My previous post about hiring a salesperson for your freelance business generated quite a bit of interest, both on and off this blog. While I could spend days answering questions, I thought it might be more productive to explore the options available to freelance writing businesses, and tell you about how I’m doing it along the way. As I see it, there are several sales models for a freelance business, all of which have amazing potential and none of which fit every situation: Sales Model #1: Do-It-Yourself Sales This is the sales model most freelance writing businesses follow. Most freelance [Read more…]

I’ve had some interesting conversations recently with other freelance writers. I’ve heard from some who have apparently been hit pretty hard by the recession. These freelance writers talk about “weathering the storm” and about “becoming smaller and more efficient” or even the famous “feast or famine” story that every freelancer has told at one time or another. Usually, I offer sympathy. I hate to see folks, especially talented freelance writers, sit idly by while their business comes screeching to a halt. I’ve been there, and I know it completely sucks. I don’t tell them, though. I don’t tell them how [Read more…]

One of the trickiest areas to handle when disaster recovery strikes your freelance writing business is the area of production. You have clients that rely on your product in order for their businesses to function and grow. If you have a client who intends to launch a website using your copy and you can’t complete the copy because of a disaster, the client may be in a world of hurt. She has to go back through the search process to try to find a writer who can do what you were going to do, and do it quick. Fortunately, there [Read more…]

Once upon a time there was a blog. This blog had several thousand visitors each day. They shared. They chatted. They commiserated. It was all good. Soon some mean people came by and began scaring away the happy chatters. The vibe changed from warm and fuzzy to not so much fun anymore. The owner did her best to build up community, but she was so busy with her projects and her job it wasn’t happening. She put a comment policy into place but the damage was already done. She had a reputation for having a community that liked to bicker. [Read more…]

Being a success as a freelance writer isn’t only about being a good writer. It’s about rocking the customer service and being a good communicator.  When your clients are happy, they’re less likely to argue over pay increases and more likely to refer you to other potential clients.  Here are some tips to help: 5 Rocking Good Business Practices for Freelance Writers 1. Be Flexible: Good clients are hard to find. I mean, we’ve all had annoying clients and we’ve all had ok clients but model clients are few and far between. Why clients act the way they do is [Read more…]

If you’re a writer, you have a lot of competition out there, especially if you sell your services on the web. There are thousands upon thousands of writers clamoring for clients, and buyers have a vast choice of which person to choose. That’s why specialization is important. You can’t just be a writer these days. You have to figure out what type of writing you do best and promote that specialty heavily. Most buyers aren’t looking for a great writer. They assume that if you market yourself as a writer, that you write well already. Buyers look for writers who [Read more…]