Are You a Confident Freelancer?
March 11, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
Whether you feel it or not, freelancers have to project a confident image. Think about it, who do you think an employer is most likely to hire? Someone confident in his ability or the writer who can’t get past his low self-esteem to find the words to toot his own horn? While this business, allows us a certain level of anonymity it’s not for the shy. Why does a freelancer need to be confident?
To Apply for Jobs Appropriate to His Level of Expertise
Three years after beginning your freelance career are you still looking for jobs on Craigslist offering .02 cents per word? Why? The confident freelance knows he’s a seasoned writer and should apply for gigs more appropriate to his experience. He doesn’t only look for those jobs "perfect for beginners" because he knows he’s good enough to get the high paying, prestigious gigs.
To Quote an Appropriate Rate
A confident freelancer has no problem quoting a rate she feels she deserves. She’s not worried about other freelancers offering competitive or lower rates or the potential client balking at her quote. She knows her work speaks for itself and she’s deserving of her rate. If the potential client doesn’t want to pay, it’s his loss. On to the next gig.
To Look at Other Freelancers and Not see Them as Competition
A confident freelancer doesn’t think about everyone else who’s applying for the same gig. He knows he’s qualified and if anything, it’s the other people who should be worried. He wouldn’t give a bad recommendation to another writer or flag a Craligslist gig to get rid of the competition. If he doesn’t get the job, he just wasn’t the right fit. Next time.
To Be Able to Take Your Freelancing to the Next Level
The confident freelancer knows when there’s enough work flowing to quit the day job. It may take months or even years, but a freelancer who believes in herself can make it happen.
A confident freelancer knows she’s qualified for a certain gig, she doesn’t have to wonder. She sees a job and applies with the attitude that she WILL get the gig. If she doesn’t get the gig, she knows it’s nothing personal and continues to look for work. A confident freelancer doesn’t worry about money or competition. She knows her reputation and uses that to get the good gigs.
Are you a confident freelancer? What is keeping you from achieving your goals?
Amen… that is all.
This is really a great post. While it takes a while to be confident in your work (speaking from somebody who has only been writing for two years) once you figure out where you are in terms of experience and what you are qualified to ask/apply for, it reals allows you to focus on getting the most out of your time spent searching for the next employer.
Great article, Deb. Lack of confidence makes many freelancers do incredibly stupid and heinous things.
kk
This is a great post and I agree with what you say. However, for a beginning freelancer, how do you know what rate to ask for? I don’t know where to begin. It’s not that I’m not confident in my writing or afraid to ask for what I am worth, but I also don’t want to be unreasonable. Are there any guidelines out there for beginners to help us figure out what the going rate is?
Knowing what to charge is definitely keeping me from my goals. This past week I have had 4 potential gigs reply to my original email and clips (so they liked my work, right?), and ask me what I charge. I write back what I believe to be a very fair rate, and I never hear back. I follow up one more time. Nothing.
This has been my biggest battle with embarking on a freelance writing career.
It took about two years for me to develop confidence as a freelancer. As a seasoned writer, I no longer bend over backwards for unreasonable clients, and I’m not afraid to pass on an opportunity because the pay is too low. Currently, my work is pretty steady – so I can be a little picky.
@Kitty – You were likely underbidded by another writer. This is an annoying aspect of freelance life.
This post is right on time – Thanks Deb!
Interesting article. (que WayOffTopic_Theme) I especially like the way it includes both genders as it make references to individuals.
To be honest, I didn’t really notice this until it got to the part where it said
but a freelancer who believes in herself can make it happen.
Reading all the He doesn’t only look for those jobs “perfect for beginners” because he knows he’s good enough it went right by me without hardly a second thought.
I’ve learned that how you write your queries or LOIs shows a lot about how confident you feel in your abilities. I’ve lost out on gigs before for being over priced. I have to price one today that I’d like to do but I am sure I’ll be pricing myself out even by lowering my rate a bit.
It is what it is, that’s what I tell myself.
Well said, Deb. I find it easy now to skip ads that ask for “beginners, students, stay at home moms” and other stuff that’s guaranteed to be low paying.
Pricing yourself accordingly seems to be a big issue. I’m always hesitant to tell people what to charge because there’s a variety of factors; level of expertise, research, time, topic.
Last week I offered a link to Michael Stelzner’s teleclass about how to get paid what you’re worth, might be worth looking into for those of you who are still a little confused at what to charge.
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/pricing-your-services-as-a-freelance-writer-earning-what-youre-worth/
Deb, that was another one of your osts that came right in the nick of time. I signed up the same day!
Hi Deb,
I find it interesting that you titled this post “Are You a Confident Freelancer” and not “Writer” because the two are quite different. I, like many freelance writers it seems, struggle with the business end of the business (e.g. what to charge, how to woo clients, etc.). It is an important distinction, I think, that you can be confident in your writing skills but not a confident freelancer.
If it makes anyone feel better, it’s been my experience that some of the greatest writers are not the greatest of business people, and vice versa. That’s why the business people come to us in the first place. I for one am happy to be a writer!
My advice would be to read some books on how to run a small business as well as those writing books. And if you know anyone in business, don’t be afraid to ask his or her opinion if you get really stuck!
~Graham
One of my best gigs was posted for stay-at-home moms. I don’t shun them straight off. In this case, the woman pays me $25 for 100 word articles of my choice as long as they fit into her tourism website. I bill her for every 8 articles and she pays promptly.
Her thought was that she used to be a stay-at-home mom and knows how hard it can be financially, so she gives priority to women in that situation.
About setting fees: Each year the writer’s market book lists typical asking wages for writers in all categories. Also, it’s not too off the charts to go by in house salaries – for instance if typical rates in your area are $40 an hour for tech or biz writing in house, it’s fair to charge that much as a freelancer. More importantly is to go by what you can live on. If this is your career, why wouldn’t you charge what you can live on? Factoring time it takes to do the work, project scope, and what not.
Graham ~ I don’t agree that you should separate “writer” from “freelancer” not if this is your FT job anyhow. The two are not different if this is what you do for a living. Most other occupations don’t separate income gains from job know-how. If a social worker, doctor, or construction worker is good they expect the going rate, and hope for above the going rate.
The not confident, or uninformed freelancers, writers; what have you, drive down wages for all of us pretty effectively. I’m ok with making less right now because I want to blog, not do business writing or mags, but that doesn’t mean I’ll take below $20 an hour, or what I can live on, unless I see a bigger gain in the near future.
It’s not that hard to do a little research before applying.
Get serious about making this your job if this is going to be your job. A job does not pay .03 a word because that works out to slave wages by the hour. .04, even .25 a word seems shabby when you can make 1.00 a word with nationals. And considering that wages on magazines haven’t gone up since the 70s, 1.00 pretty shabby too.
If you’re going to write as your career, then part of being successful is finding out about wage info before you apply, so that you get what you’re worth. So that you get what all decent writers are worth.
And while there is still a difference between blogging pay and basic freelancing, I can tell everyone reading this thread that you can get $16-25+ an hour blogging positions. So, at least don’t go for the super cheap gigs, not when there’s better out there.
Deb, thanks for the great article! I’m not new to writing, but am a newbie to freelancing. I just wanted to add that Bob Bly offers great books and information that covers the freelancing business quite extensively, if anyone was interested in learning more about it. His resources were very helpful to me.
Confidence does go a long way, I think, but I also believe strongly in two other things: perseverance and the b.s. detector, or being able to separate the wheat from the chaff, the tea leaves from the tea dust, etc. etc.
In other words, what’s worked for me is not giving up in the sometimes overwhelming face of thousands of posts out there looking for writers or editors (and seemingly thousands of applicants as well). I also try really hard to be discriminating, as do we all, and searching out the leads on this site is one of my ways. (Thanks very much, Deb.) Knowing my strengths and being able to read between the lines of an ad help me decide what to apply for. I don’t automatically write off ads seeking newbies, for example–but I do automatically ignore ads that are looking for something in which I have not the remotest interest or experience. If I can’t excited about it, I won’t do it well, and I thus probably won’t have a repeat job. That’s just my personal guideline.
I also rabidly hang on to my favorite, long-running gig, which pays exceptionally well, is really fun, and for which I had to undergo three rounds of “interviews” via submitting my writing for inspection. But it was so worth it, and it actually has done more than anything to boost my confidence–I know how much I am appreciated there, and it makes me think even more highly of my own writing skills because someone else is *still* paying me well for them!
Hi Deb,
I agree you cannot “separate” freelance from writing in the practical sense. I simply wanted to point out that for many new writers (and even old ones), it is not the nuts and bolts of the writing that poses the biggest threat to confidence, it is the business (or freelance) part.
For example, I have all the confidence in the world about my abilities as a writer. But until recently I always second-guessed my quoting. (Now it’s just sometimes…!) If I didn’t hear back on a proposal I sent out, I thought I’d quoted too much and drove them away. And when I did get the job, I’d wonder if I quoted too little…
I’ve seen this in other writers too. In my experience, it is the business area that freelance writers need the most confidence boosting.
@Malie – I agree 100%. The first book I read about freelance writing was Bob Bly’s — now I think I have about 4 or 5 of his books altogether. He’s a seasoned pro, and knows how to pass that knowledge along!
~Graham
I think I have confidence in spades… Um, and I’m cocky. And sometimes a little arrogant. And, um, I’m not very modest either… um…
*sneaks off somewhere*
I know my confidence is up since I really kicked it in gear this January. I had signed up for some kind of content writing service a few months ago, not really remembering what the rate was.
I was invited to write a couple of articles in my area of expertise, which I thought was great. When I saw the pay was $4 per article, I politely responded that I couldn’t do it because it was below my regular rate.
The next email reply from them was that my profile had been deleted.
And I didn’t care.
That’s how I know my confidence is up.
My problem isn’t confidence, it’s my health. Two years ago my health downturned and I spent most of the last two years trying to improve it. When that didn’t work, my savings ran out and I had to go on unemployment. To write, a pleasurable passtime and my future work-at-home plan (once my health improved), suddenly became my only means to make money from home and I’ve had to find ways to pay my bills – even if it has meant taking a few low-ball gigs while I’m applying for high-end ones.
I agree with the article on most things, but if you’re in a situation like mine where you have no choice but to find freelance work and you can’t find additional ways outside of the home to pay your bills while the larger gigs come through, then you have to take the lower end ones until the higher end clients start marketing you word of mouth or come back again for additional projects.
I will say though that I am picky about the lower end projects – for example, I only go with the ones that: (1) pay within two weeks (2) have a good company name or client name attached to them. (3) provide me with new skills.
I took one low-end job that literally boosted my resume in days by adding nearly an entire page of national clients. Prior to that project my resume only had the national clients from my off-site sales position and very few writing project ones. Taking that one low paying job not only brought me those contacts, but I also used the experience like an internship to help me to learn about the publishing industry and arts organizations all over the country.
Think about it also this way – if you’re forced to write for low-paying gigs because there are no other choices available in the short-term, at least those gigs will help cover the price of ink, petrol, or even food.
In this economy that money can add up.
As for my current: I found one gig that’s low-end, but will guarantee a steady income for up to 2 years: that’s on average with an outside retail job when I calculate the time to write the articles and the savings on gas. It may not be easy money, but until my expertise and name start getting noticed, I won’t have to worry about starving.
One correction: the current project that is steady income, but low pay doesn’t fit into my rule about paying for work in two weeks, but I had to gauge the steady work against what I have coming in currently. Anyone else should base how they would handle the same on their own situation.
Echoing what Graham said. My best training to be a freelancer was in business — an enterpreneurship program, three years as a business writer (you can learn from being around business people) and reading a lot of sales/marketing books.
It also helps that I’m good with numbbers (been computing batting averages since 6th grade) and support the family with my income — in other words not being profitable is not an option.
Even though I quit my 9 to 5 I still charge clients so my income will match what I’d make on-site with my experience and education. I am lucky because it’s hard to find someone in my line of work who freelances full-time. When companies see my availability they usually snatch me up…if they can afford it.
My husband and I are planning to start a family soon so I really can’t afford to work for pennies. I know when that baby (or babies, we have multiples on BOTH sides) comes I won’t be able to work at full capacity for a while. I need to stash as much cash as possible while building my reputation as a reliable freelancer. I really have no time for the money games.
Freelancing is a full-time job for me. I wouldn’t allow an on-site job to stiff me, so the same rules apply for contract work. I have one job that pays $11/hour (Tutor.com) and I consider that a labor of love; I work it for about an hour each day. Everyone else is getting charged more than double that rate. Sorry folks, but I’ve gotta pay the bills and prepare for the babies!
@James – If there’s one thing you have in spades, indeed it’s confidence.
It’s taken awhile, but I can say that I am a confident freelance writer. Great post, Deb!
@Bertha – I agree with what she says. With propane rates in Vermont topping $4.50 a gallon, I have taken lower paying jobs to come up with the cash quickly to pay off the propane company. They give you 15 days to pay your bill, if you don’t pay it, they raise your rates AND refuse to deliver additional fuel until you’ve paid up.
I have numerous jobs, one that I started a couple months ago is late paying that first invoice. They swear the check is in the mail, and this is a reputable company, but until I get it, I can’t pay bills. Meanwhile, someone offered me a gig of 50 articles for $450 – just enough to pay for 100 gallons of propane, so I took it.
I’m enough in debt from a three year battle with panic disorder that THREE doctors misdiagnosed as a heart condition that I need all the money I can get to catch up. Sure we have health insurance, but even that doesn’t cover everything when you spent a year in and out of the emergency room and cardiologist’s office having every test known to man perfomed.
Well, I was right. I gave a bid that was very fair and it was rejected for “someone whose bid came in substantially lower.”
Oh well, they’ll likely get what they pay for, right?
No matter, I have other work and other quotes to make. I’m good enough to be earning what I earn. I’m not working for slave wages unless it’s a particular project that is dear to my heart and I choose to do so in a voluntary capacity.
Ann: I hear you. It’s not as if we want to low-ball, but if you spend a whole week submitting and that’s the only one that comes back, then what else should you do? I lost my health insurance because I couldn’t afford the $453.00 COBRA premium any longer so that too is an incentive to take what I can get.
Theresa: I would love to be able to do the same, but another problem is the zoning in my township. I’m only allowed to work 1 home occupation unless I pay the township $300 to have a hearing for a yes or no decision to be able to work two. Tutor.com sounds nice even at only $11/hour, but per the residential zoning I can either have an artist studio or I can teach. Not both.
As for my qualification, I have over 3 years corporate business writing, ESL certification, am a published international author, and many years of additional writing including newspaper writing. I’d love to be working at the rate that I deserve, but I have no separate income to pay my bills while playing the waiting game.
One other comment: when our Indian writing colleagues write for pennies an hour that too effects our ability to find good jobs. I wouldn’t recommend Getafreelancer.com to anyone by the way – the outsourced international competition is too steep. I haven’t had any success with that site yet and when I go back and review those who won the bid: they are almost always priced at pennies an hour.
I had an interesting conversation with a corporate executive at lunch today. We were talking about competition (timely post, Deb) and she said she finally figured out why I’m am so confident yet not too aggressive with my competition. “You know what you know, and you know that people industry know that you know. So when they need your expertise, they have to call you and no one else will do.”
I’m still chuffed that this executive holds me in such esteem, and that she gave my work style some thought to try to understand me.
And to those who wonder, it didn’t take me decades to build my knowledge base.I’ve only been writing in that particular niche for two and a half years.so with patience, you can see some major rewards.
Bertha,
sorry you lost your health insurance, but COBRA is a ***#! joke. I had it 16 years ago, paid more for it than my mortgage and it still didn’t cover a lot for my prematurely born daughter — claiming charges were “above what is customary,” when we live in Illinois and all the work was done in Indiana, where medical costs (and malpractice insurance) are much lower.
Great article, but unfortunately, I am in the two cent category. I just can’t help despairing when I see all the well experienced, established competition out there.
I have a feeling that my resume isn’t adequately representing my talents, but am not sure how to deal with it. Maybe I need to hire a free-lancer to tweak it for me?!
@Leonora.
I’ve earned anywhere from $200 for 1,000 words to 2 cents. I’ve been freelance writing for almost 2 years now, and reviewing books for 8 years. Sadly, I find that book reviewers are becoming a scarce commodity now. I get free books from authors and publishers, but don’t make any money, and the majority of people now feel if there is no pay it’s not worth their time.
I happen to have a gig reviewing CDs that doesn’t pay, but I also get free music CDs before they are released to the public.
In the end, while money is important, you also have to make yourself happy. The job I’m working on today is only 3-cents a word, but it’s for a travel company that needs their press releases rewritten into news articles to send to major newspapers around the globe. In an hour, I got 10 written, potentially more had I not turned on my messenger to see how my brother’s doing. I’ve written a total of $32 worth of news stories in that hour, so the pay for me will turn out to be extremely high.
I also have two jobs that pay 25 cents per word. I landed those based on links to writing samples I had attached.
People tend to shun the low paying or free jobs, but the connections you can make are often beneficial. Years ago, I was asked to interview the actor/author Billy Dee Williams when his new book was about to be released. I wasn’t paid a cent, only received a free copy of his book. That one interview has been one of the best writing samples I have and one of the reason potential employers stop and take a closer look.
@ Ann G: I would have to agree with you on not shunning low paying jobs. If you take one of them and do the assignment well, it can lead to other, more lucrative projects. That is how it has worked out for me.
One of my regular jobs is working as a PA for a man who is an Internet marketer. (Please don’t come after me with the torches and pitchforks for this one!) He isn’t my highest-paying client and his business is still in startup mode but in return for my services, he is teaching me about his business and how IM works. I have access to products that he has spent thousands of $$ on, and he is paying me to learn. It’s an eduation that I wouldn’t get anywhere else without spending a ton of money, and I can add Internet Marketing to the list of topics I am comfortable writing about.
If you consistently give your clients more than they expect from you, then over time they will start to give back to you in the form of better assignments and better pay. Satisfied clients can also give you references that will help you land those better-paying jobs, as well as referrals to other people who are hiring.
Phil: COBRA was a really eye opener for me. I had it for a little over a year and the premiums sucked me dry – which is part of the reason I’m in my current state. Although the insurance itself was good (Aetna PPO), that premium every month was way to steep. I have a lot of unpopular prescribed medications: allergy-free vitamins, allergy-free probiotics, specially compounded ingredients – all ordered by my physician; yet, Aetna/COBRA wouldn’t cover those either. It’s insane. I’m sorry to hear about your experience, but it doesn’t surprise me: Aetna calls an over the phone consult/appointment a non-coverable item although, in my circumstance, the phone consult with my allergist was identical to the in-person appointment that they do cover. *bwah*
Ann G: Billy Dee? That’s fantastic! The point is also sound – sometimes the education offsets the $0 pay. I hope you include that interview on your resume – star power is an excellent resume booster. I have a client section on mine: it lists my major more well-known clients and a few unknowns so that they see that I’m willing to work with any business from small mom and pops up to chains, franchises, international clients, et cetera.
I also have to agree with Ann. I did take low-paying jobs when I started freelancing last year (that 2 cent thing too). But thanks to those, I found my niche. Now better-paying contracts with companies are continuing to pour in, thanks to those clips I’ve compiled.
I realize that some might think it’s hard to get out of the low-paying gig mire once you get started, but that wasn’t the case for me. I just knew how to play my cards well, I guess. That as well as the fact that I always think positively.
This is a great conversation, I have learned so much just reading everyone’s posts. Every day I am thankful for this forum for writers that Deb publishes for us. I am a college student (an older one at that), and writing has helped me to supplement my very low income. I too have had some disappointing jobs that paid very little, but then had some good ones that paid much, much more. I find my confidence has really grown since I wrote my own website code and created an online resume website that has links to some of my published works and also some PDF file links that prospective employers can click on in order to read some of my prose and poetry. This has helped me a lot in the way that I don’t have to cut and paste my works into emails anymore, just type the link to my online resume in the body of my query emails to writing gigs. People seem to respond very well to the online resume, so I’m much more confident than I was at this time last year when I began to read this job and information site.
Thanks again for a great conversation here everyone
Digital Midge