics is to take baby steps. I’ll break down a large goal into
As regulars might know, I’m a work-at-home mom and a work-away-from-home mom, too. I normally teach during the day and then get two boys to bed before settling down for three or four hours of writing most nights at the computer. It makes for a full day, but it’s so nicely organized and routine now it works for me. Today though, in honor of my
I’ll tell you this–you won’t get rich quick writing for print magazines. However, if you are patient and creative, you can build yourself quite a business. You just have to think outside the box a bit. Trying to come up with new ideas all the time can be draining, and sometimes the pay isn’t great per word, or per article. Still, there are some smart
Over the last several years I’ve heard a constant complaint from Web writers — that the digital / global economy makes it hard for them to make a living because overseas writers drive rates down. Now I don’t want to spend time again on the myth of the “global market” in freelance writing, but let’s look at the digital economy in general. Is it really
Earlier this week on my PR blog I shared some thoughts on how social media supports liars, giving some examples of how even colleagues in the freelance writing industry have gotten caught up in it. Commenter J. Toman brought up the concept of “fake it ’til you make it.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. It comes up now and again in the freelance writing
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
Anyone who properly cares for children works hard. It’s a world of sacrifices and rewards, but there’s very few mothers who don’t sleep well once the angels are tucked into bed. I’ve never lain around wishing I’d been busier on a particular day. But there does come a time when you realize that having a freelance career, and in my case a daytime career, on
Today’s post was inspired by a reader suggestion on Twitter. We’ll talk about how you can replicate the social “water cooler” experience with colleagues in a freelance setting, when you’re not all together working in the same office. The timing is perfect too. I just met fellow freelancer, Lori Widmer, for lunch last week. And yesterday morning I finished drafting the chapter in The Query-Free
As you grow in your freelance writing career, you will evolve. You’ll evolve as an individual, as a writer, and as a business owner. As this evolution takes place, you will notice that the things you once found satisfying don’t satisfy anymore. At first, this will feel weird and uncomfortable; it may involve outgrowing friends, peers and clients. It may mean that blogs you once
We talked a lot about goals for your freelance writing career this week. And as promised I’m going to share my yearly list. Below you can find my preliminary list of goals and New Year’s resolutions for my business (freelancing as well as my own sites and projects). I may add to the list between now and the end of this year, and I might
It’s that special time of year again! Orders are up slightly, time is decreasing dramatically and best of all – the kids are home! Having the kids home is both a blessing and a curse. The days are great fun filled with ornament making and breaking and dessert-face-stuffing, and the nights are filled with work to make up for the lack of time during the
Recently I posted an evaluation of 2010 professional goals here, including which goals I’ve met, which I haven’t, and those that I might still reach by the end of the year. I always set a lot of goals for myself, and I mentioned in the discussion surrounding that post that I do so for a reason — I know I’ll fail at some. And that’s
We’re going to talk about goals this week. First, I want to take a look back on the goals we set for ourselves for 2010. In later posts we’ll discuss failure and why it’s sometimes okay, and then we’ll close out the week talking about how today’s reflections can help us set new goals for the coming year. Why look back on this year’s goals
Breaking into the magazine market isn’t easy. That said, there are a few tricks you can use to slide on in without doing a full-length feature. One of the things you can do is send fillers. A filler is basically what most people would call a blurb–a bit of information that readers will find interesting or educational. Many magazines have them, and those that do
You have a fairly packed freelance writing schedule. You have client orders lined up for the next several weeks, and things look good. But then something happens. A project is cancelled. A client suddenly becomes non-responsive. You get a request to postpone something. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself with a hole in your schedule — one that needs to be filled now at
I had a hysterical working mom experience this week. Others might have found it horribly offensive, but I’m the type to crack up at even the slightly amusing and this went well beyond slightly… The biggest little man in my life brought home some library books from school yesterday. He’s in kindergarten this year with weekly trips to the school library. Like we do every
Whether you’re fresh-faced and excited by the prospect of more independence in your work or you think freelancing is your chance for easy money while you look for a full-time job, you might be in for a few surprises. Yes, those of us who have been at it for a while do tend to go on about how wonderful it can be. After all, if
You know that when it comes to finding high paying freelance writing jobs, I primarily recommend three things: Build your visibility and writer platform so prospects can find you. Build a solid referral network to get referred gigs from colleagues and other clients. Early on, before gigs are coming to you directly, go ahead and target and pitch prospects directly. After all, query-free freelancing is
Are you looking for gift ideas for the writer in your life? Are you worried about getting them something too generic? Too overdone? Well, stop worrying. Actually, some of the most generic gifts for writers remain some of our favorites! Here’s a collection of common gift ideas for writers, and why we still love them. Don’t be afraid to go with the traditional. But just
You’ve probably seen or heard this before. Freelance Writer A is having a discussion with new Freelance Writer B. The newer freelancer talks about how they’re struggling to find decent paying freelance writing jobs on job boards and classified sites, and even when they do find one there’s too much competition there. Writer A tells them to hang in there because there really are high
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it here again, but when you work as a freelancer you’re a business owner. You’re the one offering an in-demand service. And that means you get to set your rates and payment policies. Just as you can’t walk into your favorite retail store and tell them what you’re willing to pay, expecting them to accept your
There is a huge focus on full-time freelance careers with conversations often centering on how quickly a writer (or designer or coder) can run away from work and stay at home being creative all day long. Understandable, but I don’t think it needs to be a universal message. Writing full-time is not for everyone, and it’s certainly not for me. Freelancing Full-Time There is no
As home-sitting, coffee-swilling, glasses and pajama-wearing writer types, we have to be super serious about our marketing efforts or our businesses will cease to be. Mostly this is because the people that we see everyday—our pets, children and spouses—make horrible clients. This compels writers embrace all sorts of different ways to market their business both aggressively and passively. Some examples include: Guest posting on blogs
If you were a client, would you prefer to hire “yes men” who tell you whatever you want to hear, or would you prefer to hire people who tell you the truth? While I’ve seen some potential clients look for the former, my experience is that “yes men” are not what most prospects need or want. And if you spend too much time trying to
Here’s a situation I’ve seen a lot in the last few years: The economy sucks. My company had to downsize. I got laid off. But I still need to pay my bills and support my family. I can’t get another job in this job market. So I’ll try freelancing. I keep looking at job boards and applying for everything I see. But no one seems
Today I’d like to talk about magazine clips. Getting them and caring for them. Ok. First things first. Getting clips is the key to getting more clips. Sound like a crazy circle? It kind of is. As you get more clips it will become easier to get assignments. Starting is the hardest part. At first you won’t be writing for much, if anything. Many people
One thing I have found to be true is that freelance writers will negotiate with certain groups of people, but shy away from this when it comes to others. For example, you may have no problem hashing out a better deal with a webmaster in need of online content. But when it comes time to deal with an editor at a magazine, you work for
Let’s pretend for a second that I’ve heard tales of a child who was home-schooled for years and just joined a high school last year. So long as we’re pretending, we should also pretend that his mother is trying to “help” him graduate at 16 so a very close, practically inseparable, friend of mine now has a 13-year-old freshman. It’s a good thing y’all are