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Fed up of earning a pittance? With so many writers on the Internet, you need to separate yourself from the hoard of mediocre and not so great writers out there. How? Brand yourself. A simple concept and one that really works wonders.
Do you have a website? No! That will never do - get yourself a website - I recommend starting with one from www.weebly.com - they are free and you can upgrade to a dot com any time. Never try to be too clever. I have seen some sites that play on words with the name and you have no idea what it could mean. Truth be told, you are branding yourself. I would suggest sticking to your own name first. Mine right now can be found at www.arfawrites.com.
Get the word out - submit a press release announcing your services. Using a tool like www.prfire.com will allow you to do it for free. Submit your press release to your local paper about your services. Think long term - get business cards and postcards advertising your services and use every opportunity you can to get the word out.
When people come to your site, it should be clean looking and highly professional. List your clients if they do not mind and get some testimonials on your work. All these things increase your value and will allow you to market yourself as someone who is highly competent and able to charge more.
Thursday 29 July 2010
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Increasing Working Hours Value
What's your hourly rate? Or do you work on a per job basis? Have you ever actually worked out how much you are worth? If you want a pay rise, it is easier than you think. Increment your working hours by say $5 or $10 maximum and trial it out. It's easier with new customers than old.
With old customers, you have to give them more for their money, otherwise they will not understand why you have upped your rates and your service remains the same. A good way of increasing the value of your working hours and get paid more is to hire in help - use a proofreader or editor and whatever you do, reflect their pay in your rate.
For example, you hire a proofreader at $9/hr and you charge clients an extra $10 on top of your rate. If you are on say $30/hr, you are now on $40, except that out of the extra $10, you have pocketed $1 and bagged hours more time to spend on writing. This means more money for you.
I use a proofreader not because I can't write well, but because I do not have the time to spend hours proofing and correcting my own work. It has worked out great for me because I can get on with what I love most - writing. Using a proofreader has freed up around 3 hours writing time a week which is an additional 12 hours a month which translates to a lot more money.
Try it yourself. You may decide to hire someone to do your admin and marketing which takes anything up to 5 hours a week at a time, and possibly more if you work full time as a freelancer. Remember, you are not expected to be superhuman, but you can make yourself super efficient by hiring help.
With old customers, you have to give them more for their money, otherwise they will not understand why you have upped your rates and your service remains the same. A good way of increasing the value of your working hours and get paid more is to hire in help - use a proofreader or editor and whatever you do, reflect their pay in your rate.
For example, you hire a proofreader at $9/hr and you charge clients an extra $10 on top of your rate. If you are on say $30/hr, you are now on $40, except that out of the extra $10, you have pocketed $1 and bagged hours more time to spend on writing. This means more money for you.
I use a proofreader not because I can't write well, but because I do not have the time to spend hours proofing and correcting my own work. It has worked out great for me because I can get on with what I love most - writing. Using a proofreader has freed up around 3 hours writing time a week which is an additional 12 hours a month which translates to a lot more money.
Try it yourself. You may decide to hire someone to do your admin and marketing which takes anything up to 5 hours a week at a time, and possibly more if you work full time as a freelancer. Remember, you are not expected to be superhuman, but you can make yourself super efficient by hiring help.
Wednesday 14 July 2010
Adding value to clients' businesses
If you have already started a freelancing business and have steady work going on, you need to keep in touch with clients and make offers to them on a regular basis. This is really important because firstly, it keeps you busy and in work, and secondly, it really helps out the client.
Think of it like this, clients have limited time and sometimes they forget that there is someone more than adequate to do the job. You need to remind them. If you worked for a client months ago, how about ringing them or dropping them an email and asking if there is anything that you can help them with? You would be surprised the number of times they will say 'ah yes, there is something you could help me with.'
Once you have built yourself a good reputation, clients will offer you more work themselves. My last client was so impressed with my work that he has given me long term work on not one, but THREE of his websites and there is so much work that I have had to pull in help from my assistants. And to think it all started with a simple ebook that I wrote for this client.
Keep busy and keep writing and don't forget to get in touch with your old clients.
Think of it like this, clients have limited time and sometimes they forget that there is someone more than adequate to do the job. You need to remind them. If you worked for a client months ago, how about ringing them or dropping them an email and asking if there is anything that you can help them with? You would be surprised the number of times they will say 'ah yes, there is something you could help me with.'
Once you have built yourself a good reputation, clients will offer you more work themselves. My last client was so impressed with my work that he has given me long term work on not one, but THREE of his websites and there is so much work that I have had to pull in help from my assistants. And to think it all started with a simple ebook that I wrote for this client.
Keep busy and keep writing and don't forget to get in touch with your old clients.
Sunday 11 July 2010
Article Spinning
The best freelance writers out there make the most out of every article they ever write. They never just write an article and then sell it only to forget about it. They sell the same article elsewhere. How? By limiting the exclusivity of the article.
For example, you may want to sell your article with first British serial rights. This means that the rights to the article are limited only by the location of the UK. You may decide to sell the same article to another magazine over the pond in the UK and give first North American serial rights.
You could then approach Canada etc etc - you get what I am trying to say here. There is also the interesting issue of 'article spinning'. This is when you re-write an existing article in a different way and sell it again as is mentioned above.
Two great ways to make more from your article. When you spin an article, it takes minimal time because all the research is complete and all you have to do is write it. Did I mention another way of getting more bang from your buck? You can create web articles from the articles you have already had published.
All you need to do is keep to around 500-800 words and you should be laughing all the way to the bank.
Happy writing!
For example, you may want to sell your article with first British serial rights. This means that the rights to the article are limited only by the location of the UK. You may decide to sell the same article to another magazine over the pond in the UK and give first North American serial rights.
You could then approach Canada etc etc - you get what I am trying to say here. There is also the interesting issue of 'article spinning'. This is when you re-write an existing article in a different way and sell it again as is mentioned above.
Two great ways to make more from your article. When you spin an article, it takes minimal time because all the research is complete and all you have to do is write it. Did I mention another way of getting more bang from your buck? You can create web articles from the articles you have already had published.
All you need to do is keep to around 500-800 words and you should be laughing all the way to the bank.
Happy writing!
Sunday 4 July 2010
Quick Wins with Work
It has been a while since I posted because I have been bogged down with work! Always good mind, and there is nothing I would rather do more. Anyway, today I am going to mention quick wins. What are quick wins? Quick wins are my term for writing projects that you get under your belt quickly and regardless of how small, you can easily make some money from them.
The larger projects may be few and far between. You may want to write a book that could take you months and years from the very inception to the final piece - and even then you do not have the definite knowledge of whether you are going to get paid or published.
Think on a smaller scale - magazine fillers, letters to editors and doing posters and flyers for people in your local community. The advantage here is that they take almost no time at all and pay you cash almost immediately. This can be a very useful addition to your income. If you are just starting in writing and want to profit immediately, then quick wins are the best way to go about it.
Imagine spending no more than 20 minutes daily and having cash in your pocket in as little as a week! This is certainly possible, and the possibilities are endless. For those of you who really want to sink their teeth into this a little more, I recommend Nick Daw's Quick Cash Writing. I only bought this a few days ago, and already as a seasoned writer I am finding new ways to get money in my pocket.
I have bought quite a few of Nick's courses and certainly recommend them for an 'all meat and no fluff' approach. In fact, thanks to Nick, I went from being a new mom stressing over returning to work after maternity leave because the childcare was so expensive, to a part time freelance writer who is now earning three times what my last job paid, and working less hours too. Now if that isn't an incentive to get stuck in yourself, I don't know what is!
The larger projects may be few and far between. You may want to write a book that could take you months and years from the very inception to the final piece - and even then you do not have the definite knowledge of whether you are going to get paid or published.
Think on a smaller scale - magazine fillers, letters to editors and doing posters and flyers for people in your local community. The advantage here is that they take almost no time at all and pay you cash almost immediately. This can be a very useful addition to your income. If you are just starting in writing and want to profit immediately, then quick wins are the best way to go about it.
Imagine spending no more than 20 minutes daily and having cash in your pocket in as little as a week! This is certainly possible, and the possibilities are endless. For those of you who really want to sink their teeth into this a little more, I recommend Nick Daw's Quick Cash Writing. I only bought this a few days ago, and already as a seasoned writer I am finding new ways to get money in my pocket.
I have bought quite a few of Nick's courses and certainly recommend them for an 'all meat and no fluff' approach. In fact, thanks to Nick, I went from being a new mom stressing over returning to work after maternity leave because the childcare was so expensive, to a part time freelance writer who is now earning three times what my last job paid, and working less hours too. Now if that isn't an incentive to get stuck in yourself, I don't know what is!
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