Looking for work is a necessary evil for freelance writers. For people who work for employers, part of the reason finding a job is something to celebrate (along with a regular pay check and hopefully a good benefit package) is that they don’t have to keep looking for work.
For freelancers, it’s a different story. We have the freedom to work for ourselves (which definitely has its advantages), but we must perform a juggling act in our professional lives. Not only do we need to be able to keep up with our current assignments and produce high quality work, but we must also be constantly on the lookout for the next gig.
We can use a variety of methods to hunt for work. Putting up a web site, writing a blog to feature our expertise to a specific niche market and keeping in contact with people in your circle of professional acquaintances can all be effective strategies. Cold calling and passing out business cards are also good ways to find work.
If you have ever gotten to the point where you feel bogged down by this activity, you’re not alone. It’s easy to get into the mind set that looking for work is a chore. No one looks forward to doing chores, do they? These activities are things we have to do but that don’t really appear on the “want to do” radar at all.
Unless you can find a way to turn looking for freelance writing gigs into something that you can get excited about, it’s going to remain a chore and something that you will get bogged down in. It’s also very difficult to present yourself in the best way you can if you are not feeling enthused about communicating with a potential client.
In a situation where your freelance writing job search isn’t getting you the results you are hoping for, consider whether you are just going through the motions when you are looking for work. You would rather work with people who are enthusiastic about what they do and excited about a new opportunity than a person who is just not feeling it.
You have the power to kick start your freelance writing job search by adding some enthusiasm any time you choose to do so. Turn the process from a “have to” to a “get to”, as in “Today I get to talk to someone about how I can help their business.”
The best thing about this approach is that it isn’t dependent on outside circumstances. You can choose to look at talking to people about what you do and how you can help them as an adventure or a chore. Which one will you choose today?
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