freelance writing Archives - Five Figure Writer

3 Freelance Writing Secrets You Need to Keep to Yourself

October 31, 2017 By FiveFigureSarah

I don’t have a lot of secrets online. I write about how much money I make, my faith in God, and the things that scare me. But when you are embarking upon a career in freelance writing, you’ll soon find out that there are some things that the world doesn’t need to know.

And I’m not just talking about what keeps you up at night or what you ate for breakfast. I’m talking about strategic things that 1) make you smarter when you don’t share them and 2) make you look like a newbie when you do.

In a world where vulnerability and disclosure are hot, hot, hot, here are three secrets you actually need to keep to yourself if you want to be a successful freelance writer:

Secret #1: That you can write anything for anyone

Now, I can absolutely write anything for anyone.

I’ve written tweets, slogans, white papers, blog posts, blog post intros, webinars, webinar abstracts, and data reports, and I’ve written them for my niche (human resources) as well as marketing, construction software, shipping and logistics, website design, data security, cloud solutions, medical surgery foam (seriously), and more.

But do you know what’s on my portfolio and my LinkedIn profile? I write white papers and articles for HR. That’s it. And that’s why I can propose projects and rates (and project rates) that blow my $20-an-article rate of the past out of the water.

It’s not crazy to say you can write something and be able to do it. In fact, if you’re a writer, you’re just good with words. You can make them dance in any format on any topic in any place on Earth…

But the minute you say that — the minute a client reads that on your website — they drop you in a big, bottomless cavern known as “generalist.” And generalists don’t get paid much.

The minute a client reads that you can write anything for anyone on your website, they drop you in a big, bottomless cavern known as “generalist” — And generalists don’t get paid much.

It’s far, far better to niche in both topic and format and say so. It will take a little time, and it will take a little trial and error, and yes, you will have to turn away business, but that’s the only way to command a higher rate and actually enjoy the work you do.

(Spoiler alert: Your niche will change over time! And that’s okay!)

Secret #2: That you’ve been writing and reading since you could crawl

Again, I was a writer when I was a toddler.

I wrote a short story about an iguana in elementary school. My favorite hobby in middle school was correcting my older brother’s papers. My idea of a good time in high school was taking an apple and a book, biking up the street, and reading for hours in the outdoors.

But that wholesome, beautiful story about a young woman’s weakness for word wrangling has absolutely nothing to do with marketing manager with $15,000 to spend on content this quarter. In fact, it distracts that manager from the job she needs to get done with soft, meaningless, Nicolas-Sparks-style words.

Your personal history and soft, meaningless, Nicolas-Sparks-style words distract your prospective clients from the jobs they need to get done.

Instead of talking about how young you were when you got your first red pen, talk about your years of experience and the projects you’ve worked on. Talk about the results your clients got, or the things your clients don’t need to worry about when their writer is on-time, polished, and thoughtful.

You don’t have to sterilize business and be all about the analytics all the time, but the time for sharing who you are and building a connection is after you land the work based on what you can do for them (and after they have paid you ;-)).

Secret #3: Why you can’t make that meeting/take that assignment/be their slave

Sometimes my calendar is booked because I’m going to a doctor’s appointment. Sometimes it’s booked because I don’t have nanny coverage. And sometimes it’s booked because I’m going to be eating a delicious snack. Do you know what my clients hear from me?

“I’m so sorry, but I’m unavailable at that time.”

Same goes for a project that 1) seems like it’s going to be a pain in the tookus, or 2) will conflict with my ethics, or 3) will make me roll my eyes too hard every day for several weeks as I try to schedule 5+ subject matter experts and their entourages.

Over-sharing about your calendar is both annoying to the person you’re scheduling with (seriously, they don’t need to know) and chafes at your professionalism. In fact, it’s just an example of how new freelance writers can get caught up in the negative worldview of freelancers. You think:

Everyone knows freelancers are unreliable, so I have to prove to them that I’m reliable by giving them every detail about my calendar and every legitimate excuse I can.

Or:

Everyone knows freelancers are desperate for work, so I have to explain in excruciating detail why I won’t take this particular assignment and how grateful I’d be to be considered again in the future.

Nope! Stop. Sometimes the most B-A thing you can do is sit quietly and say, “I’m sorry, that’s not going to work for me.”

What are your secrets?

So, what about you? Do you have any secrets you’ve kept from clients from day 1? And what other secrets do you think freelancer writers should keep close to the vest?

5 Ways To Make Your Clients Happier (& Your Writing More Valuable)

March 15, 2017 By FiveFigureSarah

Fun fact: If you want to charge a high rate for your writing, your writing needs to be worth a higher rate.

There are a lot of ways to get to this point: deep experience in a certain industry (also known as specializing); high demand for what you do in a particular format (another way of specializing); or creating an obscenely valuable client relationship.

Today, I want to focus on that last one: creating an obscenely valuable client relationship. Because even if you have not specialized and you are busy trying out writing topics and formats to see where you want to go with your career, there are plenty of things you can do to make a client relationship more valuable.

That is, there are things you can do to make each assignment you turn in a little punchier and get your clients to say “Wow!” a little more often.

Before we get started, please note that these are all things you do after you have negotiated a high rate for your work. The negotiating part is a whole separate wild cat, and that part requires you to target better clients, work on your confidence, and negotiate well.

What we’re talking about today is the “value add” that makes you worth the price — not the product description that sells your services.

These ideas will allow you to step into an assignment and impress clients so much that they have an authentic desire to keep working with you. This is how you get to a level where your clients can’t imagine life without you or that they start to suspect that the other writers they work with just don’t measure up. So, listen up:

1. Add social suggestions to the article (tweets, posts, etc)

Don’t let this get too complicated in your mind; I don’t mean to suggest that you should work for free or be your client’s social media strategist. In a situation where a client wanted to contract you to write tweets as part of their social media management program, you should charge for that.

What I mean here is that after you write an article and you’re knee deep in the topic, it might take about three seconds to add three tweets to the top of the article. But to your client — especially if it’s a small client — you just saved them a half hour of reading through posts, thinking of what to say, and writing it out.

If it takes you five seconds and saves your client a half an hour, it’s win-win.

Here’s an example: One client I work with manages the company blog and runs all of the social media profiles. She’s a busy lady. So, imagine what a relief it is to receive a blog post that has 3-4 tweets just sitting there, ready to go, at the top of the article. It took me about 5 seconds, but it brought a lot of thoughtfulness and value to her day.

Is this a professional social media strategy? Not really. But it is a small task I was able to take off her to-do list because I genuinely care about her stress level. Win-win. If she were to request to always get five tweets, or to want to get on the phone to talk tweets, I’d start talking about a small retainer. But if there’s something I can do in a few seconds to make her life easier, I’m all about it.

2. Add multiple titles with the same keyword (and use keywords)

Even if you got the pitch approved with one article title, go ahead and include 3-5 different titles that use the same keyword.

First, you never know which title will resonate with your client better or which they’ll think appeals to their audience better, so this will save you a lot of back-and-forth about better title options. Second, since every blog post you write for a client needs to have some kind of SEO value to be valuable to them, this practice allows you to show your client that you’re a professional, aware writer.

Speaking of SEO: when you take an assignment, always ask what keyword they’d like to focus the article on. If they don’t have one, it’s up to you to suggest one after you write the article.

If your client doesn’t have a keyword in mind, it’s up to you to suggest one.

If you’re familiar with the industry, the keyword you pick might be obvious. If you’re not, you can use Google AdWords to find a good one. Then include a note in the article about why you picked the keyword. (Note: You may have to create an account and pay for an ad campaign to use the keyword tool, but creating a test campaign can cost as little as $1 or $2, which is totally worth it in my book).

3. Kick off articles with statistics related to the client’s target market

There are a lot of ways to introduce an article, but by far, when it comes to professional writing and B2B writing, statistics are the best way to go.

Why? Statistics are the currency of business. Especially in the B2B world, everyone needs to validate their purchases and decisions to someone else. Since statistics allow people to see just how important or pressing a topic is to the wider world, kicking off an article with a statistical source gives the topic (and the article) an immediate sense of professionalism and urgency.

Not only does adding statistics add value to the reader, but it also boosts your client’s view of how the article will be received. In fact, this tip is so powerful that when I first started kicking off B2B articles with statistics, I would regularly get feedback like, “That was your best article yet!”

Find statistics by Googling “[your topic] statistics.” Also, read competitor’s blog posts and look at what sources they cite. You won’t want to use the same statistics unless they’re particularly relevant, but you can review their sources to see if there is anything there that works for your article.

4. Share the article when it’s posted

If you have a few contacts in your network in the industry you’re writing about (or even if you don’t), share the live article. This gives your client more views and shows them that you follow up and participate on your work — you’re not a one and done kind of gal.

This is also why it helps to eventually niche or specialize your writing. When you specialize, you can start building a network within your niche. That way, when you share a post on digital marketing with your network, a bunch of digital marketing specialists will like it, share it, or read it, and your client will see that you’re a valuable connection to their target audience. Otherwise, it’s just your mom and a few friends that will check it out (which is still viewers, so it’s not bad, but it’s not as ideal as a professional network).

5. Subscribe to industry things and let clients know when they’re mentioned

Even if you haven’t specialized, go ahead and sign up for some newsletters and industry information sources whenever you sign on a new client. For example, if you start writing copy for a marketing company, sign up for updates from HubSpot; if you start writing for a local horse riding club (?), sign up for an equestrian magazine or nonprofit newsletter.

You’ll end up on a lot of crazy, random lists, and that’s okay: it widens your perspective of the work you’re doing for your client, will give you tons of great pitch ideas, and will help you keep an eye out for mentions of your client (if they’re big enough) or mentions of things your client is interested in (which all clients have).

Sign up for some newsletters and industry information sources whenever you sign on a new client.

Recently, an industry newsletter I subscribe to linked to a client’s blog post. I didn’t write that blog post, but I forwarded the newsletter to the client and said “Great job, they featured you!” It wasn’t on her radar, so it made her day to see how her work was getting around.

This is another value add that positions you as a professional in your field — a valuable resource that keeps them informed, not just a monkey who delivers words on time. (You do deliver posts on time, don’t you?)

Time to dish: what little things do you do for your clients to make sure you’re the best writer they’ve every hired?

Stop Trying to Overcome Freelance Writing Fear

June 7, 2016 By FiveFigureSarah

Eileen wrote me this email yesterday, and it was really heartfelt.

“It’s helpful to know that the fear is part of the freelance writing job,” she says. “Like, I guess, I tend to think that if I’m scared I must be doing something wrong.”

Boom.

Zap.

Zing.

Tell me you’ve never felt that way before.

That first day of high school, when you’re shaking with adrenaline that’s half excitement and half, “Where the crap is my locker?”

That first day on the job when you double-check your offer letter to make sure you didn’t hallucinate that congratulatory phone call or your benefits package.

And then… that first day you ask someone to pay you for the words you write for them.

These moments of fear didn’t precede traumatic downward spiral. (Well, at least not for most high schoolers…). These moments also didn’t mean that going to a new school, taking a new job, or taking a freelance client weren’t the right next step for you. It’s just a feeling. And fear isn’t the problem. The problem is how we respond to it.

Fear is not the problem. The problem is how we respond to it.

Freelance writing fear often sends the wrong message

It would be awesome if every good thing we ever did was accompanied by feelings of light-heartedness and certainty that would clearly say to us, “Yes! Do it! This is it!” But that’s not how our guts work.

Fear is really helpful in the jungle when it tells us to hide in the cave and be wary of those scary sounds. But when we’re trying to build a freelance writing business, fear is just a chemical process that comes along with something new.

It’s not foretelling the future.

It’s not a sign you’re doing the wrong thing.

It’s just a feeling — like hunger or sadness or a charley horse– that tells you something big is about to happen.

When we interpret fear as a warning sign that we should stop, we miss out on a lot of great things.

Some of us might not be married.

Some of us might not have children.

Certainly none of us would run freelance writing businesses.

But deep within each of these tough, wonderful, and intimidating-at-first things is a powerful desire that pulls us through the freelance writing fear and toward a new idea.

Don’t try to escape your fear — work with it

Eileen and I both had the same first instinct: run away from the fear. Run away and do something that won’t make those feelings come up. But that’s not a smart move for Eileen, me, or you, because here’s the biggest secret of all:

Successful freelance writers aren’t people who never experience fear. Successful freelance writers are people who understand that fear is a natural byproduct of doing good work — and that confidence is the result of that good work.

Successful freelance writers work side by side with fear to get things done, and at the end of the day they take their fear home with them to dinner.

Successful people aren’t people who never experience fear. Successful people are people who understand that fear is a natural byproduct of doing good work.

If you’re reading this, your story is probably a lot like mine.

You’re a good, solid writer. You know your way around a Word Document and you know that what you do is valuable to your clients. But when you go to pitch, or when you think of writing something for the business world, your throat clinches up a little and you get a bad case of the willies. You just aren’t confident that you’re worth those rates.

Well, some people let those fears stop them. But you and Eileen and me, we’re going to accept those freelance writing fears, scoop them into a little woven basket on our desk, and put on a show for our fear to watch as we try new things, pitch new clients, and turn in draft after draft of our best work.

Put fear in its place

Let’s look at the freelance life with new eyes. The fear you’re feeling isn’t always a sign you shouldn’t be doing this. It’s a sign that there’s something big there if you’re persistent enough to push through your first fluttering doubts.

Keep your eyes out for moments in your freelance journey that cause you to feel fear. Then, don’t run. Look the fear in the face and let it know that you appreciate its input… and that you’ve got some work to do anyway.

P.S. If you’re trying to overcome fears related to breaking into B2B writing, I’ve got just the thing for you: The B2B Booster Shot. If you’re trying to overcome fears about being productive as a freelancer with a chronic illness (or a baby at home, or whatever else you’ve got going on, this post is for you.