The Question You Need to Answer in Your Cover Letter
I work for clients who I have never actually met, and while it did seem a little strange at the beginning, it’s all good.
When you are contacting a prospective client for a gig where you will be working off site and it’s not practical for you to meet with them in person, the hiring process is a little different than if you were looking for work in the brick and mortar world. In that scenario, the accepted practice is for the employer/client to invite candidates they are interested in hiring to come for an interview.
During this process, the candidate and the employer have the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. The employer/client asks a series of questions to find out what kind of worker they are getting if they decided to make an offer of employment to the candidate.
A lot of the time, clients hiring freelance writers skip the interview step. When you submit your cover letter, resume and samples to a prospective client, it may be your one shot to make your case that you are the person who can give them what they are looking for. Your cover letter can be used to answer the question that the client is asking when they review your materials: “What am I getting if I choose to work with this freelancer?”
I admit that my earlier cover letters were pretty basic. I would explain why I was writing and offer some information about my experience. The last paragraph would invite the client to get in touch to discuss the gig further. Guess what? I didn’t hear back from prospective clients all that often. Some of the lack of response can be attributed to the number of applications that the client would have to go through, I’m sure, but I’ve had a much better response rate since I’ve shared a bit more information about my approach to my work.
Now I try to give a prospective client an idea of who I am as a person and a writer. That cover letter may be the only chance I will have to let the client see whether I am someone who they think they can work with. By sharing the qualities that I can bring to the table, they have more information to make that decision.
Do you share information about your approach to your work when you apply for a freelance writing gig?
Would You Share Information About a Client on a Billboard?
It’s not a trick question. Many freelance writers would say something along the lines of “not unless I pretty much wanted to ruin my career.” Being known as someone who discusses their clients in public isn’t a good reputation to have. If I were looking to hire someone to work with me, I would hesitate to hire someone who I discovered was engaging in this type of behavior. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to be next on the list.
If you wouldn’t put information about a client on a billboard, then you shouldn’t be posting it online. The Internet is like one giant billboard where anyone can see whatever you write. Potential clients do search for information about writers online before making hiring decisions. Not only do you need to be careful about what you post on a blog, but you also need to know that your tweets and comments on discussion forums may show up on Google and other search engines.
Why am I talking about this issue today? I saw a thread on another discussion forum where a member had posted an e-mail she received from a client who was not pleased. In fact, this client fired the writer in question. While the client was not professional and the writer is probably better off not working with that person anymore, posting the correspondence online wasn’t appropriate either, even though the person’s name was not published.
I’ve been fired before – in the brick and mortar world and since I’ve started freelancing. While it can be upsetting, I’ve never discussed what happened in a public forum. I’ve taken time to think about the events that led up to that decision to learn from them so that I can do better next time, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to share them with anyone else. I won’t even share the contents of an e-mail I got from a client once where the subject line told me to grab a helmet and a flak jacket before opening it – trust me, it was interesting reading!
So what does this have to do with job hunting? Everything! You need to guard your online reputation carefully. Potential clients can and will check you out before hiring you. They get an idea of who you are and the kind of work you produce based on how you present yourself. Unless you would feel comfortable posting something on a billboard on a busy downtown street in your city or town, maybe you should rethink the matter.
Two Kinds of Freelance Opportunities You Should be Pursuing
When you are looking for new opportunities to advance your freelance writing career, there are two tracks you should keep in mind. The good news is that you can (and should) be working on both of them at once.
Work Available Now
Cash flow is what keeps a freelance writer’s business afloat. When you are starting out, you need to land paying clients who have projects available now. As you develop your business, you may look to content sites or answer job ads to keep you busy and keep money coming in.
Future Opportunities
The second type of opportunity that you should be working in is one where you are looking for work that may not necessarily start right away. You could be spending part of your time pitching ideas to magazines, for example. Chances are that there will be a lag time between the editor receiving your idea and a decision to accept it or not. Once your idea is accepted, there will probably be a further delay from the time you submit it to when you get paid, especially if the magazine pays on publication.
Future opportunities also include making a pitch to clients, whether you know they are currently looking for a freelance writer or not. You may happen to find someone who is looking to hire right away, but chances are that it may take some time before a new client gets back to you with a project.
A third way you can find future opportunities is by promoting yourself and your business. Get a web site and submit it to search engines so that potential clients can find you. Ask your current clients and contacts you make for referrals. Set up a profile on LinkedIn. Use Twitter to build relationships and share what you do. Visit discussion boards where your target market is likely to hang out and start participating.
All of these strategies will help you land assignments down the road. In the meantime, you can fill in your time and gain experience by looking for gigs that will put some cash in your pocket now.
Where do you focus your efforts when looking for freelance writing work – on gigs that pay money now or ones that may take time to develop but could be more lucrative?
How You Leave a Gig is Just as Important as How You Started
We talk a lot here at Freelance Writing Jobs about how to find work and how to treat clients at the beginning of your working relationship. How you behave at the end of the gig is just as important.
Sometimes your relationship with a client ends because you have decided that it’s time to move on. You may have found higher paying work elsewhere or you may have decided not to work with that client for personal reasons.
In other situations, the decision to end the working relationship is made by the client. They may not have any more work for you, or may need to stop handing out assignments due to economic reasons. It’s possible that the client may decide not to work with you any longer because they are not happy with your work.
Whether the decision to end the working relationship is yours or the client’s you have a choice about how you are going to behave. If there is any work outstanding that you have agreed to do, get it wrapped up. Prepare your final invoice and submit it.
If you are the one who has decided not to accept any further assignments and you feel comfortable doing so, offer to refer the client to another writer. Someone you know may be a great fit for the gig, even if it isn’t a good one for you anymore.
In a situation where the client has made the decision to end things, you can still behave with class. If the client is not pleased and you can’t work things out, you can tell him or her that you are sorry that you weren’t able to resolve the situation. The result may be the same, but there is no reason why you both can’t walk away with your dignity intact.
When the reason for the client ending your working relationship is due to economic reasons, tell him or her that you understand and that you are sorry that they are having a difficult time. If you would be interested in working with the client again when the situation changes, tell them that. You could also ask the client for referrals to other people who may be hiring.
How do you handle the end of a freelance writing gig?
Is it Luck or Hard Work That Spells Success?
I’ve been thinking about luck and freelancing lately. I’ve noticed something that I tend to do, and I’ve decided that I need to give myself an attitude adjustment. Here’s the scoop:
I’ve caught myself explaining to people who have been kind enough to ask about my writing career that I’ve been very lucky. A friend of mine gently reminded me that I have worked very hard and that luck had nothing to do with it. She’s right.
When I was trying to get started, it took awhile for me to get to the point where I was working regularly. Rather than blame the situation on “bad” luck, I figured that I wasn’t working hard enough. That wasn’t true, any more than getting positive results has to do with pure, dumb luck.
Rather than assume that landing a great gig has to do with being lucky or in the right place at the right time, a better approach is to give yourself a pat on the back and tell yourself that your hard work got you the experience or helped you make the contact that led to whatever it is that is working for you now.
I’ve lost track of the gigs that I’ve applied for that I didn’t get. The irony of being paid to find leads and still not getting hired when I’ve applied for some of them is not lost on me. But I kept plugging away and developed contacts that have led to getting hired for freelance writing gigs.
Do I feel lucky when I get hired? You bet. It’s a privilege to work with a client to help them build their business in some way. Is it all down to luck? No way.
The next time someone asks me about my career (so far), I’ll tell them that I feel fortunate to have met some wonderful people and that I have worked very hard to get where I am. What are you doing to make your own luck when it comes to freelance writing?
The Letter-Resume: An Alternative to the Standard Resume Format
If you are responding to an ad or are preparing a pitch for a potential client but you don’t want to include a formal resume. There is are a way that you can tell the client about your experience without using one: the resume letter.
Here’s how it works:
- Start your letter off in the usual way to introduce yourself and explain why you are making contact with the client.
- Then include a list of points from your resume that show the client why you are a good fit for the ad you are responding to or the role that you are interested in filling for them
- Finish with a good closing, thanking the client for taking the time to consider you and that you hope to hear from them soon or when you will be contacting them to follow up.
Why Use Bullet Points
Rather than use a paragraph style for your letter-resume, using either bullet points or numbers draws the reader’s eye directly to that section of the letter. Keep each point relatively short – two or three sentences will do. Make sure that what you list in your letter-resume is relevant to the writing gig you are applying to or hope to land.
I’m in favor of using whatever strategy works to present yourself in the best possible way to a client, as long as you are following the instructions in their ad. Part of doing so is giving the client all the information they need to determine if you are qualified for the gig and if they can work with you. If they don’t want to see a resume, that’s fine. You can tell them about yourself in this way instead.
The Elephant in the Room: Asking for More Work After a Mistake
One of our readers posted this question in comments and has kindly agreed to my answering it in a post.
“I missed a deadline with a client once because I was moving and my ISP was giving me the run-around. It was the worst. I can tell my client is now standoffish, but I’m not sure about how I should approach him to ask for more work. Keep in mind assignments with this client has went well and I completed projects sometimes weeks before the deadline. Should I just let him go or try?”
The short answer to this question is that you should try. Building and maintaining good working relationships with clients is the key to a successful business. Does that mean that everything is going to run smoothly all the time? Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
When you do all the right things for your clients, they appreciate it. The fact that you have done what was expected of you and met your deadlines was what you were being paid to do. Missing a deadline is never good for business and I hope that you turned in the work as soon as you could once the ISP issues were resolved.
Your client may have concerns that something may prevent you from going back to your previously good record of being reliable. I know that it may seem tempting to just write the client off and slink off to lick your wounds, so to speak, but you have an opportunity to show this person the kind of freelancer you are. I can’t guarantee that you will be able to re-establish your working relationship, but it will help to resolve things so you know where you stand.
Dealing With the Elephant
I was working on a project once where my role was more of a personal assistant than a writer. There was a mistake made and to be honest I don’t remember now what it was. The client was not pleased and let me know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t happy.
I read his e-mail a couple of times. The first time through I admit that my back went up and I got angry. My first thought was to quit and run (not necessarily in that order). Then I calmed down and tried to address the situation like a professional.
Here’s how I handled it:
I acknowledged the mistake without making excuses. Then I apologized. Those two actions diffused the situation. Then, I explained that while I can’t change what has happened, I would like the opportunity to rectify the situation and I offered a couple of suggestions. He chose one and we got our working relationship back on track.
In the situation the FWJ community member is asking about, I would contact the client and explain that the ISP problem was an isolated occurrence and that I now have backup arrangements (a friend’s computer, going to Starbucks, etc.) so that any inconvenience to my clients will be minimized if something similar happens in the future.
I would tell the client how much I have enjoyed working with them in the past and that I hope that the incident in question will not affect future projects. Then I would ask what I can do to help rectify the situation so that we can get back on track.
Then it’s up to the client to let you know what they need from you. There is the chance that they will tell you that they aren’t willing to work with you anymore. It’s more likely that they will appreciate your professionalism and will consider you for other projects. My guess is that not knowing is worse than hearing the word, “No” in this situation.
So, FWJ community: What do you think? Is this the right approach, or is it better to walk away from clients who may not be happy with your working relationship?
Resume Roundup: Some Posts You May Have Missed
I’ve been getting some questions about resumes for freelance writers lately. Not everyone who you are interested in working with will want to see a resume. Some prospective clients will want to see it to get an idea of who you are and what kind of experience you bring to the table.
You can’t judge the quality of a gig that you are applying for by whether the client is asking for a resume. (I don’t remember if Deb has ever asked to see mine.) Some of them would rather see samples of your work to get an idea of what you can do for them. I started with one client when I received an e-mail asking if I wanted to work for him.
For those prospective clients who would like to see a resume, you want to make sure that what you show them presents your product, which is you, in the best possible light. Here are some links to previous posts on resumes:
Transferable Skills and Your Resume
Functional Resume Format for Freelancers
Listing Multiple Clients on Your Freelance Writing Resume
Do you have questions about resumes? Post them in the comments section and we’ll answer them. I bet if this community puts its collective heads together we can come up with some great answers. You can e-mail questions to me at freelancewritinggigs@gmail.com and I’ll answer them in future posts.
Your Freelance Resume: Focus on Experience
One of our readers has recently started working for a new client and is wondering how soon to list that experience on a freelance writer’s resume. Here’s my take on it:
Working as a freelance writer is not the same thing as being an employer. When you are preparing a resume for a job using a chronological format, you list the names of your previous employers and the dates when you worked there. When you are preparing a freelance writer’s resume, keep in mind that you are working for yourself, and the way you tell a prospective client about your work experience is a little different.
A prospective client is more likely to ask how long you have been freelancing and what kinds of work you have done than how long you have worked with a particular client. (It’s a good policy to make a point of not discussing your clients with each other anyway.) Some of your assignments are going to be one-time or short-term arrangements only, simply because that’s all the client needs.
If you’re wondering how soon you can list a new client on your resume (if you choose to name names, that is), I would say that you can put this information on your freelance writer’s resume as soon as you like. Rather than listing any of your clients by name, you can focus on the kind of writing you did and the topics you have written about, if appropriate.
You aren’t required to reveal how long you have written for a particular client. Your freelance writer’s resume should focus on what you have done, not who your clients are.
How To Stay Motivated in Your Job Search
I thought I would try something different for this post. I found about this new tool that lets people make their own animated movies. I made my own short film about staying motivated when you are looking for freelance writing gigs. Hope you like it!
