Happy new year to my freelance writing friends, old and new. I trust the holidays have found you well, and wish you success in 2009.
I have to say, I’m excited about what the new year is going to bring. If 2008 was any indication, 2009 is going to be the best year for my freelancing business yet. While there may be some tough economic times in the world, there’s no business I’d rather be in.
Why am I so optimistic? There are a bunch of reasons, but I get the most encouragement by looking back over the last year. In the past 12 months, here are some of the amazing things that have happened for me:
I started this blog, which has grown my freelance writing client base by leaps and bounds. It’s also allowed me to meet so many interesting people, network with other writers and given me the opportunity to help other writers achieve their own dreams.
I began my coaching program, which has allowed me to help a great group of writers get their start in the business.
I’ve grown the business to the point where I’m regularly outsourcing work, allowing me more time to focus on the business itself.
I’ve increased my business revenue, as well as my personal revenue, by a significant factor.
Ive been able to work together with my wife, bringing her in as a partner behind the scenes of the business.
There’s plenty more, too, but those are just the things that come to mind.
2009 promises to see all sorts of new and exciting things. While I’m still in the process of refining my business (a process that truly never ends) I am thrilled to think about some of the irons I’ve got in the fire, and some of the projects that are yet to come.
I also want to take a minute to thank everyone who has regularly read this blog, and helped me reach each milestone. As of today, I’m happy to have just shy of 1,000 RSS and email subscribers, and I’m happy that you’ve joined me on this journey.
Here’s to hoping we all have a very bright future in 2009:
There’s money in SEO writing. If you can do it right, you can make a killing. Understanding the inner workings of search engines, knowing the right keywords to pick and being able to insert them into your writing is a valued skill.
If you write on the Internet at all, chances are you do at least some SEO. If you surf the Internet at all (who doesn’t) you’ve seen perfectly-optimized SEO pages.
You’ve probably also noticed that, in many cases, perfectly-optimized SEO pages suck. The writing is contrived, sentence structure is awkward and those keywords – usually in various formats – are repeated ad nauseum. In other words, good SEO is often terrible writing.
Now, this isn’t always the case. You can optimize a page without having to make the SEO so in-your-face noticeable. (If you want to know more, go to SEO School. Naomi will tell you all there is to know about good SEO.)
What happens, though, when your client wants the SEO to be so thick you can cut it with a knife?
You have two choices: take the gig or don’t.
If you take the gig, you’re going to have to get pretty damn creative. Chances are you’re still going to wind up with a piece of work that’s less than stellar, at least in terms of its readability. But, hey, you’re not an artist, right? You run a business, and businesses need to make money. Besides, if you don’t write it, someone else will.
If you don’t take the gig, you can go on with your own writing integrity. You can take satisfaction in the fact that you’re not contributing to the wealth of crappy writing on the Internet. By keeping your high standards, you help raise the overall quality of information on the Internet.
A few months ago, I took a gig that had some very specific SEO requirements. The keyword density was very high, so much so that I’m pretty sure Google won’t catch the page on those keywords (although MSN or Yahoo search might). I went along my merry way, wrote the article, and sent it to the client.
The client loved the article. Unfortunately, I hadn’t hit the SEO requirements, so the client bounced it back to me for a revision.
I realized, as I began writing the revision, just how intense these SEO requirements were. The client wanted specific word pairings that just didn’t work linguistically. (A similar example would be the keyword, “Tobacco Virginia.”)
At this point, though, I didn’t have much of a choice. I reworked the article, trying to preserve the quality as best I could. The result wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either.
After finishing the work, it occurred to me: there was a third option I’d missed. I could have challenged the client’s requirements from the start. I could have pointed out the difficulty of the awkward word pairings, and offer other suggestions. Maybe the client would have taken the suggestions and let me do the work, maybe not.
I’m not an ar-teest, not by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do believe that great writing matters online. Just because we web writers don’t have the kind of editorial gatekeepers that print writers have doesn’t mean we can just let quality go. There has to be some kind of middle ground between using the tools we need (like SEO) and creating something that’s readable, clear and correctly uses the language.
Today, I’m hesitant to work gigs with more than just basic SEO.
What do you think? Am I being a snob here? Am I being unrealistic? Or is it sometimes worth it to sacrifice a sale in favor of the quality writing principle?
I don’t know about you, but I’m about done with all of this talk about a “faltering economy,” “economic downturn,” and, worst of all, “recession.”
My state, Michigan, hasn’t really ever recovered from the hard times that started after 9/11. Back in 2005, I recall newspaper headlines declaring that Michigan was in a “one-state recession.” Times are tough here, and have been for a long time.
Am I worried about this situation? Sure. I’m worried for my friends, my extended family. I see people around me getting laid off every day, and my heart goes out to them.
But I’m not worried for myself.
The thing is, you see, I choose not to participate in the recession.
What do I mean by that, exactly? I mean, simply, that I’m not going to allow the recession to affect my income or my lifestyle. You see, there are a few facts about running a freelance writing business that can, if you’re smart about it, make your business recession-proof.
Freelance writing clients are worldwide
Right now, my biggest clients aren’t based in the United States. While I have clients in the U.S., my client base spans the globe. I haven’t had a client in Michigan in some time – further proof that my state is in dire straits.
Unlike my good friend who runs an appraisal business just down the road, the local economy doesn’t affect me as directly. If the local market dries up, I can get work from Aussies, Canadians, Brits and lots of other folks. I like working for local clients, but they aren’t my bread and butter by any means.
Freelance writing gigs aren’t tied to a specific industry
I have the same sort of flexibility when it comes to industries. Michigan is, of course, tied very closely into the auto industry. If you’ve been watching the shenanigans in Washington as of late, you know the auto industry is in trouble. That makes for a lot of economic devastation in my community.
Here again, though, I don’t work with just one industry. I have clients in real estate, technology, food service and even some related to the auto industry. But should any one of those areas take a dive, I have plenty of others to choose from.
A freelance writing business model has to be flexible to succeed
Now, I don’t want to paint some kind of rosey picture here. Hard economic times do affect the way I do business. I may have to spend more time searching for clients. I might have to chase down a client or two for payment. I might have to offer deeper discounts than I’d like.
But the business I’m in allows me the flexibility to do those things. I can make adjustments, on the fly if I need to, to insure that my business continues to be healthy and to thrive.
Freelance writing is about creating opportunities
Even when the markets all dry up, there is still potential for success. As a freelancer, I can use my ambition, imagination and creativity to come up with new ways to succeed. The possibilities are endless, it’s just a matter of identifying the ones with the greatest potential for success and then executing them effectively.
This is what being a freelancer is all about, folks. Expanding your horizons, breaking into new markets, adjusting your business to the times and making your own way is how you get ahead as a freelancer.
Freelancing not for the faint of heart. It’s for those folks who are willing to do what has to be done in order to come out ahead, recession or not.
Something has occurred to me recently that has really changed my perspective on communicating with my freelance writing clients.
Before I tell you what it is, though, Let me start off by telling you a story.
When I was a younger man, I was horribly shy.
No, strike that. Shy isn’t the right way to say it. I had plenty of friends, and was pretty outgoing in most social situations. I was very involved in student groups, even taking leadership roles.
My problem was that I couldn’t seem to talk to a pretty girl to save my life. I’d get all nervous, tongue tied. I’d be scared to death that I’d say something stupid, embarrassing or awkward.
And then I would say something stupid, embarrassing or awkward.
It was 1994, and the Internet was still a young pup (at least, the public side of the Internet was). Everyone that was on the Internet was on AOL or, like me, Prodigy. The web was still fairly new and something of a novelty; online services were where it was at.
Now, today we take for granted the online dating services. Match.com, eHarmony and all the others hit us with TV and radio ads. Back then, however, the best you could find was a sort of “classified ad” section on your online service.
And I did find it. And I used it. You see, I discovered that I could write to pretty girls all day long. I never had to worry about getting tongue tied, or that my shirt would be buttoned wrong. To make a long story short, that’s how I met my wife. If I’d have had to meet her in person first, chances are I’d have chickened out and we would never have met.
(And, yes, I know the whole “we met online” thing is old hat today. But, in 1994 it was still a bit of a novelty. It was fun to watch, as the years went by, the changing reactions people would have to us “meeting online.” In the early days it was a confused “huh?” After a while it became “ooh, that’s interesting. How do I do that?” Eventually it was “I have a friend who met her husband that same way.” Finally, today it’s “You got lucky. She could have been an ax murderer!”)
At any rate, here’s my point: I’m much better at writing than I am speaking. When I write, I can carefully craft what I want to say into a cohesive whole. I’m much more likely to close a deal in writing than I am in person or on the phone.
What does that have to do with clients? Plenty.
You see, most of my writing clients aren’t writers themselves. I realize that’s pretty obvious in itself, but hear me out.
At times, it’s easy to become frustrated with clients. Communicating with them about specs, project details and even costs can be challenging via e-mail. So, some clients prefer to talk on the phone or meet face-to-face.
I don’t mind face-to-face meetings or phone calls, especially when they result in more business. But I also know that my strengths aren’t in those situations. My strength is in writing – which is why they’re hiring me in the first place.
So, I naturally prefer to negotiate on my terms – in writing. But I realize that this, in many cases, puts my clients at a severe disadvantage. So anytime a client requests a phone call or meeting, I try to accomodate it.
And these days, I try to be more understanding of those requests. After all, some clients probably feel about written communication the way I used to about verbal. They’re not sure what to write, and when they do write it comes out awkward. In other cases, they’re just playing to their strengths, and I can’t begrudge them that.
So, what do you think? I know freelancers on both sides of this issue. There are some who will not – under any circumstances – take calls or meetings. Others prefer it. How about you? photo credit: Foxtongue
I’ve been struggling a bit with how to end this series.
You see, it isn’t that I don’t have any more writing advice; I’ve got plenty of ways to help you supercharge your writing. I mean, that’s what this blog has always been about: helping Internet writers reach their dreams.
But so much of what I could tell you from here is very specialized. I could tell you how to make your writing pop. I could tell you how to blog with passion. I could tell you how to bid for work at specific freelance sites. While all of this is useful, though, I don’t think you need it in order to start your freelance writing business.
There’s really only one more thing you need from here.
You need to jump in.
You see, the best teacher in life, whether it’s in your freelance business, as a parent or even playing poker is experience. We human beings tend to learn best by doing. Yes, there are certain big-picture principles you need to have in mind; that’s what this series has been about. But until you apply them, until you actually get out there and start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) you’ll never really make any progress.
So, let me give you a simple roadmap from here, incorporating the ideas from the rest of the series. If you want to start your freelance writing business today, here’s what you need to do:
Be ready to spend some money. Yep, you can start your business for next to nothing. But the more you can invest, in the above components and in things like marketing and equipment, the faster your business is likely to grow.
I’ve said it before: writing is a skill that can be learned. You don’t have to be naturally gifted to have a successful freelance writing business. You just need to have the desire, some know-how and be able to put those things to use in an efficient way. These six steps are the best way I can think of to get started on that path to a successful freelance writing business.
Happy new year to my freelance writing friends, old and new. I trust the holidays have found you well, and wish you success in 2009.
