Making Money from Freelance Writing
BY
AMBER McNAUGHT
It’s the question that every
aspiring freelancer eventually finds themselves asking: is it
really possible to make money from this? The kind of
money that lets you keep a roof over your head and feed your
kids occasionally, that is?
Well, yes, it is. But let’s be
honest: It’s not easy. In fact, you probably just picked one
of the most difficult career paths in the world. That’s the
bad news.
The good news is that with the
right approach and the right attitude, you can earn a
respectable wage from freelance writing. Here are a few tips
on how to do it:
Love your writing career
If you’re anything like the
thousands of other freelance writers out there, you’re
probably not in this for the money. If money was your main
objective, you’d probably be working your way up the corporate
ladder right now in a nice, safe office job, washing the car
on Sundays and forgetting all about writing.
If that kind of lifestyle is
anathema to you, then congratulations – freelance writing
could be the right career choice after all.
At the bottom line, most
freelance writers do it because they love to write, and
because they want to be able to make a living doing something
they enjoy. And that’s a good start. If you really want to
make a success of your freelance writing career, you’re going
to have to love what you’re doing, and really want to make a
success of it.
This is a rule that doesn’t
really apply to conventional working. You don’t have to love
Big Macs to work in McDonalds, or love filing to work in an
office. You just have to turn up on time, do what’s required
from you and then walk away. If your career is freelance
writing, you never get to walk away. The truth is that at
first (and often for a long time afterwards) you’ll spend much
more time looking for work than you’ll spend actually writing.
Looking for work will become all-consuming. When you’re not
writing, you’ll be either thinking about writing, or looking
for writing you can do to make money. If you don’t love what
you’re doing, and if you’re not absolutely determined to keep
on doing it, you’ll find it very hard to keep that up.
But enjoying what you’re doing
isn’t going to be enough: if you really want to make a living
out of your writing, you’re going to have to treat it like a
business.
Treat freelance writing as a
business
As we’ve said, the chances are
that you write because you love to write. Or because you want
a job you can work around your kids, your hobbies or your
other commitments in life. Whatever you do, though, never lose
sight of the fact that your writing is, first and foremost, a
business. And as with any business, you need to work at
marketing it and growing it.
This may not come easy at
first. You’re a writer, after all, not a marketer! If you
wanted to sell things, you’d have found a job in sales, right?
Wrong. You DID find a job in
sales. Freelance writing is as much about selling as it is
about writing. You picked a competitive industry to work in.
No matter how good you are at writing, there’s someone out
there who’s as good or better. There are even people out there
who aren’t nearly as good at writing as you are, and yet
they’re getting more jobs. Why is that?
The difference is in the
selling. The mediocre writer who does a good job of getting
out there and selling their services (and themselves) will
ultimately be more successful than the excellent writer who
sits at home and waits for the work to come and find them. The
truth is that the work will never come. You need to go and
find it – and when you find it, you need to make sure you
pitch yourself well enough to secure it. If you don’t know
anything about marketing, it’s time to learn.
Remember the golden rule of writing
Of course, there are ways to
make things easier on yourself. There are a whole host of
websites out there which allow you to “bid” for writing jobs.
Great idea, no? Well, it depends. Remember the golden rule:
money flows towards the writer. If you’re thinking of signing
up with an agency that requires you to pay money to join,
you’re already breaking the number one rule.
Be wary of bidding sites, too.
Often the competition is so fierce that you have to be willing
to practically work for free in order to secure the job. And
working for free isn’t paying your mortgage or feeding your
kids.
Love your work, market
yourself, and remember the golden rule. Welcome to the
wonderful world of freelance writing!
Amber McNaught runs
WritingWorld, an agency for freelance writers that helps
writers find work, and helps employers find the best writer
for their projects. They also offer a range of services, such
as proofreading, editing and manuscript appraisal.
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