Full-Time Freelance Writing for 8 Months: Some Thoughts to Share to Starting Freelancers

Hi. I've been freelancing full-time for the past 8 months so it's been quite a while since I last wrote for hubpages.

But as a newbie, fellow hubbers here helped me indirectly by providing useful advice on where to write (elance.com); what mistakes to avoid (check out pgrundy's hub); SEO and keyword search (MarketingMerge), Shailini's hubs on stock photography, and other online marketing hubs.

So here is my simple way of giving back to the hubpages community by sharing to the next batch of newbie freelancers what I've learned so far:

1) Keep on updating yourself with the trends for CONTENT & MARKETABLE SKILLS

Instead of posting the general "article writing" in your list of skills, be specific about what topics you are fluent in such as real estate articles, finance, wellness & health articles, technology, green tech and etc.

And yes, some topics are more relevant to people who pay for your writing at this time. Not difficult to guess that it's real estate, finance, and marketing (right now its specifically social media marketing or how to market in facebook, twitter and so forth). It helps to be well-read on these topics.

One tip is to set-up accounts in your e-mail for alerts on this topic. I have a folder for each topic, so I can browse them easily. Don't need to wait to close bids to start reading on specific subject areas you want to build an expertise in.

2) Build Marketable Skills

In the first post I mentioned you have "to know" what skills are marketable. Well next, you have to have a plan on "how to learn these skills" or "build up your capabilities".

I started with just freelance writing. And like what we all know, there are a lot of writers out there and hundreds are "good enough" for many clients. Many can string sentences in an acceptable way. I decided to learn more about specific topics so I can write better on them. But that is not enough. You need to build an expertise on niche categories of writing: letter writing, grant writing, direct mail marketing, e-mail marketing, and etc.

You need to be realistic and build expertise on a category you are naturally keen on and not just chase the money. Can't really spend time on something you don't enjoy even if there is money in it! (Heck, years ago I bought books in e-commerce site programming because I knew that is where the money is...but since I couldn't stand reading it for more than 30 mins.....those expensive books were wasted.

***One lucrative skill to learn right now is social media marketing. I just noticed their rates are higher than freelance writing rates. So if you are already active in the social media sites, why not start learning more about marketing in facebook or twitter?

***of course the classic top earning writing skill is in comedy writing. This type of writing can be very local, generational, or even global. Is cost significant here? Should Seth McFarlane or Tina Fey get worried about more affordable 3rd world writers? It would be impossible for writing like George Carlin's to be outsourced.

3) Build Your Own Job Description

When I was working for big companies, my job description was just handed to me. It was what the company needed and whether or not it was balance (mix of creativity and operational tasks) did not really concern the HR manager.

As a freelance writer however, you have the control to give yourself a more balance workload. So remember to plan your bids per month. I know you cannot survive by just bidding on projects you are passionate about. But don't bid on too many "grunge work" or things which you can easily do ( usually bulk writing projects) and get paid for. This can dull your brain and decrease your energy level...and even get you started feeling low... or feeling like a mediocre writer...

5) Be Careful About Selecting Clients

In the e-lance blog, some new providers have posted about clients being extremely rude to them and requesting for several re-writes or blackmailing them that if they do not agree to doing additional work, they will give them a low feedback.

Newbies cannot really afford to make mistakes in choosing clients because just one negative feedback will be a large percentage of their rating. So BEFORE PLACING THAT BID, review the history of the buyer and the feedback given to him or her by other providers.

And alarm bells should be raised if you see projects that have been awarded but no $ purchase amounts are displayed in the buyers info.

Also only do work that is in ESCROW to prevent getting unpaid. Don't accept offers of paypal payments outside the system if you decide to work for elance because it is prohibited until you have been with them for a year.

Be careful about getting jobs in Craig's list or other sites where there is no escrow payment system (well for the Manila craiglist site anyway, there are more scammers in craig list writing ads than the real deal).

4) Don't Limit Yourself, Take Risks to Grow (cliche? but many get comfortable bidding on the same type of projects)

You may have started your freelance career with freelance writing because you have done a lot of writing in your previous offline work. But you know what, you can also freelance for other jobs too like Sales and Marketing, Research, Sales Lead Generation and etc.

Just try them out! Review the job description carefully and if you can do it (just do some research and learn more about it), bid on them if they interest you. Price yourself competitively during the first projects and believe me....in a few months, you would have built a good portfolio in another freelance category.

I read somewhere that you need to continually challenge yourself. Get jobs that you can learn something new from or are just moderately beyond your current level of skill. (But not too challenging that you get overwhelmed.)

6.) For Writers from Developing Countries (like me!)

Please don't put yourself under slave work conditions by working for academic writing sites (local or EU and US sites) or writing essays for college students. As a newbie, who did not know yet about legitimate online writing jobs and who got invited by a friend to try writing online, I thought those kinds of work were the only writing jobs available for "non-native english speakers".

Heck, they pay you only 50% of what they charge their clients. And if a client complains or cancels you PAY them twice the rate of the payment you would have gotten if you completed the project. Just check out forums discussing the particular academic site (just type the academic writing site and forums or scam alerts), these are the common complaints cited.

And don't try to find work in local forums. Unfortunately, you get jobs that are 2x or 3x outsourced and thus get SLAVE WAGE RATES or $1-$2 or just 10% of how much they are selling the article (of original 2-3 hours well-researched 500-600 word article jobs. Real heart breaking. But maybe somebody really needed some money fast, so they accepted those jobs. But no writer can survive for a long-time with those rates and will just get burnt-out and learn to hate writing.

If you are not convinced yet about the soundness of saying no to slave rates, when you comp break downs and you need to get your computer or laptop fixed by a technician---they will teach you about RESPECTING YOUR JOB AND TIME.

The community itself is steadfast in not lowering their rates and making sure they get paid for "every" work they do. They get paid for just opening and diagnosing your computer without starting repair yet. I started thinking differently about my rates when I paid a technician 5 hours worth of my work for just 40 minutes of his work. Real eye opener!!!

7) Respect and Communicate Well with Your Client (Professionalism)

Your clients will be mostly SMEs and entrepreneurs. This means they are invested in making their businesses succeed, exposed to huge risks and pressure and overworked too.

So take time to make sure you understand their requirements and communicate with them politely. Respect their deadlines. When you are doing the project, think of ways to make sure the client will meet his objectives: whether targetting new clients, getting more pageviews and etc.

Acknowledge your mistakes right away to your client also. I admit I made some mistakes in the past, but my clients dealt with me fairly.

8) Be Realistic

For somebody who is in her 30s, I still get too imaginative at times and get over-optimistic.So learn to reign in your enthusiasm and only bid on the projects you can realistically manage. It's not worth it to project high revenues and at the end of the month, have a disappointed client.

9) Learn to Say No (For Yourself and Your Client)

Some clients will be happy working with you that they will offer you projects even if it's already outside your expertise already. If you cannot deliver the work at a high quality, learn to say no to them. This will preserve your relationship with your client over the long-term, because you have their interest at heart. You want them to get the best provider for each job. Some jobs, you are the best provider, but there are some in which your client will be better served by other providers.

10) Take Care of Yourself

Hey don't forget to get up every hour and stretch. Have a set schedule for running or exercising and playing with your dog. Oh for those with families--- spend quality time with them. Nobody will renew and refresh you like your family and friends can. (Yup, gulping readbull, Redbull I mean and those multivitamins just won't do.)

Always schedule a time to meet your friends outside for coffee, drinks, some shopping time, and movies. Watch those comedies and laugh out your heart films. For those single gals...yeah..you need to go on dates...hahaha...Almost forgot about going out for a couple of months and I turned into a zombie.

So believe and respect your freelance writing work and spend time with your online writing community too---like hubpages.

All in all, what I just wanted to say is: "Freelance writing is not a get rich quick scheme nor an easy job" but for many of us who

• enjoy writing;
• like teaching outside of the classroom;
• have chosen to make a living providing services to entrepreneurs around the world (rather than large, multinational corporations);
• find fulfillment creating and learning to tell stories at our own time---freelance work gives us opportunities to earn money while.... 

....in the process of further learning about our talents, rediscovering our dreams, and designing our own lives. So I wish all freelancers the best of luck--- wherever or whatever level you are!