A would-be freelance writer called me the other day asking
my advice about how he could become successful in his
desired new career. Like a lot of freelance writers, he
already had a career and he wanted to shift full-time into
the writing life. I don’t get a lot of calls like this;
maybe one every five years.

It takes a lot of nerve to make a call like that. After
all, you’re infringing on somebody else who might rightly
perceive you as a competitor. I don’t necessarily recommend
that other folks who might be considering freelance writing
call me up or contact other writers they know.

But I can give you some free advice from years of being in
the trenches.

By far the best thing a freelance writer can do to both set
himself apart from the pack and to guarantee a steady flow
of new and returning business is to treat freelance writing
as a business. That means keeping regular business hours,
having a dedicated business phone line (and dedicated fax,
too), and approaching your business contacts in a
professional way.

Many freelancers become attracted to a career in writing
because they think it will give them “flexibility.” Most
people who desire flexibility in their work are really
saying they don’t want to work regular hours. There are
lots of freelance writers who don’t work regular hours.
Some only work mornings, others only a couple hours in the
afternoon and then again late at night. Some don’t work
Mondays or Fridays or every other week. Some freelancers
work Sundays but not during the week. And most freelancers
I know simply keep erratic hours; they couldn’t tell you on
Tuesday when they plan on working Wednesday, if at all.

That’s not an exaggeration. That’s good news for serious
writers because one of the best and quickest ways to put
yourself into the top 10% of the pack is to keep regular
office hours. The hours should match the hours your clients
work, which is going to normally be Monday through Friday,
8 to 5 p.m.

If, like me, you have clients on both coasts, you end up
coming in earlier than that and staying later. Hey,
freelancing is not for wimps.

Next, you need to develop very professional, serious work
habits. I maintain an outside office and while I’m at the
office, I’m at work. Not every freelancer can afford this,
but it should be a goal to get to this place as quickly as
you can. An outside office minimizes distractions, will
keep you on schedule better (it’s very easy to get off
track working at home), and looks more professional.

Think about it from your client’s point of view. If you
were a business seeking a writer to promote a
million-dollar new product, would you want to hire a writer
whose toddler answers the phone and whose every
conversation involves a baby screaming in the background?

That being said, there are many times not to launch a
freelance writing venture. You need a lot of time,
stability, and energy to kick off any new business. This
usually does not coincide with the arrival of a new baby.
Yet I know more than one freelancer who tried to initiate a
freelance career simply because they became a new parent.

As a freelance writer, you have to stop thinking like a
creative writer and start thinking as a business person.
Your best writing gigs are not going to be articles for the
local paper or a movie review for an entertainment website,
even though these might seem like the most fun assignments.

Most professional freelance writers do most of their
writing for businesses. That means you need to identify and
target businesses and approach them…again and again. It’s
very rare to cold call a business and land a writing
assignment, but cold calling can help you build a list of
contacts that you can cultivate into some assignments over
time.

To get your freelance business off and running, you need
some contacts that you can parlay into assignments. If you
have worked at a corporation, make sure you know people the
who might hire you (or recommend you). I have never been
successful at traditional networking (going to parties and
festivities designed to help you swap business cards-this
is generally just a good way to meet your competition). But
I do well because I know a lot of people and stay in touch
(holiday cards, quarterly e-mails, and occasional phone
calls). Eventually, some of them need a freelance writer.

Don’t target the wrong contacts. Your best friends or
neighbors or cousins who live in Pittsburgh might all be
great people, but if they don’t typically buy copywriting,
these are not your contacts. Look for people in industry
who might need articles written, books ghostwritten,
speeches prepared, or brochures and ads developed.

Many of these contacts will want to see samples of your
work. The ideal sample is something very close to what the
client wants to buy from you. For instance, if a hospital
is interested in hiring you to write a brochure for
incoming breast cancer patients, they don’t want to see
your article about selling plus size clothing.

So what do you do if you’re angling for a client and don’t
have matching clips to dazzle them? Cook some up! Using the
same example, you might write an article on breast cancer
from the patient’s angle and submit it to some free article
or Ezine sites (like this one). That’s publication! You now
have a relevant clip. Other places to publish your articles
include websites you know (or own), newsletters or local
newspapers. These places will not likely pay you for your
trouble, but the clip is worth its weight in gold if it
gets you a new client.

As a general rule, fish for assignments in areas you know
and where you already have good clips. But sometimes an
unusual offer comes in and it pays to know how to scramble
and come up with some clips. One more hint: clips must be
great. Don’t slap something together. A bad clip is worse
than no clip.

There are actually lots of freelance opportunities for
writers. In fact, many businesses that buy writing complain
about the lack of stellar freelance talent. In my own
experience (I once bought freelance writing), freelancers
never got it all right. Some were good writers but terrible
business people (unprofessional, erratic). Some were good
at the business end, but could not write well or slopped
through their assignments too quickly. A few became overly
friendly, calling me on weekends or during the work day to
chat, that is, mainly to gripe about how busy they were.

By being professional, maintaining regular business hours,
and viewing writing as a business rather than a hobby or a
passport to a “flexible” (i.e. erratic) lifestyle, a writer
with good skills can succeed as a full-time freelancer.

—————————————————-
By Jo Ann LeQuang. Are you a writer looking for more opportunities? Check out
http://www.workingonlinewriter for inspiration on the world
on online publishing. Today, writers can be their own
publishers, opening the door to greater opportunities than
ever before