Which Type of Writer Are You?

Are you a fast writer? Can you slam out a page in no time at all? Do you book tons of work and get it all done in a day so that you can lark away the rest of the week? Or maybe you book yourself solid and procrastinate until the day before it’s all due. Then you ride the high of deadline pressure and knock it out victoriously.

Or, maybe you’re slow. Maybe you have to do a little every day and chip away at it. Maybe you struggle a bit on long projects or need to take breaks often to keep the creativity flowing. You have to keep at it, edit a few times and schedule really well to make sure it comes together when it’s all due.

Slow writer or fast writer? Which is best?
Read more

Do The Projects You Work On Let You Sleep At Night?

Do you sleep well at night? When you finally leave the keyboard, are
you doing so with a clear concience that you’ve done the best you
could, done right by yourself and done right by others?

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?

Should You Be Working for Free?

Nothing in life is free, they say, but I beg to differ. Every day around the Internet, savvy people barter goods and services or grab a valuable report that only costs an email address. Free alive and thriving. Business is booming, folks.

Free goods and services are great if you’re on the receiving end. Amass your treasures and collect a wealth of stuff – no charge!

What’s it like to be on the other side, though? Creating free downloads, reports, products and blog posts takes time and energy. Free doesn’t give you any money and it often takes time away from the money you could be making.

Some freelancers think free is stupid.

Why bother writing a free ebook when you can make it a selling item? Why donate your services or products when you can charge for them?

We’re a short-minded society with big-time focus on our wallets. Two of the most frequently heard questions these days are, “What will that cost me?” and “How much does it pay?”. And if the person isn’t asking those questions aloud, you can bet they’re still questions on his mind.

I’m often privy to expressions of shock punctuated by gaping mouths when I tell people that I write free blog posts (both for my own blog and for others), teach two online university courses to lawyers, mentor three people and offer business consulting to a handful of lucky ones.

After they close their mouths and recover from the shock, they always say the same: “You’re not being paid for that?”

Not financially, no. Several people receive the benefits of my effort, time and creativity completely free of charge. And I’m not being paid – and yet I am being paid back. There’s a huge difference.

When you give, you always receive. What you receive may not always be what you want, of course, and in that case, you should stop giving to that person or project and find something better to do.

In most cases, though, you receive a great deal from free labor:

You get to market your business and your services without paying for advertising
You earn credibility, notoriety and in many cases, a loyal, satisfied customer
You enjoy word-of-mouth recommendations as the people you work for tell others how great you are
You benefit from increased traffic or heightened interest as people come to see what you do
You receive personal fulfillment for having done something great for someone else
You get back, because most people like to return the favor of a good deed done
You can learn new skills and practice them without having a client bar of standards in your way

Have you ever donated your skills or services? Was it worth it? Can you think of other reasons you should give your work away free of charge? Can you think of times when you shouldn’t?

Wouldn’t you like more tips on how to get ahead in business? Learn how the pros do it in The Unlimited Freelancer. Get your copy today.

Freelance Your Speciality… or Diversify?

I recently asked readers about their writer specialty. Do you have one? What is it? Is it special enough? With all the competition in the freelance writing world, specialization matters a great deal towards success. But is it enough?
Read more

What’s Your Specialty?

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 perfectly to their needs: the specialist.

Start With the Basics

You’ll need to decide which type of writing you like to do best before determining your specialty. What type of writing do you like to do best? Is it articles for magazines or writing ebooks? Do you itch to improve someone’s website copy, or do you love writing on current events? There are all sorts of areas to choose from, so pick your niche.

What’s Your Expertise?

So you’ve decided that you’re not just a writer, you’re an article writer, or a journalist, or a website content writer. Good job. You’re on your way to specialization – but that isn’t enough to make you stand out just yet.

Narrow it down further. If you’re a magazine writer, which topics are you best at? Do you love travel and tourism or parenting? If you’re an article writer, what type of articles do you write? Are you great with real estate topics or best with gardening subjects? Figure out the expertise you have that makes you the pro in the area of writing you’ve chosen.

Be the Go-To Person

You have your area, you have a niche, now you need to become the go-to specialist for a very specific type of work.

Let’s say you’ve decided that you’re a travel mag article writer. Perfect. But travel is a vague term. What kind of travel and tourism do you specialize in? Is it outdoor adventures? Are you the expert on all things Japanese?

The more you establish exactly what your specialty is and market that to prospective buyers, the better your career will solidify. You’ll become the pro in the know, the writer every thinks of first when they want exactly what you do.

For great info from pro in the know on how to build the best writing business you can have, check out James’ book, the Unlimited Freelancer. You won’t regret it.

5 Great Add-On Services to Offer Your Clients

Have you ever thought about ways you could expand your writing business? There are all sorts of little jobs you could do and services to offer clients that you probably didn’t think about.
Read more

Don’t Call Yourself a Freelancer

Freelancing can be a great way to enjoy the career you want on your own terms and time. You benefit from more freedom and do what you’d like to do every day, all the while balancing work and life in a way that suits you best.

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.
Read more

Blowing a Deadline or Saving the Day?

The deadline’s approaching, you haven’t started yet – or worse, you did start and you’re stuck. Each time you sit down to write, nothing comes. Well, something comes, but it’s pretty awful and you can’t send that to the client.

Your heart starts pounding. Your stomach twists. It’s the project from hell… and it’s due for delivery. You’re not going to make it. What do you do?
Read more

How Friendly are You With Other Freelancers?

Your peers are as important, if not more important, than your paying customers. Peers offer a huge support for your freelance writing career. They can help boost your business, bring in clientele, get you out of a sticky spot, offer advice, suggest improvements, lift your morale and provide that break you need for success.

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.

Read more

The Outsourcing Lifestyle for Writers: A Bad Thing?

I recently wrote a post challenging writers to ask themselves if they’re scared of spending money. If you read that post and the ensuing debate in the comment section, you’ll have noticed that Jennifer Mattern of AllFreelanceWriting was quite the champion and had strong opinions on the subject.

While well written (though a touch assumptive of my personal views) and also off topic from my original post (which was to spend on self- and business improvement, such as advertising or courses), Jennifer’s post discusses some dangerous presumptions that could be damaging to writers enjoying a better life.

I’d like to address them here:
Read more

Next Page »