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.
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
I made a comment on Twitter last week about blog posts. I mentioned how my titles for client blog posts tend to be much better than those for my own sites, and how maybe I should start treating my own projects as I would a client’s. Others chimed in with similar sentiments and LaToya thought it would make for a good blog post idea. Let’s
We’ve talked a lot about using e-books as platform pieces for freelance writers. And we’ve looked at how they can be used as residual income streams to complement your freelance writing work. But they can do more than supplement your writing income. If you find yourself stuck in a low pay rut, e-books might even be your ticket out. Let’s look at a somewhat extreme
As you know I don’t only blog for myself. I blog for clients as well. And on some of those client blogs I cover topics that apply to business owners — just like you. So today I’m going to be a bit of a self-promotional whore. I realized that I had plenty of articles up on client blogs that weren’t specifically written for freelance writers,
The modern woman is supposed to have it all! I have it all, for the most part anyway, and I can tell you that the joy and satisfaction that is supposed to be encompassing my very being right now is nonexistent. Having it “all” is a bunch of bullshit. Do I hate my life? Nope. I like it. But I fully realize that my life
One of the biggest debates on the freelance writing range is the debate about whether it is better to be a specialty writer focusing on one niche or a generalist writer with a diverse selection of topics to possibly cover. A lot of people straddle the fence on this topic to avoid pissing off their friends and mentors. They say, “Oh, there is no single
We’ve talked about how freelancer / client relationships can be a lot like dating. And with those relationships occasionally comes the need to call it quits. How exactly do you handle a client breakup though? And how do you know when it’s time to walk away and take your freelance writing services elsewhere? Today (at Yo’s request) let’s talk about the why and how of
Today we’re going to talk about rejection. Sensitive subject, I know. Truth is—if you want to write for magazines, you’ll get rejected a lot. Be prepared for this. The Good News Much of this won’t be your fault. Sometimes you’ll submit an idea that they just assigned to someone else. Other times the editor may have a backload of things to publish and won’t even
In what I’m hoping is the end to my recent long line of technology issues, I’m changing my ISP. Phone service should switch tomorrow with no problem. But there might be a several day gap between that and when the new company actually gets my modem kit to me to hook up the Internet connection. Why that would happen in this day and age (and
Crafting a winning query letter is not always a simple task. To make things worse, even if your letter is perfect there is no guarantee that it will lead to a job. Over the years, I have sent hundreds of query letters. While they are all unique, they generally follow the same layout. Even though I urge you to create your own letters, I know
I read a comment on a financial blog written by a woman who resented her situation in life. She hated being the primary breadwinner and having almost sole responsibility of her child. She hated that her husband (who she didn’t actually hate, by the way) couldn’t seem to get it together and didn’t have the ability to support her while she stayed home. She had
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
Stacey Abler contacted me recently with a question about a new prospect. In her email she mentioned that she was considering offering a discount just because the contract could be a long-term regular one. My reaction was shock, followed by a “no, no, no….” Offering this kind of discount to a brand new client is a recipe for disaster. At the same time, I can
A few days ago I considered cussing out anyone who would listen, grabbing some beers and sliding down my boy’s plastic slide to enjoy the temporary benefits of being totally irresponsible and free. Of course this was not really an option – I don’t have beer in the house and the plastic slide wouldn’t hold my weight. However, I did do something about being overwhelmed
Yesterday I asked on Twitter what All Freelance Writing’s readers wanted to learn about here. Courtney Ramirez responded saying that she wanted to learn more about breaking into newer and better freelance writing markets. It’s something I talk about a lot on this blog — setting higher freelance writing rates and how that often involves re-targeting your market. Now let’s talk about how to make
Recently I busted the myth that Web writers don’t get paid as much as print writers. Today let’s tackle another one — the issue of freelance writing rates between Web content writers and business writers (like me) who happen to focus on writing for the Web. Often when I or other business writers talk about earning more money as a freelance writer, people comment with
Let’s tackle a very common myth about Web writing. I see it all the time on freelance writing blogs and forums. There are people out there telling new or aspiring Web writers that the Web simply doesn’t pay as much as print work does, and they need to get used to it. I’ve even seen the term “old school” tossed around referring to writers who
The other day I had a conversation with an old coworker and I was trying to encourage him to start a social networking business. This friend is not a writer but he is a fun, smart and witty conversationalist who understands the corporate world and the PR concerns of a company which makes him, in my opinion, perfect for social networking. This made me start
The server move is complete. I removed the AFW files from the old host and the site’s functioning, so it appears everything worked out finally with the database issues. May I throw a little party now? While this isn’t my first server move, it is my first WordPress server move, and my first multi-site move (talking between one and two dozen sites getting split between
Just a quick update about the server change going on here. It looks like I finally have the last issue worked out (tested on my smaller sites), and will be moving All Freelance Writing to its new server this afternoon. That means I’ll download the final database backup around noon today. If you comment between that database backup and the site moved, your comment will
My husband worked at home exclusively for more than five years. During this time he kept the kids a fair amount while I taught, but it never ceased to amaze me how much he wanted to hide the kids from his business associates. In his mind and perhaps the minds of others, it was only a “real” job if he could fool everyone into thinking
I’m about to let loose with another big secret. You know—the quality you need most to make it in the magazine market. Any guesses? It might not be what you think it is… That you have to be a superior writer? Nope. That you have to know someone? Nah. (But it can help!) That you have to have a totally amazing idea? Uh-uh. The quality
Yesterday I received a reader question about freelance writers using pseudonyms. Given the nature of the topic, I agreed to only refer to the reader as CP. Here’s the email I received: I am in the process of transitioning into the freelance writing world, and getting my sea legs. I intend to use a pseudonym (as I have a separate, unrelated career), but am unclear
Sometimes I’m tempted to go back to work full-time. Not because I miss working outside the home or because I feel the need to interact with adults more often during the day. Only because I want more money. What I make now is fine (forgive the melodramatic post title), but I have some lofty goals I want to accomplish that require more money. I fantasize
Many of you probably caught this post on PBS.org about content farms last week. When I read it, I found it very interesting that Demand Media turned down the opportunity to be interviewed for the piece. Usually, they can’t be tamed when it comes to spouting their really cool: Hey, we never said we were journalists… but look at our awesome brand of service journalism