Well, it’s beats the hell out of working for someone else, anyways. When I tell folks that I’m a writer, I can sometimes hear the envy in their voices. They imagine the tortured soul sequestered away at a lake house plugging away on the final chapter of his latest novel. They think of book signings, and of New York parties where, because I’m the writer type, I’m the only one who shows up wearing tennis shoes. Those images are silly, but they’re pervasive. Before I was a writer, that’s what I though a writer’s life was like. Those of you [Read more…]

One of the most eye-opening experiences in my freelance writing business has been having other writers work for me. For the first time, I really understood what it was like to be on the receiving end of things. It changed my perception of my job, and it changed my perception of my clients. Here are some of the key lessons I’ve learned by being the client: Deadlines are often not as important to the client as they are to the writer. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying you can afford to constantly blow deadlines. But when one of my writers [Read more…]

I’ve talked before about how a freelance writer can add value to a subcontractor’s work. It’s this value add that makes outsourcing profitable for the freelancer. If you want to grow your freelance writing business by subcontracting, then, you’re going to have to learn to become an effective editor. Yet, this is easier said than done. Some people tend to have an eye for detail. Others don’t. It may not come naturally to you to be able to look at a piece of writing and identify the flaws. I’ll let you in on a little secret, however: Being a good [Read more…]

Now that you’ve decided to subcontract some of your freelance writing business and even managed to find a good subcontractor, you’re ready to expand your business. The next step in this process is finding work for the subcontractor to do. Now, it should go without saying, but I’ll point it out anyways: you have to keep enough work in-house to pay your bills. If your business makes exactly what you need to make in a given month, you can’t really start contracting out work or your income will drop. Instead, you should think about focusing your subcontractors on one of [Read more…]

One of the ways we’ve talked about before that you can grow your freelance writing business is to expand by bringing in subcontractors. There are a number of important factors that go into bringing in subcontractors, and we’ll explore some of the other implications over the next few posts. Today, however, I want to look at the process of finding and hiring the right freelance writing subcontractors. Your subcontractors are, in many ways, doing work in your name. That means you want to take some serious care about who you hire. The ideal freelance writing subcontractor will be: As talented [Read more…]

It doesn’t happen very often, but it has happened to me twice in ten days. Last week, I had a client kick a project back to me. The client didn’t ask me to revise the project; instead, he said “I’ve already paid you for this half, don’t bother with the other half. This just isn’t what I was looking for.” Upon reflection, I realized that he was right; I’d written the material with a fever of 101.6, and it wasn’t my best work. Not by a long shot. I had another client, just today, email me saying that she was [Read more…]

In the course of building up my freelance writing business, I’ve worked on both sides of the subcontracting line. In the early days, I was the subcontracted writer, creating copy for other freelance writers who polished it up and passed it onto clients. Eventually, as my freelance writing business grew, I dealt more and more with my own clients and less with other writers. Then came time when I had too much work to do. Now, that’s a good problem. You just have to handle it right. It’s a bit scary when you hire a subcontractor for your freelance writing [Read more…]

Some freelance writing business problems are good problems to have. Let’s face it: you’re better off having too much business than not enough. Even if it means you’re working late on a Saturday night while all of the other freelance writers are down at the freelance writing piano bar singing karaoke, you’re better off. And that’s not just because a trip out for karaoke almost always ends up with you singing a tipsy version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Still, when you’re facing down a Monday morning and you know you’ve got at least 50 hours of writing to finish before Friday at [Read more…]

It’s always interesting to me when I talk to someone who’s not in small business about the freelance writing business. I often also forget just how different the image that most folks have of a “writer” is from what we do. There are so many aspects to the freelance writing business that the average person doesn’t expect that it’s always fun to watch the looks of surprise when I describe how my business works. Recently, I had a discussion with an old friend about outsourcing. Now, I’ve said it here before: I firmly believe that the freelance writing business that [Read more…]

Just about any blog that deals with the freelance writing business will have at least one post, if not many, on how to promote your freelance writing business using Internet marketing techniques. Indeed, for many of us who came to freelance writing as a second career, we’ve only ever really understood our business in the context of online and so-called “new media.” That said, by limiting your freelance writing business to the Internet, you may be ignoring a substantial market. Traditional marketing avenues, while they may not pack the punch that they used to thanks to the Internet, can still [Read more…]

Like we talked about last time, many freelance writing businesses, as well as many other small businesses, can’t seem to keep their doors open for more than about five years. According to the Small Business Administration, there are10 reasons why a given small business might fail. Today, I’d like to take a look at each of them, particularly in terms of the freelance writing business: 1. Lack of experience. I’d say this one definitely qualifies. The fact of the matter is that, if you want to make money as a writer, you need to have some writing experience. Whether that’s [Read more…]

As someone whose freelance writing business relies on new media and nontraditional marketing channels, I’m fascinated by how local small businesses market themselves and how they grow. It’s interesting to me to see, for example, the local bakery grow from a simple little shop into a company that produces pies for every grocery store in a 100-mile radius. I think my fascination comes, in part, from the fact that the way I get my clients and grow my business is very different than a local marketing model. What are you telling potential clients about your business? At any rate, there [Read more…]

A freelance writing business rises and falls on your willingness and ability to do work for clients. Turning down work is like turning down a paycheck. In the early days of your business, you’re likely to take just about any freelance writing job that comes your way. Yet, knowing which gigs to take and which gigs to let go is an important part of maturing as a freelance writer. So, how do you know which jobs to turn down and which ones to work? There are, in my estimation, three good reasons to turn down a freelance writing job: 1. [Read more…]

We talked last time about your business self-image. We talked about whether you see yourself as a business or as an employee, and why being a business is both preferable and more realistic. Today, I want to look at one part of that issue: how your business self-image affects the way you deal with customers. When folks first get started freelance writing, they’re often just looking for a job. Look at the success of the Freelance Writing Jobs blog network in the search engines if you don’t believe me. Now, I don’t object to the idea of freelance writing jobs. [Read more…]

The vast majority of freelance writers are self-employed and the sole employee of their business. Many of those freelance writing businesses don’t really even see themselves so much as a business, but as a writer who works for someone else. There are some folks, for example, who write exclusively for Demand Studios and think of themselves as more of an employee. This isn’t too different from how many contractors see themselves. After all, when I worked in Information Technology as a network admin, I didn’t really think of myself as a sole proprietorship. After all, I had a single client [Read more…]

The freelance writing business is, by its very nature, a different beast. Many freelance writers, at least in the beginning, think about what they do more as a freelance writing job rather than a small business. If you don’t believe me, just think about the success of this website. Note that it’s the Freelance Writing Jobs network, not the Freelance Writing Business network. This difference is important in a number of ways. Small businesses have expenses; employees don’t. Small businesses have to do marketing; people who have jobs don’t. Small businesses often have sales or offer discounts – employees don’t. [Read more…]

This time of year, I’m pretty prone to looking back and taking stock in what’s happened in my freelance writing business over the past twelve months. I try to identify some of the good, some of the bad, and start working on some ideas about how to improve business in the coming year. The process isn’t particularly formal, but it’s useful nevertheless. Today, I made a mental list of my big clients. I’ve got about three clients that give me repeat business and that make up about 40 percent of my overall receipts. Those are my bread-and-butter clients, the ones [Read more…]

So, I’ve talked for the past few weeks about some of the challenges facing freelance writers when it comes to disaster recover. I broke down the various dangers facing a freelance writing business into three distinct categories: Data Issues Communications Production I’ve also talked about some of the things you can do to prepare for a disaster, from creating a data backup system to more effective management of your contacts and projects. If you follow the advice in those posts, you’ll give your business a good chance of surviving all but the most horrific disasters. Today, I want to leave [Read more…]