How long is too long – when to give up freelance writing

Only you know when you’ve tried freelance writing or blogging long enough and when it’s smart to throw in the towel. It’ll vary for people. There is a difference between an impossible situation and an iffy situation though. For example, there are almost always feast or famine periods when you’re a freelance blogger or writer. The key is knowing if you’re experiencing a typical famine or a never ending drought.

• Have you had well paying blogging or writing gigs in the past? Yes? You can get jobs again. Try applying more often and apply for gigs that relate to gigs you’ve had in the past.
• Have you been applying to writing or blogging gigs for more than a year without even a nibble from a potential employer? Maybe you need to readjust your application process. If readjusting doesn’t help maybe you’re not a great writer or you’re not cut out for blogging. Either way, it may be time to look for another job.

But how long is too long?

As noted above every situation is different so the “too long” time-frame varies as well. There are some key issues you can look at though to help you decide how long is too long for your particular situation.

It’s most likely been too long if…

• Bills are piling up and writing just isn’t cutting it.
• It’s been over a year and you’ve never scored a job that pays an actual wage. After a year, if you’re working for free, it’s a major problem.
• It’s been over two years and you’ve never scored a gig that pays a living wage or you’re still not managing to pay all of your bills.
• You’ve been writing for a while and your expenses outweigh your income.
• You’ve been writing for a while and you’re continually making less money than you used to. Maybe you need to adjust the type of work you’re accepting or maybe your heart just isn’t into it.
• You’re not having any fun.
• You’re constantly stressed out whenever you have to think about work.

Maybe you should keep on trucking if…

• You’re still having a good time writing.
• You’re slowly but steadily building up clients. Sometimes it can take a while to build up to a full client base. If you’re getting clients, you will get there (to making a living) it just might take a little longer.
• Clients respond to you but don’t quite hire you. If clients take the time to respond often (a good sign), but don’t hire you there’s probably a little something in your application game-plan that you can tweak. You may be close to getting hired.
• Your income is rising – slowly. Slow is better than nothing. If you can hold out and manage on less income for a while you may be on the path to a full time income, especially if you know where to find the higher paying gigs. The time to worry is if your income continually stays the same or keeps shrinking.
• Bonus points if you have some back-up income (like a second job or savings) or a working spouse with health benefits you can latch onto.

Advice you can ignore…

Does everyone tell you that you should be a writer or blogger? Yes. Well, a million people have probably had people tell them they should write for a living. It doesn’t mean you can. Ignore people who tell you that you should write and focus on what’s really going on (i.e. see above). Way too many people say things like, “I was born to write” or “All my college professors told me to write.” That’s nice, but if your goal is to have money to live on, these issues really don’t matter.

Should you set a time goal?…

Setting a deadline for yourself is a great idea. For example last December I was experiencing a lull (no good new jobs) and my current writing income was not enough to live on for an extended period. Because I have a son, I can’t live on a below living wage income for too long but after writing for years it seemed stupid to quit on the fly, so I set two goals. My first goal was if I didn’t find any more blogging jobs in four months I’d supplement with other sorts of writing such as go back to magazines and business writing (which I don’t like as much but money is money).

My second goal was that if supplementing other sorts of writing didn’t work I’d head back to social work after six months. I love blogging but I don’t love it so much that I’ll make my son live without groceries. I’ll get another sort of job before that happens. Anyhow, my goals kicked me into high gear and I applied like mad for jobs that suited me and it worked out. Right now I’m good income wise but if I experience another lull at some point I’ll set some new goals.

Some people set a time goal when they first start out and others only set goals when they’re having a problem. Do what works for you. How long you set your goal for, again, depends on your situation. A smart way to go about it is to keep your day job and work on your writing career at night. If you have a spouse who is willing to support you for a while then you’re lucky but you should still have a goal, say, six months or a year. A typical goal might be, I’ll be scoring gigs within three months and by the end of the year I’ll be making enough to live on. If that fails I’ll look into another sort of job.

You tell me – how long is too long? When should you consider a new career path?

How to find new gigs when you’re writing full time

My Thrifty Mommy co-blogger Karen and I were chatting recently about a common freelance blogger (and writer) issue – not having time to look for work. It’s frustrating because if you currently have full time work writing you don’t have free time to look for new gigs. Yet for most freelance bloggers it’s important to take the time to job search. Why?

• Blogging doesn’t always pay great and so you need the time to look for new higher paying gigs.
• Freelancing is iffy. You may be making a ton of income today but blogs close down, clients come and go, and you could be out of a job tomorrow.
• Job searching on an ongoing basis makes you a more efficient job hunter. If I check the job boards daily I know which boards are actually still viable, I know what gigs are out there, I can keep track of current pay rates, and I get a repetitive system going that makes me a faster job browser.
• You can help your pals. Even if you have more work than you can handle, you may see a job that’s perfect for your pal and you can shoot it off to her. Later if a slow gig time crops up for you, your pal may return the favor.

BUT I literally have NO time to search…

I’ve been there. That whole feast or famine deal you hear about in freelancing – it’s not a joke. Last year at this time I had quit a lame job, had a client end a site, and another site I work for cut pay, and thus, I was down to the dreaded not enough jobs on my plate. I looked for months – (really, months) before I found a new great gig and seriously overnight I doubled my income. That’s crazy and frustrating. Right now I’m making a good income, but I’m well aware that shifts happen and next week I could need to score a new gig.

That said, part of the reason why I’m making a good income is because I’m working full time + so technically I don’t have the time to look for new jobs right now, not without cutting into work or free time.

WHAT TO DO!?

Work job searches into your freelance budget and schedule. As a freelancer part of your job is to find jobs. Looking for work should be a fixed task on your writing schedule, just like posting, research and networking. Job hunting should never come off your schedule.

Embrace social media as a job search tool. If you’re a blogger, you’re already involved in social media so use it.

Make it easy. Bookmarks and feeds are your friend. Keep your bookmarks and feeds clean, neat, and chuck any writing job boards that return nothing but lame low-paying gigs over and over because that’s a time waster. If you keep things tidy you can keep your daily job search down to 30 minutes flat.

Set up an emergency fund. SO much easier said than done, but it’s still a smart thing to do. Three months worth of living expenses socked away is optimal, but the more the merrier as the saying goes. If that seems like a lot, try super hard to at least get a months worth of living expense saved – one month is usually enough time to find at least a couple of gigs.

Tag team the boards. If you have a writer friend you trust then set up a tag team system. Each of you can job hunt on alternate days and shoot the other person gigs that look good. If you don’t have a writer friend you trust in this capacity, I’d get some new friends. I’m not afraid to send my good friends an awesome job posting (even if I’m applying) because my friends have done the same for me and what goes around comes around. As a blogger or writer one of the smartest things you can do is overcome the competition issue with your pals.

Drop a low payer. It’s better to drop one low-paying gig and use that time to look for new gigs then it is to slave at a lame low paying job. It makes better financial sense. Time is absolutely money.

Use passive job search techniques. Getting your business card and name out there is not totally passive, but once your cards and name are out there they work endlessly for you. Give everyone your business card and tell people you write! I can’t tell you how many gigs I’ve scored simply because I opened my mouth and said, “I write for a living.” People need writers. If you’re the only writer someone knows, guess who will get the gig when said person needs a blogger or some other sort of writing. Your personal blog or website is another form of passive searching. While I don’t have a professional writer website, I do have blogs and I’ve gotten gigs just because someone came across my blog, liked me, and emailed me about work they needed done. Make sure you have an easy to find contact page at your blog or website.

Write great posts for PR people. If a PR person sends you a good lead and you write an awesome post for them you make connections with them and the company they represent which can turn into job leads when that company needs a new writer. Companies love when people make them look good – don’t be fake, but also don’t write shoddy posts when you get news lead.

Apply once in a while. It won’t kill you to apply for a new gig, even if you have zero time to spare on your work schedule. You may score a higher payer and be able to drop a low payer which helps you save for that emergency fund I mentioned above.

How do you make the time to hunt for gigs when your schedule is already full?

Blogging & Web Writing Gigs for July 20, 2009

Hello everyone, hope you had a good weekend. If you missed them over the weekend check out Finding blog gigs – starting out with no clips and How to get a blogging job – advice from Deb Ng of FWJ.

Not too many gigs today – hopefully things pick up by Wednesday. You can also check out Deb’s job listings if you like.

Anywhere gigs:

Sustainable Technology and Design Blogger – kind of lowish pay unless you know the topic very well and work fast, then it’s ok.

Sports Blogger/Reporter (Experience Required)

Blogger at Task FM – I swear I saw this listing a few weeks ago – did anyone here apply? When people re-post so fast it makes me think they’re non-paying…

New fine jewelry website set to go live this fall is looking for freelance writers for snappy, smart, humorous description and editorial for our jewelry. Think Sex In The City meets Daily Candy.

SEO – organic traffic

Online marketer

News editor for media startup – Start up, so not sure if paid

Location specific gigs:

We need a versatile WRITER – $1000.00 a month - (San Fernando Valley)

Digital Home and Garden Editor – Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia – NY

HealthRight International, a global health and human rights organization, seeks a freelance writer to develop content for reports, newsletters, and other publications – NY

Content Coordinator - (Redmond, WA)

Client SEO Specialist - (Pacific Beach)

Web Producer – PennLive.com – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Creative Crafts Group, LLC seeking a highly motivated individual for the position of General Editor – Quilters Newsletter – Golden, CO

Full Circle Farm content coordinator – Snoqualmie River Valley, WA

Sports Blogger/Reporter (Experience Required) - (Washington, DC)

Copywriter / content writer (GTA)

Sneaky Clients – Acts That Should Make You Run for the Hills

Sneaky clients at best are somewhat silly to obnoxious, and at worst may want you to break the law. I’ve never had a network ask me to do anything questionable, but stand alone clients have been another story. Here are some things that a sneaky client might try.

Give you a demotion for low stats early on. First off, ask if you can have access to stats, then it’s easy to know where stats stand. Also, unless it was in your contract, you shouldn’t get a pay cut, especially not if it’s a new blog. It takes a long time to build stats, some clients aren’t smart enough to know this. I know one blogger who took a pay cut once on a blog because stats were low, but she already had a good long-term working relationship with her client, and there were other circumstances. In most cases if you do your job, you need to get paid.

Tell you to buy photos for posts. If it wasen’t agreed upon in the contract, do not pay for premium photos. There are places to find free images, and if it’s something like celebrity photos, that often do need to be bought, the client should pay, not you.

Tell you to take photos or text from another blog without permission and post it at their blog. Um, yeah. Don’t ever do this. Furthermore if a client asks you to do this run; run fast. You don’t want your name and rep as a blogger associated with them.

The twist on the above sneaky act is when clients add questionable stuff to your post after the fact. If your name is on the post, you could get in trouble for stolen content.

Wants you to post each day without fail at 3pm. You agree. Then they change it to 5am, then 10pm. You’re not a traffic guinea pig. If your client is being obnoxious with timing, don’t put up with it. There are plenty of clients who won’t do this

Asks you to wait to agree on a pay amount until they see how you do. Don’t work for free – period. You could start your own blog “just to see how you’ll do” and make more money.

Changes your work and then tries to not pay you. I used to have this ghostwriting gig for a client. Until I know a client, I save posts in Word, which is a good thing, because this client was going in and changing my posts. Cutting words, cutting photos; and I had no clue. Then comes payday, and I get an email that says, “Due to you not following our contract, no pay” – I got pretty snippy and actually I did get paid, but I was just lucky. Of course I quit. Having gone through that, I’d suggest you pay attention to new clients until you know them.

What sneaky client acts have you run into?