1. A lot of people think they can do the job.

How hard can it be to dress up and pretend to be someone else or put a few words on a page? Well, the truth is that neither one of these jobs is always easy. There is work involved, and it can be challenging.

2. There are many more people who want to do the job than those who are actually working.

The unemployment rate for actors sits at around 90 percent on a permanent basis. Writers are either working or pitching for their next gig – most of us are constantly on the lookout for our next assignment.

There are a number of people who want to write for money but change their minds when they find out about the the amount of work involved. The business part of this creative venture may be what turns them off, or they may underestimate how long it takes to get a group of clients who can give them steady work. The feast and famine that can be part of running a business may be what turns them off.

3. The public only sees the finished product.

When an actor gives a performance or the writer submits his or her work to a client, they only see what has been created. The prep work, whether it is time spent in rehearsals or writing drafts and tweaking it, isn’t shared with the person who is paying for it.

4. It takes more than talent to be successful.

Having some degree of talent is a must if you want to write for a living. It’s also important to develop good relationships with other people who can help you along the way. These include your existing clients, potential clients, and other writers.

5. You’re only as good as your last gig.

Unfortunately, the fact that people have hired you for writing positions in the past doesn’t mean that they will be lined up to hire you in the future. Turning in good quality work on time and treating your clients like gold are ways to increase your chance of having steady work.

6. A big ego can get in your way.

The minute you start believing that you are special and that no one else could possibly do what you do, you are sunk. Clients can always choose to hire someone else for their projects. You aren’t doing them a favor by agreeing to work with them; they are honoring you by choosing you.

7. It can be a satisfying and lucrative career choice.

Getting paid to do something that you love is wonderful. Like anything else, there are challenges and frustrations that go with the territory, but deciding to be a freelance writer was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I have always been of the opinion that it’s better to be working than not doing so. My family enjoys eating and living indoors, so that’s a prime motivator for keeping busy. Simply because someone takes on a project that pays lower than they would normally accept doesn’t mean that they have done the one thing that is going to mess up their entire career.

I’ve never had someone who has hired me ask how much I charge other clients for my work. I don’t discuss my clients with each other, and I consider that the work that I do for them is confidential. In some cases, I have been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that prohibit me from discussing anything about the work that I do and my rates.

When someone is looking to hire a writer, I doubt they have time to follow up with the candidate’s previous clients to find out how much they were charged for their work. A client cares about getting their own work done. Period.

In the brick and mortar world, people generally start their working careers in entry-level positions. Over time as they get more experience, they move onto more lucrative work. The same thing happens for freelance writers. Taking an entry-level gig means you get some experience and some green in your pocket. During times when more lucrative work is lean, taking on something at the low end of your acceptable pay scale keeps your skills sharp and some money coming in.

If you are concerned about your lower-paying gigs appearing on your resume, do some editing. You don’t have to list each client you have ever worked for if you choose not to.

Getting back to the original question, I don’t think that you can hurt your career by taking a certain gig. If the subject about rates you used to charge ever comes up, you can explain that you have gained some experience and honed your skills since that point and now you charge $X.

What do you think? Can taking a low paying freelance writing job mean the Kiss of Death for your career?

What is your experience with hiring contractors and negotiating rates?

“As someone who frequently hires contractors, I offer a rate for the work that is based on the person’s talent and skill set. It seems like most freelancers/contractors hit you by asking for the moon. Eventually they back down on the rate they are asking for in anticipation of getting at least some work. When I’m negotiating with the freelancer, I’ll offer a rate that is in keeping with our budget. I expect to meet the freelancer somewhere in the middle.”

How would you respond to a contractor who quoted what you thought was a reasonable rate from the outset?

“Unless they were below budget I would negotiate, regardless. Even if someone’s skill set directly reflects their rate, business is business and bottom lines are bottom lines. If we can cut costs in one area to free up finances for other things this is directly reflected in the end rate a client pays.”

If someone was easy to negotiate with and did their work well, would that would make you more inclined to hire them for future projects?

“Absolutely. I will be the first to admit that if you are on point when working with me, I have no problem offering a mid-to-high rate right from the start. Not only that, I’ll keep you busy.”

“However, the flip side to that is that if you are slow, not on point and your portfolio/interpersonal communication skills reflect this, any employer will be able to tell right away what you are worth.”

How would you respond to a contractor who told you that they aren’t prepared to work for anything less than, say, $100 an hour?

“Personally, freelancers who bill at rates like that I believe are focusing on their ego, not their skill set. Honestly, I only know two people that I’ve ever paid that rate to, and for good reason. They are the best in the world at what they do.”

“Simply put, freelancers, at least the majority of them, are not worth that kind of money. Their overhead becomes my overhead, which becomes our clients’ overhead. I’d have to bill at $320 an hour to consider that fair game and make a profit. Real world agencies don’t bill at these rates. You typically see agencies bill at $120 an hour, and making a gross profit of $20 an hour on a contractor/employee is just not enough to keep the lights on in most cases.”

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Are there any surprises here, or did you already have a good idea about how clients set the rates they pay for the freelancers they hire?

When it comes to the world of freelance writing and writers, I don’t think there is any “one size fits all” definition of success. When I started writing, I thought it would be wonderful if I could make enough money to buy groceries every week and help out with some bills. I achieved that first goal and much more, and now I get to work full time doing something that I actually love.

To my mind, there should be enough room in the freelance writing world for people who want to dabble in writing to earn a few extra dollars here and there, as well as those who want to (or have already achieved) a six-figure career. No choice is better than the other; they are just different.

Some people used to state that because women now have more opportunities that we should all climb on the high-powered career bandwagon and doing anything else is letting all of our sisters down. That wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now. Feminism should be about choices for women, even if we choose something different for ourselves.

How does this relate to freelance writing? Freelancing also offers choices. I say let’s throw the doors wide open and look at all the choices and the possibilities that the choice to freelance gives us. I, for one, love to hear about the kind of work my fellow freelancers do. It inspires me to broaden my own horizons and apply for gigs that I may not have considered before.

In much the same way that a symphony won’t sound right if everyone is playing the same instrument, there is room in the freelancing world for all of us, no matter what kind of work we choose to do. Everyone is invited to the party, and everyone is welcome.

In no way am I suggesting that we should all dump our respective baggage and find a desert island somewhere so that we can write in peace and amass huge fortunes. (Besides, if you’re on a desert island, why would you need money?) I’m just saying that we all have areas of strength and things that make it more challenging, but that doesn’t mean that anyone should give up on their dream of finding freelance writing work if that’s what they want to do.

I’ll use myself as an example. I’m not the fastest typist on the planet. Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth and I was in high school, we took a battery of career aptitude tests. When I got my results, I was very surprised to find that I scored high in the area of Communications (I was struggling to keep a B average in English). The portion that I scored the lowest on was….Clerical Ability.

Fast forward a number of years and I decided to go back to school. My career choice at the time was governed by what course can I take where I would be virtually guaranteed a job on graduation. There was a big demand for Legal Assistants at the time and I was interested in law, so I signed up. I did well, except when it was time to learn how to type. No matter who often I practiced, when I heard the word “Begin” to do a typing test, I was all thumbs. I came in just under the minimum speed requirement to advance to the second year and one of my teachers adjusted my mark down by a grade but decided to let me pass so that I could complete my program.

I did get a job after graduation, and I know that if the hiring decision was made solely on typing speed, that I wouldn’t have been able to find work. I also live with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which means that some days I’m quite uncomfortable when I’m working.

When it comes to freelance writing jobs, my clients don’t care how fast I’m typing. They care about getting clean work submitted, on time. When I’m quoting for jobs, I prefer to do so by the word instead of by the hour. That way, the client pays for results, not the fact that it takes me a little longer to produce copy than someone who is more gifted in this area.

We all have things that make it difficult to reach our goals, in freelance writing and otherwise. They don’t have to make it impossible.

What kinds of things do you find especially challenging about freelance writing work? How have you overcome your own handicaps?

We all have an inner dialogue and there are times when mine is particularly nasty. It tells me things that I would never say to another living person. What does my inner bully have to do with finding freelance writing jobs? Well, it used to prevent me from applying for certain gigs or talking to a potential client that I was interested in working with.

If you have ever taken yourself out of the running for an opportunity you wanted to pursue because you decided that you weren’t good enough, that your writing abilities weren’t up to scratch, or that the client will probably say no anyway so what’s the point, then you were the victim of your own inner bully. Yes, I fully appreciate the irony that I used to troll for job leads here at FWJ but rarely applied for anything because of my negative internal dialogue. I had a small group of clients that I was working with and I was kept busy, but I wasn’t really going after new opportunities.

What changed? I decided to start treating myself the way that I try to treat others. If I wouldn’t verbally beat up on another person, I wasn’t going to accept that in myself. I started off by stopping myself if the insecurity started to get the better of me. Then I started applying for gigs that I was interested in that I felt I was qualified for. I didn’t get everything that I applied for, but I was able to work with some new clients and add some more experience to my resume.

The trick in taming your inner bully is similar to dealing with a person who resorts to this kind of behavior. You stop listening to what the bully has to say and you take action to remedy the situation. Have you been troubled by an inner bully? How did you deal with it?

It is work. Not only do you have the work of doing your writing assignments, but you are your own Marketing, Customer Service, and Accounting Departments. As one of my clients pointed out, when you are self-employed, you only work half days, as in 12 hours each.

There are definite advantages, though, to being your own boss. You get to make decisions about who you will work with and what assignments you will take. When I used to work in an office, my income was decided by someone else and I got paid the same amount no matter how hard I worked. Now I get to decide what income level I want to achieve and how much work I need to take on to get it.

If this is something you really want to do, you will be prepared to do the leg work involved in finding out about markets and how to get started. There are many people who are willing to share what they know to help someone who has questions. Just don’t ask them to do the work for you. If this is something you really want to do, it won’t feel like work anyway.

The relationship between yourself and a client is not the same one that exists between and employer and an employee. When you are dealing with a client, you are an independent businessperson and – dare I say it – your client’s equal.

When you are an equal, you negotiate terms instead of asking your boss for permission to do something. A client can’t take your job away from you like a boss can. If things aren’t working out, they can choose not to work with you anymore. The flip side to that idea is that you can also choose to tell the client that you won’t be available for any more assignments. Being a freelancer gives you that flexibility – you are “free” to take on an assignment or pass on it.

I think that sometimes we can get so concerned about not meeting the client’s expectations and losing the client that it gets in the way of our doing our best work. I know I’ve made mistakes in my work sometimes where I’ve missed something and turned in something that was other than what the client wanted. When it happens, I offer to make it right. There have been a few times where the client has decided to go elsewhere, and they certainly had every right to do so.

Now I focus on trying to keep my clients happy and give them what they want, as opposed to being worried about “one mistake and you’re out.” I can’t control what someone else decides to do, but I can let go of my fear of being “fired” and focus on working “with” and not “for” my clients.

If you don’t have a web site and are looking for a way to display your writing samples, consider putting them up at BookRix. The site’s ViewRix technology prevents your work from being copied, and you retain all rights to it. BookRix allows members to create a profile page as well. You can upload images, videos, or start a blog. Visitors to the site can check out other writers’ work and write a review, if they are so inclined.

You can get more information about BookRix by visiting the web site or checking out the interview posted on LoveToKnow.com’s Freelance Writing channel.

• Save up enough money until you have several months’ worth of expenses and go full time.
• Start part time while working in a “day” job and build up a good client base and ease into freelancing.

The idea here is to have some kind of a “fall back” position in case the whole freelancing thing doesn’t work out. I fully appreciate this idea, but there is something to be said for going full tilt and not worrying about the bridges you leave behind. If you are good at your craft and you look after your clients well, you won’t need them.

I must take exception to the idea that “security” comes from working for someone else. It doesn’t. Really. If you are an employee, your employer has the power to decide that your services are no longer required at any time. If the company needs to make cuts, your job may be affected, no matter how well you did your job. Where is the security in that?

If you want to be a writer, then be one. There is no better time than right now to get started. The freelancing has room for people who want to work at all different levels, from those who rely on the income to put food on the table to those who use their earnings to save for something special that they want. If you are waiting for the exact, risk-free time to launch your career, you will be waiting for a long time. It’s not going to happen.

And if you are holding back because you don’t have faith in your abilities, I found a great quote that covers that point too:

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” (Robert Hughes, Time)

Now is the time. We can’t live in the past, because it’s gone. We don’t know what the future will bring (unless you have a crystal ball that works…I don’t). All we have is the present, so make the most of it and go after what you really want.