Guess what? You should try being nice to your freelance writing clients from time to time. Okay, most of you probably are nice to clients. But guess what? There are many in the industry who do not know what it means to provide good customer service. Instead, they treat clients poorly. Soon enough, they are losing these clients and their freelance writing business is suffering.
What does it mean to be nice? Well, this depends on who you are and the situation you are in. For me, being nice is respecting clients at all times. I have found out time after time that it does not cost anything to be nice. Take for instance a situation that I ran into a few weeks ago. I emailed an SEO company about the possibility of working with them. After a day or so I received an email that was far from “nice.†They more or less told me that I was wasting their time if my budget was not X dollars. Of course, I simply moved on and left well enough alone. Believe it or not, this has happened to me more times than I care to remember.
When you are nice to clients you are making things better for every party involved. Not only will it make them feel good, but it will do the same for you. Why would you want to be rude to your clients? In the end, this is not going to benefit you in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it is just going to make things worse. Even if somebody is rude to you, killing them with kindness is the best thing to do.
If you have the tendency to treat your freelance writing clients poorly, try to change this right away. You will find that this simple change will keep clients coming back for more as opposed to seeking out a new freelancer.
Freelance writers come from all different types of backgrounds. I majored in journalism in college, but I know many writers who received sales, medical, and finance related degrees. That brings me to the question: do you need a college degree to become a freelance writer? The short answer to this question is no. That being said, you may be better prepared for this type of career if you spend four years in college.
Anybody can become a freelance writer. In fact, I have two friends in the business who did not graduate from college. And not only are they in the business, but both of them earn a decent amount of money. To go along with this, three members of my freelance writing course have no college experience at all. Although they are just starting out, it appears that they are well on their way to future success.
As noted above, college can prepare you to become a better freelance writer. Believe it or not, I had a couple of courses that were based around freelance writing. One was “feature writing†and the other “scriptwriting.†Both of these are areas in which you may want to focus on. The feature writing class in particular was one that definitely helped when I decided to become a freelance writer. In fact, I used a couple samples from this class to send to prospective clients in the early days.
In college, I also learned a bit about marketing, accounting, and other areas that have bettered my career. Although these were not my core classes, I dabbled in them from time to time. Looking back, if I would have known that I was going to become a freelance writer I probably would have taken more classes like this.
Will clients ask if I have a college degree? Some will, but most won’t. I have had a couple of clients ask where I went to school, what I majored in, etc. But most clients don’t care. Instead, they are more concerned with your writing experience and the samples that you can show them. If you did graduate from college, you will definitely want to include this on your freelance writing resume; especially if you majored in a related field such as journalism or public relations.
Regardless of your background, you can become a successful freelance writer. If you did not graduate from college, do not let this hold you back.
There are many reasons to become a freelance writer and the fun and excitement that this career offers is one of the most important. I never liked any of my past jobs. Sure, they paid the bills and were fun to a certain extent, but they were nothing to get overly excited about. But when I became a freelance writer, this all changed. I realized that there was money to be made, and that I would be able to have fun day in and day out.
What makes a career as a freelance writer fun and exciting? The great thing about this question is that it has many answers. The reasons that I find freelancing to be fun may not match what you think, and vice versa.
For me, the real fun of freelance writing is getting to “do it all.†I get to write for a living, but at the same time I take part in sales, marketing, customer service, accounting, and much more. For many, this may sound boring and tedious. But for me, it is a lot of fun.
Over my time as a freelance writer I have had the chance to meet and become friends with many people. Some of them just like me, others famous for one reason or the next. Adding to my network is always fun. And not only is it fun, but it is also profitable in the long run.
If you are not having fun as a freelance writer you should reconsider your career choice. There are other reasons to become a freelancer, but if you are not having fun you are not going to last long. Soon enough you will burn out and realize that moving on would be in your best interest.
You should not have to force things, either. If you truly love your career as a freelance writer the fun will come to you. Does this mean that you are going to have tons of fun every minute of everyday? Of course not. There are some days when I love my job and others when the work piles up and I have too much going on. But even then I realize that this is the best career for me, and that the fun will always be there.
