Mistakes Holding Back your Freelance Writing Income
Why is my freelance writing income stagnant? A lot of freelance writers are interested in the answer to this question. Some have an idea of why they are not making any progress, and others feel that they are simply getting the raw end of the deal. No matter what, there is probably a reason that your income is not growing as much as you would like.
When I look at my income, I can see where there is room for improvement and what I need to do in order to take advantage of these areas. Through my experiences, I have found that there are three common mistakes that hold the majority of writers back from earning more.
1. Your rates are too low. This is the most common and well known reason for not being able to increase your freelance writing income. That being said, increasing prices is not an exact science. In other words, you should not decide to increase your rate from $.05/word to $.50/word overnight, for instance. If you do, your current clients are going to question this and you may find it more difficult to locate new work.
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If you believe that there is room for you to increase your rates, you should do so by all means. But of course, you need to move forward slowly. For example, you could bump up your rates by $.05/word for new clients while keeping things the same for existing clients until 2009. This will allow you to increase income with all new work while also keeping current clients happy.
2. Are you content with your income? If so, you may not have the drive or desire to seek out more money. There is nothing wrong with being happy with the amount of money that you are pulling in. If you are comfortable with your income and corresponding workload, you may not want to do anything to rock the boat. But of course, I have not met too many freelance writers who do not want to earn more if possible.
This is not to say that you should be money hungry. But if you can increase your income in a smart and effective manner, you might as well do so. After all, more money is always better!
3. Wasting time is one sure fire way to find your freelance writing income staying the same. Are you putting in eight hours per day? If so, you are doing a lot of work and should be happy with your output. But if you are slacking off from time to time and not really chasing your income goals, you are going to find yourself in a tough spot. The bottom line is that you need to make the most of your time. If you work hard for six to eight hours per day, five days per week, you should be happy with your output.
Are you a victim of one of the three common mistakes above? If so, you are lucky. All of them are easy to overcome. And when you do, there is a good chance that you will see an increase in your income.
