Young freelance writers who are just starting out experience the same fear of disappointing a client and never finding another writing job again. Doubt is paralyzing, crippling, and terrifying. It’s the one feeling you must rid yourself of if you ever want to fulfill a long career as a freelance writer.
It takes years to brand yourself, build trust, and establish a stable clientele. However, all this could be jeopardized in seconds if you make career-ending mistakes. This article discusses habits and psychological traits and highlights other mistakes you might be making that are costing you clients.
Which mistakes are you making as a freelancer?
1. Doubting yourself
Some freelancers have to quit their day jobs to dedicate themselves to a full-time writing career. Seasoned writers like Alice Munro and Dean Koontz almost let self-doubt ruin their careers. Many questions are running through your mind daily.
Will I make enough money to feed my family? Will my pitch bring in new clients? Am I really good enough to be a professional writer? What if I never get any work?
The first step is to kill that feeling of doubt and never second-guess your decision to become a professional writer. You’re bound to receive negative criticism from experienced writers, but take it on the chin and learn from the best.
2. Selling yourself short
While it’s true that you can’t command huge fees in your first year, this doesn’t mean you have to sell your writing services lower than the cost of a cup of Pepsi at KFC. If you sell yourself cheap, all you’ll get is $0.3 per word contracts, which aren’t enough to put a roof over your head in most cities. If you’re a good writer who provides value that meets the client’s needs, you should get paid more.
You have the right to negotiate your rates and to say ‘no’ to low pay. Cheap prices hurt your career and professionalism.
3. Allowing criticism and rejection to kill your confidence
Writers are artists. We take everything to heart and if someone utters a mean word, we can easily feel heartbroken. Not so for experienced writers who’ve had years of practice receiving criticism from clients and colleagues within the profession. Some clients are harsher than others. They’ll critique every little grammatical error or inappropriate wording, but always look on the positive side of every criticism and don’t linger too long on it.
4. Fearing mistakes
Carol Tice is an accomplished freelance writer who has won many accolades for providing useful resources that have helped thousands of freelancers. Yet she has also made a lot of mistakes in the course of her freelance writing career: spelling errors, getting the brief wrong, gathering piles of rejected pitches, and putting the wrong foot forward.
However, she kept moving in spite of all that. You’re human, so expect to make mistakes sometimes. There are millions of writing jobs that are snapped up every year. People forgive and move on. Focus on your work and in time, you’ll build a great reputation.
5. Procrastinating
What do writers need to get started with their freelance career? A computer, internet access, and landing gigs to begin with. If you want to secure more jobs, you need to do other things, such as building an online presence (start with a website or online portfolio using good web hosting like the ones offered at Umbrellar). Sadly, if you never take the right steps, you’ll have to compete with hundreds of writers on sites like Upwork, where writers are always willing to slash their fees to find work.
Stop procrastinating and take those steps that will make you a better writer today. Procrastination has killed many a freelance writing career and you have to stop it before it destroys yours.
6. Lying about your expertise
You don’t become an expert simply by conducting research and piecing together information. Claiming to be an expert to earn more money in your field is a huge mistake. Experts have years of experience in their industry. When they speak, people listen, because they’re sharing reliable, trustworthy information that encourages clients to pay more for their services. Trust is essential in the world of freelancing. Don’t lie to your client about your credentials.
7. Sending lengthy pitch emails
Do you know how many emails editors receive daily from freelancers? Probably hundreds. They can’t read all of them, which means they’ll skim through and skip those long emails. Check the length of your pitch emails and your response to an editor’s request. Don’t use paragraphs where sentences will suffice. Use direct questions that will be answered quickly and always keep it short and straight to the point.
8. Pitching topics instead of stories
Before pitching an editor, you’re not required to secure the sources, but if you’re being specific, it helps. For example, if the topic is “The effect of the Christchurch earthquake on the Australian economy,” a story would be “I want to shadow some families who were affected by the earthquake to track how they’ve adjusted since the incident.”
Pitch a story, not a topic. For this example, ensure you have actual families lined up, who you’ll be interviewing for your story.
9. Missing deadlines
All professionals must commit to deadlines. It’s not optional, except in emergencies where it can’t be helped.
Don’t be too quick to give the client a date. Factor in elements like the time it would take to conduct proper research, as well as the difficulty level involved. Leave enough room for your day to day for life too. Smart freelancers always include unexpected delays like computer crashes or having a slight cold when setting a deadline. This ensures that even when you’re behind on work, you have sufficient time to meet the deadline.
10. Working without a contract
Big mistake. No freelancer should work without a contract, however scary they might look. It’s scarier when you have to return a payment because a client isn’t pleased with your work. You don’t have to use technical legal grammar to draft a contract. Just make sure the client understands your terms and conditions. Put them in a document, sign it, and send it to the client to countersign. There, you’re all set. Here’s a guide that will help you create a freelance writing contract.
DON’T do the above ⬆️; propel your freelance writing career forward
The great thing about a freelancing career is that you’re constantly learning, even when you’re an expert. Be confident in your abilities and keep your customers happy. Don’t sell yourself cheaply. Send out your pitches in short emails. Keep a few dates free at the end of the month to evaluate your work and check for errors you might be making frequently. Mistakes won’t hurt your business if you learn fast.
This post was written by James Cummings. He is a digital media expert, writer, and business psychologist. He is an experienced senior manager who has helped build and deliver top-level web solutions on multiple projects across a variety of niches to some of the world’s leading brands. Working with highly skilled and dedicated staff from all around the world, including the UK and US, James currently has over 40 WordPress properties. See more here.
[First published in 2018; updated September 2024
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