Writing From Home: Warnings & Tips on How to Survive When You Have No Office by Robin Parrish

Robin captures the writing from home experience perfectly. My favorite:

Get Out of the House. As important as it is to guard your at-home work time, sometimes you just have to get away from all the around-the-house distractions in order to get anything done. So grab the laptop and head out to someplace where there’s free wifi, like Barnes & Noble or Starbucks.

How to Use Your Freelance Work Personality to Your Advantage: Know Yourself Before Applying for a Gig by Jodee Redmond

Jodee gives great advice on shifting your job search to looking for work that fits you:

When you are looking for freelance writing jobs, first consider your work personality. If you are someone who enjoys the relative security of working with a client over the long term, then look for someone who can offer a steady gig (or the potential for a series of projects). If you are someone who gets bogged down working on large projects, move on and apply for something that is a better fit for your freelance work personality.

How to Get Your Contracts Signed: How to Deal with a Physical Act in an Electronic World by Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan saved me time and photoshopping time by giving these great alternatives to the whole snail-mail-signature thing:

A Better Answer

There are several companies that offer digital contract signing. They include the following:

1. RightSignature: Offers a free trial with up to five documents, paid accounts start at $14 per month for unlimited documents and 1 template.
2. FillAnyPDF: Can be used for free without an account but a free account opens up more editing options and allows storage of 5 filled forms. Paid accounts start at $19 per month and allow the storage of up to 1,000 filled forms

DocQ: Offers a free account for up to 5 signatures per month and a paid personal account starts at $7 per month and offers 25 signatures.

If I Lay Here… Using Lie and Lay Correctly by Noemi Twigg

I have several web pages bookmarked that explains the freaking lie and lay conspiracy in several different ways. *Don’t judge me* I’ve added Noemi’s to the top spot:

Let’s get the meanings of the words straight, once and for all.
Lay is a transitive verb and needs a direct object – a receiver of the action. It means to put something down.

Example: This bag of groceries is heavy.  I will lay it down on the bench while I wait for the bus.

Lie is an intransitive verb and does not need a direct object.  It means to recline. ²

Example: My back hurts. I think I’ll lie down for a bit.

Can Anyone Make Money Blogging? by Gayla Baer-Taylor

A great response to a timeless question:

First and foremost, the critical ingredient to blogging success is having staying power. The ability to not allow defeat due to setbacks. A successful blogger must be willing to put their self out there and put in the hours upon hours of hard work that’s the proven foundation for successful blogs.

Article Clip 911: Protect your career and back-up your work by Terreece M. Clarke

Not to toot my horn, this is great info for writers:

Not saving your clips, backing up your blog posts, etc. is like throwing money away. Why work so hard, research so thoroughly only to toss your work to the wind? Three steps will save you time and tears:

What were your favorite blog posts?

Years ago on New Year’s Day I was sick, had the day off from work and was researching information for the beauty and fashion column I wrote for a friend’s site. It was a fun thing I did on the side, but while researching I came across the term “freelance writer.” I realized there were people out there writing full-time from home and earning a decent income to boot. I decided right then to become one of them. I spent the next few days on research and few months later I quit my job and went into freelancing full-time. I was one of those New Year’s Day resolution/goal makers.

So for those of you who have decided today is the day, I wanted to drop by and offer encouragement and my favorite posts from FWJ on getting started:

25 Tips to Become a Successful Freelance Writer

How to Make a Living as a Writer

10 Popular Article Writing Questions – Answered!

10 Popular Article Writing Questions – Answered! part 2

What is a Blog…and How is Blogging Different from Article Writing?

Setting a Freelance Writing Rate Equal to the Task

A Lower Bid vs. Selling Yourself Short

10 Skills Freelance Writers Must Have if They Want to Succeed

How I Landed My First Freelance Writing Jobs Without Clips

In the world of sales, there are few names bigger than Zig Ziglar. Over the past four decades, Ziglar has traveled more than five million miles giving his messages of life improvement and his perspective on how to win over the customer. He has shared the platform with three presidents, and figures as divergent as Paul Harvey and Dr. Robert Schuller. He’s also been recognized in congress for his dedication to the free enterprise system.

Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from Ziglar over the years:

1. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude

How you approach your business on a moment-by-moment basis will play a huge role in whether or not you succeed. Positive thinking doesn’t make sales, but negative thinking can kill them.

2. If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner

Self-image is key. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else is going to believe in you, least of all not potential clients.

3. Focus on relationships and not transactions

This is especially true in the freelance writing business. Your customers are not just buying a product: they’re buying you. Freelance writing is a very personal skill, and you need to be able to establish trust and reliability if you’re going to seal the deal.

4. Interpret your benefits, not your features

This is part of basic copywriting principle, yet many freelance writers forget about it when it comes to promoting their own services. Your customer doesn’t want to hear about how your writing is readable; they want to hear about how it will increase their sales, or establish them as an authority in their niche.

5. Every choice you make has an end result

Some choices in your freelance writing business will be good, others not so much. You can’t always predict the result, either. The main thing is being aware that your actions have consequences and doing what you can to make positive, beneficial choices.

6. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street

Selling means getting rejected. Sometimes, customers pick the other guy. Depending on how competitive your particular niche is, you might experience a lot of rejection. Getting back up on the sales bicycle after a failure is essential.

7. People don’t buy for logical reasons, they buy for emotional reasons

Part of sales is being able to appeal to the emotions. You need to be honest here, of course, and not promise that your product can do something it can’t. But you need to be able to connect with customers on a level that makes them feel something good about you and your product if you’re going to succeed.

8. Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands

Yes, you need to learn to become more efficient, to work “smarter.” That’s even one of Deb’s mantras here, and I don’t disagree. But real results require real work. Learn better ways to sell, but don’t forget to sell altogether.

9. When you do more than you are paid to do, you’ll eventually be paid more for what you do

Going the extra mile isn’t just good customer service; it’s also a sales tactic. Don’t let customers abuse your generosity, but do try to do a little bit extra if you can.

10. The way you see people is the way you treat them

If you see your clients as ignorant schmucks, you’re going to treat them that way. People aren’t dumb; they can tell when you’re looking down at them or despising them. Your clients aren’t schmucks, and they aren’t just a meal ticket, either. They’re people, good people, who need your help and who are willing to pay you for it.

Want to get more Zig Ziglar? Here are a couple of places to start:

Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale

See You at the Top: 25th Anniversary Edition

I’m Bob, and I’ll be your host for the foreseeable future here at the Business Tips for Writers section of FWJ. I won’t waste your time with a long post about how grateful I am to the FWJ staff for the opportunity (and I am), or what big shoes I have to fill in James Chartrand’s former column (and they are big shoes).

Instead, let me tell you a little about myself. I’ll try to make it at least a little relevant to the freelance business, or at least marginally interesting.

I’ve been a professional freelance writer for several years now. I started out writing pregnancy and parenting articles for a dear friend who desperately needed some content. It wasn’t entirely a selfless endeavor; I needed the cash. I’d recently quit my job in the Information Technology field and was working on my Master’s degree in Humanities, and student loans weren’t enough to cover all of the bills.

From there, I spent some time writing as a work-at-home mom (that’s another story altogether, which you can read at Freelance Folder). I’ve done just about every type of freelance writing work since then, too. Since I picked up the virtual pen, I haven’t looked back.

If you want to know more about how I fell into the freelance writing career, and about my own personal philosophy of writing, read my highly self-indulgent and sometimes tedious Bang the Gong series over at my blog.

So, how am I qualified to give you advice on the writing business? I could go into my academic training, or I could tell you about seminars I’ve attended or professional organizations I’ve joined. Really, though, I don’t think those things will impress you. They don’t particularly impress me.

No, here’s why I think I might have something useful to say, and why I am qualified to give you business tips: I make a living with my writing today. My writing business is successful enough to provide for my family and even give us an occasional vacation. Oh, and pay taxes.

I should also tell you a little bit about how that business is structured. My wife, Angie, is not only the world’s tastiest food blogger, she’s also my business partner. She does the sales and management stuff, I do the writing. We also employ a handful of other writers on a part-time basis. As I mentioned, we do all sorts of writing, from sales pages to web copy to blogging.

Blogging is probably my favorite medium, and the medium whose style I seem to excel at. I’ve been published here, as well as at Freelance Switch, Freelance Folder and other blogs. I do a lot of blogging for other folks, too, as a ghost blogger. One of the reasons I took this job is because here I can blog as me, without having to fit someone else’s voice and style.

I’ll be posting here twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure to come back this Thursday, as I’ve got a truly kick-butt post on the top mistakes work-at-home freelancers can make.

It’s all anonymous, we’re not collecting names. By filling it out it will let us know a little about your habits and your thoughts about this network.

Click Here to take survey

Thanks, once again, for your continued support.

Thank you so much for your time!

- Deb

It’s a question worth thinking about. In the web world, you’ll face many tough decisions. You’ll be propositioned to work on less-than-ethical projects, and you’ll get potential clients that ask you to chose between doing what you feel is right and taking the money.

Not a comfortable place to be. When work on a project that conflicts with your personal values and beliefs, you may feel upset. You might feel bad at having said yes. You may feel guilty that you could hurt someone else. You might feel an inner resentment or disgust.

You might have to stop the work and tell the client you can’t finish. By that time, though, you’ve put in the hours and done the time – and you’ve lost money.

Why not prepare? Avoid the value-conflict situation by deciding what you want to work on and where your comfort level ends before you find yourself in this position. If you know ahead of time which projects you’ll work on and which you’ll turn down, you can make better decisions for your own best interest.

Here are some questions to consider:

• Are you okay writing about religion, sex, medicine, politics or the military?
• Will you agree to rewrite copyrighted material without the author’s knowledge?
• Do you mind altering credited work knowing it will be republished under another name?
• Do you care about creating duplicate content or writing PLR articles?
• Are you comfortable ghostwriting without credit for authorship?
• Do you mind if someone takes your work and changes it to their tastes?
• Will you discount your rates in exchange for royalties or revenue sharing?
• Are you open to negotiating, bartering or giving volume-based discounts to clients?
• Will you accept to work on projects that force you to write with a biased opinion?

Decide your comfort level in regard to certain topics and subjects matters now, before you have to decide on the fly. Starting to work on a project and realizing halfway through that it conflicts with your values or beliefs isn’t fun, and it puts you in a bad position.

Too, consider the role that money plays. Cash is a powerful motivator to do something you normally wouldn’t. When someone starts waving dollar bills your way, will you bend? You might. It’s easy to say you won’t right now, when you’re not in that position.

But when you’re offered the job, you might find yourself wavering. With your won’t-do policy handy, you’ll be able to run down your list and remind yourself of the reasons you don’t want to take on the project.

How about you? Have you ever been in a tough position like that? What did you do? How did you feel about your choice?

Specialists Need to Survive

Writers can and should have a wide range of skills, able to dabble a little bit in everything. It’s a safety net to survival, one that lets you move where buyers are spending.

You may be the best press release writer there is on the planet, but if press releases are all you can do, you may be in trouble when market demands shifts. Diversification helps make sure you can still pay the bills if demand isn’t strong.

Variety is the Spice of Life

It’s a good idea to be able to have a variety of projects on your plate so that you can say interested in the job that you do. Having a routine job where you continually perform the same type of work, day in and day out, can get boring.

When you switch from writing a magazine article to some punchy sales content to a compelling piece of brochure copy, you help your mind stay sharp, and you keep your job fun.

Learning to Love Something New

Many writers like to stick with one type of work – the work they do best. They tend not to try new things or take a shot at a different area of writing.

But sometimes, tackling a new type of project can open up a world. The article writer learns that marketing copy is her true love! The journalist discovers that website content is a ton of fun! The sales letter writer discovers a hidden passion for creative fiction.

You may discover that you do one thing very well – and do another even better.

Opening Up Opportunities

When you stick with a clique, you only get to know people just like you. You move in the same circles, you frequent the same hangouts, you interact with the same crowds. Specialists end up limiting the people they know and their network potential by always staying within the same group of people.

Writers who diversify get to know new people and benefit from networking. That networking brings back interesting opportunities for better gigs, joint ventures, and even a new potential client base.

The bottom line is that every freelance writer needs a specialty to stand out. Find what yours is and really hone in on exactly what you do very, very well. Promote that all over the place.

And then start bringing variety into your life. Diversify. Learn new types of writing. Branch out into new areas of work. You never know what good things might come of it.

If you’re ready to branch out and diversify, then The Unlimited Freelancer is the book for you. Grab your copy and learn how to bring more gigs, more clients and more money your way – without having to work harder.

But when you tell people what you do for a living, do you call yourself a freelancer? If you do, you might be doing your career more harm than good.

Consumer perception can influence how successful you are. Perception is basically the way we form concepts and organize information. We associate qualities and shape a definition in our mind, then we form views, beliefs and opinions. For example, many people perceive lawyers to be sharks and computer specialists to be nerds.

Unfortunately, the perception of “freelancer” isn’t always flattering.

Many people (usually freelancers themselves) perceive freelancers as hardworking, passionate, determined, liberated, creative and self-respecting people. That’s a true perception – freelancers can be just that type of person.

Many others perceive freelancers to be rebels, risky, lazy, overly proud and a touch snotty. That’s a true perception as well, in some cases. It takes all kinds to make a world, after all.

But that negative perception of freelancers means that many potential clients won’t even consider you as a potential hire. No matter how professional you are or how high-level your skills, you’ll be discounted before you even get the chance to pitch your sale. Many businesses, despite the benefits of hiring freelancers, have a no-hire policy in place.

Who started all these rumors? Where does the negative perception come from? Both sides, unfortunately. Businesses have bad experiences and paint all freelancers black with a judgmental brush. Freelancers are often quick to crow about their life of ease and freedom. (Just Google “freelancer bunny slippers”. You’ll see.)

You can fight it. You can try your hardest to change consumer perception and lobby for better understanding of the career choice. It’s a long, hard battle and you probably won’t turn the situation around anytime soon.

Or you can simply call yourself something else than freelancer. There are many ways to define what you do. Just call yourself a plain old writer or copywriter, for one. Try business owner, for another. Entrepreneur is a good one to call yourself, too.

You could focus on the services you provide instead of titling yourself. When someone asks what you do for a living, tell them, “I write copy for websites,” or, “I edit articles for magazines,” for example. That’s a winner right there, because you’re clearly describing what services you offer.

The best idea? Create a great elevator pitch that makes you stand out as fantastic. Know what you do for a living, keep it simple, and tell people how you’ll change their lives. It doesn’t get any better than that.

If you don’t want to be a freelancer, learn how to build a freelance business instead. Get your copy of The Unlimited Freelancer, and get in on the secrets writing entrepreneurs use to get ahead.

So how are you treating them? Are you enjoying their company and making friends? Or are you condescending to them, showing off or being the know-it-all? Worse, are you coming off as the snotty diva, the argumentative witch or the arrogant SOB?

You could be, and that’s a problem. If you alienate your peers, you won’t get any of that good stuff they offer.

You see, people like to help those who help them first. The friendly, hardworking, open-minded writer is typically always going to get ahead more with both potential clients and with peers than the writer who puts sticks in wheels, takes people down a peg, and gives them a hard time.

You know the ones. You’ve probably seen a few yourself. You read a blog post you enjoy, skim down the comments and then… “Oh man. Not that person again.”

When you get that feeling, you have two courses of action: Work with them, or work against them. Choose carefully indeed.

Leave a comment that seems overly sharp, condescending or argumentative, and suddenly you don’t come off as an expert – you come off as a troublemaker. Heated comments or barbed tones quickly cause conflict in the community that may leave you looking like the bad guy, and that damages a reputation quickly.

That’s not what you want. Your comments should always clearly convey you’re a buddy trying to help – even when you don’t agree with the person.

Instead of trying to trip the person up, opt for another route. Agree with some part of what the person has stated, so that you show unity of some sort. Get the person on your side, or at least enough so that he or she will listen to your view.

At the same time, suggest an alternative course of action as if you’re just tossing the idea out there. Just some friendly advice. We’re all in this together, right? That way, your peers will think more highly of you and your views provide assistance instead of blunt disagreement.

Here’s another area to be careful with: using controversy to inspire blog posts.

It’s great to disagree with a post you’ve read, and it’s good to present the opposite side, but how you do it makes all the difference. Do it the wrong way, and your post comes off as finger pointing and nasty. Do it the right way, and you just created a friendly debate that everyone benefits from.

One of the best ways I’ve seen to present your views without creating a bad rap or causing a rift with peers is the tactic of agreeing to disagree. Send a quick email to the author and mention that you’d like to debate his or her post. Point out that it’ll be a fun, friendly experience, and that you want to make it a proactive situation for readers.

A blogging debate provides other people with a helpful double shot of opposing views and information that lets readers choose what they feel is best for them.

Remember that you want to increase positive associations with you and your business so that people always think well of you and see you in a good light, whether they’re potential customers or peers. Choose your words well, and convey the best attitude you can.

Want to know just why your peers are important to your business success? Check out The Unlimited Freelancer. It’ll teach you the tricks you need to know to get ahead with your peers – and your clients.

Knowing how to pitch why you want to work with someone (or for someone) is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal. It can help you land a gig that you really wanted, get you working for a better employer or help you become part of a team business.

So just how should you answer that question? It can be a tough one, because the obvious doesn’t really sound very good: You want a better job. Or you want more money. Or you want to be famous. Or you want more freedom.

You want, you want… Yes, true, it’s all about your wants, but your potential employer doesn’t want to hear what you want. He doesn’t really want to know why you want to work for him, either.

He wants to know how you’ll make his business better. He’s really asking, “Why should I hire you and not the next person? What are you going to get out of this, and why should I care?”

Here are tips to help you give a winning answer:

1. Know who you’re going to work for. It’s a given that you apply for work or pitch a gig and you don’t know anything about the potential client or his business, he’s not going to be interested in having you on the team. Check out the company website, read the About page, and learn what you can.
2. Know what the company stands for. Business owners love to hear that other people resonate with their mission. Mention that you believe in the same and compliment the mission of the company.
3. Talk about a project you know the company has going on and mention how you’d like to be involved in its development.
4. Demonstrate you know where the business problems might be and that you want to solve them. Even better, suggest a solution (which should involve your presence in the company eliminating the issue).
5. Show ambition. Point out that you’d like to learn so that you can work up to a certain position in the company – and also point out you know you have a ways to go before you get there, so that no one feels threatened.
6. Get excited. Show interest. Nothing makes a business owner feel better than seeing his or her passion firing up someone else’s passion too.
7. Be honest and forthcoming. If there is something you want from this job or project, such as better skills or an opportunity, say so – but also demonstrate that this desire to improve benefits the company. They’ll have a go-getter on the team.

For more of an idea of answers you could try in your next pitch, here are some suggestions of what I’d personally want to hear from a prospective employee:

“You clearly know the business of writing. I know writing but not about the business. I also know that you could probably use the extra hands so you could work on your projects. I want to help you work less, and at the same time, learn more about the business side of things so that one day, I could have a business of my own.”

“You’re a growing business, and I know you’re not done growing yet. I think that’s fantastic, and I’d really like to get in on that instead of having to always be a solo. Plus, we can work together now and I’ll be perfectly trained for later when business gets crazy.”

Those are just my suggestions, though (but they did land Taylor a full-time job at my business). If you owned a business, what would you want to hear? And if you were a writer pitching a company, what would you say?

Want to learn more about how to make yourself a valuable asset to any business or team? Get The Unlimited Freelancer and get into great business.