5 Steps to Freelance Writing

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This article was written by Tammy Ruggles, BSW, MA, a legally blind freelance writer and finger painter from Kentucky. You can find her on Facebook. We hope her article serves as an inspiration!

If you have a way with the written word and always thought you might like to try freelance writing as a career, don’t let anything stop you. You don’t have to have a degree in writing or journalism, although that would be great; you just have to have a passion for writing and learn what makes freelance writing work: [Read more…]

eBooks in PDF Format: A Quick & Easy Way to Sell Your Writing

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When we think about eBooks, we generally think Kindle, Nook or iPad formatting, which have their own specifications about how the pages and images are laid out. Converting a standard Word document into one of these formats requires properly formatting your Word document first or using a service that handles the formatting and conversion for you.

What is often overlooked by writers is the fact that all of these e-readers can also read files saved in pdf format. There is a formatting option that is as simple as clicking on the “Save As” or the “Export To” function in your word processing software, then selecting the pdf file format and extension. [Read more…]

How Can a Freelancer Build a Web Content Client Base?

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So, you want to write web content for more than one-third of a penny per word.  Or you’re doing the Demand Studios thing and would like to branch out.  Maybe you write for some of the other content mills and think it‘s time to cut out the middle man/woman.  Maybe you’ve been working the bid boards and are tired of giving them a cut.  Maybe you haven’t received so much as a “thank you” for anything you’ve written, but you’re ready to get things rolling and you want to deal with real-life clients who’ll toss work your way on a regular basis.

You’re not alone.  I know that because I get emails asking, “How in the hell can I get decent clients?” on a regular basis.  I know that because I see folks quizzing discussion board participants with variations of the same question. [Read more…]

How Writers Measure Success

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It used to be writers had a pretty standard measurement of success – get published. Then the standards rose and it became – get published and be able to make a living. One FWJ reader’s comment made me stop and think about where the standards are now. I recently wrote on whether having a niche was necessary and a commenter remarked she had never heard of a six figure writer who didn’t have a niche or two.

What stood out to me is “six figure writer.” Now, before I get started, let’s not think this is a low self-esteem post. I am not trying to tell writers to lower their expectations. I would love it if every writer in the world that worked hard and maximized their opportunities would become a six-figure (plus!) writer. I guess my question is “Is that the only measurement of success?”

Is an established, respected writer who makes $60,000, $75,000+ any less successful than the writer who breaks into the upper tier of prolific writers? Should a writer who makes $25,000 – $30,000, can pay their bills, pick their days to work and spend time doing whatever they want feel less accomplished than the blogger whose single tweet earns them hundreds of dollars?

No.

Writers should be careful in how they let others define their success. Right now the trend is six figures, somewhere down the line the billion dollar writer club may be the buzz. And yes, I said that with a straight face.

When we take an honest look at the writing world, not everyone is going to make the big bucks. Not everyone has the opportunity, the drive or even the desire and you know what? That’s okay.

Geographically most writers are likely not going to need $500,000 a year to live comfortably. And what about writers who are in a two-income household?

Never stop striving for success. Never stop looking for an opportunity to break out, but never let anyone else make you feel that where you are is somehow less than. Instead, create your own, Wendy Writer or Bob Blogger success guideline. Ask yourself:

  • Am I happy?
  • What did I imagine life would be like as a freelance writer? Have I achieved that dream? Do I want to or have my expectations and life situation changed?
  • What do I need to earn in order to live a life that includes not only the necessities, but the nicey-nice things I like to have?
  • Realistically, what would it take to hit six figures and beyond? Am I willing to take those steps?
  • What credentials, publications or benchmarks would I like to achieve regardless of monetary compensation?

And so on. I’ve been writing professionally in various forms for over 10 years and throughout that time I’ve had very lean and very lucrative years. One of the greatest things I’ve learned, besides the random factoid: people overuse the word ‘that,’ is true success is never all financial. It’s reputation, experiences, opportunities and choice as well. If you let other people or popular ideas determine your success you’ll forever chase the bar others set for you instead of setting them for yourself. So, instead of worrying about being six-figure earning writer, we should focus on a six-figure life. A life of abundance and longevity.

How do you define success for yourself as a writer? How do you determine your earning needs and potential?

Niche or No?

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There is one big question freelance writers must tackle regardless of their experience or career length: niche or no?

Newbie writers will read article upon article and blog upon blog touting the importance of finding a niche, picking a niche, taking a niche out on a date…Veterans will find themselves bombarded with articles and posts on when it’s time to leave a niche, switch, combine, create a Frankenstein and give a manic laugh…

The truth is – you have a choice.

Pro Niche:

1. Building a good reputation as a writer is important. Getting steady work is important as well. Niche writing can set a writer up as a knowledgeable, working expert in the subject matter, that writer can then leverage their experience for more work.

2. Depending on the niche, not only can you establish yourself as a leader, you can do it fairly quickly. It’s hard to believe given the abundance of writers out there, but there are some niches that are so specialized there aren’t a lot of people writing  for them.

3. A writer who can establish themselves in areas that have a denser concentration of writers earn the distinction of being a pack leader – that translates to dollars and work (and tons of Twitter followers).

4. Passionate pursuits are another reason why people head toward specific subjects. I’m a “write what you live” kindof girl and my body of work reflect my current passions – writing, business/finance and parenting. It is often the passion of a subject that drives a writer to write so staying within their passion is a perfectly natural course.

5. It’s an easy road map, but a challenging road. Say you are passionate about WordPress themes. You review the site daily, keep up on the coolest developers and plug-ins, etc. You decide to to plant a flag in the WordPress blogger game. Everyday you know what you’ll be writing about – in general. You’ll know the types of publications and web sites you want to write for, etc. The challenge? Finding those sites  and publications, breaking in, keeping subjects and angles fresh and continuing to learn more after exhaustive study.

Nah Niche:

1. A writer can build up a steady work and a reputation just by being a good writer, it doesn’t have to be within a niche.

2. Niche burnout. It sucks and without properly identifying it, it can extinguish the passion for writing. Many writers cannot fathom writing about one or two subjects for an extended period of time.

3. This last one is a secret: You can do both. It is perfectly fine to have a core subject or group of subjects while dating other types of articles and writing in general. Freelance writing is the ultimate open relationship. Success comes from great writing, a solid work ethic, and a viable set of goals. How you reach them is completely up to you.

Are you having trouble picking a niche? Thinking about changing or leaving niche writing all together? Tell us below!

How to Be a Paid Writer – Lesson 2

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In the first lesson of the How to Be a Paid Writer series, you learned why it’s essential that you take the time to polish your writing skills before you venture into the world of paid writing.  In lesson 2, you’ll learn how to set realistic expectations for your freelance writing business and earnings.

First, keep in mind that every writer has an opinion based on his own experiences.  However, if a suggestion related to how much you’ll be able to make as a freelance writer seems too good to be true — it probably is.  The amount of money you can make as a freelance writer depends on a wide variety of factors, some of which are discussed below.

Your Writing Experience

If you’ve been writing formally in some way (I’m not talking about writing for yourself or for fun) that can be quantified, then that experience can help you build your career as a paid writer.  For example, if you write reports or communications for your current employer or if you’ve written articles for your local paper, those efforts can help you develop your paid writing career.  Not only have you gained experience writing for other people and meeting their expectations, but you also have some clips and references to add to your writer’s arsenal, which you can use when applying for paid writing opportunities.  Be realistic though.  Those clips and references might not be as compelling as those provided by more seasoned writers applying to the same job as you.  Therefore, keep plugging away and building your arsenal, so you have enough evidence one day to prove exactly why you’re the person to be hired for the jobs to which you apply.

Your Non-Writing Experience

Believe it or not, your non-writing experience can help you land paid writing jobs.  For example, if you can write well and have a professional background in a specific area that a client is looking for, you could be a more desirable candidate than one who has a lot of writing experience but no experience in the specific area that the client is looking for.  An example could be a website looking for someone to write about nursing.  A seasoned writer with no medical experience is likely to be less desirable than a nurse with no writing experience but the ability to write some samples that are great.

Your Willingness to Venture into New Territory

Freelance writers have to start somewhere.  That means you need to devote time to building your portfolio and clips.  You might have to write for websites or clients that are not your dream partners.  Only you can decide which specific writing opportunities are right in terms of helping you meet your long-term goals, but without writing samples of some kind, you can’t expect to pick up many higher-paying writing jobs.

Your Ability to Market Yourself

There is a lot of competition in the freelance writing world these days.  With the growth of the social web and the hyper-connectivity of people around the world, the pool of available writers has grown exponentially.  Furthermore, writers around the world are willing to work for very different rates.  Unless you can prove to a potential client why you’re worth more money, it can be difficult to land some writing jobs.  Furthermore, the publishing world has changed significantly.  There are fewer print publications seeking fewer freelance writers these days.  In fact, many print publications (and online publications) are able to find plenty of writers who want to write for those publications for free in exchange for the exposure those publications can bring them.  That means publications can fill their content quotas with free content from authoritative writers.

Freelance writers have to look in new places to find work, and they need to market themselves in new ways in order to find more work.  For example, a decade ago, an online presence for a freelance writer wasn’t critical.  Today, freelance writers are beginning to realize the power of the social web in terms of boosting Google rankings, networking, brand building, and more.  The social web has become an incredible marketing opportunity that can help any freelance writer build a business as a paid writer.

Your Patience and Persistence

If you’ve been reading the Building Your Freelance Writing Brand series here on Freelance Writing Jobs, then you know that two of the key components of building a successful brand are patience and persistence.  The same factors apply to building your career as a paid writer.  Success is unlikely to happen overnight.  Instead, you need to be prepared to work toward the long-term and keep trying again and again.  In time, your patience and persistence will pay off.

Your Good Luck

Yes, luck can help you build your career as a paid writer.  Truly, sometimes being in the right place at the right time can catapult a struggling freelance writer’s career into a new stratosphere.  If another writer’s story of their earnings and success amazes you, consider the source.  There might be some luck in there which gave them an added boost that they’re omitting from their story.

Bottom-line, you need to set realistic expectations for your freelance writing career.  It takes time and effort to grow a freelance writing business in a world that’s creating fewer opportunities and lowering rates more each day.

Stay tuned for Lesson 3 of the How to Be a Paid Writer series where you’ll learn about choosing your niche and the value of focus!

Read more lessons from the How to Be a Paid Writer series:

  1. Learn How to Write

How to Be a Paid Writer – Lesson 1

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Today is Lesson 1 in a new series here on Freelance Writing Jobs that will teach you How to Be a Paid Writer.  If you’re just getting started in the world of writing to earn a living, then this series is for you!

Lesson 1 – Learn How to Write

It might seem obvious, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t start this series at the very beginning.  Anyone who wants to become a freelance writer (or any kind of writer) who is paid for their words needs to know how to write.  That doesn’t mean you need to know every little grammar rule, but you do need to know most of them.  If you don’t know where to put that comma, stop writing and look it up.  Keep tools like the Chicago Manual of Style or the Associated Press Stylebook handy while you write, but more importantly, educate yourself before you even start writing.  Read the posts from the Freelance Writing Jobs Grammar Guide and take online courses such as the lessons provided from The Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Grammar is just the first step to learning how to write.  You also need to be able to put words together to form interesting sentences and paragraphs.  Read books like The Elements of Style and On Writing Well to learn some of the essentials.  Also, take a course at a local community college and join a writing group in your area to get feedback from other writers.  Joining a forum like the one offered at AbsoluteWrite.com can also help you hone your writing skills and learn from other writers.

Finally, before you start writing, you need to determine what type of writing you want to do.  Writing for one medium is not necessarily the same as writing for another medium.  For example, freelance writers who provide blog content are expected to write in a very conversational tone.  On the other hand, freelance writers who provide content for financial magazines are expected to write in a highly professional tone complete with jargon and messaging a specific target audience would understand.  Similarly, the structure of sentences and paragraphs on a blog differs greatly from what is used in magazines or newspapers.  One style or structure is not better than the other.  They’re just different, and you need to understand that difference so you can adjust your writing style and structure to match the medium in which your writing will be published.

Once you determine what type of writing you want to do, you need to start reading other writers’ works in that style.  Read anything and everything you can get your hands on and dissect the tone and structure of those pieces to learn what works and what you need to import into your own writing to have a chance at successfully competing in the freelance writing market and see your content appear alongside of other seasoned writers’ content and articles.

Bottom-line, becoming a freelance writer takes time, patience, persistence and a willingness to continually learn and grow.  Very few writers achieve overnight success and very few writers are rich thanks to their writing.  However, you’ll never know what the future holds for you as a writer unless you learn to write first.

Stay tuned for Lesson 2 of the How to Be a Paid Writer series where you’ll learn more about setting expectations for your life as a writer.

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