Are you a freelance writer struggling with increasing your income? Or maybe you’re an aspiring writer with a full-time job, and you’re sitting at your desk, dreaming of turning your passion into a profitable business.
Whatever the case, I’m here to tell you it’s completely doable. [Read more…]
For the past three years, I have run my own virtual writing and editing company, Desired Assistance. Born out of my ability to write and edit, paired with the increasing demand for virtual assistants, I combined the two to create my own business. This journey hasn’t always been easy, but it has certainly been worth it. Along the way I discovered things about myself, my writing, and business in general. Here are some of the lessons I learned.
Work Your Network
When I first launched my freelancing business, the majority of my clients came directly (or indirectly) from my college and church networks. The relationships I’d made and work I’d done in those environments set me up for great testimonials before my business even started. You never know who is observing you and the impressions that you’ve made.
You Don’t Work for Them, You Work for Yourself
This is something that took a while to get into my head on my first (long-term) freelancing job. The individual that hired me was under the impression that I worked for him. I thought this too until my business advisor set me straight.
It’s the same with doctors, dentists, mechanics, hair stylists, and others. We are service providers. It actually helps to see it more as a temporary partnership: they provide the funds and you provide the services to produce an expected end.
If you can grasp this concept now, you will gain a new level of freedom in your business.
Cheap Rates & Frequent Discounts Breed Cheap Clients
This one’s a toughie. When you are passionate about a talent that comes naturally to you, it can be hard to charge and charge rationally at first. This is especially true if you are surrounded by individuals or a community with a pervading poverty mindset. EVERYBODY wants a discount.
But guess what? You need to get over it. Set a new standard.
Think of it this way: Wal-Mart offers cheap prices and frequent discounts. Bergdorf’s does not. Accordingly, each store attracts a certain type of customer. Which end of the spectrum do your clients swing to?
You are a professional. You deserve to make a good living by the work of your hands.
Writing Farms Suck
I hate, loathe, and despise writing farms! Someone or some entity that herds writers like cattle (hence the term writing farm) and expects you to do excellent work for crappy pay. Stop the madness!
Most of the individuals who work in this environment speak and write English poorly. They get hired for pennies on the dollar and when a high-quality writer comes along nobody wants to hire them because they’re content with sub-par work at cheap costs.
If we band together against this modern day indentured servitude, then the world of writing will undoubtedly be a better place.
Stay True to Yourself
I’ll try not to preach on this one, but what is your foundation? What are your guiding principles and values? I’m a firm Christian, yet have been approached by New Age gurus, mediums, and more who have attempted to hire me for projects. And even though at times I entertained the thought, I had to remain true to my values which usually meant turning the gig down. (I’m trying to figure out how they overlooked the titles plastered on my website like Godly Government and Faith and the Imagination!) And let’s be honest, it’s probably best for the conflicting brand to choose a freelancer who’s likeminded or at least familiar with the subject matter.
I refuse to prostitute my talents to support a lifestyle or career that clashes with my worldview.
You may not believe as I do, yet I bet you have your own set of guiding principles which have shaped who and what you are today.
And the issue may not be something as large as religion. It could be filthy language, sexually explicit content, praise of drugs and other unhealthy actions.
Consider this: would you want your professional brand affiliated with the brand or project in question? Would you want to be thanked in the Acknowledgments? How will this truly affect your business?
You must remain true to your brand, whatever it is.
Bottom line: you must value yourself as an individual, artist, and professional. One size does not fit all! And why should it? There are more than enough freelancing gigs to go around if we would only seek them out.
Happy Freelancing!
About the Author
Desiree M. Mondesir is an author, columnist, blogger, and entrepreneur who has run her own virtual writing and editing company, Desired Assistance, since 2010. She loves to help writers become better through her writing consultations and coaching classes. Her books include Godly Government, Faith and the Imagination, and How to Write Fiction that Doesn’t Suck. If you’d like to hear more from Desiree, sign up for her email updates and get some great free gifts. You may also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Desiree is 27 and resides in Charlotte, NC.
So, when Deb offered me the opportunity to be one of the FWJ Network columnists, I was beside myself with excitement! You see, I’ve been reading Freelance Writing Jobs for years: in fact, it was the first “blog” I ever read. Seriously! I laugh now, thinking how I was trying to pick a RSS reader so I could keep up with one blog. Those were the days.
Anyway, I picked up many of my writing tricks here and am now looking forward to giving back to the community with some of my own experiences. I’ve published a book [a real one] and I’ve written features in a lot of print and online publications. All in a fairly short space of time, actually. So what I thought might be nice to help introduce myself is share some lessons I’ve learned over the years. I feel like a bit of a dunce after Deb’s blockbuster 40 lessons learned in 10 years of writing, but perhaps you’ll find some inspiration of your own in these as well.
Online publications and Offline publications really aren’t that different – especially if you want to get hired. You might think that you can relax and take it easy with online blogs, but the truth is the good ones work very similarly to a traditional magazine. You still have to research if they accept submissions and how, you need to figure out what they pay, and you need to treat the editor with respect. As I also manage and edit my own online travel magazine, I am sometimes appalled at the lack of professionalism with writers.
Your own online real estate is worth its weight in gold. You must have your own website where you feature all of your work together – an online CV or resume, as it were. I’m not saying you have to have your own blog – that’s a double edged sword, to be honest – but having a place where you can put your stamp is priceless.
Sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time, so keep showing up. Yes, I know, it sucks: you pitch and query and nothing happens. But you’re planing seeds, so one day you’ll have a very nice garden to live off of. I’m telling you, it works: I pitched everything that came though on Travelwriters.com and got nothing. Maybe a nibble here or there, but nothing. Then one day, I got a book deal. If I had quit halfway, I would have had nothing. So keep showing up.
First impressions really do count, regardless of the medium. You need a clean, easy on the eyes website. You need to have an email address that isn’t [email protected]. You need a professional email signature. If you want to be considered a professional writer, then act like one.
Don’t burn bridges. Ever. After a couple of attempts, I landed a very good piece with the Matador Network, a best-in-class online travel magazine. I was elated, and worked with the managing editor to clean up my article. But before it was scheduled to publish, a shake-up happened with the editorial team, and the new editor didn’t want my piece anymore. I could have thrown a tantrum and stomped my feet, but I just left it – burning a bridge wouldn’t have fixed anything. But instead, since I bowed out gracefully, I was actually offered a separate, long-term role as the network’s social media ninja.
Ask your clients for feedback on an ongoing basis. Don’t assume everything is ‘ok’ with your clients because they didn’t say anything. I actually had a client get really upset with me because of some formatting issues with the pieces I was sending across each week. Had I asked earlier on, we probably could have avoided friction, but since I didn’t know the issue was causing hassles, the problem built up until it got a little ugly. So check in with your customers – they’ll be happy to know you’re looking out for them, as long as you aren’t trying to sell all the time.
You have to get on the treadmill to get off of it. I actually had this conversation with Naomi Dunford the other day about something else but I think it also applies to writing. A lot of people will throw pitchforks and light torches when the topic of writing for free and writing for low pay comes up. There’s plenty of articles about it here, but I am not linking to them because I’m not interested in rehashing old topics. My point is that you have to start somewhere – I don’t think you can’t land an amazing gig without something behind your name. So take a few things that are a great fit for you regardless of the pay, rock them, and update your portfolio. You might disagree with me, and that’s ok – you don’t take my advice. 🙂
See you here next time where I’ll be examining an actual query letter of mine that worked, and tweaks to make your query letters work better!
Photo by geoftheref
