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Characteristics of a Successful Freelance Writing Business Owner

Freelance writing businesses fail. Take any dozen freelance writers starting out their first year of business and line them up. Half of them won’t make it through their second year of business. Half of those remaining won’t make it to year five. It isn’t that the folks that fail aren’t talented. Many of them are amazing writers. But it takes more than the ability to string words together in a pleasing way to stay in business. It takes things like desire, tenacity and business sense. In short, it takes something special to succeed. While the details can differ from one case to the next, over and over again there are common... [Read More...]

Disaster Recovery for Freelance Writers: Getting Prepared

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 you with a few overriding principles... [Read More...]

Disaster Recovery for Freelance Writers: Production

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 are some ways you can help your clients out and demonstrate to them that, even in a time of crisis, you will meet their... [Read More...]

Disaster Recovery for Freelance Writers: Communications

In many ways, making sure your freelance writing business data is safe in the event of a disaster is the easiest part of disaster recovery. Really, it’s just a matter of determining a workable solution (such as an online backup subscription) and turning it on. Today I want to look at something a little more difficult and nebulous. I want to talk about disaster recovery for your business processes and systems. By “processes and systems” I simply mean the basic day-to-day things you do to keep your business going. These activities fall into two categories: communications and production. We’ll take a look at each one individually. Communications Perhaps... [Read More...]

Disaster Recovery for Freelance Writers: Data Issues

// When it comes to disaster recovery for a small business, there are usually two types of issues that you must address: data issues and systemic or process issues. Today, we’ll look at the first of those two, and what the freelance writing business owner can do to minimize the impact of a disaster on her business. A freelance writing business relies heavily on electronic data. Most of this data falls into one of three categories: product, communications and financial records. Each of these types of data is critical to the continuity of your business if a disaster should strike. Let’s tackle each in turn: Product The freelance writing... [Read More...]

Why Your Freelance Writing Business Needs a Disaster Recovery Plan

// When you read about disaster recovery, you probably think less about your small freelance writing business and more about bigger companies. Indeed, most of the advice you’ll find on disaster recovery has to do with things like redundant data centers, off-site storage facilities and cross-training. There’s big money in disaster recovery planning, and the a small freelance writing business isn’t usually the target of marketing efforts. Still, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be ready for when disaster strikes. Just ask the folks at Equipment Express. Equipment express was a small startup founded by an Indiana man... [Read More...]

Work at Home or Small Business?

// One of the most important factors in determining the trajectory of your freelance writing career is how you see yourself and what you do. I’m not suggesting for a minute that positive thinking always leads to success – I’ll leave that whole concept to other folks to debate. What I am suggesting is that how you picture your work and your business will, in some part, determine what kinds of choices you make. How you talk about what you do reflects what you hope to get out of your work. Here are two of the most common models I’ve seen freelance writers talk about over the years: Work-at-home freelance writer There is a whole segment... [Read More...]

Where Do You Spend Your Marketing Dollar?

// What you’ve heard is true: you have to spend money to make money. Yes, you can get your freelance writing business started without really putting up much cash. You can do like I did, and start writing for a friend, or you can hire on to one of the larger content creation shops like Demand Studios. Both are viable, free ways to get into the freelance writing business. However, if you want to grow your business and move into new and different types of opportunities, you need to spend some cash. Specifically, you need to spend some money on marketing. But, where do you spend it so as to get the most bang for your buck? Here area few places... [Read More...]

The One Way to Keep Your Freelance Clients Coming Back for More

// I’ve already told you how to lose your freelance writing clients. There are plenty of things you can do to tick clients off and send them packing. Unfortunately, when you do, they take their business elsewhere. There are plenty of other freelance writers waiting in the wings. Still, not all clients that don’t come back stay away because they’re unhappy. Sometimes, you’ll work for a client with big ideas and dreams. They really like your work, and want to hire you to do a bunch of it. They’ll laud you with praise after you give it to them. After a little while, though, they stop coming back. What happened? Sure,... [Read More...]

Business Blogs for Freelance Writing Business Owners to Follow

// Something I’ve been talking about a lot lately (and that you’ve been talking about in the comments) is this idea of treating your freelance writing business like a business. That means learning business management techniques the same as anyone else in small business. While the freelancing writing business certainly has its unique aspects, in many ways it’s not much different from a building contractor or a traveling IT guru. So, in addition to following some of the great freelance writing blogs, you ought to have at least a few business-related blogs in your feeds. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it intentionally... [Read More...]

10 Tips on Freelance Writing Sales from Zig Ziglar

// A successful freelance writing business means being able to sell. You need to sell yourself and your product, and you need to be able to close the deal. If you can’t sell your freelance writing effectively, you’re eventually going to have to look for other work. That’s just the cold truth. 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.... [Read More...]

How to Have a Rockstar Freelance Writing Business

The majority of small businesses fold within two years of opening. It takes five years, on average, for a small business to show a profit. If you’re within the first five years of your freelance writing business, chances are pretty good you’re still struggling quite a bit. While there are no magical cures, there are some things that exponentially increase your chances of success. Here are 10 ways to push your business through the roof: 1. Plan I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating. You can be a great writer and a kickass salesperson, but if you don’t plan it out right, you’re going to fail. You need to have... [Read More...]

Winning the Fight but Losing the Customer

// People in the marketing world either love Seth Godin or they hate him. I personally enjoy him; he has a new-millennium sort of wisdom, but he delivers it in something of a folksy way. At any rate, I ran across this post of his last week. Go ahead and go read it, but the gist of it is that sometimes, in business, it doesn’t matter if you’re right. If your customer is unhappy, she’s unhappy. No amount of arguing can change that. If you want her to remain your customer, you need to acknowledge that she’s unhappy. This got me to thinking about revisions. I rarely get asked for revisions. I always offer at least one revision... [Read More...]

Bringing Community Back! FWJ is Giving Away $150

// 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. She wants to change that. If you remember the days when FWJ was a huge, lively community of writers... [Read More...]

Choosing Your Freelance Writing Business Structure: Corporations and LLCs

// Last time, we took a look at two of the most common business structures for a freelance writing business: the sole proprietorship and the partnership. That post has had several comments, and there’s a good discussion going on about the merits of each of these structures. Feel free to read that post, and to jump in to the discussions if you’re so inclined. My approach in that post, as well as this one, is to give you the big picture on the types of structures available to you in your freelance writing business, to point out some of the pros and cons, and let you sort it out for yourself. It’s not my desire (at least not... [Read More...]