What do Parents Want to See in a Freelance Writing Guide?

Ok, today's blog post is a bit different to what I normally do. I need YOUR help to gather some data and I need YOU if you are one of the following:

• a stay at home mom
• stay at home dad
• working part time parent
• working full time parent who wants to switch careers
• a parent who is eager for new challenges

Here's what I need to know. I am conducting research for a book about starting a freelancing home based business while looking after the children and home. As a freelancer who started up because I couldn't afford to go back to work after having a baby (due to the extortionate childcare costs), this home business makes perfect sense to me and allows me to look after my baby while earning (a lot!) money.

How many of you out there would find this type of information useful as a book and what specific information if any would you like to see in it? What worries you and what irks you? If you were to buy a book on freelancing from home, what would you expect and want to see in a book like that?

This is really important because I want to address YOUR concerns as a parent so that the book I write is not only very useful and will take you from zero to successful in very little time, but will also provide practical help and advice about raising your children and finding the time.


You can either comment on this post, or you can send your comments to: arfawrites@hotmail.com

Thank you for taking the time to respond, and all comments would be very much appreciated.

Make the Most of Your Chambers Directory

One of the most effective tools I found for doing my research when freelancing was non other than the Chamber of Commerce Directory book. Stuffed full of every local business opportunity and hence freelance writing work, it's the one place I go to repeatedly to do my mailing shoots and contact people.

You could also use the local Yellow Pages, but call me weird when I say that I like the colouful pages of the Chambers Directory. And the hotspots? Think media agencies, PR firms, consulting, academia and healthcare.

In fact, ALL businesses can ideally be approached for work and as your work piles on, you will find you get repeated work and recomendations from your clients. Word gets around when there is a good freelance writer around, and to be honest, they are worth their weight in gold.

As one college administrator told me: 'We simply don't have enough staff or enough hours in the day to get this type of work done.' Bingo! Take advantage of this and you hit the jackpot each and every time.

Make Newsletters Work for you

Newsletters are an excellent way for all institutions, workplaces and institutions to keep staff, customers and clients informed of news, events and new products and services. They can be used on their own to educate and inform and to raise awareness of different issues within the workplace.

And luckily for you, they are also a great way to make money. Writing newsletters do not take long at all - perhaps at most a few days of information gathering and write up, but pays well. If you get a few newsletter gigs, then provided you do a good job, there is no reason why someone would not keep you on long term.

Even better, writing newsletters for larger organizations who have a healthy budget is even more lucrative because of the potential to pay you really well. Don't be afraid to make suggestions for fillers and side articles - once an organization sees you are more than able to deliver quality content, they will be more than happy to not only take you on long term, but pay extremely well for it in the process.

And you never know where this type of work may lead - I myself started with a newsletter for a local school. This then became a report and they decided to hire me long term. This is the best way to get your foot in the door of larger organizations. If you can team up with a designer and offer a complete solution to their writing and design needs, then organizations have no need to look elsewhere.

Make more money locally

As an aspiring or serious writer, where do you think you will get the bulk of your work from? The Internet? Job auction sites? Let's think about these options and how well you can realistically make money from them.

The Internet seems like a great place to start - lots of opportunity and unfortunatly lots of competition. I signed up with two writing sites when I started, and ended up paying around $100 for subscriptions to sites which promised the best ever writing jobs. They were making crazy claims such as 'Make $300 a day easily writing blog posts'. The reality is that there are literally MILLIONS of people who have already joined these, and your chance of getting work is very slim. Infact, I am willing to bet you won't even recover your subscription fee.

Job auction sites also seem like a good idea because you can attach samples of your work and really show off your experience. The truth is, most people end up undercutting one another on the bids and the job is usually awarded to the lowest bidder. Highly paid jobs are given to more experienced writers. Don't get me wrong through - you CAN get work here, and I recommend using Elance and ODesk as well as Guru.com. Forget the other sites, there are far too many low paid writers bidding on projects which are likely to be picked up by a low paid writer.

Your best bet is to work at a local level. Join your local chamber of Commerce and advertise in their directory. My own town has literally zero competition, and I have just been hired by a school to write their reports and their newsletters. And guess what? They are paying for out of pocket expenses such as petrol and babysitting, and the money is quite good.

As a writer, you need to keep your options open, and while the Internet can present some good options, you should really build your reputation locally - this way you will have steady work coming in for years to come.

Make your words sell - Free!

If you are an aspiring copywriter or even a seasoned one, chances are at some point you will have to write copy for businesses and local communities or even for the web that involves selling something or the other. It doesn't always have to be a sales letter, although it can be that too.

What do you do when you can't think of the words you need to use to push people from 'I am thinking about it' to 'I need that product now' frame of mind? Simple, you consult resources designed to help you make your communication sharper and help you make your words sell.

Of course, it is easier said than done and many times copywriters will do one of two things - they either rush out to buy the next best resource, or they try and get by with the knowledge that they have. When you are running a business, every penny counts and this is especially true if you are new and spending more than you are earning.

There is help and no you do not have to rush out and buy the latest book! Check out: http://myws.sitesell.com/ - this site contains not one but two ebooks on words that sell. The first is 'Make Your Words Sell' and is especially designed for the Internet. There is a ton of valuable information here and best of all it's free.

The second book is 'Make Your Content Presell' and is more geared towards creating brand awareness - something that every business and savvy marketer values highly. Did I mention that it is also free? Go get yours now!

Tax Issues Every Freelancer Should Know

If you work exclusively from home, did you know that you can get a home office deduction for taxation purposes? To qualify, you must use your room solely for the purposes of your business, and even if you are using part of a room, this must also be exclusively for the purpose of work.

The other main thing to note here is that your home office should be where you conduct the majority of your business from. It doesn't matter if you visit clients at their location or meet up elsewhere, as long as you are using your home office as your main place of work.

Other things which are tax deductible include:

• stationary
• computer, laptop and anything needed to run your office such as a printer, fax and scanner
• office equipment including chairs and lamps
• phone expenses including your mobile as long as it is used exclusively for business
• postage costs
• travel and entertainment
• travel expenses for your car (you can claim on mileage, but check with your Country's tax office to get the correct amount per mile)
• cost of professional memberships, attending conferences and any fees for writing related organizations
• health and medical insurance for yourself and your family
• courses you take to improve your writing and business skills

A simple rule is this: if you have bought something for your business (including books and resources), keep your receipts and log your expenses. You can always check with your local tax office who will be able to guide you further.

If you want to do your tax returns yourself, then ensure you use a simple book or ledger to note all incoming and outgoing expenses. You will need an accountant once your earnings are over a particular threshold, but again, this varies depending on where in the world you live.

Boring yes, but a necessary pain to talk about!

Diversifying your talent

Apart from write, what else could you do to rake in the cash and build yourself a good business? Writing alone can sometimes be hit and miss - and every writer goes through the feast and famine cycle. How about looking at additional ways to boost your income:

• writing and selling an information product using Clickbank to manage sales
• start your own CV writing service
• launch yourself as a professional copywriter - do a professional course such as AWAI's program or indeed any of the other programs on offer from famous copywriters
• have you considered offering workshops and training for business writing skills?
• what about freelance marketing consultancy? For those commercial freelancers and copywriters out there, this would be a natural progression for you
• specialize in one area - say brochures and team up with a graphic designer and then market yourself as selling a complete solution

There are literally dozens of ways connected to writing that you could diversify. All it takes is the courage to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself that bit harder.