Once a month I like to update you guys and gals on my freelance writing course. At this time I have two spots open. Both members who left the course are well on their way to reaching their goal of becoming full-time writers. If you want to join them I would be more than happy to assist you along your path to success.
For those of you who are still unsure of what the freelance writing course is all about, here is a brief email from one of my past members:
I wanted to thank you for all the help you’ve given me this far. Your advice has definitely increased my monthly writing earnings. I’m going to spend the next few months following your advice and marketing like crazy to build my client base. Hopefully I’ll be able to rejoin your mentoring group in the future when I’m in the next stage of my writing career. You’ve certainly made a difference for me and I look forward to contacting you again in a few months. – Randy Laboy
As always, I expect these two spots to be claimed in a hurry. If you are interested in filling one of them, send me an email and we can move forward at once.
Thanks again to all of my past members, current members, and those who have spread the word. It is always nice to help others reach their freelance writing goals.Â
How much are you charging your clients? If you don’t have any clients there is a good chance that your freelance writing rates are too high. In this case, you need to make an immediate change. There is nothing wrong with charging what you are worth, but there is definitely something wrong if you cannot get any work because of your rates. You can escape this trap in two easy steps.
1. Come to the conclusion that your rates are too high. Many freelance writers want to insist that they can receive a lot of work despite their high rates. If this is the case you need to go out and land some clients. If you have no work and buyers are telling you that your rates are too high you need to take this to heart. Owning up to the fact that your freelance writing rates are too high is the first step to overcoming this problem.
2. Lower your rates. Is this easy? No, it never is. But if you are not finding work at a higher rate you need to adjust your way of thinking. This does not mean that you have to cut your rates by a huge percentage. For instance, if you are not finding any work at $.25/word you could reduce your rate to $.20/word and see where this gets you.
The market will determine if your freelance writing rates are too high. If you are consistently landing new clients your rates are probably perfect for the time being. On the other hand, if buyers want to hire you but are constantly saying you charge too much you may want to rethink your positioning. A minor tweak to your rates can go a long way in making you a more successful freelance writer.
Applying for a freelance writing job usually means that you will be up against some competition. In fact, it is not uncommon for a company or webmaster to receive hundreds of applications for a single position. Are you intimidated yet? If not, good for you. There is no reason to be scared. If you know what you have to offer you can use this to your advantage. Hopefully this will result in your resume being pushed to the top of the pile.
Why should a client hire you as a freelance writer? The answers to this question will determine whether or not you land the job or miss out.
1. Show the client that you have the experience to do the job. The best way of doing this is by sending relative work samples. For instance, if a webmaster is hiring a freelance writer to create 50 articles on the wedding industry you will want to send related samples. This alone will give you a better chance than somebody who sends no samples or samples that are not related to the wedding industry.
2. Quality counts. Anybody can put together slop, but this is not what clients want to pay for. It is your job to show that you complete quality work time after time. Again, you can show this easily enough by sending samples.
3. Your rates are competitive. You must be very careful with this. I did not say that you should lower your rates in order to win a job. But I did say that you should be competitive. Yes, this is a difficult decision to deal with. On one side you want to keep your rates competitive, but on the other side you know that you are worth the high end of the scale. I deal with this situation on a case by case basis since every buyer is different.
Give every buyer a reason to hire you. If you show your experience and quality, while also offering a reasonable rate, you will be in the game when it comes time for a hiring decision to be made.
