by Deborah Ng
Each year freelance writing grows more competitive. More content sites are opening up, more blog networks are hiring and more writers are looking to break into print. It’s not enough to be a good writer, if you wish to be a successful writer you’ll have to present yourself in the best light possible and cultivate good habits.
Here are a few of the bad habits freelance writers need to break if they want to succeed:
1. Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
Many freelancers won’t turn down work. In this feast or famine business, one never knows when one will lose a client and it’s always good to have backup. As a result, I’m seeing many freelancers suffering from burnout or not being able to complete projects on time. By all means, have a diverse list of clients, but also be realistic. You’re no good to your clients – or yourself – after working 15 hours a day 7 days a week.
2. Procrastination
The Internet. The fridge. The television. A good book – What do these things all have in common? They’re all conspiring to keep you from getting your work done. As a freelancer you don’t work in an office. You don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder or a team to provide backup. Getting your work in on deadline is fine, putting in the time to do the job right and get the work done ahead of time is better.
3. Flaking Out
Something I find disappointing is the amount of writers who accept a project and end up flaking. I see this more and more over the past couple of years. I think the anonymity of the Internet allows some writers to do this without feeling too guilty. When you don’t meet a client face to face, you don’t really establish a relationship. However, this gives so many of us a bad name, and doesn’t encourage an employer to want to invest a lot of money in us. If you want to build a successful business and if you want clients to trust you and recommend you for other, higher paying gigs, you have to complete the task to the best of your ability, no matter how unattractive or boring.
4. Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
Several years ago I was accepted to write for a content site owned by Pagewise called Write for Cash. Write for Cash paid $15 per article and I was allowed to write 50 articles per month. It supplemented my career nicely, but it wasn’t my only client. For many writers WFC was the only source of income, they didn’t feel the need to take on other clients. Three years ago, WFC closed its doors forever. Hundreds of freelancers were out of a gig. Some of us had gigs to fall back on. Others had a hard time finding work because they depended on this as their sole source of income. I still see freelancers counting on one website to pay the bills. It’s a good idea to keep in mind one day your client may not be able to pay you anymore. Know More Media had to stop paying bloggers recently and Gawker had to lower rates for its bloggers. This is a shaky economy, it’s best to be prepared.
5. Taking the Lazy Way Out
A good way for a writer to land higher paying gigs and get good client recommendations is by going the extra mile. Googling info for a last minute article probably won’t win you too many points. Taking the time to craft a well written and well researched piece will get you noticed every time. Take the time to check your facts, proof your text and even interview a source or two. Trust me, your client will see you in a more favorable light than if you took five minutes to turn in rehashed web content.
6. Not Following Up
When you apply for a gig, hundreds of others might be applying at the same time. Sometimes, an application falls through the cracks. There’s nothing wrong with following up on an application if you don’t receive a response within a reasonable amount of time. Now, that doesn’t mean to be a pest – but following up one time might put your application back to being fresh in the client’s mind and show you as someone who really wants the gig.
7. Looking to Only One Source for New Clients
At FWJ we pull sources from all over the web to bring you the best, legitimate freelance opportunities available, but we’re not the only game in town. While we want nothing more than to be your only resource for freelance writing jobs, the truth is there are plenty of other places offering great opportunities. Not all of them are online either. Don’t be afraid of cold-calling or visiting with offline sources as well. These can be great source of income as well as word-of-mouth referrals.
8. Not Communicating with Your Client
Many clients like a short progress report now and then. Now that doesn’t mean you need to stoke up the Power Point, but it’s always nice to drop a line saying where you are in your project and when you anticipate delivering the final project.
9. Not Delivering What You Promise
If your pitch to your clients says you promise to submit a well-researched, well-written article, imagine their disappointment in receiving a hastily written fluff piece It’s not fair for them to pay you the agreed upon price and you come up short. Take your time and do the job well. Especially if you want repeat business.
10. Bad Mouthing Your Clients in Public
Bad mouthing clients online has become commonplace in many circles. While it feels good, and other writers appreciate the warning the truth is it doesn’t make you look good. Say I was considering hiring you for a piece, gave you a Google and found comments in a forum or blog post where you were talking smack about a former client. I might be less inclined to hire you because I don’t know what you’ll say about me. Unless the client is pulling a scam, it’s best to keep bad feelings private. Besides, it looks like sour grapes.
In this competitive world we’re only as good as our reputations. Cultivating good habits is so important if you want a thriving freelance writing business.
What bad freelancing habits do you need to break?
Image via stock.xchnge
This is my first-time writing after a few months of lurking. Thanks for all of the great leads and the tips. My experience is more editing than writing so your tips on clips, as well as running my freelance business (right now my cash cow is experiencing a “cash crisis”) are really helpful.
I appreciate your dedication to the business and your insight. Thank you.
Great post. I have been guilty of several of these over the years, though not all, thankfully, and try to recognize when I’m doing them and stop it. Procrastination is my main issue and something I struggle with regularly. Any tips on how to circumvent it on a regular basis?
Deb, Thank you for the list. I am truly guilty of only one of these bad habits. Procrastination. When I have a paying job I am not a procrastinator but I am trying to write a novel and something always seems more important than working on it. I have the time, I just am so easily distracted. I surf the web, I check my email, last weekend, I painted my kitchen. Anything, it seems, to avoid the novel. I read Larry McMurtry’s Books: a memoir, and he says he writes ten pages a day, up from his earlier output of five per day. I was inspired for a while but today, here I am online. Anyway, I love your site and have gotten a couple of small jobs here. But you’ll have to excuse me now, I have five pages to write.
I don’t know if I should consider this a bad habit, but I spend most of my time on other people’s projects, that I don’t devote enough time to my own projects. I have two websites that generate passive income. The income isn’t huge, but it’s enough to know the potential. I would also like to focus more attention on print publications. I don’t work around the clock, so this shouldn’t be problem. But I’d rather relax and enjoy leisure pursuits in the evening, weekends, and during other down-time periods.
Hi Deb, I think this was a great post that made a bunch of valid points. I’ve noticed some flaking out from other writers myself, and I don’t put all my writing in one spot. It’s good to be flexible and to be your client’s go to person. I got my first paying print job because another writer dropped the ball.~~Dee
Well, I quit smoking, so I’m getting closer…
Procrastination and ignoring my own projects are my bad habits. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one, either!
Valencia — Do you mind sharing what your sites are? It is personally an avenue I am exploring and believe that more writers need to venture down that path. In fact, I think it would be an excellent topic for an article series by Deb (hint hint) or even the new blogger if s/he has experience in this pursuit.
Thanks for the tips, Deb. I appreciate the one about following-up with a client after applying for a gig. I’ve applied to dozens of jobs over the last few months and have only heard back from one. I’ve got another gig going, so it’s not the end of the world…but it IS disheartening. What do you consider a “reasonable length of time” before following up? A week, two weeks? Thank you!
@Kreacher: I have two personal blogs that receive search engine traffic. I also joined Ehow’s Writer Compensation Program in September 2007. I submitted about 30 (250 word) how-to articles within a two-month time frame, and my monthly residual revenue from those articles is $3 to $4 (sometimes $5) a day.
I am guilty of #1 (Biting Off More Than You Can Chew) but so far I am not acquainted with Mr. Burnout. We have exchanged glances from across a crowded room, but so far I am keeping him from moving in any closer.
Deb,
Once again your advice is right on! I too (I hate to admit it) am a procrastinator, with 4 kids….I tend to put my writing last. “I’ll write when…….” I always say. And then something comes up. But this week actually, I made myself block out time for my writing. So far I’ve managed to stick to it this week. I also think alot of my procrastination is sometimes a lack of trust in my own writing skills, even though I’ve had the good fortune to have a paying gig now and then.
These are excellent points, and it is so easy to succumb to all of them! I think it is the crazy life of the freelancer, with high highs and low lows that makes it so easy to find yourself bad mouthing a client, procrastinating, or taking on too much work. Thanks so much for reminding me of these bad habits – sometimes when they are in front of your face all the time you don’t even notice!
Once again, Deb is lecturing writers in her same whiny condescending style. How many times has she made us sit through the same old boring rants?
Judging from her writing, she’s not so great, in fact she’s mediocre and cliche.
Deb, spare us your mommy nagging, and direct it on your helpless children and long suffering husband, who has probably poked his eardrums out by now.
We don’t need your condescending lectures, your arrogant tone, your know it all attitude. You’re a corporate sellout, you have no credibility.
I think everyone is guilty of at least one of these!
Cheers
Deb,
I would like to say that I am guilty of a couple of these myself. I recently took on one too many jobs and now I have quite a bit on my plate. I am a fairly new freelance writer and I must say that I am quite impressed with the income that I have made so far! It’s quite a bit compared to what I made as a waitress at my old job!