Which Type of Writer Are You?

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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?
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What's Your Specialty?

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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.

The Outsourcing Lifestyle for Writers: A Bad Thing?

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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:
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Are You Ready to Get Into Freelancing?

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Freelancing can be a great move to make. It can change your outlook on life, improve your financial situation and give you more freedom. It can also open up opportunities that you didn’t have access to previously, like traveling to new places or maybe a book deal.

But freelancing also can be a bad move, in some circumstances. Many people get desperate and throw themselves into this line of career without thinking and planning. The result? You’re worse off than you were when you started.

So when is the right time to move to freelancing? Is it a good decision for you? Will it be everything you hoped for? Read on.
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Are You Scared of Spending Money?

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Do you hang onto your money? That can be good – and bad, especially for your freelance writing success.

The saying goes that you have to spend a dollar to make a dollar. That’s doubly true when it comes to business, and your business is freelance writing. Basically, if you want to do better than you are now, you need to let go a little of what you have.
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The Forgotten Advantages of Becoming A Freelancer

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Many blogs write about the benefits that go hand in hand with freelancing, such as enjoying a flexible schedule, total freedom, the ability to wear what you feel like to work and doing what you love every day.

There are many other important advantages, though, and they’re often overlooked or simply forgotten. These freelancing advantages can help you increase your client base, enjoy greater success and build up a stunning resume if you decide to become a company employee.

Let’s revisit some of the reasons why freelance writing is a fantastic, interesting and adventurous career to pursue, and some of the business advantages you’ll gain:

Time management, scheduling and discipline.

Yes, it’s true. Freelancers don’t really have the tra-la-la life of no obligations or responsibilities. You’ll quickly learn that scheduling effectively and managing your time properly become a must to avoid overbooking or missing deadlines. That also means you’ll learn discipline – you’re the only person responsible for making sure you get the work done. Too much time off, and you don’t make any money.
A great writer books a normal-sized workload into a decent schedule and sticks to it.

Bonus advantage: When you learn how to schedule well and manage your workload in the available time you have, you’ll benefit from more satisfied customers who see you as reliable, responsible and time. You’ll also develop good skills that make you attractive to potential employers.

Money management, investing and budgeting

Most writers aren’t amongst the elite or the rich, and it takes some time to feel safe with your income stream. Freelancing often involves peaks of great times and valleys of huge lows. You’ll need to learn how to budget for those dry spells and sock money away during peak times. You’ll also learn how to analyze expenses, cut back on luxury spending and waste and become savvy about business improvements that offer the best returns.

Bonus advantage: When you start to monitor income and spending, you’ll realize how much money goes into the wrong places. You’ll learn how to redirect funds to other areas where the money is better spent and invest wisely in your business for smart improvements.

Effective, efficient project management

When you first start out as a freelance writer, you don’t have many processes or systems in place to have smooth operations. Getting the work done might even happen haphazardly and you might feel sloppy and scattered until you settle in. You’ll develop a nice routine that flows work through a systematic process, developing strategies that save time and help you do a better job.

Bonus advantage: Developing good work habits that follow a set pattern and that have a stable routine mean you’ll increase your profit margin on the projects you take on. Time is money, and the more you save, the more income you keep. You’ll even produce higher quality work, and that means more happy customers.

Expanding knowledge in related fields of business

Freelance writing isn’t just about writing. You’ll need to learn how to find jobs, attract clients and promote your services or else you won’t have any customers. That means you’ll become familiar with marketing, accounting, sales, branding and all sorts of other fields of business. This new knowledge can help you offer new services, add-on extras and build a better business on a good foundation for growth.

Bonus advantage: The more knowledge you have in business, the more attractive you become to potential clients and employers. You may even decide to change career paths or expand your business beyond writing alone.

Can you think of other advantages gained from becoming a freelance writer? Which advantages have you found to be winning ones for your own success? Which are you working on achieving right now?

If you want to learn how to develop smart systems and increase your client base for a better freelance business, check out The Unlimited Freelancer. It’ll teach you the tricks you need to know to take freelancing to the next level.

Figuring Out A Good Pay Rate for Writing

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by James Chartrand

This is the third post in a series on increasing your rates and getting more money writing for a living. We’ve already discussed when you shouldn’t ask for a raise and how to find the confidence to ask for a raise. Today’s post covers figuring out what you should be paid for your work in the first place.

Feel free to ask your questions in the comment section, and we may cover the answer in an upcoming post.

The pay rate of writers is a hot topic. With the wide range of pay rates for various types of writing, no one can really figure out what they should be charging or what they should be paid for their words.

Sure, we can all cry for industry standards and level out the playing field so that both clients and writers know what the going rate should be. It’s not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately.

There are way too many factors involve in different types of writing for people to set a standard rate. Both print and web content pay rates vary according to readership, subscription numbers, types of articles, the amount of research… the list goes on. [Read more…]

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