It seems as though I’m constantly banging my head against a brick wall when hiring freelance writers!

As easy as you might think it would be to work with writers – there seems to a copious amount of us willing to take on new work! – it brought back memories of when I tried to outsource work a year or two ago and simply put, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

Actually finding writers wasn’t a problem – it was finding writers who could deliver the work that was the issue.

Looking at the problems I’ve encountered both in recent times and in the past, the following three points are all problems I’ve faced when hiring freelance writers.

1.  No rate card

I never had a rate for years.  Either clients would come to me saying “Can you create this for this amount of money?” or I’d make a figure up on the spot when asked how much I’d charge for a certain project.  Sometimes I’d charge too much, others too little and sometimes I’d get it right.  It wasn’t ideal by any means, but it worked.

When I started to take freelance writing seriously as a career, I realised that I needed to have a more structured way of pricing projects and so while I still don’t have a set rate card that I adhere to 100%, I do have several figures in mind per word and per hour that I like to work around.

One of the most annoying points for me when hiring writers was that many couldn’t give definite answers as to how much they’d charge or whether they’d work for the fee I suggested.  I don’t mind if you say no and you want more money or you give me range of prices depending on, for instance,  the number of words offered, but don’t just say “oh, about $50 a piece”.  What’s a piece?  250 words?  2,500 words?  A blog post?  A press release?

I may not have had a pricing structure in place for several years, but I’ve always been able to tell a potential client how much I’d charge for a project.

2.  Deadlines that can’t be met

This is my number one pet hate.  Period.

I’m not a fantastic time keeper outside of work.  I very rarely say “I’ll meet you at 7pm” – it’s always “I’ll meet you at around 7pm”.  There are occasions when I – or anyone – need to be at a certain place at a certain time, but I’m a relaxed guy and if I don’t get out of a meeting until 5.30pm, I’m not going to rush home to get showered and changed so I can be at a bar for 7pm – being 15 minutes late isn’t going to harm anyone.

When it comes to work, though, I’ve always stuck by one principle – I don’t mind if you’re going to be a day or two over your expected delivery time, but please just tell me sooner than 4.55pm on the day the work was due.  If nothing else it’s courteous.

If I have notice, I can plan and prepare.  If I don’t have notice, I can’t do anything.

If you can’t deliver 5,000 words in a week, that’s fine, but don’t tell me that you can.

3.  Ignoring guidelines

In most pieces of work I’ve requested, I haven’t asked for much.  For example, it might be a set amount of words, a broad style requirement (i.e., formal, not conversational) and the occasional link to a source.

So why do several writers seem to think these requirements are optional?

If I said “between 400 and 600 words”, I’m pretty sure you would all agree that it could be taken two separate ways – produce a piece that’s between 400 and 600 words long or produce a piece that uses at least 4oo to 600 words minimum.

I’m also pretty sure you’d all agree it doesn’t mean “try and use between 400 and 600 words, but if you only manage 350, that’s fine”.

I also understand that people could interpret ‘formal, not conversational’ in different ways, but whichever way you take it, you don’t want to be including colloquialisms or internet speak (i.e., LOL).

This piece isn’t meant as a dig at any freelance writer in particular or even freelance writers in general – remember, I am still a freelance writer!

I’ve just provided these difficulties for everyone to hopefully learn from, as I honestly believe there are hundreds of high quality writers out there who can produce the required content, but they just need a little polishing when it comes to their business skills.

Image:  Oast House Archive (Geograph)

Do you sometimes find that securing freelance writing gigs is an uphill battle?

Each writer has their own speciality topics. Some writers state this blatantly and obviously on their website, blog, business cards and e-mail signature, while others don’t explain their specialities, often stating that they’re a general writer.

However, whichever type of writer you are, you will have topics and subjects that you prefer to write about.

For many, specialities have come from past careers. For instance, there are many financial writers out there who spent years working as corporate accountants, did a few one-off pieces of writing and eventually found themselves writing regular columns for finance magazines.

There are plenty of other writers, however – me included – who essentially fell into freelance writing and didn’t come from a specific career or writing background, yet who still have speciality topics.

In some respects, I’ve found this to be somewhat of a hindrance – as I don’t have any formal qualifications relating to the topics I specialise in or don’t have years of experience working within a specific sector, I’ve occasionally found it a bit of an uphill battle when pitching for certain writing jobs.

I’m not particularly surprised by this, as it’s something I’ve seen outside of the freelance writing industry and on many occasions I’ve seen people blatantly rejected for jobs because they don’t have the necessary, formal qualifications, even though they have years of experience in the industry.

One of the most pleasant feelings I get as a freelance writer is when I convince a client to choose me for the job, even though I don’t fit the bill in terms of education and qualifications and I deliver over and above what was expected.

Maybe it’s just a personal aspect, but it’s that feeling of proving that you can do the job, when others aren’t too sure, even though you have years of experience.

For me, this is often around small business development and search engine optimization. OK, there aren’t any formal qualifications in SEO, but I’ve never worked in a dedicated SEO role or for a well-known SEO agency. However, I spent several years researching SEO so that I could implement certain techniques for my own benefit and I still keep on top of the latest practices today, so I feel that I can comfortably hold my own with SEO discussions at all levels.

It’s the same with small business development. I didn’t go to university to study business economics or any similar subject, but after years of working with small businesses, I’ve built up enough knowledge to be able to consult on numerous best practices related to small business development.

As a freelance writer, what are your speciality topics? Do you find that you occasionally have trouble getting related writing jobs because you don’t have the relevant qualifications or do you find any troubles you have come from you not having a sufficient amount of writing experience, irrelevant of your qualifications?

Image:  stumayhew (Flickr)

Will you ever stop writing?

It’s Sunday afternoon.  We had friends stay over last night and they left a few hours ago.  It’s glorious outside.

I’ve mowed the lawn, put our new barbecue together (although if my partner is reading this, I helped put the new barbecue together), finished reading the last few chapters of my book and I’m now getting in an hour or two’s work before we head out for a roast dinner at my parents.

With the sun shining and being able to walk around in shorts and t-shirt without feeling cold – finally – it’s days like this that I really love being a freelance writer, as I can effectively enjoy the day and fit in work around everything else.

Lately, however, I’ve been spinning a lot of plates.  Things have been a lot busier than normal and although it’s great in one way – I’ve got a lot of proposals and opportunities currently with clients and companies that I’m waiting to hear confirmation on – it’s that uncertainty of what’s coming and not being able to plan too far in advance should one of these proposals or opportunities come up that’s giving me a bit of a headache.

And at the height of this headache-y week or two, I wondered what it would be like if I wasn’t freelance writing.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be self-employed and run my own business and for the last five years at least, that’s what I’ve been trying to do.

I started off teaching myself HTML and CSS, moved onto SEO and that led me to freelance writing, which after trying a number of other ventures and opportunities, most of which were interesting and appealing but which I didn’t feel 100% comfortable, it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

It has meant long hours and I’ve juggled a full time freelance writing career alongside a full time salaried job for most of it and although I’ve sometimes sat on weekends thinking that I could just do one or the other and be able to reduce my working week by 37 hours, I’ve stuck with both and financially, it’s proved to to be the best thing to do.

Over these last few weeks, having had a few different proposals out there and some full time job offers, I’ve wondered whether freelance writing is actually what I want to do.

I could take one of the full time positions and be able to have my weekends free.  I’ll be able to go on holiday without having to work extra hours leading up to it so that I deliver on my freelance projects.

I’ll be able to actually be ill and recover in bed rather than prop myself up and surrounded by hot water, lemon, tablets and tissues, try and get through some work.

And in terms of organising holidays, days out and time off with friends and family, it would be a whole lot easier.

But I just don’t think I could do it.

I’m still in a full time role now alongside my freelance work, but I don’t particularly like the role and I’m only there – for the most part – for the financial stability.  I earn more from my freelance work than I do in that position, but things are just a whole lot more straightforward when you’re applying for, for instance, mortgages if you’re employed by a company.

One of the opportunities that’s looking promising is a part time salaried role which would work out perfect, as it would give me the best of both worlds.

As much as I sometimes wish I didn’t have a deadline to meet or that I had my evenings free to play guitar or even just head online in a non-working way, I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing, even if it’s just for my personal benefit.

Image:  ECosiCresci (Flickr)

One of Get Paid to Write Online’s readers recently asked how one can compete with $1 bids on sites like Freelancer.com. When I joined Freelancer.com, I had the same sentiments about $1 bids and got discouraged at having to bid so low. So let me share some of my experiences and give you tips on using Freelancer.com.

Where to start

When you start using Freelancer, you have to sign up. You will then get an opportunity select the types of jobs you would like to do. Make sure you tick the notifications option so you are able to bid as soon as new jobs are posted. Schedule time each day to work through them as there’ll be a lot of emails – otherwise you may lose out on good work.

Types of writing jobs

There are a lot of projects for article writers but most of them want 500+ word search engine optimized (SEO) articles that pass CopyScape – and they pay only $1. Don’t fall for that. That fee per article is not worth my time – nor yours. I used to bid on everything just to get work (I was slightly desperate), but when I accepted work for a client ($2.75 per article) and I had to do research, SEO etc, I told him that I couldn’t do it – it was too much work for too little pay.

Ridiculous demands

And there are others. Having to do 25 – 50 articles a day. Not worth it (the pressure). Having to deliver articles two hours after they arrive. Not worth it. (This means your entire business has to be on hold.) The idea is to be your own boss. Agree to delivery terms that are comfortable for you and watch out for pushy customers. It’s got to be worth it for you. If the fee is too low and the workload too hectic, don’t feel you’re losing out if you don’t bid or delete the email. There will be a lot more work .

Finding work worth your while

Don’t be discouraged. Just keep checking the emails and bidding the price you want on the projects that interest you. I’ve learnt that buyers don’t necessarily award projects to people bidding $30 (minimum bid) for, because it doesn’t take long to learn that if you pay $1 for an article, you get what you pay for.

Fee structures

Don’t charge by the hour. You might work more hours than you expected and overcharge the customer – losing him in the process. Or you could finish quickly and get paid peanuts. Freelancer allows you to charge per project.

Value your time

This is very important to me. It doesn’t matter how new you are to the business, your time is also valuable. Remember that when you bid or accept work, people must pay you for your time, even if it is entry level rates.

Entry level rates

For 300 word articles you could charge $3.50, $5 for 500 word articles and $6 for up to 700 words. It doesn’t matter what kind of articles they are. Some people simply want rewrites and then you could charge $3.5 per article. The more you work the system, the more you will get connected to people and your rates will improve as your experience rises.

Allocating the right amount of time

Make sure that you allocate enough time for each project. I once agreed to a project of 10 articles (the fee was great) and I ended up working until one in the morning, and I was sick. Try not cutting it too fine and budget enough time for the project with a little extra for emergencies and power failures.

What the service costs

You get over 50 bid opportunities a month on a free account. A gold membership will cost you $24.95 and your allowed bids will rise by over 130. Each job you accept will cost you $1. Don’t give out personal contact details outside the site as Freelancer will penalize you by subtracting your allowed bids. Through more infractions you could see your account closed.

Work on a sample package

Almost every project owner will ask you for a sample first. So have your best work ready as a sample to show your prospective clients. Prepare a range of samples to suit different jobs, but be sure to have a search engine optimized, well researched article.

Some customers want you to write a ‘test’ article for them before they award you the work. Beware of this as in only one case out of 25 specific articles I have written have the clients actually awarded the jobs. The others I haven’t heard from again.

The only other advice I can give is to bid on as many jobs as you can (law of averages dictates 1 out of ten customers pitched will bite). Don’t put pressure on yourself and be desperate. If you keep on bidding and keep to your rate you will get work and it will be worth your while.

Ivin Viljoen is a columnist, scriptwriter, freelancer, blogger and published author. He blogs daily at Authopublisher.com where you can download his free Work from home ebook exposing working from home scams and providing resources for freelancing. Join the Authopublisher Forum for community Q&A and support.

It might sound like a clichéd TV advert, but you really can wave goodbye to your low paying clients this Christmas

I enjoy helping other people.  I don’t get chance to help others as much as I would like to, but I received such a large amount of help when I was first starting out as a freelance writer that I try to give back as much and as often as I can.

I’m pleased to say that the post I made in October, It’s Time To Give Something Back To The Freelance Writing Community, has been well received, as alongside the numerous comments on the post itself asking questions on freelance writing and business development, I’ve received a number of e-mails directly.

Of the questions that I’ve received by e-mail, one that caught my eye in particular was from Susan Hutchings, who asked:

I currently write for a company who pay me £3 for 250 word blogs for various legal firms. I think I can achieve better rates myself but need advice on marketing and obtaining work directly from the web site owners/businesses themselves.

A little over a year ago, I was in exactly the same boat as Susan, producing work regularly for a client or two who whilst quite happy paying me, weren’t paying what could be classed as a respectable rate, irrelevant of how long you’ve been writing.

When you’re in a situation like this, however, you find that you fall into somewhat of a Catch 22 situation – you can’t leave the client behind because you start to rely on the money you’re receiving from them, but you can’t start looking for other clients as you seem to be spending most of your time with that single client.

And although you do become annoyed and frustrated, you end up taking it for what it is and just sticking with what you know.

For Susan and anyone else reading this who can relate, there is a way out of this circle.  It did take me a while to get out of the loop, but with the advice of other freelance writers, hard work and long hours, I managed it and the seven primary steps I followed are as follows.

1.  You need to start writing for yourself

I’ve mentioned this time and time again, but I’m a strong believer in the more you write, the more you find your own tongue and the more you become involved in the freelance writing community, something which was integral to me starting to value myself properly as a freelance writer.

Your blog doesn’t have to be business related and it doesn’t have to have the goal of providing you with an income directly.  Instead, it should be an outlet for you to write on what you feel passionate about.  If it is something to do with your freelance writing career, great, but don’t worry about it if it’s not – as long as you’re writing regularly, that’s the key point here.

2.  Be interactive

One of the major mistakes I made when I was looking to leave my low paying clients behind was that I wasn’t interactive enough with freelance writing community.

I’d read dozens of blogs and spent hours going through historic posts, but I’d very rarely leave a comment.

When I realised that I wanted to push my freelance writing career forward, I found that as I began writing more, I started to become more involved in the freelance writing community and it’s due largely to this involvement that I’ve managed to develop my career.

Over the last 12 months in particular I’ve met some fantastic people.  Freelance writers, clients, SEO companies, small businesses, large organisations – I seem to have come into contact with hundreds of different people.

Whilst not all of them helped me directly, I took something away from meeting each of them, whether it was a tiny piece of information or a way to completely revolutionise a certain part of my writing career.

3.  Get a social network presence

Although I wasn’t a writer a decade ago, from speaking to others who’ve been writing for years, I understand that you could have been a successful freelance writer easily with only an absolutely minimal amount of involvement with the internet.

With everyone and everything seeming to use the World Wide Web in one way or another in today’s world, however, it’s absolutely imperative that you have a social network presence if you want to climb the freelance writing ladder and leave the low paying gigs behind.

Twitter is the most obvious and popular choice, but don’t neglect LinkedIn or Facebook – and a look at Digg, StumbleUpon and FourSquare wouldn’t go amiss either (there are dozens upon dozens of social network sites out there and these are just the ones that I used to help me increase my rates and move away from the low paying clients).

And if you’re wondering why you need a social network presence, you’ll be surprised at just how many writing gigs circulate around these networks.  I’ve also discovered that a lot of people ask for help on Twitter and LinkedIn in particular, something that could very easily end up with you taking on board a new client.

4.  Start searching the job boards on a daily basis

This might sound like an obvious point to some, searching a number of different job boards, but I remember when I first started my development as a freelance writer, I was relying on just one website to provide me with a daily list of jobs.

This was great to start with, but things move so much faster when you realise that there’s about half a dozen quality blogs and websites out there providing you with different freelance writing jobs on a daily basis.

As a side note, spend some time looking at adverts in full, especially to begin with – there are plenty of low paying adverts out there that are a waste of your time and whilst difficult to spot at first, if you spend the time looking at the different adverts, you’ll soon see a pattern emerging and will be able to eventually skim over the adverts that are likely to be time wasters.

Not something you need to rely on solely, as you’ll find that once you’ve built up some high paying clients and have a broader portfolio you start being contacted for work or you begin to contact certain companies directly, but most freelance writers I know, irrelevant of their level of experience, tend to have a look on the job boards every now and again.

5.  Don’t disregard your low paying clients

My largest client of 2009 went on to be my largest client of 2010, too – on a much improved rate.

To say I was nervous about talking to that client to discuss an increase in my rates was an understatement, even though I’d built up a particularly good relationship with them.

I mulled it over for weeks and after speaking to a few different freelance writers, decided to approach them about it.

And I really didn’t have to have any reason to worry – we not only decided on an improvement of around a 30% increase on the old rate, but they also increased the amount of work they gave me by almost 100%.

I’m not saying that everyone is going to have as great of an experience as I fortunately did, but don’t automatically assume that the clients you’re working with at present can’t afford to increase their rates – speak to them and you might just be surprised at what they can offer.

6.  Learn how to write a query / introduction e-mail

Possibly the hardest thing I learnt – and to a certain extent am still learning – was to be able to write a query / introduction e-mail that was successful in at least receiving a reply, whether it was from someone I was pitching a writing piece to or a potential client who I believed could benefit from regular writing in the form of a blog, for example.

I started off by writing an e-mail that in hindsight was far too long and then I moved onto the complete opposite, providing too little information in my e-mails.

I’d then get frustrated and rush my initial contact, sometimes getting a few details wrong or making a spelling error and then after a few days of cooling down, the whole process would start again.

It took me a good few months to find a way to introduce myself and explain what I was contacting the person for without any of the mistakes I’d made previously.  I did get there in the end and although my method isn’t perfect – some people just don’t want to reply – it’s successful enough for me at present.

And if you’re wondering what method I use, there really is no secret – I give a brief introduction of who I am and why I’m contacting them, follow it up with some more details of how I could help or what I could do, give a little information of my relevant experience and then sign off – easy to digest, informative and – hopefully – interesting.

7.  Plan your day

There’s no two ways about it – planning your days and weeks is going to be the key to your success as a freelance writer.

You need time to progress and develop as a writer and if you don’t plan your time, you’ll find that you do a lot of nothing, when you could be working and developing.

For those of you who’ve read my posts here at Get Paid To Write Online or elsewhere over the last year, you’ll know that I still carry out some corporate work that isn’t writing.

The reason I’m mentioning this here is that before 2010, I would go to my corporate job, work eight hours a day and then come home, watch a bit of TV, write a bit, send a few e-mails, surf the internet, have dinner, watch some more TV and go to bed.

Although happy at the time, when I realised I that I wanted to move my career as a freelance writer forward, this all had to change and I needed to be more strict with myself.

I would go to work, come home and write for an hour or two solidly.  I’d then spend some time checking my e-mails, reading blogs and interacting with the freelance writing community before heading down for dinner and then carrying out more networking and finishing off or getting ahead on any pieces of writing.

I was working 70 hour weeks and whilst I enjoyed the work, it wasn’t easy and I made a few mistakes personally that I had to fix immediately.

The planning and hard work did pay off and whilst I do keep finding myself working 70 hour weeks – I haven’t left the corporate role just yet – it’s always for a good reason and I know that the hours I put in are all working hours.

Becoming a freelance writer who can charge respectable rates isn’t something that’s based on luck and it’s down purely to how hard you’re willing to work.

There are plenty of progression opportunities out there and tons of writing jobs available, you just have to know where to look, who to talk to and how to ensure you are always moving forward in the industry.

Image:  SolYoung (Flickr) – I thought we needed something a little festive seeing as it’s less than two weeks until Christmas!

Keeping all of your eggs in one basket isn't recommended, but it's not something that's simple to resolve.

At the start of this month I talked about ‘How To Reach The Next Rung On The Freelance Writing Ladder‘, which was in response to a comment made by Walker, a reader of my post where I offered to give something back to the freelance writing community.

One of the readers who also left a comment on the same post was Anne, who said:

Hi, I am a freelancer article writer. I am working online to a certain company. I would really want to know how am I going to use my talent in writing to be profitable.

With risk of sounding like a psychic medium, I instantly felt a connection with Anne, as I was in exactly the same position not that long ago.

Writing for a single company producing articles on a monthly basis, the work wasn’t particularly well paid (in terms of what many would consider to be the going rate for similar articles on a per word basis), but it’s volume meant that whilst I was putting a lot of hours in, I was seeing somewhat of a respectable return.

The problem for me – and I’m sure for everyone else in the same boat – was that although the work could be interesting, the fact you were writing the same type of articles on a regular basis made it feel slightly monotonous and on occasion, a little tedious.

And that’s aside from the fact that you were keeping all of your eggs in one basket – a massive no no in any industry, as if that client pulls the plug on the work they’re giving you, you instantly lose the majority – if not all – of your income.

After a few months of producing the work required but feeling like I could be doing so much more, I realized that I needed to do something about it.

Yes, I could have carried on like I was doing and I would have been able to keep on earning the amount that I was, but I’m also pretty certain I wouldn’t have achieved 95% of what I’ve done this year, including being her writing for Get Paid To Write Online.

The problem that I found when moving forward was that I didn’t come across many resources that told me how to do it, with most basically saying “be confident, be strong, ditch your current client and go on the look out for new ones”.

This is great in theory, but when you rely on your freelance writing income, the risk of there being a gap of weeks or months between leaving a single client and taking on several others was just too big of a gamble to take.

Therefore, looking back on what I did to expand my client base, I believe it can be summed up into five steps, which anyone in the same boat should be able to follow, allowing them to stop keeping all of their eggs in one basket and move along the path to get where they want to be as a freelance writer.

1.  Realize that only you can make yourself successful

When I first decided that it was time to move all of my eggs out of one basket, although I knew I’d have to put a lot of work in, I had a bit of a belief that things would just fall into place, someone would take me under their wing and I’d be able to ride on the back of their success until I paved my own path.

Of course, this isn’t how things happen and I soon realized that no one was going to help me be successful except for myself.

And once you understand this yourself and stop thinking you can rely on others, it’s actually quite enlightening, as you realize the freelance writing world really is your oyster.

2.  Start networking with people who you aspire to be like

One of the first things I realized when I wanted to expand my client base was that I couldn’t just ditch the client I had and expect to take on six new clients straight away and the process had to be a smooth, gradual one.

As most people in the similar situation, the problem was that I didn’t know how to do it gradually and so I started networking with the people who did.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just start e-mailing the world’s best freelance writers saying “Hey, how do I be successful?”.  I was – and still am – genuinely interested in how to continually develop and so I simply started becoming more involved with discussions on their blogs, reading everything they posted and questioned the bits that I didn’t understand or wanted to know more about.

After a few weeks, I started to e-mail a few of the people directly, explaining that I really liked their blog, their work in general and that would they mind if I asked a few questions.

And from that, I’ve managed to develop some really great friendships with people that I owe a lot to.

I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it a million times again, but the freelance writing community is the most friendliest I’ve ever had the pleasure to work in and I’ve found that whenever you want a bit of advice, all you’ve got to do is ask.

3.  Look at your rates

Even up until the start of this year, I didn’t have any set rates for my freelance writing work.  The client I received the vast majority of my work from paid me a set amount of money per article completed, which I had no idea if it was good, bad or about right and any single pieces of work that I carried out I accepted based almost primarily on whether I would enjoy writing it than anything else.

One of the first things I learnt when I started to expand my client base is that I needed to have some type of rate sheet that I could refer to.

It didn’t need to have rates on that were set in stone and there was no reason why I couldn’t provide a tailored a quote based on a client’s individual needs.

However, it became imperative for me to have something to hand that I could refer to if a potential client came to me asking for a price on a project or if I saw a gig advertised and I wanted to assess whether it would be worth my while.

It’s only a small thing and it won’t take you long to create, but you’ll find that your whole outlook changes once you realize how much you want – or need – to be working for as a minimum.

4.  Get blogging

If you’ve followed my posts here on Get Paid To Write Online, my own blog or any other blog that I write or have written for, you’ll be aware that I strongly believe every writer should be writing on a regular basis, with a blog giving you the perfect platform to do so.

The reason behind this is that the more you blog, the more comfortable you feel, the quicker you find your true writing voice and – something that’s particularly important when you’re looking to develop your client base – the more people read your work and begin to associate you with being a quality writer.

There are some writers who believe that you shouldn’t have to pitch to clients and they should come to you and there are others who believe you should be continually pitching for new projects.

The way I see it is why not work right down the middle of both views?

And this is where blogging really shines through for the first view, as if you can provide content on a regular basis in a specific niche or two, you’ll find that over time you’ll come to be known as a knowledgeable person in that field, something which can be particularly lucrative when people begin to approach you for advice, quotes and work.

5.  Seek and ye shall find

When I began to expand from having a single client to several, I spent hours trawling the web for new work.

Maybe I spent too much time looking for jobs, time which I could have spent dedicated to developing my actual writing skills, but from the hours upon hours I spent each day, once I’d figured out what was a scam and what was particularly low paying, I managed to work on some really good projects.

What’s important to remember here is that not only should you refrain from applying for projects that are out of your reach in terms of experience just because they pay well (the time spent applying for them can be better spent elsewhere), don’t disregard one off gigs – they might only be asking for you to write an ‘About’ page on their website now, but you’ve got your foot in the door and if you provide quality content, chances are they’re instantly going to come back to you in the future.

As I said in point one, it’s all too easy to sit back and expect someone else to make you a success.  The truth is, that just isn’t going to happen and you need to be actively looking to develop and expand yourself.

Start by understanding that only you are in charge of your own future, begin networking with people who are in a position that you want to be in, have a set of rates which you know if you stick to with new clients will mean you’re in a good position financially, begin writing regularly to garner a following and become known in your field and continue to be on the lookout for new work.

Moving your freelance writing eggs out of a single basket into half a dozen baskets isn’t an easy process and it can be daunting, but it’s imperative to a sustainable career as a freelance writer.

Image:  boughtbooks (Flickr)

As a new freelance writer, it can take a while to find good sources of writing work. If you’re new to the game, how can you tell the difference between sites that offer below-minimum-wage gigs and those that give you a great chance of earning a living from writing. Even with the best search tools, it can take time to wade through hundreds of job listings, so why not save yourself the hassle and check out this list of the five best places to find writing work.

Writer’s Bridge

The Writer’s Bridge aims to bridge the gap between freelancers and the publications they are querying, helping them by providing a regular idea bank of possible stories and even helping with the pitching and querying process. I don’t know another service like it, which is why it’s at the top of my list of top writing jobs sites. For a measly $10 a month, you get all that plus a daily list of job leads collated from a range of writing newsletters, saving you the trouble of reading them yourself.  As a final bonus, there’s a growing Writer’s Bridge writing community on Facebook and a blog providing writing advice.

Freelance Writing Gigs

This award winning freelance writing jobs site, now owned by SplashPress media, sifts through the jobs on offer to find the ones that are likely to be genuine. There’s also a minimum payment threshold for jobs posted on the site. That means writers who get gigs this way are much less likely to get scammed and much more likely to pick up paying, long term gigs. Anything that looks too ridiculous or scammy is weeded out before you get the list, preventing you from wasting time. There are hundreds of writers who make this their first port of call each day, not only for the job listings but for the valuable advice on running a writing career that’s available from a talented group of writers.

About Freelance Writing

Anne Wayman has been collating lists of writing jobs on About Freelance Writing for years. There’s a daily update on what’s available and somehow she always manages to have a couple of opportunities I’ve not seen anywhere else. Anne’s approach is slightly different. Instead of weeding out the low paid jobs altogether, she lists them separately, so that people who don’t mind taking jobs in that category – or new writers looking for experience – can check them out if they want to. Anne’s site also features advice for writers – and she’s a veteran in the business, so is worth listening to.

Freelance Switch

If you are into other types of freelancing, such as designing the stuff that you write, then Freelance Switch may be more your style. The site has a job board featuring opportunities for all kinds of freelancers. The only catch is that it costs $7 a month to subscribe. On the plus side, jobs available through this site pay pretty well, so the cost may well be worth it. While you’re on the site, don’t forget to check out the Freelance Switch blog which has posts from a huge team of experienced writers.

Problogger

You might be wondering what this well known haven for professional bloggers is doing on a list of writing sites, but bloggers are writers too, and the Problogger site has one of the best job boards around. Almost every blogging job worth having seems to show up on this site at some time, and it’s absolutely free to access the opportunities, which are updated regularly.

With these sites alone, you could soon have a well paid writing gig – so what are you waiting for?

If you do a lot of writing, then it’s essential to get organized. Planning is very important, but tracking is equally important. Someone asked me the other day how I kept track of my writing life.

I’m not a spreadsheet wizard, but Excel is the best way to keep track of all the pieces. What I normally do is think about what I need to include, then ask someone who knows their way around Excel to create it for me. After that, I tweak it. Between us, we come up with something that works very well. So, what’s included in my spreadsheet.

A New System

This year, I have changed my main tracking from an invoice number system (where I kept track of jobs by the invoices I sent) to a job numbering system. Each job I accept, whether for me or my writing team, is allocated a number, starting at 2008-001.

Project Management

The next column, titled Project, is where I describe the job in brief. I also used to have a column titled client, so I could track who I was working for, but I found I never needed to refer to it, so now I just include the client’s initials in the project column.

Deadline Tracking

Next is a column for the writer (only necessary because I sometimes outsource and need to know who to chase), followed by several columns for dates – the client’s deadline, the deadline I give the writer (if it’s different) and the date the job is sent to the client. I try to be rigorous in filling out this column as I want to be certain that I’ve done the job and submitted it if there’s a client query.

Getting Paid

The next few columns are for keeping track of invoicing and payment. Column titles are Invoiced client, invoice number, writer invoice received, writer paid. Then I have a section for the payment. There’s a payment amount column, a writer payment amount column and a commission column for the jobs I pass on. Finally, I track the date that payment is received.

Reviewing The Process

This is still a work in progress. At the end of each year – and sometimes during the year – I review the sheet to see how I am using it and what I need to change. I have the sense that this may be the final version, unless I get any good tips as a result of writing this post.

Finally, there’s another sheet in my spreadsheet which I use to track my monthly income. That just has the date, job and amount, with a total at the end of each month. I also (when I remember) track cash flow, but I think I might do that more easily in the first sheet, as all the figures are there anyway.

Inspire yourself to do more writing or read this great post on kickstarting your writing career.

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Diversification is one of the secrets of a successful freelance writing career. When you find someone who will offer you work, it can be tempting to milk that lead for all it’s worth and do as much writing as possible for one client. While that may help in the short term, it’s a dangerous long term strategy.

What Happens When A Client Leaves?

That’s because you never know when a particular client’s needs will change or when that client will run out of money. If you have put your eggs in one basket, that leaves you in a financial hole when that source of writing work dries up.

So what’s the answer? To spread it around. Even when you think you’ve got a good thing going with the writing clients you’ve got, be on the lookout for new opportunities. One of those might be lucrative, and you’ll be less vulnerable if a single client stops offering work.

My Writing Clients

I admit that it’s not always easy. When I started freelancing, I took whatever was offered and at one stage got most of my work from a single client. However, once I’d done that for a few months, I had more skills and more clips to show and was able to diversify. My client portfolio now looks like this:

• One major client who provides work for me and my team.
• Three clients who need regular weekly articles.
• A couple of clients whom I’ve worked for in the past, who provide large jobs two or three times a year.

Balancing The Books

I like this balance because it provides a steady income, but leaves room for me to take other jobs when they come up. I supplement the income from writing web content, ebooks and articles with income from blogging and ads on my various blogs. I also make sure to send out a few bids every week, and I keep my eyes peeled for clients who are likely to need recurring work.

The Write For Cash blog has an interesting article on Grant Writing and Proposal Writing. I often notice clients looking for this type of writing on Elance and Guru. If you are interested in getting into this type of writing, then be sure to check out this post for an intro to the kind of content you need to include.