You know, the more I talk with freelance writing business owners, the more I realize we really are a diverse bunch. There are stay-at-home moms, out-of-work factory rats, English majors and just about everything in between. Education levels go from High School grad to Ph.D.
It’s not only backgrounds that differ, though. The vision of the future that freelance writers have can vary greatly from one to the next, too. What I hope my freelance writing business looks like in five years may be vastly different from what you hope yours looks like.
I, for example, like the path I’m on. I relish in the entrepreneurial aspect of things. I like to find new areas of business and sell something truly valuable and unique to my customers. I also like the idea of growth, and as I contract more and more work out to others I realize that the structure of my business is changing into what i want it to become.
Five years from now, I imagine providing a substantial amount of work to half a dozen or so other writers. I envision a steady income from residual projects (from blogs that I run to affiliate sales to other streams of ongoing income).
My vision, though, isn’t everyone’s vision. One freelance business owner I know wanted to be the “McDonald’s of web writing,” meaning that she’d provide low-cost but quality writing to vast numbers of clients on a quick-serve basis. There’s nothing wrong with that particular vision, but it’s not mine.
I know some freelancers, though, who are just happy to be working. There’s nothing wrong with that, either. For a new freelance writer to sign up with Demand Studios or a similar company, and hope to spend the next two or three years earning a fair wage is a reasonable vision. It’s not the one I have, and it’s not the one I’d recommend, but it’s reasonable.
What’s my point here? I have two. First, don’t assume other freelancers want the same things you do. Even when you read the advice on this blog and elsewhere around FWJ, your goals might be very different than the writer’s. Keep that in mind, and adapt the advice to your own vision.
Second, don’t assume that your vision is, necessarily, better than someone else’s. Maybe you have no desire to pump out vast amounts of copy in a fast food type fashion, but that doesn’t mean McWriter has a bad idea. Same goes for looking down your nose at those folks content to work for $10 an article.
So, what does your dream business look like?
