How I Flipped the Full-Time Writer Switch

I believe that most anything can be done with a little bit of planning. That includes making the jump to a full time freelance writing career. I became a full-time freelance writer in August and it was very scary at first. For me, the hardest part of the transition was finances - making enough money to cover the bills and have a little money left over.

My decision to freelance full-time wasn’t a hasty one. I’d wanted to do it for awhile, but I always expected to have my cake and eat it to, so to speak. What I mean by that is, I wanted to build my freelance writing salary to the level of fulltime job salary before I made the leap. It could have happened, but I wouldn’t have had a life - or sleep.

Indeed, I had grandiose dreams of becoming self-employed and they didn’t actually come true. Here’s what really happened.

I built a hefty savings. I cut my expenses extremely low and saved as much as I possibly could for six months. During that time, I didn’t many clothes and shoes. I decreased my grocery bill. I cut back on my cable package (I couldn’t bear to cut it off completely). I changed my cell phone provider (switched to the provider most of my friends had so I could take advantage of mobile-to-mobile). I stopped eating out so much.

What you cut from your budget will depend on where you currently spend your money. Look at your spending for a month and use that to help figure out how you can better save. I managed to build a savings that would cover me for six months if I made absolutely no money at all freelancing.

I created my portfolio. I’d had a freelance writing portfolio before but I didn’t really use it because I wasn’t seriously freelancing. As a full-time freelancer, an online portfolio isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. If you don’t already have an online portfolio get one. You’ll need a domain - I purchase mine through GoDaddy.com. You’ll need a host - I prefer HostGator.com. If you’re not a programmer, you’ll probably need a template. Check out Jenn Mattern’s list of places to find web and blog templates.

I decided what services I’d offer and rates I’d charge. My online website isn’t just a porfolio. It also lets potential clients know what I can do for them and how much it will cost. I spent a few weeks doing some business planning and deciding what specific writing services I would offer. I also took some time to figure out what I needed to make to survive and how much I would need to charge clients for that work.

I networked. I never came out and said to fellow freelance writers, “Hey. I’m going to freelance fulltime. Keep me in mind for referrals.” I very well could have. It’s just not my style. Instead, I became more active in the freelance writing world - visiting forums, posting on blogs, and sending ”hello” emails. I really just wanted to be connected with the freelance writers who would soon be my colleagues. I didn’t necessarily have to get any jobs through it, but I have. It just worked out that way.

I read up. Being a freelance writer entails a lot of knowing. You need to know about running a business. You need to know about writing and editing, especially if you specialize in a certain type of writing like press releases or sales letters. You need to know about your niche. Learning is a never-ending process, but I’d be further behind if I didn’t spend time upfront getting to know the business and using that information to plan.

I set a date. After being proposed to, most girls want to set a date. And so I did. I needed a solid day to work toward and I picked one.

I made a plan. I took an 11×11 piece of cardstock and wrote down my idea of a successful freelance writing career. Then I wrote down what I would do to make it successful - how I would market myself, what I would charge, how many clients I would pick up. I defined my target client. For my blogs, I defined my target audience and how I would monetize those blogs. A freelance plan doesn’t have to be anything fancy. In it’s simplest form, it’s what you want to do and how you plan to get there.

I made a backup plan. It’s just not good sense - business sense or common sense - to make a decision without having a Plan B. Even if Plan B is to become a bum and sleep on the streets, at least you’ve got one. I updated my resume and came up with a list of companies I’d apply to if the freelance writing thing didn’t work out.

I came up with an exit point. I defined an exit point at which I would leave the freelance writing business. I based my exit point on financials because they’re concrete. I couldn’t base the decision on anything subjective because I can argue myself either way. Numbers won’t lie. I decided I would start looking for a new job once my savings and project receivables got down to a certain level. If the job market was better, I might let my savings nearly deplete. But since I know getting a job would take some time, I set the threshold kind of high. You might set some other criteria. The key is to have a point at which you say, “Ok. This isn’t working.”

You can tell from this list that becoming a full-time freelance writer isn’t easy. Nor is a decision you can take lightly. Making the transition will go a lot smoother if you plan out as many of the details as possible. Take advantage of the resources you have - the freelance writers you “know,” other entrepreneurs, books, websites, blogs, magazines. There’s a wealth of information out there to help you achieve your dream.

Early Thoughts on Elance

Long story short, I’ve decided to try out Elance and I have some mixed feelings about it so far. Read on to get the long story about why I signed up now after years of shying away and what I’ve experienced so far.

I’d previously written off Elance as a possible source of income because a few of my favorite writers don’t advocate it. But, on the other hand, I’d read some positive reviews about it from some other well-respected writers. While I have advised against bidding sites in general because of the tendency of bidders to go low and buyers to buy low, I’ve never spoken for or against Elance specifically because I don’t know enough about it to say anything. Well, that’s changing.

How I Signed Up for Elance

Over the past year, I’ve looked at the writing jobs posted on Elance and since I wasn’t too interested, I didn’t sign up. Then a few weeks (maybe months) ago, I registered, for the heck of it, just in case I saw some projects I wanted to sign up for. I didn’t really like the profile generation process. There was too much information to have “verified” and all I wanted to do was apply for jobs and tell the job posters why I was the best fit. I didn’t want to spend time on a profile.

Earlier today, I was thinking about posting a research job. I’m working on a couple of stories and I wanted to find a few people who’ve had experience with credit repair companies (if you’re one or know someone who is please email me). While there, I thought about a friend of mine who has a paralegal certificate who might be looking for some legal research work.  So I peruse through the legal part and find a job that was right up my alley. I promise I’m getting to the point…

Issues From the Start

I wanted to apply for the fabulous job, but Elance informed me that I needed to change my “Category” if I wanted to apply for the job. You see Elance posts jobs in different categories: Writing & Translation, Finance and Management, Web & Programming, Legal, etc. When I signed up, I selected the “Writing & Translation” category, not thinking I’d ever see anything in Legal. Well, the Basic (free) version of Elance only lets you select one category and though I tried to change it to Legal, the change wouldn’t take effect until December 15. The job I wanted to apply for would have expired by then.

Ok, so I upgraded to the “Professional” membership plan which costs $9.95 a month and lets you select multiple categories, with a catch of course. You can select one category for free. Each additional category costs $4.95. And that leads me to what I don’t like about Elance - they charge for everything. They allow you to enter skills information. You can verify those skills by taking Elance tests. They give you credit for two tests. Each additional costs $4. I entered my degree information, but if I want Elance to verify it, that’ll be $15. Every time I want to do something to improve my credibility on the site (since I’m a noob and all), there’s another fee.

Then, there are the transaction fees you pay when you’re awarded a job. You’ll have a maximum of 8.75% cut from your Elance revenue. Stop with the fees already. I guess everyone has to make money on the internet and if I find some good paying work, I probably won’t complain about the fees anymore.

What I Like About Elance

So far there is one thing I like about Elance - the bid amounts aren’t disclosed. That means there’s not as much pressure to underbid the next guy because you don’t know what the next guy bid. It doesn’t mean, however, that buyers won’t choose the lowest bidder. But that’s no different than how we apply for jobs outside of Elance.

Well, like I said, it’s something I’m trying out. I have a much higher revenue goal for 2009 and I’m looking at different ways of meeting it. Doing the same old thing will only get me the same old results. Stay tuned for updates on the Elance saga.

Oh, and I’ve already set a reminder in January to cancel if I don’t make any money!

What are your thoughts on Elance? Have you used it? Been successful?

How Do You Like Your Feeds?

RSS feeds are great for lazy and (sometimes) unorganized people like me who can’t possibly remember to visit all the sites I like. I’ve tried signing up for feeds a few ways - adding to my Internet feeds lists, signing up for emails, and adding them to Outlook. I must say having Outlook manage my feeds was one of the best things I’ve never done. Neither solution is a win-win, so I don’t sign up for email RSS.

Sorry, Email RSSers

I’ve tried, for the sake of the blogs I love and their email subscriber stats, to like RSS via email, but it’s not going to happen. I just don’t like getting emails that aren’t specifically addressed to me. Even though I signed up for the subscription, I still get that spammed feeling when an RSS email shows up in my inbox. I could sign up using my spam-only email address, but then I wouldn’t get the updates.

I Love Outlook’s RSS Integration

These days, I’m using Outlook to improve my productivity on several fronts. I use ‘Notes’ to manage my ideas. ‘Tasks’ to manage my work. I have several different ‘Rules’ set up for routing email going to different email addresses. And I use Outlook to manage my RSS Feeds. It’s one of the best things I’ve done.

No more spending minutes or more visiting separate blogs to get the latest posts - or to feel that I’ve wasted precious time when there is no latest. Instead, I can easily tell whether there are any new posts because the feed name is bold with the number of posts in parenthesis like Writer’s Brew(1). I love it. Thankfully all the feeds I’m subscribed to have their full posts in the RSS rather than just the first paragraph. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be subscribed.

Are RSS Subscribers Deadbeats?

I used to wonder if blogs benefited from RSS subscribers, since there was no real page view gain, and quite possibly a loss. A recent post on Problogger.net solved that conundrum with 6 reasons that’s it’s nothing to worry about, if it’s done right. My favorite: “A subscriber that never visits is better than a one off visitor who never returns.”

This isn’t a sales pitch for Outlook at all - though I encourage Outlook users to try out their feeds integration. It’s more of a way to encourage you to find a way to manage your RSS feeds in a way that isn’t cumbersome or time-consuming for you.

Are you subscribed to any RSS feeds? How do you get your updates?

I’m Thankful To Be a Successful Freelance Writer

I was a little bummed that it’s nearly 4 A.M. here and just got finished with a project I needed to turn in before my short holiday break. I’m pulling an all-nighter on Thanksgiving and I still have a ton of non-writing things to do before dinner. Then, I saw a post in my RSS feed from All Freelance Writing. Jenn talks about being thankful for being a freelance writer.

Though, I’d much rather be sleeping now, I think about all the days I spent in a cubicle wishing I was doing something else. Now, I’m doing that something else and, late night or not, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well…except a lottery win. Even then, I’d probably still freelance write, but you know what I mean. I’m living my dream and that I am extremely thankful for. I agree, Jenn, we are lucky!

Change it Up Before You Become a Writing Zombie

I’m sure we all have days when hours of writing gets absolutely boring. I know I have them. It’s not that the work is boring. It’s more of staring the same white screen and the same black letters for hours after hours. If you’re like me, you get pretty unproductive during times like that. I start looking for things to break the monotony - and they’re always things that have absolutely nothing to do with finishing the project, like browsing the internet or checking email.

Here are some things I do to change it up, without losing focus or momentum.

Change the font.

Change the font color.

Change the background color.

I’ve never counted, but I’m guessing Microsoft Word has at least 75 fonts, maybe more. Switching to a new font, color, or document background brings newness to the screen and helps get me through at least a few more articles. When I get bored with one setting, I just change to another.

Get familiar with your document processor so it doesn’t take you too much time to change the settings and make sure you change everything back to the format that your client expects. Sending your document in magenta Comic Sans might not go over too well.

What do you do to break up the monotony of document processing?

5 Signs You Have Too Much Work, How To Fix It

Theoretically, there’s no such thing as “too much work.” That’s like saying there’s a such thing as “too much money.” When your output is limited by time there can definitely be a such thing as too much work and here are some signs that you have too much.

You keep missing deadlines. Missing deadlines could be a sign of poor time management, but it could also mean that you have too much work to give yourself enough time to complete projects by the deadline. A single missed deadline here and there is conscionable, but frequently missed deadlines is unacceptable. If you’re missing a lot of deadlines, take a look at your workload.

You’re living assignment to assignment. If you finish one project only to start another with no break in between, you could have too much work. I tend to worry when I have some downtime between projects, but a short break is a good thing. It gives you time to relax and take your mind off client work for a little before getting back into the swing of things.

You have to schedule work far in advance. Of course, regular work will have recurring deadlines that could happen weeks, even months from now. When you have to give new clients deadlines that fall weeks and months from now, it could be a sign of a problem, especially if the work doesn’t take weeks or months to complete.

You can’t take a day off, not even a weekend or holiday. All work and no play is a destructive combination. Every person needs some “me” time. If your schedule is so booked up that you can’t take a day off, especially a holiday, it’s a problem.

You’ve cut back on sleep so you can get more work done. Again, this could be a sign of bad time management, but if you’re spending most of the day working and you have to sleep less so you can do more work, you’re doing too much. Your body needs a certain amount of rest to function properly. If you don’t get that amount, it will catch up with you sooner or later, Red Bull or not.

What do you do after you’ve turned yourself into a machine? First, figure out why you have so much work. Is it because you have to work that much to make ends meet? Or did you simply overbook yourself? Do you have a problem saying “no” to work? Figuring out why you have so much work will help you come up with a plan to cut back on the work.

If you can’t afford to work less…

Consider increasing your rates and moving to a higher-paying market. You might also take a look at your expenses to see if there’s anywhere you can cut back to make living more affordable.

If you don’t know how to say no…

Learn how. Come up with a list of requirements that each job must meet for you to say “yes” to it. Then, compare every job to that list. If the job doesn’t measure up, say “no.” If you find that you’re still saying “yes” a lot, make your job requirements stricter. 

If your demand is high…

Scale back the marketing. Don’t stop marketing all together because you want to keep your name out there. You just want to reduce some of the work coming your way.

Have a list of referrals to whom you can send clients who don’t meet your “yes” list or those who you just don’t have time to work for. This way, you still get the client’s needs met, without overworking yourself.

If you regularly overbook yourself…

Come up with a better scheduling system. Put your work on a calendar and always refer to it when you’re scheduling work. When you have a day that’s filled up, mark it off your calendar so you don’t give out any new deadlines on that date. You might also mark off some of the days preceding your booked up days.

Should You Raise Your Rates in 2009?

As you evaluate your progress in 2008 and plan your goals for 2009, your freelance writing rates is one of the things you should think about. Is it time to increase your rates?

Here are some questions you should answer as you consider raising your rates:

• Has the demand for your services increased?
• What will allow you to command a higher rate?
• Can your current market pay you a higher rate?
• Can another market pay you a higher rate?
• Are you having a hard time living on your current rates?
• Are you providing exceptional value at your current rate?
• Will you continue doing an exceptional value at your new rate?
• Do you meticulously keep deadlines and make sure your clients are happy?

Increasing rates isn’t for everyone. Freelance Folder has 3 reasons you shouldn’t raise your rates. In a nutshell, if you’re not being the best freelance writing possible, you should probably keep your rates the same until you’ve improved your services.

If you decide to raise your rates, then you need to decide if the rate increase is going to apply to both old and new clients. You might keep some of your old, loyal clients at the same rate and apply the new rate only to new clients. Or, you might allow your old clients to enjoy the old rate for a few months before applying the new rate to their orders. In either case, it’s a good idea give old clients at least a couple months notice before applying the new rate.

Increasing your rates isn’t mandatory. There’s nothing wrong with continuing to charge the same rate throughout 2009 or increasing them on some other timeline. The important thing is that you evaluate your rates and take action where necessary.

Prep for Your Holiday Work Schedule

While I’m sure no client expects you to be working at 2:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day, you might end up working at that time if you’re not careful. The portability of our jobs makes it hard to break away, even on the holidays. So, set your holiday work hours well in advance. Write it down if you have to, just make sure you stick to it.

I’ve blocked out my calendar for the days I’m not working. That way, when I look at my calendar to schedule deadlines, I know not to schedule anything during or shortly after those days. I’m going to stop working mid-day Wednesday (pre-Thanksgiving) and probably work a few hours on Saturday and Sunday mornings before I go back to “full-time” work on Monday.

Make a must-do listof things you absolutely have to get done before you stop working for a few days. Prioritize your list and indicate which things can wait until after the holidays. If you have a long list or some time-consuming tasks, get started on them earlier so you’re not rushing to get them done at the last minute.

Set your blogs to drip. Wordpress’s drip feature is the best thing that ever happened. I’m going ahead and writing my Thanksgiving day & day after posts this week and setting them to drip. It’s one less thing I’ll have to worry about Wednesday as I prepare to completely shut down my laptop for a few days.

Send assignments to your clients. If you happen to have deadlines that fall during your planned offtime, send that work in early. That way you won’t have to try to remember it after you’ve entered “off” mode. Some email clients will delay message sending to a preset time, but you might have to have your computer on for that to work. Make sure you understand how that function works deciding to use it.

Let your clients know you’ll be away. If you have clients who you correspond with on a regular basis, you might let them know how often you’ll be checking emails and IMs (if you’re going to be checking them at all). That way, they won’t think you’ve disappeared.

Set your out of office auto-responder. Don’t take for granted that everyone who contacts you will know there are holidays. Remember, we work in a global market and not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving. You don’t want client prospects to go away thinking you’re not responding to emails. Make sure your OOO message says when you plan to return and when you plan to return email messages.

Enjoy your time off! When you work for yourself, time off is a rarity. You’ve managed to workout a few hours to yourself, so make sure you enjoy it!

Are you planning to take time off for the holidays? What things are you doing to get your business ready for the break?

One Thing That’s Vital to a Freelancer’s Business

I’m not supposed to be typing right now. A week ago, I mistakenly bent my left hand backward in some weird way. Now, my knuckles are swollen and swore. I can’t even make a fist. Every time my hands are close to getting better, I type something and it just gets worse. I’m addicted to my laptop and my livelihood depends on me working.

Windows Vista has gotten a lot of negative feedback and, though I’m ok using it, I didn’t really care for it until this incident happened with my hand. I realized Vista has built in voice recognition software! Yes! I can talk my articles instead of typing them. The only drawback. I’m new at this and there’s a learning curve. It takes 2-3 times as long to talk an article than it is to typing it. So I went back to typing, just long enough to warn you guys not to take your hands for granted. Oh, and if you have voice recognition software, get acquainted with it before you actually need it.

Satisfied With Your Workload? Market Yourself Anyway

Having a steady workload is a freelance writer’s dream. It’s can also be his nightmare. It’s easy to get complacent when you have enough work and become lax on your marketing efforts. You think the work’s going to last, so you’re pretty shocked when it dries up. You have no new projects on the horizon and you’ve got to go extra hard on marketing to get some work lined up quickly. Hope you have some money in an emergency fund because it might take you some time to get some projects (and pay) rolling in.

That’s why it’s important to continually market yourself no matter how comfortable you may be with the work you’re currently doing. You never know when a job is going to end. Contract or not, things happen, Murphy’s law ruins the best laid plans. Don’t ever put marketing on the backburner. Always do something, even if it’s something small, to let clients know about you and what you can provide.