While some clients do not ask for resumes, others still do, and in those cases, you want to immediately impress.
Here are some tips for modern and effective freelance writing resumes.
How to Create Pitches Clients Can’t Refuse
Approaching a client with an idea for a writing gig might seem intimidating – especially if you’re new to freelancing – but don’t let that stand in your way. Your services are sought after and offer a lot of value to potential clients. Having a professional setup and some strong portfolio pieces are essential to making that connection and starting a business relationship that pays off for both people.
While this article gives tips on how to create pitches clients can’t refuse, it’s important to do some ground work first, so let’s look at some things you need to do in order to build a strong foundation.
5 Creative Methods to Help Round Up More Professional Writing Opportunities
As a writer, you’re always looking for creative ways and opportunities to get that next assignment or to find that next client to work for. Because communications technology is changing so rapidly in modern context, the rules have changed for how to get work, who wants work to be done, what format the work needs to be in, and even where the work needs to be shared.
But, five general ways that you can up the ante on your personal writing goals would be to tighten up your online resume, create a portfolio website, read trending magazine articles, use hashtags wisely for self-promotion, and cooperate with other mediums to cross-promote whenever possible. [Read more…]
Avoid Being Shy to Increase Your Freelance Writing Prospects
If you have transitioned from a company job to a freelance lifestyle, you suddenly lose the support of public relations and marketing departments – teams that were dedicated to raising awareness of your work within an organization. These departments handled the business of contacting prospective clients, reaching out into industry communities, and having extended conversations about a company’s products and services. As a freelancer, these outreach tasks and responsibilities now fall to you. Many new writers struggle with approaching strangers, which can greatly hamper their ability to pick up contract jobs, find information resources, and meet new mentors. [Read more…]
How To Get Through Interviews
Interviews have to be one of the most nerve racking scenarios that most of us have to go through during our working lives. Chances are that you are going to have to go through a whole host of interviews throughout your life; some of which will be successful and result in employment and some of which will be unsuccessful. Most of the time, the success of an interview is down to the way that you handle it so we thought we’d share a few tips with you that will help you get through your interviews with ease. [Read more…]
Tips for Getting Your First Freelancing Gig
Most of the novices are simply not aware of the ways of hunting out their first gig. At the same time a number of freelancing advices simply assume that you have fair idea about finding your gigs but the fact is most of them don’t. Hence out of desperation a number of freelancers often end up responding to a number of murkier job listings for unpopular companies and people which could take them for a ride. Hence a number of freelancers simply stop pursuing for work as they become the victim of scams which is often due to their improper exposure. The below are some tips for getting your first freelancing gig. [Read more…]
When it Feels Like the World is Against You – Stay Positive in your Job Search
Remaining positive while looking for a job is very easily said, but not all that easy to do. When you spend hours each day looking for a new job or your first step onto the employment ladder, it can be very easy to get downhearted and feel as though that dream job may never come.
For a lot of people, the process of searching for a job, typing in the same search so many times that the engines know that you’re looking for jobs in Sheffield or jobs in manufacturing; finding the contact details for the person associated with the vacancy, researching the company, filling in the application and sending it in can be very long and drawn out and, in many cases, repetitive, only to receive a rejection letter or nothing at all. It’s no wonder why people get easily disappointed. [Read more…]
Would You Complete a Personality Test for a Freelance Writing Job?
When a person is working for a brick and mortar job, it’s not uncommon for the employer to request that the candidate undergo some type of testing. People who are interested in working in law enforcement or as firefighters are required to complete physical and personality tests as part of the screening process. Applicants for administrative positions could expect to be asked to do a typing test at some point in their job search.
Freelancers are in a different category, since they are not applying for a job. I’ve been asked to do a personality test as part of a screening process twice and while I have complied both times, it did feel a bit uncomfortable to do so.
Why did I hesitate about sharing the results of the test? It seemed a bit intrusive at the time. I was of the mindset that I should be able to answer the client’s questions about my experience, provide samples and a resume and that should be enough information for the person to make a decision about whether to hire me. What difference would it make if the client found out what kind of person I am?
I now realize that it matters a great deal. The work that freelance writers do isn’t just about stringing words together. It has everything to do with establishing relationships with clients. For the relationship to succeed, the freelancer and the client need to be able to work together well. If their personality styles don’t mesh, then the professional relationship will flounder.
Part of the reason that I agreed to do the personality test was that I was curious about what it would reveal. The Myers-Briggs test that I took was very accurate, right down to my consistently messy desk.
I suppose it’s not possible to fail a personality test. There are some people who I probably wouldn’t be able to work well with, and it’s probably just as well to establish whether this is the case before the project begins. Whether you call it a personality conflict or creative differences, having to abandon a project after starting the work isn’t a good situation for either party.
Have you ever been asked to do a personality test for a freelance writing job? How did you feel about it?
How to Cope with a Client’s Inappropriate Questions
Have you ever been asked an inappropriate or even illegal question in a job interview? It’s happened to me on occasion, and unfortunately both times the interview was for a job at a law firm. (You would think legal types would know better, but apparently they don’t.)
One person interviewing me asked if I was married, and then caught himself and said that he probably couldn’t ask me that question. The other time was much more blatant and I was really shocked that it was a woman asking me if I planned to have children in the next year or two. She made it worse by going on to explain that it would “not be a good idea for me to do so.”
After a momentary flash in my mind’s eye of the Pregnancy Police checking to make sure all female staff members keep replenishing their supplies of feminine products in a desk drawer, I concluded that this was not the right place where I could do my best work.
Answering questions from prospective clients is a bit different. Since we are business owners, not job applicants, the line is a bit murkier about which questions may be considered illegal. If a prospective client is treading into territory that makes you feel uncomfortable before you start working together, then you probably shouldn’t expect that person to behave better once you have accepted the freelance writing gig.
While I don’t mind if someone asks me if Jodee is my real name (it is), I have to draw the line when someone wants to get too personal in their questions. No one who wants to hire me for a freelance writing job needs to know my marital status or if I have children unless it is relevant to the work we are discussing.
How do you deflect questions that may be overstepping the bounds without walking away from the opportunity completely? You answer the question the client is really asking. It could go something like this: “If what you are trying to find out is whether I can commit to your project, the answer is yes.” You still have the option of stepping back from your discussion and deciding whether you want to work with that client after all, but this type of non-confrontational answer gives you the time to decide what your next move should be.
How do you deal with inappropriate questions from freelance writing clients?
Four Things the Academy Awards Can Teach Us About Freelance Writing
Were you glued to the television last night checking out the Oscars? Were you more interested in what people were wearing than who actually took home one of the golden statues, or was it all about seeing people rewarded for their work?
I watched a little bit of the show last night, but didn’t stay tuned for the whole thing. It just doesn’t capture my interest the way it used to a number of years ago. The bit of the show I did watch got me thinking about what freelancers can learn from the Academy Awards.
1. You can get all dressed up for the show and still not win.
How often have we made a pitch or applied for a freelance writing gig and not heard anything back? It comes with the territory in this type of work and most of us have come to accept it.
It’s more disappointing when we have heard back from the potential client, have had detailed discussions about the project and have discussed payment and other terms and we don’t get the gig. The client may have decided to work with someone else, funding for the project may have dried up or it may have been abandoned for a different reason.
Sometimes you can do all the right things to get the gig and still not get the nod. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t talented or hardworking.
2. Being nominated might be nice, but it’s not as good as winning.
Whether it’s an Oscar or a great freelance writing gig, getting picked is much better than making it to the short list. Just saying.
3. People will remember you for more than your work.
When you think of Cher, you may not immediately remember that she won an Oscar in 1987 for her work in “Moonstruck.” Instead, we are more likely to remember her rather unique fashion sense, including the black showgirl number that she wore to the ceremony in 1986. (The actress reportedly chose that outfit as a way to show her displeasure at not being nominated for her work in “Mask” the previous year.)
Get in the habit of remembering that every comment on a blog, blog post, Facebook update or tweet is something that a potential client can see. Yes, the entire Internet is one big job interview, and if you wouldn’t say something to a potential client directly, then you should think about whether you should be posting it at all.
4. There is something magical about getting paid to do something you love.
We tune in to awards shows for the fashions and to catch a glimpse of our favorite celebrities, to be sure, but part of the reason is that we admire those people who are able to take an idea and bring it to life to entertain (and sometimes educate) us.
As members of the public, we don’t see the amount of thought and work that goes into bringing all the elements together to produce a film of any length. All we know is whether the finished product moves us in some way. If it does, then all the people involved have done their job.
As writers, we get to use our creativity to help our clients reach their goals. We harness our creativity to bring all kinds of ideas to life, and have the opportunity to work our own type of magic while doing so.
Do you feel like a nominee or an Oscar winner in your freelance writing career?
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