Business Tips for Writers| Part of the Freelance Writing Jobs Network

Is Your Freelance Marketing Message Clear?

Bob Younce — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:00:10 +0000

As someone whose freelance writing business relies on new media and nontraditional marketing channels, I’m fascinated by how local small businesses market themselves and how they grow. It’s interesting to me to see, for example, the local bakery grow from a simple little shop into a company that produces pies for every grocery store in a 100-mile radius. I think my fascination comes, in part, from the fact that the way I get my clients and grow my business is very different than a local marketing model.

What are you telling potential clients about your business?

At any rate, there is a local heating and cooling company about a mile and a half from my house. I pass this business every day. In my former life as an IT guru, I even did some side jobs for them and set up their network.

This business has the traditional light-up sign with removable lettering out front. For the past several weeks, this is the message that’s been on that sign in big black letters:

GROUND SOURCE

HEAT PUMPS

FREE ANALYSIS

Now, I’ll admit I know very little about the world of heating and air conditioning. I’m an educated man, but I’m afraid I can make very little sense from this message. I get that the business is willing to analyze my ground source heat pump for free, but I have no idea what a ground source heat pump is.

I’m not even sure there is such a thing as a ground source heat pump. Is it a device that sucks heat out of the very earth itself and uses that heat to warm your home? Some kind of geothermal device? Maybe. But as a consumer, I can see no benefit of the free analysis, based on the message on that sign. I haven’t called, and won’t call.

Components of a clear marketing message

There is another small business a few miles down the road. This one sells windows and doors. Their little lighted sign with the arrow on top says this:

FREE ENERGY EFFECIENCY ANALYSIS

TAX REBATE UP TO $1500

Now, apart from the fact that they misspelled “efficiency,” this message is effective. Why is it better than the other one? There are at least three reasons:

1. It’s understandable. There is no technical jargon I need to interpret.

2. It’s benefit-rich. It tells me why I should call – because I could save $1,500.

3. It’s relevant. We’re exactly a month away from the April 15th deadline, and while the tax rebate wouldn’t kick in until next year’s taxes, you better believe that taxes are on everyone’s mind right now.

So, when you’re trying to round up clients, think about your marketing message. Make sure it’s clear, relevant and benefit-rich. Ironically enough, telling a customer that your copy is “benefit-rich” probably won’t do much. Telling your customer that your copy will “increase their sales,” however, will.

A Lesson in Brand from McDonald’s

Bob Younce — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:07:15 +0000

Go into your local McDonald’s. Take a look around.

(If you’re like a lot of freelance writers, you’re already there taking advantage of the newly-free wireless provided by AT&T and McDonald’s. If not, well, you’ll have to take a look around next time you’re there.)

I want you to take a look at the walls, look at the signage, look at the menu. Look at the brochures, and at the product packaging.

How many times did you see the word “McDonald’s?”

You didn’t. You might see the occasional “mcdonalds.com” label on a drink cup, and you see a lot of big yellow m’s. But you don’t see “McDonald’s.”

Why is that, do you think?

I’m not positive, but I have a theory. Want to hear it? Of course you do, or you’d have stopped reading a while ago. Here it is:

McDonald’s product defines their brand, not the other way around.

If you see a McDonald’s chicken nugget, you know where it’s from. Same holds true for a Big Mac. If they have their way, it’ll soon be the same for the Mocha Frappe’, but they’re not quite there yet.

A freelance writing business can take a lesson from McDonald’s. Your product should be something that’s distinctly your own. It should be a quality product, something that your clients recognize. It doesn’t matter what name is on the shingle (I’ve operated under a few different brands in my freelance writing career). What matters is what’s inside the wrapper.

Business Realities for Freelance Writers

Bob Younce — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:00:52 +0000

When you first get started freelancing, it can be a world of flowers and unicorns. Someone’s actually paying you to sit at your kitchen table and do something you love! You feel like the cat that ate the canary. For some folks who’ve come into a freelance writing career after being laid off from their first career, it seems like a true Godsend.

Still, there are some stark realities you’re going to have to face, and fast. Here are some that tend to hit the hardest, and that you need to be ready to face:

If you don’t work, you don’t earn

That basic principle of sowing and reaping applies to your freelance writing business. If you don’t write, you don’t make any money. Some people start out with a client like Demand Studios or a blog network, and they do the math. They think they can make $40,000 or $50,000 a year. While that’s technically true, there still has to be enough work to do and you have to actually do it.

You don’t have a work-at-home job, you have a home business

A lot of folks start out in the freelance writing business with the “work-at-home” attitude. You need to disassociate yourself with that mindset. You don’t have an employer, you have clients. You don’t work at home, you have a home business. These distinctions are important on several levels, and I won’t get into all of that here. Suffice it to say that you’ll never grow your business if you don’t see it as a business in the first place.

Businesses have expenses

Every small business has expenses, including yours. You’re going to need to shell out some cash here and there. You’ll need a good computer, an Internet connection and some office supplies. You need to spend some money on marketing, or else you’ll never grow your client base. The old adage about spending money to make money is true. Even if you don’t have a lot of working capital to start with, as soon as gigs start coming in you need to be reinvesting some of your money.

Do You Have Perfect Pitch?

Bob Younce — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:00:34 +0000

While folks come into the freelance writing world through several different paths, the fact of the matter is that they often enter by either working for someone else, or through a relatively low-paying gig with a bigger firm. Yes, there are writing majors who jump into writing for print right out of college, but there are a lot more work-at-home moms who start with Demand Studios or someone similar.

Eventually, though, you get to the place where you want to earn more. To do that, you have to convince clients that your writing is worth more than what you’re currently getting paid. That means finding new clients and pitching.

The type of pitch will depend on the kind of writing you do. If you do web copy, your pitch is going to be very different from folks who want to do paid blogging. Still, there are some common characteristics of a good pitch:

Make it quick

You’ve probably heard about the “elevator pitch.” The concept is that you sell your service in the time it would take to ride the elevator. While chances are you need a little more time than that, you still want to keep your pitch short and right to the point.

Demonstrate, don’t hypothesize

If you believe your copywriting skills can improve a client’s business, say so. Use concrete examples. Show them how your writing has helped other clients. Use real numbers whenever possible.

Know your audience

Maybe you’ve been doing a lot of real estate writing lately, and you’ve set up appointments with a number of real estate agents in your area. When you get to those appointments, you don’t want to start talking about how you helped a client increase their ebook sales. You need to be relevant and interesting to your potential client.

Believe in the product

As anyone who’s ever done sales can tell you, believing in your product is usually a prerequisite to success. Your writing is a valuable commodity. Know that, if your pitch is successful, both you and your client win. You get a paycheck, and the client gets something to boost their business.

When a Client Needs Your Help

Bob Younce — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:00:05 +0000

I received a strange email from one of my freelance writing clients last weekend. Rather than trying to describe it to you, I’ll just copy and paste the whole thing here for you to read:

Hi,

How you doing? We made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced some days back, Unfortunately we got mugged at gun point last night! All cash, Credit card and phone were stolen, we got messed up in another country, stranded in London, fortunately passport was back in my hotel room. It was a bitter experience and i was hurt on my right hand, but would be fine. I am sending you this message cos i don’t want anyone to panic, we want you to keep it that way for now!

Our return flight leaves in a few hours but I’m having troubles sorting out the hotel bills, wondering if you could loan me some money to sort out the hotel bills and also take a cab to the airport about ($2000). I have been to the police and embassy here, but they aren’t helping issues, I have limited means of getting out of here, we canceled our cards already and made a police report, I won’t get a new card number till I get back home! So I really need your help.

You could wire whatever you can spare to my name and hotel address via Western union:

XXXX XXXXXXX (this was actually my client’s name)
272, Coriander Avenue, Docklands, E14 2AA ,
London United Kingdom

Get back to me with the details, would def refund it to you once we arrive! Hopefully tomorrow.

Needless to say, I ran down to my credit union, withdrew $2,000 and had it wired to London immediately. Right after I sent the Nigerian prince his $23,296.

Now, there were several things about this email that indicated it was a scam, not the least of which was that this client has always been extremely professional and would never have used the word “cos.” But, for the three and a half minutes I wondered if the email was real, it got me thinking about something:

What do you do when a freelance writing client needs your help?

I can conceive of a number of circumstances in which a client might need help. They might need to delay a payment, or they might need you to put a rush on a particular freelance writing job.

For me, if the client is a repeat client and they’ve been reliable, I think I’d be willing to help them out (within reason). No, I’m not going to wire $2,000 to London, but I might move their job up on my editorial calendar or work with them on terms. After all, more than one client has worked with me on deadlines or other concerns in the past, so why wouldn’t I?

What do you think? What are you willing to do when a client asks you for something?

When to Refuse Work

Bob Younce — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:00:46 +0000

A freelance writing business rises and falls on your willingness and ability to do work for clients. Turning down work is like turning down a paycheck. In the early days of your business, you’re likely to take just about any freelance writing job that comes your way. Yet, knowing which gigs to take and which gigs to let go is an important part of maturing as a freelance writer.

So, how do you know which jobs to turn down and which ones to work? There are, in my estimation, three good reasons to turn down a freelance writing job:

1. The Job Violates Your Ethical Code

Maybe it’s writing a sales page for a weight loss product that hasn’t been scientifically tested. Maybe it’s writing a political blog for the opposite party. Maybe it’s as simple as being asked to provide content that is so search-engine optimized that it’s not actually useful to the reader. Whatever it is, some gigs just go against our core beliefs. Drop those like a bad habit, and let someone else walk down that road.

2. The Job Doesn’t Pay Enough

It can be tempting, especially when you’re first starting out, to take any freelance writing job that comes along. Especially if you’re relying on your writing to provide for you and your family from day one. You might also feel like you should take any job that comes your way, even if the pay is low, rather than sitting around doing nothing.

The thing is this: in the long run, you’re better off taking that free time and spending it honing your craft or trying to break into new markets than you are working a low-paying job. Writing a $5 article today gives you $5. Spending an hour wooing some new clients will bring that amount back tenfold or more.

3. The Terms Aren’t Acceptable

I’ve been lucky enough to only have been ripped off by a client once, and it was for all of $40. That’s because I have always required either the full amount of a gig in escrow, or a 50% deposit. Some clients will want to pay you all at the end, or some will offer to pay you based on whether or not the copy you write gets them results. While this kind of work is fun to play around with, it won’t make you any reliable money or keep you in business in the long run. Make sure the client is willing to meet your terms. If not, you need to get out of the job, plain and simple.

I could add some other things – like refusing to do illegal work – but I think these three cover the big reasons to refuse work. Do you have any to add? When do you tell a client “no?”

Maximizing Your Sales Potential

Bob Younce — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:30 +0000

Love it or hate it (and it’s usually one or the other) a successful freelance writing business has to involve sales. You need to find clients who want to pay you to write if you’re going to stay in business.

Accordingly, you want to make as many sales as you can. That’s a given. But you may be going about it all the wrong way.

Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction when it comes to maximizing your sales potential:

Just do it. If you don’t get out there and try to sell, you won’t sell anything. Whether it’s submitting queries to magazines or wading through one of the online freelancer websites, you need to spend some time each week trying to get new clients.
Don’t get comfortable. When you have a large, steady client, the need to sell doesn’t seem as pressing. Recognize, however, that few clients last forever. Eventually, their business model changes, or they go out of business, or they may even hire someone else. If at all possible, no one client should make up more than 30 percent of your business.
Expand your market. When you’re first starting out, it’s easy to get hooked into one particular freelance writing niche. If you’ve only written online, try some magazine writing. If you’ve only done articles, try some blogging. I’m not saying you shouldn’t specialize, I’m just saying that you should at least test the waters in other types of writing.
Believe in yourself. The key to successful sales is a belief in the product. Recognize the true value your writing brings to your clients and it’ll be that much easier to bring in new ones.
Consider getting help. Sales just isn’t a strong suit for some folks. If you can work out the details, a salesperson or agent can be the most effective sales tool you can have.

How to Spend Your Tax Refund

Bob Younce — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:28:32 +0000

Now, let me start out by saying this: if your freelance writing business is making enough money, there’s a good chance you may not be getting too much back in your tax refund this year. In fact, freelance writing businesses that are really shakin’ are going to instead have to pay in taxes – not just right now, but once a quarter. We’ll get into that at a later date.

The reality is, though, that many freelance writers, especially those with children, find themselves in a bit of a “sweet spot” when it comes to taxes. They can expect a decent tax refund for one of two reasons:

1. They made enough money to fall into the “Earned Income Tax Credit” range, and/or

2. They have a spouse who makes regular payroll tax payments.

I’m Goin’ to Disneyland

One of the natural instincts people have when they come into a chunk of money is to treat themselves. You might decide to set your tax money aside for a family vacation during the summer, or a spring break cruise.

When I was growing up, I could always tell it was tax time because my dad would start a new home improvement project. Kitchen remodeling, a new carpet or a new vanity in the bathroom were all tangible outcomes of the tax refund.

You’re a Small Business Owner Now

As a freelance writer, you need to get into a different mode, now, however. You don’t get a weekly paycheck, which means you don’t pay taxes every week. You can’t guarantee your income, at least not as well as someone who’s under an employment contract somewhere else.

What all that means is you have to approach certain things differently. For you, a tax refund needs to be turned into an investment. You need to put it back into your business.

How to Spend Your Tax Refund

That can mean several things, but in my experience the places most in need of a cash infusion in a small freelance writing business are marketing and cash flow.

Marketing, of course, is how you promote your freelance writing business. It could encompass anything from business cards to hiring a blog designer to putting your business name into the yellow pages. How you spend your marketing dollar is up to you, of course, but just about any marketing efforts you make will have a monetary payoff.

Cash flow is another area freelance writing businesses need help with. You need to be able to pay yourself every month, no matter whether you’re in a feast or famine cycle. I am most comfortable with a savings that is equivalent to about six months of my business’ income (although my reserves are often far less than that). A sizable tax refund is a great way to help build that reserve.

So, what about you? Will you get a tax refund this year? If so, where will you spend it?

Prepare Your Family for Your Freelance Writing Business

Bob Younce — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:00:12 +0000

If you’re serious about your freelance writing business, you need to know that it’s going to take some serious changes to your life to be successful at it. Whether you’re coming into freelance writing from another career, or whether you’ve been a work-at-home mom or dad, it’s a whole different ballgame.

Not only are you going to need to make some adjustments, so is your family. To make the transition easier on everyone, here are some basic things you can do:

Talk with your family

Let them know what kinds of changes are coming. If freelance writing is, initially, going to reduce your income, let them know that they’re going to have to tighten their belts a bit. If it means schedule changes or if it means that daddy spends Saturday mornings in his office, they need to know that. Let the conversation be a positive thing, and encourage your children to ask questions.

Coordinate your family schedule

My wife and I like to sit down on Sunday nights and go over the week. We have a pretty good idea of what each day entails already, but it’s important to factor in special events. For example, Monday is voice lessons, Tuesday is grocery shopping, etc. By taking 15 minutes on Sunday to project the weekly schedule, you can save all sorts of frustration later.

Be a partner with your spouse

Even if your spouse isn’t involved directly in your business, they’re still your partner. Don’t try to go it alone. Ask your spouse to help pick up the slack here and there, and be upfront about what kinds of things you’ll need from him or her. Listen to your spouse, too, so that you can hear your spouse’s needs.

Make family time sacred

Schedule in regular family time. While the phrase “quality time” is overused, the reason it’s overused is because it’s a darn good idea. Making specific times in your schedule for your family helps them feel valued.

Find ways for your children to help

Your six year-old isn’t going to be writing web copy. I get that. But you might find ways your kids can be involved in your business. For example, we hired my 15 year-old to upload articles to a client’s website. The main thing here is to always double-check their work and to make them feel valued at the same time.

Do You Have Clients or Bosses?

Bob Younce — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:00:51 +0000

We talked last time about your business self-image. We talked about whether you see yourself as a business or as an employee, and why being a business is both preferable and more realistic. Today, I want to look at one part of that issue: how your business self-image affects the way you deal with customers.

When folks first get started freelance writing, they’re often just looking for a job. Look at the success of the Freelance Writing Jobs blog network in the search engines if you don’t believe me.

Now, I don’t object to the idea of freelance writing jobs. But, it’s important how we think about that last word: jobs. According to dictionary.com, there are several definitions of the word “job.” I’d like to focus on two of them:

1. a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.

2. a piece of work, esp. a specific task done as part of the routine of one’s occupation or for an agreed price.

Under the first definition, when someone pays you to write for them, you become an employee. They become a boss. Under the second definition, you’re still the boss. The person that pays you to write for them becomes a client.

So, why does it matter? Well, let’s think about it for a minute. When I worked in cubicle land, the boss was someone to be feared and loathed. He was the guy that would take the credit for your work in order to promote his own agenda, and the guy that would come down hard on you if he didn’t think your work was up to snuff. If you don’t get along with your boss, your job is going to be miserable.

The boss is also the guy that can put an end to your entire livelihood with a single call to the HR department.
In contrast, a client is someone who likes you. They appreciate your work so much that they want to pay you for it. They have high hopes for what your work will do for their business.

Sure, clients can be demanding, just like bosses. But if you don’t like a client, or if you don’t seem to mix well, you can go get another client. In addition, a client is one of many. Just because one client has it in for you doesn’t mean your entire livelihood has to be at stake.

The way you think about clients is different than the way you think about a boss, too. You appreciate a client’s willingness to pay you. You work hard to make sure the client is pleased so that they’ll keep hiring you. If you work hard to please a boss, it’s often because you’re just afraid of her.

So, get out of the mindset that says customers are your bosses. They’re not. They’re clients, and that’s a good thing. If you see them as your boss, you may be hurting yourself in the long run.