Time after time I receive emails from struggling freelance writers asking where they can turn for high paying gigs. As you can imagine this is a difficult question to answer. There is so much that goes into this inquiry that it would be impossible to list all of the possibilities.
There is no easy way to answer the question of where to find high paying gigs. When I am asked this question I almost always respond with some questions of my own: what does high paying mean to you? What type of projects are you most interested in? What type of marketing are you currently doing? What audience are you targeting? These are all questions that need to be answered before you can determine where to find high paying jobs.
A lot of my highest paying jobs have come to me through referrals. In other words, my clients pass my name along to others. In the end the result is the ability to land a new client without having to market my services. While this will be something you can rely on in the future, new freelance writers have yet to establish themselves so this is not possible for the time being.
High paying freelance writing gigs are all over the place. I work with “one man shows†who pay $.50/word, as well as large companies that pay twice as much. You need to remember two things: 1. there are clients of all types in every industry that are willing to pay your rates. 2. You set your rates. Know how much money you want to earn, and then ask for this when negotiating with potential clients. This gives you the chance to turn any client into one that is high paying.
Believe me, there are tens of thousands of high paying freelance writing gigs out there. They are not going to fall into your lap in most cases. Instead, you have to go out and find them. Once you get used to landing high paying clients you will find it easier to continue this trend as your freelance writing career grows.Â
As a freelance writer you may dream of the day when you have too much work on your plate. But guess what? This is not always as fun as it sounds. As you can imagine, a lot of work means a lot of money in most cases. But at the same time it means a lot of hours, which may not be your idea of a great career.
It is important to realize that you are a single person, and you can only do so much work each day. It would be nice if you could work 16 hour days, but doing this will lead to burnout, as well as many other problems sooner or later. For this reason you need to take on as much work as you can comfortably handle working regular eight (maybe 9 or 10) hour days.
If you find yourself overextended you need to search for ways to fix your problem. Personally, I do this by really getting down to business and working each day from start to finish without many breaks. While breaks are important, sometimes you need to cut them out of your day in order to keep clients happy and complete your workload on time.
Should I outsource if I have too much work? This is not something I believe in, but you may feel differently. When I take on a freelance writing job I promise the client that I am the one doing the work. After all, they are hiring me; not somebody else. If you want to outsource there is nothing wrong with this. Just make sure you know who you are getting involved with.
Having too much work is a good problem to be dealing with. If you find yourself in this situation make sure you do two things: 1. Take care of all your obligations. 2. Draw up a plan to avoid this situation in the future. Â
Believe it or not there will probably come a time when you want to get rid of one of your clients. In other words, you don’t want to work for them any longer. This may sound silly because more clients are usually seen as better, but this can happen from time to time. The question is: why are you getting rid of a client? To go along with this, you should also answer: how are you going to get rid of a freelance writing client?
First things first, you need to ask yourself why you don’t want to work with a specific client any longer. When it comes down to it there are many answers to this question. For instance, I have stopped working for clients because they wanted to lower my pay rate and others because they never paid on time. To go along with this, some clients can be abusive and not worth dealing with. If you are going to get rid of a client you should have a good reason for doing so. After all, you don’t want to kick a reliable buyer to the curb.
Once you have a reason for getting rid of a client you then need to know how to do so. Here are a few steps to follow:
1. Contact the client and tell them where you stand. If you are ending the relationship because they never pay you on time you need to tell them this. Of course, you don’t want to be mean or come across as bitter. Instead, explain your situation and let them know that it is nothing personal but that you need to be paid on time in order to make things work on your end. Who knows, this may open your clients eyes and bring forth a change of heart.
2. If the client wants you to stay around you need to think about their offer. There is nothing wrong with this but you need to make sure the issue at hand is going to be addressed right away. For instance, if a client is not paying enough but wants you to stick around you need to tell them how much you want to get paid and let them know that this is not negotiable.
3. Don’t leave on bad terms. There is a good chance that the client will understand your position and tell you to go on your way. You should let them know that you enjoyed working with them (if true) and tell them that you are always available in the future if anything changes.
If you need to get rid of a freelance writing client for any reason, no matter what it may be, follow the steps/tips above.
