Freelance Writing

I just added three very funny graphics on what it means to be a writer at my Pinterest account. I invite you to "follow me" (or whatever the Pinterest vernacular is) at http://pinterest.com/allenacat/ to see them. Very funny stuff- good way to start a Monday.

Dearest readers,

Brace yourselves.

Following is my report on freelance writing job searching January 1-February 11 (today). It's not pretty.

I have three regular customers right now: a regional magazine for which I'm the managing editor, this site, and a nonprofit communications agency that sends me a couple hours of media work and translation per week.

The regional magazine is triennial, meaning I'm paid only 3x per year. It's a nice amount, but I won't see it until June. This site, About.com, pays a decent wage, but monthly. My media/political client pays every other week, so that's nice, but it's only a few hours.

So, my income is nicely rounded out by one-off clients, such as independent authors needing one last proofread, or publishers who need online content in volume, or websites who want their pages translated into Spanish. I find these people through Craigslist (I know, gasp, BUT I've seen some decent listing on CL lately!), MediaBistro and LinkedIn.  I keep some excellent records  of this part of my search to share with you. Take a look:

• Applied to 125 projects (in a month and a half, that's about 3 per day, or 1.25 hours as I have template resumes and covers saved)
• Got positive responses from 14 projects (11% success rate, not bad but...)
• Of those 14 that expressed an interest, I had to provide more info or submit a sample to 6 of them that I am still waiting to hear from.
• Of those 14 that expressed an interest, I turned down 4 of them due to budget (ie they didn't offer enough and would not negotiate).
• Of those 14 applied to, I got a contract for four of them. So that's a more accurate "success" rate of 3%.
• But wait, there's more. One of them lost funding right after we signed a contract. So, I'm now down to 3, or or 2% success rate.
• However, are things really so dire? Those 3 jobs will net me about $12,000 between January and May, in addition to my regular gigs.

So, what do you think? 125 applications, 3 jobs. But $12K in receipts. Is searching for freelance writing jobs worth it?

Note: There's a whole 'nother side to my job search/income equation. I also spend about an hour per day marketing via word of mouth, approaching people and companies that I want to work for, and about 3 hours per week pitching magazine articles.

How about clients who are just plain rude and condescending? Clients who make you jump through hoops and waste your work hours, then reveal that they pay pennies? How about clients who put you through free samples and tests, but don't send feedback, or answer with a form letter?

As your Guide to Freelance Writing, I see it as my responsibility to lead you through some of these hoops. Much of your emails, comments and user-generated answers seem to point to a resounding YES- but, let me know:

Would you like me to blog or post in the forum (or both) when I run into these types of clients? Is it helpful to you at all?

I was just poking around on Idealist, and remembered that's where I found one of my best clients.

This nonprofit was hiring for a (full time) media position that spoke to me, specifically looking for someone in my freelance writing niche (Latino interests/Immigration Reform). The application deadline was one day past, but my excitement was overwhelming. So I wrote to the director and asked if he'd take my credentials into consideration, despite the deadline.

He took a couple days to say Yes, and in that time I reconsidered. Even though the work was in an area about which I am very, very passionate, I had (have) no interest in working full time nor outside my home. Freelancing just works for me and my family, and I told him that much.

But, he had looked at my website (dearest new freelancers, please build yourself a website!), and expressed an interest in possibly hiring me for contractual work. The nonprofit was quite adept and used to working with freelancers/consultants.

So, we met for coffee, and the rest is history. I've been with them since October, and they send me about 5 hours of work per week (that's a quarter of my time), at a very decent, solid hourly rate. I write about subject matter that is important to me, the words flow easily because I can get behind them, and I feel like I'm actually making a positive difference in the world with my work.

Based on this, I would say Idealist is a great place to look for freelance writing jobs!

What about you? Where did you find your best client?

(PS- We freelance writers disparage Craigslist a lot, but both PC World and National Geographic used Craigslist to find writers in the past week)

We've talked about freelance writing job clients asking for free samples several times. There are several annoyances to this, but I want to talk about something new here.

I recently did a free sample of translation (another service my company offers). I don't know why I did. I should not have. But it was a big name client, and I wanted the job.

Today I got a form letter that the sample wasn't up to par (which is funny, as I had my cousin, who lives in my house and is a native speaker of the target language, vet it).

That's it. Just "not up to par."

Now, I gave that company two hours of my time. Without complaint. For free. I think they owe me just a little bit more feedback than one sentence, don't you think? And so, I told them so.

Maybe this is an idea for all those free samples we're being asked for. Maybe we say "Okay- but--"

But:

• It has to be less than 45 minutes (or your choice) of our time
• If you don't choose me for your project, you tell me why
• If you don't choose me for your project, I keep all copyrights

Maybe if they hear "Okay, but-" enough times, they'll get the idea. Maybe if we all email them and demand more feedback, they'll get the idea.

And one more bonus: any feedback you get on your writing has value. I don't know if the feedback I'll get from this lost client will be worth my two hours. but it will be better than the ZERO VALUE they asked me to accept.

Last week, I wrote Secrets Writers Should Know About Pinterest, and I realized there are slightly different uses of the platform for freelancers. So, please, check out my second article on Pinterest: What Small Businesses and Freelancers Should Know About Pinterest.

Have you discovered Pinterest? All my friends are suddenly addicted. Check out my new article Pinterest Secrets for Writers. Oh, and if you managed to snag an invite at Pinterest, be sure to follow my writing boards here.

I say you're both (and so am I). See why here: Writing as Sales.

If you're wondering what all those 1099s in your mailbox are, be sure to check out this article: Freelance Tax By the Numbers

I've used my own words and writing to put together this quick little example on editing and word count. Hope it's helpful!