To Earn More, Offer More

So, you’re a freelance writer and you want to earn more money?

Guess what? You’re not alone. Many freelancer writers feel exactly the same way. They’d like to earn more money, but they’re not sure how to go about it getting the jobs with higher pay.

Now, I’m going to say something that might absolutely shock you. Good writing isn’t enough. It probably should be, but it’s just not. Good writing alone will not get you those high dollar jobs.

There, I said it. Let the lynch mobs line up at the door…

The fact is, if you want to earn more money, you have to offer more to your prospective clients. Not only do you have to offer more to your clients, you have make sure that they understand that they’ll be getting more from you.

What exactly is meant by offering more to the client?

What Does It Mean to Offer More?

More could mean any of the following, depending on the individual client and their specific needs:

• Willingness to work on-site some (or all) of the time
• Stellar references from former clients
• Experience or training related directly to the client’s project
• Technical skills or unique knowledge of a specific field
• Availability during certain core business hours
• Ability to perform a few other tasks related to the project
• Solid commitment of a significant portion of your time
• Readiness to meet strict deadlines
• Aptitude for following processes and guidelines
• An active and evolving self-marketing plan
• A formal resume
• College Degree or other professional certification

Do you think that this list is too much for a client to ask of a freelance writer?

The Client’s Point of View

A corporate client who is considering you for a large project will be investing thousands of dollars in the service you are going to provide. Before spending that kind of money, he or she wants to make sure that you can deliver results.

Most of all, the client doesn’t want to have to redo your work.

My Life as a Corporate Writer

Deb chose me to cover this topic because of my extensive experience in corporate writing. Before becoming a freelance writer, I worked for twelve years as a technical writer in some very large companies. I’ve also been in a position to help select team members for writing projects. I know what corporations look for in a writer.

I’ll be tapping into my real life experience working in large companies to write the posts here. In the coming weeks, I’ll cover nearly every aspect of writing for large companies.

We’ll examine various corporate writing opportunities such as: technical communications, marketing communications, and editing. We’ll also look at what large companies consider when they choose a writer for their projects. We’ll discover what size company is ideal to work for and discuss what size company rarely hires freelancers. I’ll even provide some specific steps that you can take to move towards obtaining corporate freelance jobs that offer better pay.

Readers should be cautioned however, this is one of those areas where your mileage may vary. Different writers will have different experiences based on their own unique backgrounds.

Feedback Time

What would you like to learn about freelance writing for companies? What “more” would you be willing to do for a larger paycheck? Are you already a freelance writer in a company?