When it Rains it Pours (Writing Gigs that is!)

I’m sure most freelance writers have heard that writing jobs can come in waves - you’ll have very busy times and you’ll undoubtedly have slow times as well. There are lots of reasons for this - some types of writing (or niches) are simply more seasonal, the economy can influence buying behaviors of freelance writing work, etc.

When it starts to rain writing gigs for me, it really does pour - sometimes so much so that I need to take a step back, remind myself to breathe, and jump in without succumbing to pressure. Do you ever have times like this?

Last week I took off most of the week to focus on my e-book (which is very much closer to finish because of that). This week I left relatively light to finish things up, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Since yesterday afternoon I’ve been bombarded with guaranteed gigs and inquiries from past clients and new clients alike. So right now my brain is in that harsh place similar to waking up early on a Monday morning, although fully conscious.

It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m keeping the blogging light today (just here, JennSays.com, and maybe one other post tonight if I find the time). And I just ordered Chinese for lunch so I don’t have to take the time to cook something (and frankly I was just in the mood for some general tso’s).

However, it got me thinking - as much as sometimes the rush periods can feel hectic, they’re usually somewhat predictable. Here are a few things I can generally count on:

1. I will always get bombarded with orders if I dare to take time off (either for a break or to focus on my own projects).
2. I will usually get slammed with inquiries after 5pm on Friday and straight through Saturday, once I’ve quit for the weekend (and I’ve gotten pretty good at really “quitting” for the weekend at 5pm Friday nowadays).
3. I will get hit with orders from regulars wanting something quickly within hours of starting a long, time-consuming project.

Really, it’s not so bad when you know to expect it, right? So tell me - when you get a big influx of orders and / or inquiries about your services, does anything in particular seem to set the pattern off (whether there seems to be a rhyme or reason to it or not)?  I love being busy, so I’ll take it any way I can get it - I’m just curious if others find these quirky patterns in their work loads, or if they experience something more unpredictable.

Tags: clients, freelance writers, freelance writing, freelance writing gigs, freelance writing jobs, writing gigs, writing jobs

Posted in Freelance Writing Careers | No Comments »

What Makes Someone a Professional Blogger?

Not too long ago (it may have been on a forum or something), I saw someone say that you aren’t a “professional writer” until you’re earning six figures. I think most of us would disagree with that (I’d reckon that most “professional writers” - authors, journalists, etc. - aren’t earning a solid six figures every year actually). However, it got me thinking about professional blogging a bit more.

I don’t consider myself a professional blogger yet, but it’s a goal I’m working towards (shooting for the end of 2009). But what exactly is a professional blogger?

Here are some of my thoughts on what does or doesn’t make someone a professional blogger (and you’re welcome to share your own thoughts and disagree with me here):

• A professional blogger has to be earning money from blogging.
• You don’t have to be a member of a blog network to be a professional blogger, and being a member of a blog network isn’t enough in and of itself to make someone a professional blogger.
• You don’t even need to have your own blog to be a professional blogger (corporate blogging / ghostblogging is a growing trend, and quite lucrative I might add).
• You can be a professional blogger if you only work on your own blogs.
• A professional blogger should be earning not just something, but enough to be considered a living if they do it full-time, or enough to be equivalent to other part-time job options available to them if they’re doing it part-time (something reasonable when compared to their main writing or other work). In other words, earning $100-200 per month doesn’t really qualify many as a “professional blogger” in my eyes. (To me, that would be like saying someone working in a McDonalds kitchen is a “professional chef.”)

For me personally, I don’t think I’d call myself a “professional blogger” until I’m doing it full-time and earning enough to get by solely from my blogs and sites (I have a few non-blog sites, so maybe a better term would be “professional Web publisher” - I don’t know).

Last summer, my blogs were earning the equivalent of a low full-time income for part-time work for several months before dropping off (mostly because I slacked off to focus on client projects). So does that mean I was a “professional blogger” during that time? (I don’t think so.) Exactly how long do you need to be earning significantly from your blogs to really earn the title?

I recently quit consulting to focus full-time on writing. My next move is to quit most client writing to work full-time on my sites (although I’ll still do part-time client writing a few hours a week at that point - probably early 2010 if things go according to plan).

Because I’m choosing this route of looking to go full-time, I would say I’d need to earn at least $3000-4000 per month from my blogging part-time (not including service referrals) for at least 5 or 6 months before I make the jump to full-time (to invest more time to building the income further) and consider referring to myself as a professional blogger.

Do you think that’s enough time? Too much? Too little of an income goal to make the switch? Too high?

There aren’t any right or wrong answers. The thought just kind of came to me today, so I figured I’d throw it out there and see what other writers / bloggers think about it.

Tags: bloggers, Blogging, blogs, professional blogging

Posted in Blogging | 3 Comments »

Why Freelance Writers Should Never Write Free Samples

I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for freelance writing jobs where you’re asked to write and send a custom sample. Something like:

“Must include a unique sample article (at least 300 words) on paying down student loan debts, following the article format at XYZ.com. Applicants who do not submit a sample will not be considered.”

Every time I see something like this I can’t help but wonder what the poster was smoking.

As far as I’m concerned, there is never a good excuse for a prospective client to ask for custom samples like this, and no writer should resort to humoring this kind of behavior. Why?

1. For starters, it reeks “scam.” You’ll find plenty of horror stories where people have submitted unique samples only to have them used on a site and never hear back from the “client.” They assume a submission means they have the rights to the content.
2. I don’t care who you are or where you are in your writing career - you DON’T need to create custom work for free, for any reason, for the sake of getting a gig. If you’re worried that your portfolio isn’t appropriate to get you considered for the gig in question, you have two options: A) Find gigs you’re better qualified for. There’s probably a reason your portfolio doesn’t suit the gig. B) Start improving your portfolio by writing “for yourself” - not doing free work for some random “client” that most people have probably never heard of (and hell, if people have heard of them, they’re in a position where they should either be able to pay a writer for a sample if they want something custom, or they should know enough about hiring writers to hire based on a portfolio and not custom work to begin with). There are plenty of ways to build your portfolio even if you don’t have much experience. You don’t need to do free work for prospective clients.
3. As I’ve already mentioned, a client can always pay for a sample if they want something custom-done. For example, they might hire you to write one article even if they really need 20 - this way everyone is protected. You don’t get screwed out of your time writing free articles instead of using your time more effectively to find better work, network, etc., and the client doesn’t commit to buying a large quantity of articles at your going rate until they’ve seen that you can do what they want. It’s a win-win.

So what do you think? Remember, we’re not simply talking about writing for free (there are plenty of ways to write for free “for yourself” that would be considered good marketing for example) - we’re talking about writing unique, custom samples for a prospective client for the sake of maybe getting a freelance writing gig. How do you feel about those kinds of requests? Do you think they’re OK? Are they an insult? Would you ever do something like that for a gig?

Tags: freelance writers, freelance writing, freelance writing gigs, freelance writing jobs, samples, writing for free

Posted in Freelance Writing Careers | 5 Comments »

How Writing Contests Can Kill Your Freelance Writing Career

Writing contests can sound appealing sometimes, right? You can do something you love, pit yourself against your colleagues or peers, maybe win a prize of some sort for the effort, and get a little bit of attention in the process. Then again, that sounds a lot like work when you think about it.

I’m not a huge fan of writing contests. That’s not to say I don’t think they’re ever worth participating in - but I’d say easily 90% would be a waste of time by my standards.

I came across one last month that I’d consider in that better 10% - one I would have really enjoyed. I almost entered. Then I came to my senses. Reality set in - I had several websites needing my attention, three novel outlines waiting to move onto the next step, an e-book that needed to be finished, etc. I made the right decision not to enter the contest (in this case for a short radio show script). Why? Because it would have taken time away from more important projects.

I think this is where a lot of contest entrants go wrong - they join contest after contest in the hopes of getting some recognition without realizing there are far better ways to get their name out there, earn from their work, and build a reputation.

All of your work as a freelance writer is essentially one big contest already. You pit your portfolio and marketing abilities against all competitors targeting the same markets you are. If you have the best portfolio, or market yourself the best, you come away with paying gigs. If you really excel in the “competition” you’ll come away with better gigs (for example with well-known clients) which will help boost your reputation and potentially even lead to more gigs.

Do we really need to do what essentially amounts to spec work for other contests, when we’re already “competing” with existing samples? In most cases, I’d say no (although I know others disagree). I don’t believe in writing custom samples for any prospective client (who should absolutely be able to make a hiring decision based on portfolio pieces), and I don’t view contests as being any different in the grand scheme of things.

Here are some of my personal “rules” regarding entering writing contests:

• DO NOT enter if it’s going to interfere with typical working hours.
• DO consider entering if it can be done entirely in your spare time.
• DO NOT enter if you have other projects that need attention (your own sites, investing in your writing career with informational products, etc.).
• DO NOT enter if the “prize” wouldn’t be worth the time invested.
• DO consider entering if the prize would be more than you typically earn for the time invested.
• DO consider entering if you’re interested in it solely for fun (such as to toy with a new writing style) and not because you really care about the prize.
• DO NOT enter if the submissions are anonymous (if you won’t get public exposure during the bulk of the hype surrounding the contest, you can find better ways to get exposure - guest posts, advertising, or other marketing efforts).
• DO consider entering if you can re-use previously unpublished work rather than investing a lot of time into something new.
• DO NOT enter if the contest sponsor requires you to give up rights to your work upon entry rather than upon winning (in other words, make sure you can use that material elsewhere before entering).
• DO consider entering if the contest is being sponsored and promoted by a major company
• DO NOT enter if you don’t already have a decent client base (there are far more effective ways to build a reputation to attract clients - if you don’t have clients yet, spend that “extra” time on marketing your services in ways known to have a better return on investment (ROI) than taking chances on contests where most of your prospective client base will never see your work).

What do you think about writing contests? What kinds do you enter? Do you have any additional guidelines that you follow when deciding whether or not it’s worth your time (which is a valuable asset to any writer) to enter?

Tags: writing contests

Posted in Freelance Writing Careers, Writing Tips | 7 Comments »

Invest in Your Writing Career and Build a Richer Future

I took most of this week off from client projects to devote time to my own, and I’d like to talk today about why you should consider it too - investing in your freelance writing future. We’re not talking about investing money (at least not much). We’re just talking about time - your most valuable asset as a service provider.

Why should you reserve some time each week for yourself? How is that going to help you keep food on the table and get bills paid? What exactly should you be doing with that “invested” time?

What it Means to “Invest” in Your Writing Career

You’ll spend a lot of time marketing, networking, and dealing with client projects. But you need to do more. You need to think about additional revenue streams - things that don’t rely on using your billable hours (which are a finite resource). Wouldn’t some residual income be nice? Even if you don’t feel like you need additional income streams, you eventually might - you may lose a huge client and need backup income, you may want to take a few weeks or months off from client work to travel, or you may become ill or incapacitated for a while. By investing time now into these residual revenue streams, you’ll keep earning money even when you’re not billing directly for your time.

Examples of Residual Income Streams

There are several things you can invest some of your time in to bring in non-service income. Here are some examples:

• Write a book (to be published either traditionally or self-published)
• Write an e-book or report (or series), and then sell it
• Create a series of paid email courses around your expertise (or online courses)
• Create a blog or website that will bring in advertising or other income (or serve as a vehicle to sell your books, e-books, or reports).

Why Invest Time in New Revenue Streams?

We’ve already mentioned some situations where a residual income stream might be nice (when you can’t work or just don’t want to).

But think about it in a more general sense as well. This is often money you “forget” is coming or that you simply don’t expect to come. For example, I’m always surprised when I get payments from one ad network in particular, because I don’t spend much time monitoring those ads. So when I get a direct deposit for a few hundred dollars, it’s like “found money.” I don’t have to do anything for that money. I put ads on my sites months ago, and I keep on collecting. Nice, right?

When I was selling my press release writing e-book, it was similar. It was my first, and I didn’t know what to expect. So I never assumed I would earn something in particular. Instead, every time a payment came through, it was just “extra” - something earned beyond my budgeting.

Is it Worth the Time?

It can be difficult for some folks to willingly invest time in a project that doesn’t guarantee earnings, while client work will. However, it’s an “investment” for a reason. You get to earn over and over again for one “payment” (of your time). Let’s look at a hypothethical example.

Bob is a freelance writer. His billable hours usually equate to about $50 per hour through client projects.

Bob decides to write and sell a short e-book or report. He spends about five hours writing a 15-page report (I wrote my first 18-page e-book in five hours, so I know it can be done). He then spends another three hours setting up a quick sales page and getting the e-book setup with a payment processor. Let’s say he spends two more hours building a few links, sending out some review copies, and announcing the e-book on related forums and communities to kick-start the marketing.

He’s invested 10 total hours into this e-book without a cent of income guaranteed.

But then let’s say he sells just 50 copies during that first year for $10 each (50 copies isn’t terribly hard to do if you’ve picked a niche with an actual audience and have a decent product). He’s earned $500 already - the same he would have earned if he spent those ten hours on client work.

It gets better. Those buyers loved Bob’s e-book, and now it’s spreading via word-of-mouth. There’s a “buzz” around the e-book, and Bob sells another 100 copies that following year. That’s another $1000.

In the third year, sales start to simmer down - just another 50 copies. Another $500.

In the fourth year, he sells a little less - 30 copies, for another $300.

In the fifth year, the topic might be getting a little stale, the market’s a bit saturated for this niche info, and he only sells 20 copies for $200.

Over the course of five years, Bob has earned $2500. Even if we assume he spent another $500 of that on some simple marketing, he would have earned the equivalent of at least $200 per hour for those 10 hours put into launching the e-book. Not too shabby.

And that’s what “investing in your writing career” is all about - spending time now for continued income later.

I’m such a big supporter of this model that I’m actually working to replace my client work by the end of 2009 on a full-time basis with the sales of my informational products and the income from my websites and blogs.

It isn’t necessary to do what I’m doing this week - taking time “off” to work on these things. I’m doing that, because the first e-book in my new series for Web writers desperately needed to be finished, and I kept putting it off. By taking this route, it should all be finished by the end of this week (wrote 18 pages yesterday, have about the same to do today, and then I just need to finish a few addenda pieces and clean it up a bit).

If you don’t want to take time away from other work, consider spending one extra hour a day writing “for yourself” with one of these types of projects in addition to your normal work. It may feel like a chore when you’re not earning directly in the beginning, but believe me, when you do start earning it feels great (there isn’t much better than earning decent money doing something that you enjoy - writing - on your own terms).

Tags: blogs, E-books, income streams, reports, revenue streams

Posted in Freelance Writing Careers, Making Money | 3 Comments »

Changes to Freelance Writing Jobs

A few changes were made to the sister freelance writing jobs blog to All Freelance Writing yesterday. A few other changes were made in the past. Here’s a summary to help you navigate the job listings moving forward:

• The homepage of the jobs blog is the job board. I’m not sure if it will do this for everyone, but for me it shows regional jobs in my area first. You can also search the board for specific types of jobs in any area.
• You can access the actual job listing posts from any of three links - the “job listings” link in the site’s navigation on top, the “freelance writing jobs” link in the paragraph above the job board, and the “freelance writing jobs” link in the sidebar under “freelance writing job posts.”
• You can also by-pass the site altogether by using the email subscription form in the sidebar. This will have the job listings sent to you (in full) via email shortly after they’re posted on the site.
• I’ve implemented an icon-based system for the job posts in response to reader feedback. The icons next to a job post (such as in the most recent post) will tell you if it’s a Web-based gig, blogging gig, or print gig as well as if it’s a link to a bidding site or a site where you need either a free or paid membership to apply. We also have an icon for high-paying gigs to be featured, but that’s something that we’ll probably use scarcely (as most advertised gigs we come across wouldn’t fit that label).
• I’ve been saying “we” a bit here. That’s because a friend and colleague has offered to help out with the site for a while. If you were following this blog back when it was a part of the Six Figure Challenge (when it was a multi-author blog), you may remember her: Denise Shively. So a big welcome and thank you to Denise! Between both of us we’re hoping to make sure you get new job listings each day Monday - Friday, and I’m going to soon start offering to post individual jobs as well. In addition, I’ll be working on building up our writer’s market database, which has been slim so far over at Writers-Guidelines.com.
• I’ve removed all sub-categories for posts. All posts have always been found under the main “freelance writing jobs” category. Being that we now have icons to tell you which type of job each is, it was redundant to have each post saved to multiple categories doing exactly the same thing.
• The site’s theme (template) has been changed to match this one (with some obvious exceptions in the nav bar - you can always link back here to the main blog by clicking the “main blog” link there, and you can always visit that site from here through the “freelance writing jobs” link in this nav bar).

I hope the changes prove to be positive ones - they needed to be done. In the meantime, here’s the key that you’ll find on all job posts moving forward:

Key:

- Web Writing Job
- Print Writing Job
- Blogging Job
- Free Membership Required to Apply
- Paid Membership Required to Apply
- Bidding Site
- High-Paying Freelance Writing Job

Tags: freelance writing gigs, freelance writing jobs, Writers Markets, writing gigs, writing jobs

Posted in General | No Comments »

Why Should Clients Pay You More Just for Doing Your Job?

I was doing a bit of blog reading this morning, and came across this quote in regards to freelance writers bidding low on writing jobs when they’re new:

“A novice copywriter can start with a low price at first. Companies will eventually increase the pay of a copywriter who always submits quality work.”

I see this being said to new writers of all varieties all the time, and the fact of the matter is that it’s not always true. As a matter of fact, most clients aren’t likely to suddenly start paying you more just for doing the job you were contracted to do, because you chose to sucker them in with a low rate that you didn’t advertise as temporary.

Frankly, I look at this as being two things:

1. Stupid - You don’t have to bid low to build a reputation anywhere. That’s not to say that you should be charging as much as someone with years of experience beyond you or better credentials. However, before you ever bid on any freelance writing gig, you should already know what kinds of projects you want, in what rate ranges, and with what kind of target client market (the ones who need or want your services and who can afford to pay your writing rates). You do nothing but a disservice for yourself if you waste time marketing yourself to folks outside of that target market. Why? Because you don’t earn what you need to be earning, and you then have to spend extra (unpaid) time down the road either trying to make a case for being paid more or marketing yourself to the proper market the next time around. Build a portfolio before you start pitching your services, and you can let clients see that you’re worth what you’re quoting or charging. (And yes, you can build a portfolio with no experience.)
2. Dishonest - Maybe it’s just me, but as far as I’m concerned, if you bid one amount fully planning to up the rates in the near future (and you don’t make that clear up front), you’re being dishonest with your client. When they hire you, they’re thinking they’re getting a great deal. If that deal is going to end, you need to make it clear. It’s one thing for you to re-adjust your rates yearly as normal business. It’s also not a big deal if you’re offering a discount for a limited time, on first orders, etc. and you make that clear up front (so the client knows your rates are going up after the introductory order). But it’s something else entirely to go into what amounts to a professional relationship with the idea of sucking someone in to milk them for more later. Is that common in marketing? Sure. But you’re not simply marketing products here - you’re marketing yourself, and that involves building relationships on trust.

So folks (new writers especially) - stop thinking you have to start ridiculously low in the beginning. If you’ve done your job on the marketing and business planning front before jumping in, there’s really no good excuse for it. Don’t screw yourself over in the long run by wasting time on the wrong target markets, and don’t make yourself look bad in such a heavily referral-driven industry by attempting to “bait” clients with rates you won’t be able to live up to after just a few projects.

Tags: blogs, clients, copywriter, freelance writers, freelance writing, freelance writing gigs, freelance writing jobs, marketing, writing, writing fees, writing jobs, writing rates

Posted in Freelance Writing Careers | 7 Comments »

A Tool for Writers Working in an International Market

OK. I want to share a tool with you today. No affiliate links. No product pushing. Just something I love.

I have to make international calls periodically to chat with some of my larger clients. I don’t do a lot of phone work now that I’m not consulting, but I do still occasionally get a request - usually from Australia or the UK. I also have a good friend in the UK. Frankly, my phone company’s international rates suck (as many do). So I decided to try an online phonecard from Pingo.com.

I never ended up using it to deal with any big client calls, but I was chatting with that UK friend yesterday, and later thought “I bet this would come in handy for other writers if they’re like me and have clients all over creation.”

Pros

1. When you sign up, they give you $5 in free calls (nice to test it out). You should do a search for Pingo coupons too - they usually have some for new customers floating around.

2. You can set it up so your phone(s) is always recognized when you call your local access number (meaning you don’t have to spend time entering your account number - which is your phone number - every time you make a call).

3. Their rates seem fine and dandy to me.

4. The calls are incredibly clear (once you get them going) - at least based on my experience with calls to the UK - haven’t used it for a lot else yet.

5. When you do need support, they’re helpful. For example, when we first tried using this new card to connect, the call wouldn’t go through at all for a while. When it finally did, I could hear them fine, but they couldn’t hear me at all. Apparently it was an issue due to calling a mobile. I gave the support folks the number I was calling, and they went into the system, tinkered with something or another, and now it’s all honky dorey.

Cons

1. Sure, it’s not as easy as just picking up the phone and dialing. But if you make a good amount of international (or even just long distance) calls, it can be worthwhile.

2. It can be frustrating if it doesn’t connect at first. It might take some trial and error early on.

So give it a look. It’s not perfect, but for what it is, it seems to do a pretty good job. Hopefully it’ll come in handy for someone here, given our little “global market” and all.

Posted in Writers' Resources | No Comments »

Where to Find Freelance Magazine Markets

So far the only print work I’ve done is ghostwriting trade magazine pieces for business clients, and I haven’t even done a huge amount of that. I’d really love to get something published in print in my own name, just for the sake of doing something different (although I doubt I’d ever make it a priority over Web writing). I’ve been recently looking into some magazine markets to see who I’d like to pitch when I have some time, and I thought I’d share some places where you can find freelance magazine markets if you’re also interested:

• WritersMarket.com - This is a paid site, and one of the more popular options. You can search both consumer and trade magazines here.
• MediaBistro - If you join their Avant Guild program, you can access their “how to pitch” articles, which offer detailed pitching advice for quite a few magazines.
• WritersWeekly.com - You can find quite a few magazine markets in this ezine.
• The Writer’s Life - This site offers free listings of paying magazine markets.

Do you have other favorite resources for finding freelance magazine markets or other writers’ markets online?

Tags: freelance writing, magazine markets, magazines, markets, Writers Markets

Posted in Writers Markets | 2 Comments »

Getting More Mileage from Your Blog

We’ve talked a lot here about why writers should blog, from using blogs as a marketing tool for your freelance writing services to blogging as an added income stream. Now let’s talk about how you can get more from your blog by moving beyond the blog itself. Here are additional income streams / outlets that blogging can potentially lead to if you levereage it right:

Books

Sure. Most bloggers won’t ever convert their blog content into a published book, but it is a possibility if you feel inclined to pursue it.

You can go several routes here. For example, you might decide to self-publish a book by combining your best blog posts. Another option would be to pitch publishers on a book closely tied to your blog content, but not using your existing posts (or editing them a good bit first).

Columns

You’re already used to writing regular resources within your niche. Why not pitch a column to your area’s newspaper or even a larger website? You may be able to get a paper to purchase print rights to existing content you’ve written, or you may decide to offer completely fresh content (especially with larger publications).

E-books

If you can turn your blog content into a book, you can also turn it into an e-book. E-books are a great way to pull together your best content, edit it to improve the flow, and then market your blog or earn a bit of income. This can be especially useful for assembling beginner-level content (for example, if you run a blog on freelance writing, you might pull content directed at beginning writers, without including posts targeting more experienced writers - a sort of “how to get started” guide).

Reprints

There are plenty of websites, e-zines, and other outlets who would be interested in re-publishing your existing content. You can use it for promotional purposes by offering it for free (with a link to your blog), or you can sell reprint rights.

Have you done any of these things to get more mileage out of your blog posts? How else can you get more from your blog?

Tags: blog posts, bloggers, Blogging, blogs, books, columns, E-books, money, newspapers, reprints

Posted in Blogging | No Comments »