Two Simple Rules Of Successful Freelance Writing
When it comes to making a success of freelance writing, two simple rules will take you far.
Rule #1: Follow The Brief
The brief is there for a reason. It’s meant to tell you how the client wants the job done. It’s true, not all writing briefs are as detailed as you might like. Some people don’t know exactly what they want until they don’t get it. With experience, you learn (most of the time) to spot the briefs with large holes or potential pitfalls. Then you move onto the second rule.
Rule #2: Ask Questions
I ask lots of questions before I start a job. Sure, I’m an expert writer, but I am not a mind reader. The purpose of asking questions is not to tell me how to do my job, but to make sure I know what job the client wants me to do. Questions you might ask include:
- Is this a rewrite of the example you supplied or is the example just source material?
- What length should the article/ebook be?
- Do you want me to stick to your outline or to add content I think is necessary?
There are many other questions to ask, depending on the actual writing job. I find that most clients appreciate the fact that I take the time to ascertain what they need. For them, it provides the security of knowing that I understand the job. For me, it prevents me from wasting time writing something that doesn’t meet the brief.
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Get Paid To Write Online by Sharon Hurley Hall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Copyright for posts written by guest authors remains with them.Useful info
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People that don’t ask questions, are the people who don’t know what questions to ask. I like that you’ve listed a few for us. I like to list all my questions out before contacting anyone. That way, I don’t get all scatterbrained and hang up before getting the info I need.
Hi Sharon – I read your blogs about free lance writing and other important things to know. I was wondering if you have any experience with content editing tools.
One of my clients just launched a website editing tool called Easy WebContent.
I would great appreciate your professional opinion and like to offer you a free week to check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks for your attention. Best Regards, Jamie Hoffman
There is definitely truth to rule #2. I’ll often receive assignments from new clients with missing details such as word count, preferred style, and due date.
Asking questions is a great one! People too often think that because I’m the writer they don’t need to provide me with all the details…kind of goofy. I don’t like to feel pushy, but I do like to know what their expectations are before I start working on a project.
@ Derek: Sometimes it’s difficult to know the right questions, but once you’ve had something go wrong. It helps you remember. I wrote an article on clarifying the writing brief on Garden and Hearth. Hope it helps.
@ Jamie: Yes, I’d love to try out that tool and perhaps review it on the blog.
@ Valencia: Me too, and if you don’t ask those questions, you can fall foul of the hidden brief.
@ Chad: finding out what clients expect helps you to improve the work you do and your reputation. What questions do you ask?
This is good advice, and something that can take some practice. Sometimes people are afraid to ask questions but I’ve learned the hard way that unless I do, I may not know what’s going on and can’t complete the project!
Yes, I’d add that to ‘things I learned the hard way’ too, Katherine, though sometimes even if you ask questions, you might not get helpful answers.
As a novice, potential writer, I just want to thank all those whom have given advice through both blunder and bliss. Thank You.
I am a freelance writer, doing web content and any writing work that comes my way. I, too, have been scammed by people asking for free samples and articles. Howwever, the other side is that how does a buyer check out your writing skills without a sample? How would they know that what you are giving as a sample is your own work and not a copy and paste job?
At the same time, though I live in India, I feel there are too many people willing to write an article for a dollar and even 50 cents, which is totally ridiculous. Whether the article is original content or a rewriting job, these kind of pay scales are scraping the bottom on the barrel. It is no wonder that net writing is often dumbed down writing.
The work I do for the print media is generally of a much higher quality because they pay better – not that I do the dollar articles. Once a potential buyer had asked for 10 original research based articles for $60 and when I said that that the money was too little and would do the work if the maximum bid was increased, he came back that in these recessionary times, how could I even think of asking for more money!
I wonder how people in the US do work for so little money – they do, because I have seen on sites like gaf that people living in the western world also accept work at low rates!
Great points, ritecraft. Once you have published work, then often you can use those samples and clients can verify that you’re competent independently if they care to.