#Make A Living Writing RSS Feed Make A Living Writing » earn more from writing Tag Feed [carolheaderfinalb.jpg] * HOME * About me * Free e-course * Writers community * eBooks * Products I Love * Useful Books * Writing mentor __________________________________________________________________ Posts Tagged ‘earn more from writing’ 23 Ways to Destroy Your Freelance Writing Career Before You Begin Posted in Blog on August 29th, 2012 by Carol Tice – 38 Comments If you're new here, welcome! You may want to sign up for free updates and grab my free report. Thanks for visiting! By Uttoran Sen The U.S. Small Business Administration says that half of all new businesses fail in the first five years. Freelance businesses can fall apart even faster without careful planning, because there are no bank loans or investors to back you up – it’s just you and your business. Are you going to make your business a true success? Or kill it before it gets off the ground? To be successful, you’ll be off to a good start if you can skip these business-killing moves. 1. Sell yourself short There are plenty of easy writing jobs that pay pennies. If you’re content with making half of minimum wage, there’s no reason for you not to snatch up as many of these cheap writing jobs as you can find. 2. Forgo the business plan If you were going to start a big business with millions of dollars from investors, you’d have a plan. But don’t bother having one – it’s only all of your own hard-earned money at stake. 3. Pander to clients You’re a freelancer – that’s just another glorified term for cubicle jockey, right? Suck up to the clients – once they know you have no confidence, they’ll pay you squat. 4. Put your eggs in one basket If you’re looking for almost immediate failure, go ahead and put all of your proverbial eggs in one basket. Then, when the client disappears without bothering to pay, you’ll be dead in the water. 5. Stop selling yourself Once you have the first clients, why bother getting more? These first few will surely pay your bills forever. Besides, good marketing never really pays off. 6. Make a nasty name for yourself Hey – you’re a freelancer, now. You’re wearing your big kid pants and the whole world should bow down and respect you. So treat everyone else like jerks. 7. Beg, borrow and steal Only don’t bother with the borrowing. Just beg other writers for help all of the time until you drive them nuts. Then steal concepts, articles, and ideas from their websites. That’ll really build your network. 8. Blow your deadlines Big party tonight? Maybe Pinterest called to you for four hours straight? Forget those deadlines and projects – just take the money and run. Surely the client saw that coming. 9. Ignore your real earning potential It’s much easier to find bad-paying gigs that take advantage of good writers. So don’t bother exerting yourself – just take the cheap gigs and then complain endlessly about how nobody pays you enough. 10. Let others be the boss Not sure how much to charge a client? Just take whatever the client offers. Isn’t that easier than making your own decisions? 11. Write like a child So you wrote a paper in the third grade that won a big smiley sticker? Great! Clients pay a lot of money for people who keep writing just like that. Spell-check be damned. 12. Be ignorant Nothing is more career-killing than pure ignorance. Maybe you should slander others online. Or perhaps call potential clients racist names. They’ll think it was a funny joke, too. 13. Ignore sick days You never get sick, right? The kids will always be healthy, too. Schedule work for every free moment – you’ll never need a sick day. 14. Give the IRS nothing Hey — this is your hard-earned money. You don’t own the government a dime! (Just tell the IRS that when they ask.) 15. Run a scam Suck them in, spit them out. Who needs repeat business anyhow? 16. Pretend to be an expert “Fake it ‘til you make it” is sound advice for those looking to sound professional. Pretend you’re a retired surgeon looking for extra income in the medical writing field, for instance. 17. Spread yourself thin It’s important to be everyone at once if you’re really trying to fail quickly. Be sure to stay up 24 hours a day, wear yourself to the bone and not do anything very well. 18. Never learn anything new Knowledge? We don’t need no stinkin’ knowledge. Obviously your way is the best way – others just need to wise up. 19. Get defensive So your client dared ask for revisions on your written perfection? Why don’t you tell him to stick those revision requests where the sun don’t shine? 20. Start a corrupt business Who doesn’t love a good content mill? They pay you $5. You pay him $1. He eats caterpillars for a living and writes in crayon. Great plan! 21. Pick fights Online fights are fun. Come out swinging on everything – especially issues you know very little about. 22. Complain to clients Clients are like friends – you can tell them anything. They like to listen to you complain about your terrible life, your drug addiction, and your hate of people who undermine your pricing. That’ll keep them coming back for more. 23. Make excuses Things not going your way? Why not crawl in bed with a box of tissues and a barrel full of excuses. All sarcasm aside, freelance writing is an outstanding career if you’re willing to invest time, energy and resources in building the sort of career that you can be proud of. It takes time, patience and diligence, but with careful handling you’ll avoid the pitfalls of freelance work and enjoy a thriving new business. What freelance pitfalls have you fallen into? Leave a comment and add to this list. Uttoran Sen has been a freelance writer since 2004. He likes to travel around the world and write about it on his travel blog. Connect with him on Twitter. 5 Writing Rules I Broke to Get Unstuck Posted in Blog on July 18th, 2012 by Carol Tice – 45 Comments by Jessica Lunk When you’re at the beginning of your career as a writer, sometimes an unlikely opportunity can help you gain the chops you need for bigger and better assignments down the road. If you’re stuck in a rut and unsure about where to find your first few clients, it’s okay to break a few rules. Here are five rules I ignored to build my freelance writing business: 1. Rule: Never write for the content mills. They say: “Getting paid $5.00 an article is unacceptable, and lowers the standard for writers everywhere.” The content mill was my internship. It was not lucrative, but it did provide me with experience in meeting deadlines as well as meeting the needs of a client. It also introduced me to a wildly important acronym: SEO. 2. Rule: Ask permission. They say: “If you aren’t welcome, don’t go there.” In 2009, I fell in love with Etsy. But with debates brewing about whether or not digital material could be sold on Etsy, it was unclear if I could market my writing as “handmade” and set up shop. So I did it anyway. I sold product descriptions and blog posts, in turn landing several amazing clients. These were my first real, non-content-mill writing assignments, and they helped to build both my portfolio and my confidence as a writer. 3. Rule: Steer clear of Craigslist. They say: “A gig on Craigslist is low-hanging fruit.” Good clients will post anywhere to find a great writer. I answered a Craigslist ad looking for a content writer for a new website. The description was nice and Craigslist-y, lacking any details to prove the legitimacy of the business or the request. I took a chance anyway, and it turned out to be a great opportunity. A retired business owner was starting a new recruiting firm and needed a writer with web savvy. He has been a wonderful client, and my experience with his business and the recruiting industry helped me land my current job. 4. Rule: Have a specialty or niche. They say: “To be highly sought after, you need to have expertise in a specific subject.” Unfortunately, you can’t become an expert in a day. And while I recognize the value of an expert opinion, I would have gotten nowhere had I waited to develop one. Every industry is hungry for a fresh perspective. The more you explore, the more unique your viewpoint, and the better equipped you become to make connections between any subject and the rest of the world. 5. Rule: Don’t copy. They say: “Be original.” The best formulas always work, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to write a great piece. One of my most viral blog posts to date, 5 Habits of Highly Successful Recruiters, follows the tried and true list post structure. It is not an earth-shattering post, but it does its job, compelling people to click and share. Pursuing a writing career can be tough, so go easy on yourself and avoid turning a ‘rule’ into an excuse not to take action. When in doubt, proceed with enthusiasm. What rules have you broken to find clients? Leave a comment and share your story. Jessica Lunk is a copywriter and content marketer at Sendouts. She blogs weekly about the recruiting industry on the Sendouts blog. Follow her on Twitter @jessicalunk. Celebrate Freedom With My Ultimate Freelance Writers’ Answer Post Posted in Blog on July 4th, 2012 by Carol Tice – 7 Comments For those writers who aren’t U.S.-based, let me clue you in: today is a big holiday over here. But I didn’t want to leave you without answers to your freelance writing questions. So here is a compendium of all the mailbag-answer posts I’ve done in the 4-year history of this blog. There’s a wide range of topics covered here and more than 30 questions answered — ought to have something liberating for everyone. Happy 4th and enjoy! Who in the Hell Should I Contact to Get a Copywriting Gig? 7 Ways a Freelance Writer can Create Retirement Income Answers to 10 of Your Most Urgent Freelance Writing Questions Here’s Where the Big-Money Online Writing Gigs are Hiding How to Predict Freelance Writer Pay How Freelance Writers Can Build Editor Relationships Can You Help This Writer Find the Courage to Start? What Writers Can Do When Editors Steal Their Ideas How to Get Noticed on Twitter — 15 Tips for Writers Mailbag: How Much Can Freelance Writers Charge for Blogging? Help! I Bungled a Writing-Client Meeting — Mailbag How a Writer Can Move Up From Content Mills — Mailbag Should I Send Queries During the Holidays? — A Timely Mailbag Question Mailbag: Could I Monetize My Blog? Mailbag: How Can a Writer Find Publications? How to Earn Well as a Freelance Writer–When English is Your Second Language Staff Writing Job vs Freelance Writing — Which is Best? How to Find the Best Writing Opportunities Blogging for Business, Part I: Finding Clients And Setting Pay Rates Blogging For Business Part II: How It’s Done Tips for Avoiding Loser Writing Clients How to Get Paid More for SEO Writing Why Your Blog Needs a Niche Mailbag: How to Successfully Blog Got more questions about freelance writing? I’ve got a 4-week bootcamp coming next week, The Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success, that takes you step-by-step through how to break in, get first clips, and start earning. It comes with a month of support in Freelance Writers Den, too. How to Dig Out of the Content Mill Hole and Land a Client — Fast Posted in Blog on June 15th, 2012 by Carol Tice – 40 Comments Man escapes from paper hole By Elaine Yue “You’re an idiot.” That’s what I told myself after I spent three hours writing a 500-word article for a content mill. What did it pay? A whopping $5. When I had decided I would do some freelance writing to “make some extra cash,” I had no idea that writing a 500-word article would take hours. There was no way I would make money like this. I start to dig By luck, I came across the Make a Living Writing blog. My entire perception changed. I could actually make money writing! I joined the Freelance Writer’s Den and read everything. I was sure these tips would bring me a high-paying gig immediately. Information overload But I quickly realized I had a problem. I had no idea where to begin. All of these tips were great, but they were coming from veteran writers who already had a marketing plan in place. They already had prestigious clips and connections. One tweet and the gigs would roll in. I had no clips. I had no connections. How was a newbie writer supposed to start? Mind-mapping a marketing plan I decided to mind-map a specific plan: 1. I answered: * Who am I serving? * What do they want? * What fears keep them up at night? * What problems can I solve for them? * Where can I find them? My mind map helped me organize my thoughts so I had a cohesive plan. Otherwise, I was left thinking, “I’ll try this technique” or “I should try that technique.” This process gave me a more concrete road map to follow. 2. I built a prospect list using Manta, Linkedin, Jigsaw, and Google. Using Manta’s data, I identified health supplement companies with $1 million-$5 million in annual revenue — my target audience. 3. I created a website with a blog to use as samples. 4. Using tips from the Den and Ed Gandia’s Warm Email Prospecting class (yes, I did find it through this blog, and that is Carol’s affiliate link), and working with the answers to my questions about customers’ needs (getting more customers, educating shoppers about health concerns), I created this email: Subject: Congrats on becoming an Authorized Distributor of [Vendor] → trigger event Message: I read a press release that [Company] has become an Authorized Distributor of [Vendor] – congrats! → trigger event I’m contacting you because I help nutritional supplement companies write newsletters, blogs, and marketing material that help convey their messages clearly and effectively to customers. And I have some ideas on how you can convey your message to your very specific and special target audience. → value statement Let me know if you’re interested in discussing further. No sales pitch — just seeing if we might have a good fit. → call to action Finally, a client! When a client called me, I realized how great timing and an effective pitch were instrumental in landing me the gig. He had been thinking about creating better content for his customers and increasing his Google ranking. So when I said that I was a health writer who could write effective content, it was a no-brainer. The gig: four blog posts and two landing pages for $1,000. Every month. Tweaking my plan I am by no means on easy street — yet. My marketing plan is still a work in progress. But for us newbies, any plan is better than no plan. So take all of the tips from the Den and other sources, create a plan, and I guarantee you will get your first client. Elaine Yue is a freelance writer and consultant specializing in the health supplement and insurance industries. For more details about her marketing plan, check out ElaineYue.com. Do you have questions about how to earn more from your writing? Learn more in my community Freelance Writers Den – take ecourses, attend live events, ask writing pros your questions in our forums, and use our exclusive Junk-Free Job Board. « Older Entries * [marketing101side-e1342501235897.jpg] Email Address ____________________ Sign me up! Close Join more than 23,000 readers! * Top 10 badge 2012 * As seen on… [Freelance-Switch-e1334678590159.png] [Forbes-e1337314054289.png] [Entrepreneur-daily-dose-e1334684142230.png] [Lifehack1-e1334683972574.png] [Problogger-logo-sm.jpg] [Copyblogger2.png] [WTD-logo-e1299694998864.png] [ebyline-e1334676855258.png] [A-list-e1334684249139.png] * Most popular: How I Make $5,000 a Month as a Paid Blogger (139 comments) 113 Things You Can Do to Grow Your Freelance Writing Income -- Now (54 comments) Are You Letting Sleazebag Freelance Clients Get You Pregnant? 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