Archives for September 2009

What is Community and Why is it Important?

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Community

After reading James Chartrand’s post “Screw Community,” I’m inclined to put up a “What is Community?” post. I’ve defined community and its importance many times at Kommein, but that’s a whole different niche and a whole different, well, community. So I decided to bring it up here as well.

In James’ post, he rants about bloggers who throw out the community buzzword whenever they need a favor or free stuff. I can relate. I receive requests every day from bloggers who want me to write for free, oh I mean provide a guest post. They feel we’re all part of the blogging community and therefore it’s perfectly alright to expect something from me in this manner. It’s not. Using someone to get ahead is still using someone, regardless of community. Asking for free stuff isn’t community and it’s not advancing someone else’s career, it’s asking for something for nothing.

Let’s explore community and why it’s important.

What  is community?

An online community is made up of a group of people who share the same interests, ideals and goals. The freelance writing jobs community gathers here because they’re interested in finding work and learning about ways to have a successful freelance writing career.

How important is community?

To a blogger community is very important. Our community makes or breaks us. Our community reads our posts and shares it with others. Our community discusses our topics and offers thoughts and ideas. In short, we wouldn’t be anywhere without our community.

Writing with your community in mind

Even though blogs about writing are a dime a dozen, we all have different communities. While we do adjust our content with our community in mind, they’re our community because they like our message. If they didn’t care what we had to say, they might move along to another blogger’s community. The bloggers who don’t do well are the bloggers who don’t care about community.

Do all blogs have a community?

The purpose of a blog is to build up a community and create a dicussion around the day’s topic(s). Without discussion or community interaction, you might as well be writing just another article for just another website.

In short, community is you. When bloggers blog, we do so to reach out to our own communities. We also hope to touch people in other communities. There’s nothing wrong with bringing other communities together or even being part of more than one community.

Screw community? No, embrace community. Screw the people who want to use you to get ahead.

Sending Holiday Cards to Your Freelance Writing Clients

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business holiday card

It’s only September yet Lowe’s and Kohl’s both have Christmas displays. They’re thinking of the holidays already and so should you. Among your considerations should be whether or not to send holiday cards to your clients. You may laugh, but business holiday cards are good customer service.  They tell your client:

  • You’re wishing him/her well
  • You care about his/her business
  • Good customer service is important to you
  • You go the extra mile

Keep in mind it’s better to send holiday cards as opposed to Christmas cards because you don’t want to offend your client or his religious (or non-religious) affiliations.  Some freelancers order specific business holiday cards, while others will buy a generic box of holiday cards when they’re getting their own personal greetings to send out. Some freelancers buy a stamp with their business details to post at the bottom of the card, others write their names at the bottom while including a business card. A few even put out the extra money to have imprinted holiday cards made up. It depends on your budget, and all options are fine. If you’re thinking about ordering your holiday cards online, order sooner rather than later. The closer it gets to the holidays, the more expensive it can get.

Here are a few places to get business type holiday cards:

  • Cards Direct has a nice assortment but they’re rather pricey for the average freelance witer.
  • Classic Designs offers an elegant variety, but again, many freelancers don’t have this kind of a budget. They’re offering a discount if you order early, however.
  • As always, Vista Print offers a much more affordable solution.
  • Executive Greetings has a selection of corporate holiday cards.

How do you say “happy holidays” to your clients?

How Often Should You Update Your Resume?

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A resume is an important job search tool for freelance writers. Not all prospective clients ask to see one. For those clients who do, we want to present ourselves in the best possible way, and an updated resume is a must if we want to do that.

How often should this important document be updated? Ideally, you will update your resume when you have new experience or updated skills to add to it. I’m the first person to admit that I’m not always right on top of things when it comes to my resume. I do take a look at it very few months and make changes as necessary, though.

When you take a look at your resume, do more than just add your new experience to it. Go through the whole document carefully. You may want to make changes in the way you have described your previous work experience or other parts of your resume. As you add more freelance writing work experience, you may want to shorten or change the descriptions of your previous employment experience to keep the employer’s focus on your experience with writing, editing, blogging, etc.

If you have been applying for a lot of freelance writing gigs that you feel you are a good fit for but you aren’t getting hired, it may be a sign that you need to revamp your resume. This document may be the only opportunity you get to show a potential client who you are and what you can do for them, and you need to make sure that you make the best first impression you can.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve gone over your resume, review it and make changes as needed. This step is just as important to your business as any of your other marketing efforts.

5 Ways to Know You’ve Written a Good Article

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Picture 5There are times when you have an article finished and you wonder if you’ve really done the piece justice. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

5. It has great sources.

Great sources include leaders or well known folks in the field, interesting subjects that give a personal perspective to the piece or sources with something new to offer on an evergreen topic. Great sources have been vetted, they provide accurate information and there’s a demand for the information they are offer.

4. There are no holes.

All the questions have been answered – the ‘why’s’ and ‘why not’s’ researched and the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where’ and ‘when’ exposed. Attention has been paid to the audience and what they want to know.

3. It’s been thoroughly edited.

The editing process went beyond spell check. The article was allowed to marinate, then read aloud, printed out and double checked. It has been screened more than Dionne Warwick at the airport.

2. It has a killer lede (lead).

The kind of lead that stops you in your tracks and pulls you in like an ant at a cook out. The lede (lead) is catchy without being cliche, makes the reader think and stops the reader from turning the page.

1. You know it’s awesome.

Writers know when they’ve given an article their best. They know when a turn of phrase is magical or when an interview subject has just given the pull-out quote. It’s almost orgasmic when a piece or a lede seems to write itself, flowing from brain through fingers and out onto the computer screen. It is equally satisfying when an article is hard won. It’s a fight between the writer and the words and only one can win. The struggle to get every transition smooth, every bullet point packed with succinct information and finally, finally, victory. An article is good when there’s no need to see the score, you already know who won.

5 Tips on How to Ask a Freelance Writing Client for More Work

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I wanted to follow up on the suggestions I made in my post about asking a client for more work with some more specific tips.

1. Make sure this is someone you want to work with again.

Don’t ask someone for more work if you really would rather not work with them again. If this client is someone you find difficult to deal with and you cringe at the thought of doing anything else for them as opposed to being excited or at least interested in getting started, skip the request for more assignments. Just thank them for their business and move on.

Asking for more work as a matter of course when you’re not interested amounts to the “I had a really nice time. I’ll call you” thing in the dating world. Don’t go there.

2. Mention the project(s) you have worked on for the client when you make your pitch.

Your client may have a number of writers working for them on various projects at any given time. While we all like to think that we are so stellar that a client couldn’t possibly forget us or our work, it does happen. Give them a gentle reminder so they can place you before moving on to your request for a new project.

3. Tell the client what else you can for them.

If you don’t share the other things you have in your bag of tricks, as I like to call it, the client doesn’t know. You may have submitted a resume when you applied for the gig, but once you were hired, the client probably hasn’t looked at it again.

Say you were hired to write some press releases. Being the professional freelance writer that you are, you have done your homework to find out about your client and what they do. Consider where they might need more writing services and make a pitch for them.

For example, if they don’t have a blog yet and you have experience in that area, contact the client to explain the benefits of having one. Since you already have a relationship with the client, you are in a good position to be hired for the gig – without having to go up against a hundred or more other candidates if the client were to place an ad. You can do the same with web content, copy for web and print, technical writing, white papers, etc.

4. Rinse and repeat.

If you ask for more work and the client doesn’t have anything for you at that point, it doesn’t mean that the source of work has dried up. Make a note to check back later. The client may even give you an idea of when they may need a writer and you should follow up with them slightly before that point. That way, you are well positioned to be chosen for the next gig.

5. Make asking for more work a regular part of your routine.

If you get it the habit of asking for more work when you finish a project, you are more likely to avoid down times in your freelance writing career. It’s far easier to convince someone who you have worked with already to hire you again than to start trying to build a relationship with a new client. A stable of regular, loyal clients who can keep you supplied with work and refer you to other people who can hire you is gold. Treat them like the precious resource they are and watch your business grow.

5 Things That Clients Won't Ask You

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When you are applying for available freelance writing jobs or make a pitch to a prospective client, there are some things they are wondering about but won’t ask. Consider the following the next time you are communicating with someone new about your writing services:

1. “Are you reliable?”

While freelancers may complain about clients who simply disappear, they aren’t the only ones who behave that way. A client wants to find someone who will show up and do the work they have been asked to do.

2. “Is your everyday work as good as your samples?”

We pick and choose the work that we provide to prospective clients as samples very carefully. It’s only natural to want to find what we consider to be our best work to present with our cover letter and resume. The client who reads them may be wondering if we can produce that level of quality on a regular basis.

3. “Will you be difficult to work with?”

No matter how stellar your samples are, if you give off the impression that you are going to be, um, challenging to work with, then the client may well take a pass.

4. “Can you follow instructions precisely?”

When clients tell you how they want to you to write something for them, it’s not a suggestion. They want what they want, and we get paid to give it to them. Failing to do so means that the work may get sent back for revisions or even reassigned. When that happens, it throws the project off schedule for the client.

5. “Can I afford to hire you?”

The final decision about whether to hire you may come down to whether your rates fit into the client’s budget. If you are asking for a higher rate than the client had in mind, be prepared to show how hiring you will bring value to the project.

You may want to anticipate these 5 questions that clients won’t ask you and address them in your cover letter as best you can. Tell the client about how reliable you are and how you strive to meet your clients’ needs for every project you take on. When the time comes to negotiate rates, give yourself some wiggle room so that you can make a counteroffer if that seems appropriate.

How would you deal with these issues with a prospective client?

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