I can tell you from experience that not establishing a routine for continuously seeking freelance work and promoting your services and availability is probably the biggest mistake the newbie freelance writer can make.
Scrambling at the last minute, trying to line up more work when your well just dried up is, quite frankly, silly. And yet there’s no shortage of folks I know who do just that (the very same people, by the way, who’re the most vocal about the market being ”tough”). If that’s your MO or strategy, I sure do hope you’ve learned how to make do with less.
Hey, if that’s what you do and you enjoy it, more power to you. Those of you who’re now jaded on the whole bohemian lifestyle thing (hunger can do that), you’ll be glad to realize that it doesn’t take all that much to get things on track.
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I already told you where you can scope for freelance jobs online for free; now, all you need is a routine to work those (and other) resources to get work and clients.
By “routine,” all I mean is “consistent and regular.” Notice how it doesn’t mention how much time and energy to devote to it. That’s completely up to you. Maybe you want to devote a full day to it each week (e.g., every Monday) or just a half-day (e.g., every Monday morning). Or maybe you’d prefer to do an hour or 2 every morning. Whatever. It’s your call.
But once set, discipline yourself to stick to it.
Here are a few been-there-done-that tips that may help you increase the likelihood of this working for you:
• Be very specific. Don’t say “once a week,” it’s “every Monday” or “every Friday.” It’s not “an hour every morning,” it’s “9 to 10 every morning.”
• Really try your darndest not to miss a single “session.” But when you do (when, not if… it’s inevitable), don’t simply accept or disregard it and block it from your psyche; consider it a very big, personal failure that won’t be repeated again, ever. Make it a serious offense. Because if that first miss is that easy and inconsequential, it’ll be even easier to miss the next one, and the next, and the one after that, and pretty soon you’ll be right back where you started, nowhere and scrambling for work.
• Don’t torture yourself! If you hate this “chore,” schedule it early and get it out of the way quick, just like I used to gobble down the veggies I abhorred off my plate first and fast (no chewing!) when I was a kid. No sense scheduling it for late in the day or week where you build up anticipatory dread (distraction!) and give yourself too much time to come up with one excuse or another not to do it.
• Try not to get distracted while doing it. Very easy to do on the Web, exploring one tangent and link after another as you “research” the opp and prospective client in front of you. Stay focused on the task at hand.
— EES
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May 18th, 2008 at 10:44 am
This is an excellent article. More like this with ideas and hints for the new writer would be much appreciated. Web sites too for the newby or any help would be great
June 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Excellent - one of those things I do so unconsciously any more I never thought to write about it
Thanks
June 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Very informative. Definitely an article to add to Digg, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Thanks!
June 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Some folks approach freelancing as thought it were a hobby. For some it is. But once the fulltime job is left behind, the casual and disorganized approach no longer works any more than trying to run a bricks and mortar business by only randomly opening the doors for customers.
Great post.
Malcolm
June 26th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I love you. You’re my new best friend! LOL Okay, I did add you to my favorites, and will add to my blog roll in a bit. THIS article was so needed right now. I was squirming in my seat the entire first two paragraphs. That’s me, that’s me… ugh, that’s me. Bad, bad me. LOL
Thanks for the kick in the pants.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Apologies for taking so long to reply to all the comments… Thanks everyone! Glad you liked this post and found it useful.
CELIA: The site is pretty much full of the stuff you’re looking for. Browse through the categories and the huge archive of previous posts.
SHEVONN: Thanks for the reminder for me to check if this post has made it to any of the social networks. Note that towards the bottom of every post, there is a “Share This” link that lets you recommend a post and a link to Digg, etc.
TAMI: Thanks for adding links to (and recommending) Wordpreneur on your blog! I hope the piece didn’t make you squirm too much.
ees
September 16th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I’ve been slowly getting my routine setup. The hardest part is committing a specific time to it regularly, customers tend to need something right then.