3 Tips For Landing Work As a Freelance Writer
The professional life of a freelance writer is a bit like a roller coaster. First, if you’re lucky, you’ll land an assignment that will keep you busy for a day or two. You’ll find a comfortable seat at your favorite café, order an iced Americano to go with a freshly baked muffin and get to work.
Then, after you submit it, you’ll wait. You’ll submit your invoice, and you’ll wait some more. You may start to wonder if perhaps you should have just made that instant coffee you had in the jar at home. Since payment can take up to 30 days, you may also find yourself researching the benefits of intermittent fasting as a budgetary consideration.
Then, payday comes, and it’s Americano time, baby. But you know what it’s also time for? A more robust and reliable income stream. After more than 20 years as a freelance, professional writer, I can tell you that to be successful in this industry you must dedicate time and effort to landing work. While there will be time (hopefully) that you’ll be flush with work, other times you must search.
Here are some tips to find good-paying writing jobs while freelancing:
- Polish Up Your Portfolio
Without a doubt, you’ll be more attractive to potential clients and editors if your portfolio of published work is strong. For many people just starting out in freelance writing, this can feel like a chicken-and-egg scenario. If you don’t have many bylines, seek out non-profit agencies in need of marketing. Or, you may know a personal friend who is starting a small business and could use blogs or website copy. Beef up your portfolio while making a difference, rather than write for pennies for companies that are simply too cheap to pay a living wage. Stay away from work that is offensive — both in topic and in pay.
- Hustle … Er, I Mean Research
It can take time to land clients who will give you assignments. If you’d like to write for magazines and print publications, it can take even longer. That’s why it’s important when freelancing to spend some time each day browsing online job boards and networking through your social media. Be creative: Can you use wisdom or experience that you’ve cultivated recently to share in a marketable format with others? Read online blogs and magazines and seek out editorial guidelines to find niche publications that may be interested in learning from you. Does a client want you to write a boring article about three tips to land work as a freelance writer? Post it on Medium.com and see if it gets traction.
- Don’t Give Up on Freelancing
Freelance writing isn’t always the easiest on the ego. You’ll get rejected time and time again, even with a great portfolio and tenacity. But if you want a writing job — and one that pays more than peanuts — you have to keep trying. If you submit queries to an editor who rejects you, consider asking for feedback. Editors are often happy to help fledgling freelancers. Take this valuable professional advice seriously, and tweak your pitches appropriately. Remember — J.K. Rowling’s first “Harry Potter” book was rejected 12 times before she was published. If she didn’t give up, you shouldn’t either.
I may have more than two decades in the industry, but I remember what it was like just starting out. There are plenty of best practices and strategic tips that I’ve learned over the years to be successful. If you’re serious about starting your freelance writing career, log on to The Lovelight Project’s school on Teachable.com and sign up for my online course today.
