Day after day I receive emails from aspiring freelance writers begging for work. Some of them have even gone as far as offering to work for as little as $1/word. While you may want to get started on your way to freelance writing success, you should never beg for work. The reason for this is simple: you do not have to beg in order to find clients and achieve success. There is enough work to go around, and if you continue to market your skills you will find clients.
There are a couple of things working against you when you beg for work. First and foremost, the person who you are directing your inquiry is not going to understand what you are getting at. Personally, I can never figure out what somebody really wants when they send me an email asking for work. It would be much easier if they would just outline their experience, tell me their goals, and ask if I can help.
Moving on, the time that you spend begging for work is time that you could spend on other tasks. An email is an email. Why not spend your time getting in touch with editors who are looking to take on new freelance writers? You will be much better off targeting people who are hiring writers, as opposed to hoping that you can beg a job from somebody else.
Simply put, you do not need to beg for freelance writing work. Instead, use your skills to obtain projects from companies and webmasters who are hiring.Â
As a freelance writer in today’s day and age, you are more than likely using email the majority of the time. Sure, you may have some phone conversations from time to time, but they are usually few and far between. Although you may think that communicating via email is straight forward, there are some things that you need to keep in mind.
First things first, you should always be professional when exchanging emails. This holds true no matter if you are dealing with a client, or somebody who is thinking about working with you. This means that you should properly address the other party, while keeping a professional tone throughout. On top of this, make sure that you never use any curse words. Time after time I receive emails that are full of off-color words that should not be used in a professional environment.
As a freelance writer, clients expect you to catch any spelling and/or grammar mistakes. This is more important when you are exchanging email with potential clients. You need to prove to these people that you are capable of working for them. If your first email is full of errors, you are not putting your skills in good light.
This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is important to a successful freelance writing career. If you are going to send emails, you might as well do things right. This means being professional, no curse words, and no grammar/spelling mistakes. Surely this is something you can handle, right? After all, you are a writer!
Is your freelance writing career at a stand still? Has your progress stalled as of late? If so, you need to keep one thing in mind: this is something that every freelance writer has to deal with. Although you want to keep these slow times to a minimum, it is tough to keep them out of your business altogether. Fortunately, when your freelance writing career stalls there are certain measures that you can take.
1. Call or email past clients if you are having a difficult time drumming up new business. They may not have anything for you at the moment, but at the very least you will be fresh in their mind. On several different occasions I have emailed a past client which resulted in a project by the next day. Sometimes all somebody needs is a little push. If you give them the nudge, it will help you to get out of your funk.
2. Market, market, market. When your freelance writing career stalls, begin to market your services extensively. Not only should you do this as you always have, but try to think of new techniques for expanding your reach. For instance, do you have a blog? If not, you may want to start one as a way of kicking your freelance writing career into high gear. Marketing is a big part of your success, but only if your plan results in increased projects and income.
3. Be patient, and wait for something to break your way. But remember, while you are being patient you still need to push forward. Sitting around and hoping for a big break is not going to get you far. While it is important to be patient, you need to make your own luck.
If you run into a roadblock, there is no reason to give up on your career or become satisfied with earning less. Instead, call on past clients, market your services, and stay patient. In no time at all you will begin to move forward once again!
