The more clients you land the more money you will earn – this is usually how it goes. For this reason, every freelance writer should be doing what he/she can to find as much work as possible. Even though landing new clients can be difficult, there are things you can do to better your chance of making this happen.
1. Ask your current clients for help. This is something that many freelancers overlook. If you have a good relationship with a client there is nothing wrong with asking them to send your name out to others who may be interested in what you offer. Don’t be pushy. Just make sure that your clients know that passing your name along would be greatly appreciated.
2. Try something different. If you never think outside the box you are going to be stuck in the same position, day after day. For example, if you usually only send cold emails you may want to mix in cold calling, face to face meetings, etc. The more ways you market your services the better chance you have of adding new clients to your list.
3. Offer something better than the competition. Can you play up the fact that you have more experience than the rest? What about your prices? Are they competitive? Give clients a reason to hire you.
As you can see, it is quite simple to get on the right track to landing new clients. There will be days when nobody wants to talk to you; expect this to happen. But on the same token, there will be times when you are “on fire†and new clients seem to be flocking your way. As long as you are always looking to land new clients, something will break soon enough.Â
Although I have talked about freelance writing startup costs in the past, many questions have come my way about this topic over the past few days. Why this is happening I have not a clue. That being said, it is an important topic to revisit from time to time. If you are interested in starting a freelance writing career you need to know which expenses you will run into, as well as what you should and should not be doing with your money.
Here are three freelance writing startup costs to consider:
1. Computer and printer. It goes without saying that every freelance writer needs a quality computer and printer. Do you already have both of these? If so, you can forget about this expense and move on. Those who don’t have to purchase a computer and printer can really save a lot of money during the startup phase of their career.
2. Internet connection. This is something that many people forget about for whatever reason. For the most part, a computer does not do you any good unless you have an internet connection as well. Once again, you may already be paying for this for your own personal use. In this case, you are off the hook and are still doing well from a budgeting perspective.
3. Office supplies. What do you need in your office and on your desk to succeed? There are many office supplies you can purchase – some of them are more important than others. They include printer paper, staples, paper clips, notebooks, pens, and other items of the like. Fortunately, office supplies do not cost that much money. Believe it or not, I still have some of the same items I purchased during my first year as a freelancer.
Are there other freelance writing startup costs? There sure are. But these three are very important and cannot be overlooked. If you have any specific questions regarding startup costs and what you should be doing, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment for all of us to read.
Starting a freelance writing career may appear to be a daunting task. But once you get your mind right you will begin to see that success is closer than you first thought. One thing you have to do is avoid common freelance writing misconceptions. If you begin to believe things that are not true, you will find it difficult to get your footing and gain ground.
I want to talk about a couple of misconceptions that I hear time after time:
1. Anybody can become a freelance writer. This one drives me nuts. I hear it all the time. Simply put, it is not true. It is unfortunate, but I know many people who have tried a career in freelance writing and failed miserably. They believed it would be easy, but found out soon enough that this was not the case. It is very important that you go into this industry with the right thoughts in your head. Believing that you are going to be on easy street is not a good idea.
2. You cannot earn a good living as a freelance writer. This misconception is every bit as common as number one. But once again, it is far from the truth. I know freelance writers who make a few hundred dollars per month, as well as those that pull in $15k or more on a regular basis. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to income potential.
Are there any other freelance writing misconceptions you should be aware of? There sure are. In fact, there are so many that it would take forever to list them all. That being said, the two above are the ones that I hear most often. They are also the ones that annoy me the most because they are simply not true.
By avoiding misconceptions and only dealing with the truth, you will be in better position to succeed immediately as a freelance writer.Â
