Do you ever have those days where your mind just won't co-operate with what needs to be written? I'm having an extraordinarily busy November, with so many orders and assignments that I should be insanely happy. I should be writing merrily all day, every day, getting through them all.
But today my mind won't co-operate.
Inspiration for ideas on those assignments and orders just isn't there. I've been staring at the keywords and job specifications, knowing what needs to be done and it's just....
Not happening.
In more than six years of doing this freelancing thing full time, I've never had a day like this before. Sure, I've taken days off where I just need a break. I've taken time off to recharge batteries.
But I've never seen a day where my mind refuses to come up with any logical sentence order to get even a part of an assignment started. Until now.
Have I burned out on writing about random topics and obscure niches that only my clients seem to find? Have I written one too many SEO articles about the same topic over and over and over until it feels like Groundhog Day?
Have I just hit a wall today and need to go do something else?
Those are probably all good questions - and I really did ask myself all of them this morning - until I actually figured out what the problem is.
You see, I really love my job. I love being a freelance writer and I love being self-employed. I love the freedom it gives me and I love earning money by doing what I love.
What I DON'T like is writing about things that don't inspire me. It's a grind and it's a chore. Sure, it pays the bills and it's what freelance writers do. I have no problem with that, but when it gets to the point that I'm writing nothing else except the things clients want done, it becomes tedious and boring.
This is my own fault.
I've said it before on this blog that freelance writers all have the freedom to create and shape their businesses however they want. It's my own fault that I let paid freelance work get in the way of my own creative writing pursuits and fun writing endeavors.
So...
Today I'm going to take my daughter to the beach. I'm not going to sit at the computer another minute longer while inspiration has deserted me anyway. When we get back from our adventures at the beach, I will work on something creative (maybe even get that pesky novel finished, edited and submitted - finally).
The assignments can wait until tomorrow.
:)
11/27/12
10/4/12
Starting Out as a Freelance Writer
I receive a lot of emails from freelance writers keen to learn more about earning money from freelance writing. Recently, I received an email from a reader saying that my blog posts are very helpful, but there's nothing on this blog about how to get started from scratch.
Silly me! I never even thought about that in all the posts I've put on this blog. Everything I've written about is either about finding new markets or finding new clients or finding ways to diversify your income or finding ways to be more productive with your writing or increasing your pay rate or setting up your business to weather any financial storm or...
Oh wait...
Those are all things that are still relevant and pertinent to beginners as well as seasoned pros. In fact, they're even more relevant for beginners, because they're easier to put into practice while you're still building your business and your client base.
So! What should you do if you're brand new to the whole freelance writing business thing and you want to get started? Here are some quick tips:
Don't Give Up Your Day Job
Yes, you read that right. Before I went full time with this whole writing thing, I spent months building up a solid buffer of savings from my regular full time job (I worked at a boring old bank back then, but I wrote part-time in whatever free time I could find).
I stayed working full time until my little part-time writing business began to take over every waking moment. At that point, it felt like I was working two full time jobs. I approached my old boss and told him I wanted to drop to part-time hours. He refused.
So I cheated. I called up an old colleague who had left on maternity leave. They wouldn't allow her to return on part-time hours - only full time. Between us, we were capable of working full time hours in the same job role each week. So, we approached the boss with this 'job-share' arrangement. We got our part-time hours. He got the full-time role covered as he wanted. He agreed.
Working part-time hours gave me the opportunity to write even more for my clients. It also still meant I had regular income coming in from my job, so I was fine financially. I was still steadily building up my savings for the day I would go full time.
Build Up Your Client Base
Spend your spare time building up a regular client base. Look for spare writing income sources. Apply to a few content mills. Yes, these are low paying, but they'll give you some experience in writing to a deadline and sticking to client specifications for assignments.
You might prefer to start loading articles for sale on Constant Content to see if you can increase your earnings this way.
Advertise your services on freelance writing sites, like Guru.com or Freelancer.com or register with Odesk.com. These aren't ideal places to work over the long term, but they're fine to make a start and hopefully meet some new clients.
Specialize
Think about what type of writing you really enjoy.
Some writers do nothing but write web content. Others write sales copy. Some write ebooks as ghost writers. Some write magazine articles. Some write marketing scripts for video sales copy.
I tend to write anything I can handle in my available time.
I know someone who earns good money writing about her travel adventures all over the world. She loves her job and she gets to see some amazing things in her travels.
I also know someone who seriously loves writing about dogs - everything about them. Their health. Training them. Finding toys and accessories for them. Dog psychology. Dog food. You name it - she specializes in this. After some time working with online writing, she started submitting her work to print magazines. These pay FAR higher rates than online work, by the way.
Personally, I love writing about finance and money and debt and anything related to economics. It's my own specialty and I also submit my work to various magazines around the world.
Diversify Your Income Sources
Never. Never. Never. NEVER let your freelance writing business get dependent on one single source of income. If you have a really big client who pays well every month - woo hoo to you! But don't allow that one single income stream ever get bigger than 50% of your total freelance writing income.
Work on different sources of income that are derived by different means of writing. By this, I mean if you focus on web content writing, think about writing short fiction stories or magazine articles or other forms of writing that don't leave you hanging on one style.
Think about ways to increase passive income through writing wherever you can. This includes royalties from ebook sales. It includes Adsense income from blogs or even from revenue-share sites (if you must...I really don't like revenue-share personally, but it's income). You might want to work on ways to use your writing talents to promote affiliate products. You could think about paid forum posting jobs to give you a break from writing articles.
There are plenty of things you can do to diversify your income. I've written about lots of them on this blog. Think about options that work best for you and then set your business up around what keeps you motivated.
Take the Plunge
When you have built up a bit of a savings buffer and you're at the point where your freelance business really does earn you enough money to survive on, it's time to quit your day job and go full time.
I personally took this leap three times. The first two times, I jumped too soon. I didn't have enough regular work. I didn't have enough savings to cover me during those quiet months. I didn't have enough clients to keep my income consistent. So I ended up going back to work.
The third time I tried, I did it the way I outlined above. I saved money. I wrote in my spare time. I learned to write different styles of writing in order to increase my service offerings to clients.
I kept submitting extra articles to Constant Content. I submitted articles to magazines. I write ebooks and reports and fiction novels and anything else I feel like writing.
The real key is to treat your freelance writing business like a full-time business enterprise. It's not a hobby. It's not something you do when you feel like getting out of bed. You really need to work at it.
You also have to have a plan to cover you for those times when orders go quiet. And they do. This is why the savings buffer is so important. This is why the income diversification matters so much.
So, I hope this gives you a bit of direction for your own fledgling freelance business.
Good luck!
:)
Silly me! I never even thought about that in all the posts I've put on this blog. Everything I've written about is either about finding new markets or finding new clients or finding ways to diversify your income or finding ways to be more productive with your writing or increasing your pay rate or setting up your business to weather any financial storm or...
Oh wait...
Those are all things that are still relevant and pertinent to beginners as well as seasoned pros. In fact, they're even more relevant for beginners, because they're easier to put into practice while you're still building your business and your client base.
So! What should you do if you're brand new to the whole freelance writing business thing and you want to get started? Here are some quick tips:
Don't Give Up Your Day Job
Yes, you read that right. Before I went full time with this whole writing thing, I spent months building up a solid buffer of savings from my regular full time job (I worked at a boring old bank back then, but I wrote part-time in whatever free time I could find).
I stayed working full time until my little part-time writing business began to take over every waking moment. At that point, it felt like I was working two full time jobs. I approached my old boss and told him I wanted to drop to part-time hours. He refused.
So I cheated. I called up an old colleague who had left on maternity leave. They wouldn't allow her to return on part-time hours - only full time. Between us, we were capable of working full time hours in the same job role each week. So, we approached the boss with this 'job-share' arrangement. We got our part-time hours. He got the full-time role covered as he wanted. He agreed.
Working part-time hours gave me the opportunity to write even more for my clients. It also still meant I had regular income coming in from my job, so I was fine financially. I was still steadily building up my savings for the day I would go full time.
Build Up Your Client Base
Spend your spare time building up a regular client base. Look for spare writing income sources. Apply to a few content mills. Yes, these are low paying, but they'll give you some experience in writing to a deadline and sticking to client specifications for assignments.
You might prefer to start loading articles for sale on Constant Content to see if you can increase your earnings this way.
Advertise your services on freelance writing sites, like Guru.com or Freelancer.com or register with Odesk.com. These aren't ideal places to work over the long term, but they're fine to make a start and hopefully meet some new clients.
Specialize
Think about what type of writing you really enjoy.
Some writers do nothing but write web content. Others write sales copy. Some write ebooks as ghost writers. Some write magazine articles. Some write marketing scripts for video sales copy.
I tend to write anything I can handle in my available time.
I know someone who earns good money writing about her travel adventures all over the world. She loves her job and she gets to see some amazing things in her travels.
I also know someone who seriously loves writing about dogs - everything about them. Their health. Training them. Finding toys and accessories for them. Dog psychology. Dog food. You name it - she specializes in this. After some time working with online writing, she started submitting her work to print magazines. These pay FAR higher rates than online work, by the way.
Personally, I love writing about finance and money and debt and anything related to economics. It's my own specialty and I also submit my work to various magazines around the world.
Diversify Your Income Sources
Never. Never. Never. NEVER let your freelance writing business get dependent on one single source of income. If you have a really big client who pays well every month - woo hoo to you! But don't allow that one single income stream ever get bigger than 50% of your total freelance writing income.
Work on different sources of income that are derived by different means of writing. By this, I mean if you focus on web content writing, think about writing short fiction stories or magazine articles or other forms of writing that don't leave you hanging on one style.
Think about ways to increase passive income through writing wherever you can. This includes royalties from ebook sales. It includes Adsense income from blogs or even from revenue-share sites (if you must...I really don't like revenue-share personally, but it's income). You might want to work on ways to use your writing talents to promote affiliate products. You could think about paid forum posting jobs to give you a break from writing articles.
There are plenty of things you can do to diversify your income. I've written about lots of them on this blog. Think about options that work best for you and then set your business up around what keeps you motivated.
Take the Plunge
When you have built up a bit of a savings buffer and you're at the point where your freelance business really does earn you enough money to survive on, it's time to quit your day job and go full time.
I personally took this leap three times. The first two times, I jumped too soon. I didn't have enough regular work. I didn't have enough savings to cover me during those quiet months. I didn't have enough clients to keep my income consistent. So I ended up going back to work.
The third time I tried, I did it the way I outlined above. I saved money. I wrote in my spare time. I learned to write different styles of writing in order to increase my service offerings to clients.
I kept submitting extra articles to Constant Content. I submitted articles to magazines. I write ebooks and reports and fiction novels and anything else I feel like writing.
The real key is to treat your freelance writing business like a full-time business enterprise. It's not a hobby. It's not something you do when you feel like getting out of bed. You really need to work at it.
You also have to have a plan to cover you for those times when orders go quiet. And they do. This is why the savings buffer is so important. This is why the income diversification matters so much.
So, I hope this gives you a bit of direction for your own fledgling freelance business.
Good luck!
:)
8/14/12
Wow - Productivity and Focus Equals Happiness
Well, it's been a few months since I actually had time to write anything on my poor, neglected blog, but that time wasn't wasted. I've been crazy-busy in the last few months, writing, planning and just making things work. I actually re-structured my entire freelance business from the ground up - and I've never been happier.
You see, for the past six or seven years I've accepted almost all freelance work assignments that have come my way. I have multiple private clients who order regularly and I have other sources of writing income that I focus on as well. This has been my routine the entire time I've been freelance writing full-time.
However, a few months ago I had a bit of an idea.
My logic was that I needed to find ways to actually enjoy what I was writing, without affecting my overall income in any way. Of course, that's easier said than done, right?
Here's what I eventually did:
Increase Writing Rates
My regular private clients are brilliant. I love them to bits. But sometimes they order the most random cr@p that really is quite boring or unappealing. I still write these things because I love my clients and they always pay me on time (which is why I keep them as regular clients!).
Yet, when the vast majority of my working day is filled up with these things it tends to get a little tedious. So I figured that I needed to increase my rates just a little. This allows me to earn the same money in a shorter amount of time.
Weed Out Bad Clients
I know it sounds backwards, but if you really want your freelance writing business to work for you, it's really important to be selective about the clients you work with. I had a couple of clients who demanded the most outrageous things to be done (at no extra charge) on top of regular assignments. At first, I would do these things because I needed the money. Then it occurred to me that those clients are taking advantage of my time and my skills for their own gains.
Rather than continue this, I re-wrote my freelancing contracts and asked them to accept the new terms. Those terms included actually charging those clients when they asked for "just another thousand words on the end of that report", or charging them when they asked me to "just write another 10 different titles for that sales page so I can split-test properly", or "just format that report for me with these fonts, these page borders, a few stock images and maybe a quick cover?"
If they want the extra effort, they can pay for my time. If they don't like it, they can find another writer.
Yes, I lost two clients this way. You know what? I don't miss them. I much prefer working with clients who respect my time and my writing.
Increase My Service Offerings
Usually I tend to write SEO web content, magazine articles, press releases and ebooks for my clients. These things have been enough to keep me busy (and well-paid) for years. However, I also realized I might be limiting myself.
So I increased my service offerings to include writing email autoresponder series, video marketing scripts, and sales copywriting.
Each of these things required some study and a lot of practice to get right. But I can now charge additional fees for those clients who want these additional services :)
Increase Passive Income
Once I'd figured out a way to keep my income stable by working just a little less each day, I sat down and filled that extra time with ways to build up my passive income a little more. Yes, I earn some income from Google Adsense. I earn some commissions from promoting affiliate products on a different blog I own. I also earn royalties from a few ebooks I wrote. These things are very handy, but they're never going to amount to a full time income.
So I focused on maximizing these wherever I could. That included adding a new ebook to my collection to help boost my royalties overall. It also included working a bit harder on marketing my sites to increase visitor numbers overall.
Phew.
When you put all these things together, it actually did make a big difference to the bottom line for my freelance writing business. I find I'm more productive, simply because I'm working more on things I truly enjoy. I kept all my good clients, so that keeps me happy. And I have a wider variety of things to write about, which keeps me from getting bored with writing the same old things day in and day out.
So - is it time for you to re-structure your own freelance writing business yet?
What are your thoughts?
You see, for the past six or seven years I've accepted almost all freelance work assignments that have come my way. I have multiple private clients who order regularly and I have other sources of writing income that I focus on as well. This has been my routine the entire time I've been freelance writing full-time.
However, a few months ago I had a bit of an idea.
My logic was that I needed to find ways to actually enjoy what I was writing, without affecting my overall income in any way. Of course, that's easier said than done, right?
Here's what I eventually did:
Increase Writing Rates
My regular private clients are brilliant. I love them to bits. But sometimes they order the most random cr@p that really is quite boring or unappealing. I still write these things because I love my clients and they always pay me on time (which is why I keep them as regular clients!).
Yet, when the vast majority of my working day is filled up with these things it tends to get a little tedious. So I figured that I needed to increase my rates just a little. This allows me to earn the same money in a shorter amount of time.
Weed Out Bad Clients
I know it sounds backwards, but if you really want your freelance writing business to work for you, it's really important to be selective about the clients you work with. I had a couple of clients who demanded the most outrageous things to be done (at no extra charge) on top of regular assignments. At first, I would do these things because I needed the money. Then it occurred to me that those clients are taking advantage of my time and my skills for their own gains.
Rather than continue this, I re-wrote my freelancing contracts and asked them to accept the new terms. Those terms included actually charging those clients when they asked for "just another thousand words on the end of that report", or charging them when they asked me to "just write another 10 different titles for that sales page so I can split-test properly", or "just format that report for me with these fonts, these page borders, a few stock images and maybe a quick cover?"
If they want the extra effort, they can pay for my time. If they don't like it, they can find another writer.
Yes, I lost two clients this way. You know what? I don't miss them. I much prefer working with clients who respect my time and my writing.
Increase My Service Offerings
Usually I tend to write SEO web content, magazine articles, press releases and ebooks for my clients. These things have been enough to keep me busy (and well-paid) for years. However, I also realized I might be limiting myself.
So I increased my service offerings to include writing email autoresponder series, video marketing scripts, and sales copywriting.
Each of these things required some study and a lot of practice to get right. But I can now charge additional fees for those clients who want these additional services :)
Increase Passive Income
Once I'd figured out a way to keep my income stable by working just a little less each day, I sat down and filled that extra time with ways to build up my passive income a little more. Yes, I earn some income from Google Adsense. I earn some commissions from promoting affiliate products on a different blog I own. I also earn royalties from a few ebooks I wrote. These things are very handy, but they're never going to amount to a full time income.
So I focused on maximizing these wherever I could. That included adding a new ebook to my collection to help boost my royalties overall. It also included working a bit harder on marketing my sites to increase visitor numbers overall.
Phew.
When you put all these things together, it actually did make a big difference to the bottom line for my freelance writing business. I find I'm more productive, simply because I'm working more on things I truly enjoy. I kept all my good clients, so that keeps me happy. And I have a wider variety of things to write about, which keeps me from getting bored with writing the same old things day in and day out.
So - is it time for you to re-structure your own freelance writing business yet?
What are your thoughts?
5/21/12
Protecting Your Freelance Income
I know I've posted a few times now about the importance of diversifying your client base. Unfortunately, I still see a lot of freelance writers struggle and lose their incomes completely because they fail to follow this simple advice. So I'll go over just why this is so important for every freelancer once more.
Understanding Your Freelance Writing Business
When you have a really good client who provides lots of steady, ongoing work for you, it can be a great feeling. You know you'll be busy and you know you're earning money.
While this might seem like the ideal situation, relying on just one primary client could actually set you up for failure.
You see, if that client stops ordering or goes quiet or decides to cut back the amount of work they need from you, your income suddenly dries up. This leaves you scrambling around searching for more work to replace the income you just lost.
This is the same thing that happens with employees. They become reliant on one source of income (their salary). If this stops, or they lose their job, or they're retrenched, their entire financial well-being also stops.
Don't let this happen to you. You're not an employee. You're a self-employed freelance business owner. Run your freelance enterprise just like you would run any other business.
Why Bother Working for More Than One Client?
Once again, I get asked frequently why freelancers should bother taking on extra work with content mills or smaller, irregular clients. After all, if that particular freelancer has a long term association going on with a really good-paying regular client, there's no point, right?
Think about this: Even if you only earn 10% of your total freelance income from a lower paying writing source each month, that's still an income. It's better than nothing at all - especially if your primary income drops off. Besides, if you have more time available you can boost that secondary source of income up until you find another big client to replace the one you lost.
Now imagine if you had two or three sources of income coming into your freelance business ASIDE from your main client. Even if you did lose that big source of income, you'd at least still have something to fall back on and your freelance business wouldn't die a painful death in the process.
Diversifying Your Freelance Business
Ideally, your biggest client or source of income should be under 50% of your total income. This can be really difficult for some freelance writers to do, but it absolutely needs to be done if you're serious about protecting your business income.
The key to any successful business is the ability to keep bringing in new sources of income. You might be quite happy writing for private clients, but always consider the option of submitting an article occasionally to a print magazine. They still need well-researched, well-written articles from freelance writers just like you, too!
Think about writing just one, boring little article at the end of every working day for a content mill somewhere. It might only earn you a measly $7 per article, but over 5 days, that's a $35 a week pay rise you didn't have yesterday. It won't be a big part of your income, but at least it's something to fall back on if you ever need to make money in a hurry.
If you don't want to write for 'those' types of sites, write that extra article at the end of every day anyway. Submit a few of those articles to a good marketplace, like Constant Content. You can set your own prices on these and you'll end up selling them eventually, so you still get paid anyway.
If you don't want to write for 'those' types of sites, write that extra article at the end of every day anyway. Submit a few of those articles to a good marketplace, like Constant Content. You can set your own prices on these and you'll end up selling them eventually, so you still get paid anyway.
Think of some ways you can use your writing skills to boost up your residual income (or passive income) from advertising revenues or affiliate sales or commissions or whatever. There are SO many ways your writing skills can really boost your income this way that it's worth looking into.
Consider how powerful royalties can be for your overall income. Royalties on book sales can go on for years - especially with digital e-book sales. Non-fiction and fiction books sell well, so look into something you really enjoy and maybe add this feather to your freelancing cap too.
No matter what you decide, your freelance business is still YOURS. Work out options that work for you and your schedule. Think about what you can do for your own business that will help diversify those income sources and then get to work!
You'll be glad you did if that big-income client ever vanishes on you...
Here are some related links that might help you:
5/1/12
Life Is Too Short...
So for those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know I've been quieter than usual lately. This is because I have gone through a messy relationship break up. My daughter was also injured recently and I've been caring for her, but most of all, I've been healing my own emotional wreck.
You see, I had a bit of an epiphany during that messy break up that life is just too short to spend it with the wrong person. I woke up one day and realized that I was in a relationship with someone who was totally wrong for me. Sure, we both liked the same type of movies and we both enjoyed the same type of food. But these are superficial things to have in common with someone.
We had nothing in common when it comes to life values or future goals.
I'm a creative person. I write for a living. My ex was a corporate slave, believing his job description and willingness to work based on someone else's schedule made him very important, even if it was in his own mind. Many employees simply don't understand the life of a self-employed person, so they make many false assumptions. This just isn't always compatible.
And so I ended it. Enough said.
Unfortunately, as a self-employed person, I don't get the luxury of taking sick leave to help me get enough time to work through those issues in peace on my own. So I kept working. I kept focusing on clients. I stuck to my schedules. I kept doing what I had to do to pay those bills. The ex took multiple weeks off work to wallow in his self-pity at being dumped.
So, what does a self-employed writer do when life keeps going on around them, relentlessly, with no recognition that there's an actual person behind the machine? That writer just keeps doing whatever's needed to keep the business running.
What does an employed corporate slave do when they're feeling a little under the weather? They take sick leave and enjoy some time off, whether they use it wisely or not.
What's the preferred option?
Personally, I'm very grateful for the constant distraction of having to work and keep up with orders and maintain a 'normal' working life, despite what's going on inside. This gave me the wake-up call I needed to tell me that life really DOES go on. It taught me that my own problems don't affect anyone else but me - and maybe my daughter, whose injury means she's at home more often lately.
Besides, I'm actually surprised at how much more productive I've been since I actively focused more on clients than on my other issues. It's really helped to bring the income up to a point where the daughter's medical bills aren't so scary any longer. And that can only be a good thing
:)
You see, I had a bit of an epiphany during that messy break up that life is just too short to spend it with the wrong person. I woke up one day and realized that I was in a relationship with someone who was totally wrong for me. Sure, we both liked the same type of movies and we both enjoyed the same type of food. But these are superficial things to have in common with someone.
We had nothing in common when it comes to life values or future goals.
I'm a creative person. I write for a living. My ex was a corporate slave, believing his job description and willingness to work based on someone else's schedule made him very important, even if it was in his own mind. Many employees simply don't understand the life of a self-employed person, so they make many false assumptions. This just isn't always compatible.
And so I ended it. Enough said.
Unfortunately, as a self-employed person, I don't get the luxury of taking sick leave to help me get enough time to work through those issues in peace on my own. So I kept working. I kept focusing on clients. I stuck to my schedules. I kept doing what I had to do to pay those bills. The ex took multiple weeks off work to wallow in his self-pity at being dumped.
So, what does a self-employed writer do when life keeps going on around them, relentlessly, with no recognition that there's an actual person behind the machine? That writer just keeps doing whatever's needed to keep the business running.
What does an employed corporate slave do when they're feeling a little under the weather? They take sick leave and enjoy some time off, whether they use it wisely or not.
What's the preferred option?
Personally, I'm very grateful for the constant distraction of having to work and keep up with orders and maintain a 'normal' working life, despite what's going on inside. This gave me the wake-up call I needed to tell me that life really DOES go on. It taught me that my own problems don't affect anyone else but me - and maybe my daughter, whose injury means she's at home more often lately.
Besides, I'm actually surprised at how much more productive I've been since I actively focused more on clients than on my other issues. It's really helped to bring the income up to a point where the daughter's medical bills aren't so scary any longer. And that can only be a good thing
:)
4/22/12
Goal Setting to Increase Productivity
It's been a little while since I posted anything, but it occurred to me today that I've been more productive in the past week than I have all year so far. Sure, I've been writing solidly every week for the past four months.
But in the last week I ended up with some serious medical bills to pay. My daughter broke her arm (she's fine!), but it wasn't a normal break. She needed minor surgery to put a pin into the bone in her wrist. Aside from being at the hospital and offline while she was there, I got the bill and nearly went into shock. I thought Medicare would cover all these things. Apparently not. The ambulance bill alone is higher than my mortgage payment :(
So I got home, settled my daughter for her recovery phase and sat down to write.
Not only did I need to write enough to cover my normal bills and expenses, but now I had to write extra to help cover the excess bills that have now come in. So I created a daily income goal and I didn't stop until I reached it. Every day. Including today. And it's Sunday.
I usually work to a daily dollar-tally. When I reach that daily amount, I know I'll have enough to cover bills and expenses. But I'd increased my daily goal to help put towards the new bills. This meant I had to stay up later and write longer, or find a way to work smarter.
I'd love to be able to say I just worked smarter - but I actually did both. I worked longer hours than usual, but I also learned to group together various articles/topics that were similar to each other that came in from various clients. As the topics are so much alike, I could continue writing the same theme without having to stop to research or look up different information. It just let me rehash what I'd already written from a different perspective.
e.g.
Topic: Debt Reduction
Article 1: Top 5 Debt Reduction Tips
Article 2: Common Debt Reduction Mistakes
Article 3: Speed up Debt Reduction Tactics
Article 4: Creating an Effective Debt Reduction Plan
Article 5: Why Debt Reduction Tips Aren't Working for You
You get the idea. Instead of writing just one and then moving onto the next assignment on my schedule, I grouped together those that sat in the same, or similar, niches and worked on them in batches.
When I was done with a particular batch, I would add one more on a random topic in that same niche and add it to Constant Content. This increases the number of articles I have for sale on that site, which also increased my sales coming in from that source as well.
Once that was loaded to the marketplace, I'd write just one more on the same topic, but from a different perspective. This one gets loaded to HubPages in an attempt to raise my Google Adsense income that little bit more.
Not only did this let me get far more done than I normally would, but it taught me that my OLD daily dollar-tally was probably set too low.
Especially since I'm aware that working this way really does add up to more income for me without much more effort in the long run :)
But in the last week I ended up with some serious medical bills to pay. My daughter broke her arm (she's fine!), but it wasn't a normal break. She needed minor surgery to put a pin into the bone in her wrist. Aside from being at the hospital and offline while she was there, I got the bill and nearly went into shock. I thought Medicare would cover all these things. Apparently not. The ambulance bill alone is higher than my mortgage payment :(
So I got home, settled my daughter for her recovery phase and sat down to write.
Not only did I need to write enough to cover my normal bills and expenses, but now I had to write extra to help cover the excess bills that have now come in. So I created a daily income goal and I didn't stop until I reached it. Every day. Including today. And it's Sunday.
I usually work to a daily dollar-tally. When I reach that daily amount, I know I'll have enough to cover bills and expenses. But I'd increased my daily goal to help put towards the new bills. This meant I had to stay up later and write longer, or find a way to work smarter.
I'd love to be able to say I just worked smarter - but I actually did both. I worked longer hours than usual, but I also learned to group together various articles/topics that were similar to each other that came in from various clients. As the topics are so much alike, I could continue writing the same theme without having to stop to research or look up different information. It just let me rehash what I'd already written from a different perspective.
e.g.
Topic: Debt Reduction
Article 1: Top 5 Debt Reduction Tips
Article 2: Common Debt Reduction Mistakes
Article 3: Speed up Debt Reduction Tactics
Article 4: Creating an Effective Debt Reduction Plan
Article 5: Why Debt Reduction Tips Aren't Working for You
You get the idea. Instead of writing just one and then moving onto the next assignment on my schedule, I grouped together those that sat in the same, or similar, niches and worked on them in batches.
When I was done with a particular batch, I would add one more on a random topic in that same niche and add it to Constant Content. This increases the number of articles I have for sale on that site, which also increased my sales coming in from that source as well.
Once that was loaded to the marketplace, I'd write just one more on the same topic, but from a different perspective. This one gets loaded to HubPages in an attempt to raise my Google Adsense income that little bit more.
Not only did this let me get far more done than I normally would, but it taught me that my OLD daily dollar-tally was probably set too low.
Especially since I'm aware that working this way really does add up to more income for me without much more effort in the long run :)
2/18/12
Unprofessional Freelance Writers and Bullshit Excuses People Use
As most of you know, I'm a full-time freelance writer. I don't pretend to write while I'm playing stupid games on Facebook. I don't accept work only to lie to clients about my reasons for not completing work. I definitely don't take work, ignore it until after the deadline has passed and then pass it off to any other writer who will take it, even though it's overdue because I don't feel like doing it. And I definitely don't borrow money from clients because I was too stupid to pay my own bills first, instead of buying stupid crap like guns or motor bikes or other stupid crap.
You see, when I write, I do it to earn money as an adult business owner. I assess how much I'm earning. I withhold the right amount of tax that needs to be paid and I always adhere to deadlines set by my clients.
Unfortunately, I got to witness one of my very best friends being taken advantage of by a complete amateur, pretending to be a freelance writer.
You see, this particular writer begged my friend to lend her money (more than $400) she hadn't even earned yet in order to pay her mortgage. My friend felt bad, as things had gone a little quiet on the work front, so she lent this amateur, pretend writer the money. She had apparently received some work from another source and so promised faithfully that it would all be paid back within the next week or two. That was seven months ago.
Yet, within 10 minutes of the loaned money clearing, this amateur writer immediately went camping with her creepy looking boyfriend. She bought a new motorcyle and bought a new gun. They bought a new pick up truck. She didn't pay her bills that she cried about being so urgent. These things are verified by screenshots of status updates on facebook over the same amount of time.
Then there's the big "story" about that writer buying her dream wedding dress from a store in Australia, but she had no way of paying off the amount owed as the exchange costs for sending US dollars to Australia were higher than she could afford. My friend offered to make those payments in Aussie dollars out of money owed after work was completed. Each week, the pretend writer would do a little bit of work and then ask my friend to make a payment in Aussie dollars to go towards paying off her dress (still without bothering to repay the first loan).
After a little while, the amateur writer decided she couldn't afford to keep paying off the dress, so she emailed the store and cancelled her order, asking for the money she's already paid to be returned.
But this isn't the same story she told my friend. No, she came out with an OUTRAGEOUS set of lies, crying and bleating about how the store was ripping her off and cancelling her contract for no reason. She moaned about having to lose her dream dress after all that's happened and they were being so mean to her for no reason. So my friend called the store, willing to try and help out. The store contract clearly stated payments were non-refundable. They also explained that the loser writer had tried to cancel her own order - not the other way around.
The store owner was professional, friendly and very helpful, actually. She said she'd tried hard to help this pathetic, lying writer who came up with a lame story about how she had lost her first wedding dress when the America store she was paying it off from "burned down". (yet, another lie!) So the Aussie store gave her a nice discount and tried to help her out from the US exchange costs with Australian dollars instead. And that's how their kindness was repaid by a pathetic lying sack of wastefulness.
Then there's the great story about really needing extra money and begging my friend to give her extra work. The work was given - time and again - only to find that the work sat there, untouched until deadline had passed and the amateur writer then tried to pass it over to any other writer on the team who would take it. At the same time as this, multiple status updates on Facebook appear about going camping or motorbike riding or shopping or hanging out on Pinterest or just being a general loser.
In the meantime, this same selfish, childish writer has decided to spend lots of money on other stupid bullshit - again bragged about on Facebook status updates at every opportunity. Now, I don't really care what she spends her own money on. But she's the one who moaned about needing extra work, got it, ignored it, didn't do it, and then complained about being broke, only to beg for more money later. That's just childish and seriously irresponsible.
Her response to my query to her on Facebook? She deleted me as a friend, blocked me and abused my kind-hearted friend as a result. I actually don't care about people who waste their lives sitting on Facebook all day, so that doesn't bother me one bit. But, can we say "grow up little girl"??
I seriously hope this young idiot grows up at some point in the future to realize the effect she's had on adult writer's lives - those who have tried to help her to their own detriment. One day, karma will bite - and she won't like it much.
Be warned. I'll help karma find you. Inconsiderate little girl.
You see, when I write, I do it to earn money as an adult business owner. I assess how much I'm earning. I withhold the right amount of tax that needs to be paid and I always adhere to deadlines set by my clients.
Unfortunately, I got to witness one of my very best friends being taken advantage of by a complete amateur, pretending to be a freelance writer.
You see, this particular writer begged my friend to lend her money (more than $400) she hadn't even earned yet in order to pay her mortgage. My friend felt bad, as things had gone a little quiet on the work front, so she lent this amateur, pretend writer the money. She had apparently received some work from another source and so promised faithfully that it would all be paid back within the next week or two. That was seven months ago.
Yet, within 10 minutes of the loaned money clearing, this amateur writer immediately went camping with her creepy looking boyfriend. She bought a new motorcyle and bought a new gun. They bought a new pick up truck. She didn't pay her bills that she cried about being so urgent. These things are verified by screenshots of status updates on facebook over the same amount of time.
Then there's the big "story" about that writer buying her dream wedding dress from a store in Australia, but she had no way of paying off the amount owed as the exchange costs for sending US dollars to Australia were higher than she could afford. My friend offered to make those payments in Aussie dollars out of money owed after work was completed. Each week, the pretend writer would do a little bit of work and then ask my friend to make a payment in Aussie dollars to go towards paying off her dress (still without bothering to repay the first loan).
After a little while, the amateur writer decided she couldn't afford to keep paying off the dress, so she emailed the store and cancelled her order, asking for the money she's already paid to be returned.
But this isn't the same story she told my friend. No, she came out with an OUTRAGEOUS set of lies, crying and bleating about how the store was ripping her off and cancelling her contract for no reason. She moaned about having to lose her dream dress after all that's happened and they were being so mean to her for no reason. So my friend called the store, willing to try and help out. The store contract clearly stated payments were non-refundable. They also explained that the loser writer had tried to cancel her own order - not the other way around.
The store owner was professional, friendly and very helpful, actually. She said she'd tried hard to help this pathetic, lying writer who came up with a lame story about how she had lost her first wedding dress when the America store she was paying it off from "burned down". (yet, another lie!) So the Aussie store gave her a nice discount and tried to help her out from the US exchange costs with Australian dollars instead. And that's how their kindness was repaid by a pathetic lying sack of wastefulness.
Then there's the great story about really needing extra money and begging my friend to give her extra work. The work was given - time and again - only to find that the work sat there, untouched until deadline had passed and the amateur writer then tried to pass it over to any other writer on the team who would take it. At the same time as this, multiple status updates on Facebook appear about going camping or motorbike riding or shopping or hanging out on Pinterest or just being a general loser.
In the meantime, this same selfish, childish writer has decided to spend lots of money on other stupid bullshit - again bragged about on Facebook status updates at every opportunity. Now, I don't really care what she spends her own money on. But she's the one who moaned about needing extra work, got it, ignored it, didn't do it, and then complained about being broke, only to beg for more money later. That's just childish and seriously irresponsible.
Her response to my query to her on Facebook? She deleted me as a friend, blocked me and abused my kind-hearted friend as a result. I actually don't care about people who waste their lives sitting on Facebook all day, so that doesn't bother me one bit. But, can we say "grow up little girl"??
I seriously hope this young idiot grows up at some point in the future to realize the effect she's had on adult writer's lives - those who have tried to help her to their own detriment. One day, karma will bite - and she won't like it much.
Be warned. I'll help karma find you. Inconsiderate little girl.
1/14/12
Paying Freelance Market: iWriter
Recently I received an email from a reader asking if iWriter was a good place to earn money writing articles. Personally, I had no idea how to respond, so I joined up and took a closer look at what iWriter has to offer. I thought I'd post my findings right here to help you all out.
No Approval Criteria to Become a Writer
Firstly, in order to become a writer with iWriter , you simply create an account. There is no approval criteria to go through. This means you could be absolutely anywhere in the world and your account will be opened. Go ahead and accept a job. Write the article. Wait for it to be approved (or not). Easy.
When You Begin...
When you first join iWriter , you start off as a 3-star rated writer, like everyone else. This means you are only eligible to take the 'standard' jobs until you receive some ratings from clients.
After you've earned more than 30 ratings and you have been rated with 4-stars or higher for a large percentage of them, you'll be able to accept the higher paying "premium" jobs. These are highlighted in yellow/green.
Writers with multiple five-star ratings will be eligible to accept even-higher paying "elite" jobs. These are highlighted in blue.
Pay Rate:
The pay rate at iWriter is dependent on the word count of the article, the star-rating of the writer, and the topics/keywords chosen by the client.
For a 500 word article, the pay rate is as follows:
Standard Writer: $2.63 US
Premium Writer: $4.05 US
Elite Writer: $6.48 US
Acceptance Rate
Before you pick up an article, be sure to check the 'rejection rate' of the buyer. If a buyer has a very high rejection rate, chances are that buyer is expecting a very high quality article, but only paying pennies for it. It also means that buyer may have a tendency to reject your submission, which means you won't get paid for it anyway.
My Verdict
As iWriter will accept international writers from India, Philippines, Malaysia, and pretty much every other non-native English speaking countries without even checking, I felt it only fair to list it here as a 'Paying Freelance Market' . However, the ultra-low pay rate, even for high-quality writers should really see iWriter moved to the "freelance markets to avoid" for those writers with any other freelance writing options available.
If you're just learning the ropes and want to get your feet wet in the freelance writing world, or if you struggle to find sites that will allow international writers, give iWriter a shot.
However, once you're past the beginner phase of your freelance writing career, get out and look for writing gigs that pay you more than pennies for your efforts.
Good Luck
No Approval Criteria to Become a Writer
Firstly, in order to become a writer with iWriter , you simply create an account. There is no approval criteria to go through. This means you could be absolutely anywhere in the world and your account will be opened. Go ahead and accept a job. Write the article. Wait for it to be approved (or not). Easy.
When You Begin...
When you first join iWriter , you start off as a 3-star rated writer, like everyone else. This means you are only eligible to take the 'standard' jobs until you receive some ratings from clients.
After you've earned more than 30 ratings and you have been rated with 4-stars or higher for a large percentage of them, you'll be able to accept the higher paying "premium" jobs. These are highlighted in yellow/green.
Writers with multiple five-star ratings will be eligible to accept even-higher paying "elite" jobs. These are highlighted in blue.
Pay Rate:
The pay rate at iWriter is dependent on the word count of the article, the star-rating of the writer, and the topics/keywords chosen by the client.
For a 500 word article, the pay rate is as follows:
Standard Writer: $2.63 US
Premium Writer: $4.05 US
Elite Writer: $6.48 US
Acceptance Rate
Before you pick up an article, be sure to check the 'rejection rate' of the buyer. If a buyer has a very high rejection rate, chances are that buyer is expecting a very high quality article, but only paying pennies for it. It also means that buyer may have a tendency to reject your submission, which means you won't get paid for it anyway.
My Verdict
As iWriter will accept international writers from India, Philippines, Malaysia, and pretty much every other non-native English speaking countries without even checking, I felt it only fair to list it here as a 'Paying Freelance Market' . However, the ultra-low pay rate, even for high-quality writers should really see iWriter moved to the "freelance markets to avoid" for those writers with any other freelance writing options available.
If you're just learning the ropes and want to get your feet wet in the freelance writing world, or if you struggle to find sites that will allow international writers, give iWriter a shot.
However, once you're past the beginner phase of your freelance writing career, get out and look for writing gigs that pay you more than pennies for your efforts.
Good Luck
12/30/11
Paying Tax As an International Freelance Writer
Here's the question: If you live in one country and you're earning money from another country, where do you pay tax?
I know we've covered this topic before and you can even find the original post right here (http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2009/03/international-freelance-writing-and.html). Unfortunately, I still receive a LOT of emails asking me to answer this question again.
So let's get into some detail. Please understand that I'm going to get just a little bit repetitive here, but there's a reason for it. You see, the original example I gave in the post noted above didn't seem to make sense to people. For this reason, I'm going to try hard to make it as clear as I possibly can.
Before we get into it, I need to point out that as a freelance writer, you are self-employed.
You may get lots of work from one company, or you may have lots of clients paying you in various currencies, but your tax bill is not their concern. It's yours. You're a business owner, selling your products to clients.
With that said, let's take a look at an example of one international writer working for various international companies.
Example One:
Let's say you live in Australia and you want to work for a UK company earning UK pounds. You also have another client who is in the USA. Does this mean you have to pay tax in the UK and in the USA?
Easy answer: NO. You do not.
Detailed answer: If you live in Australia and you're earning UK pounds and US dollars, then chances are you need to convert those currencies over to regular old Australian dollars before you can spend them. This means you need to write down or keep track of the number of Australian dollars those different currencies added up to. This amount, in AUD, is the amount you report to the Australian Tax Office.
Now....
No matter WHERE you live in the world and no matter WHAT currency you earned from an international company, you can easily convert that to your own local dollars so you can spend it. This local-dollar amount is the amount your OWN taxation department, right there at home, wants to know about.
I'll explain why:
Exporting 101
When you write something, you're creating a product. That product was created right on your own computer. Let's say you live in America. This means your product was created right there in America.
If you live in India, your product was created right there in India. If you live in England, you have an English-made product. If you're in Singapore or Malaysia or Canada or South Africa or New Zealand or Zimbabwe, you still created that product wherever it is you live. If you live on Mars, you are the proud owner of a Martian product. You get the point, right?
Okay. So YOUR product was created wherever it is you work from and it's a product of the country in which you live.
Then you went and sold it to a foreign company and they paid you with foreign currency. This is called exporting. You made a product locally and you sold it overseas. Cool, huh?
But the money you earned was brought back to your local workplace and spent locally. This means you would have exchanged it over to your local currency so you could spend it. The amount of money you exchanged DOES have a local-currency value. This is the amount you report to your own local taxation department.
You don't need to report it to the country from which that foreign currency derived. You don't need to pay tax in that foreign country, because you're not earning it from there. You're simply an international exporter, selling your written products to buyers who don't live where you live.
Now It Gets Tricky
When you exchange a foreign currency amount over to your local currency, you'll find that the exchange rate is not the same from day to day. This is important to remember. As the values fluctuate so often, you simply can't expect to write down all the bits you earned internationally at the end of the tax year and get it right.
You really need to do it on the same day you exchange it. Write it down. Enter it into your spreadsheet or accounting software immediately. But don't just write down the amount of local money you received. Your taxation department will need more information than this.
You see, if you earned 100 British Pounds for your writing and you converted that to US dollars, you would have received $154.13 US dollars
(correct as of 30 December 2011 = 1GBP=1.541USD)
Your taxation department will want to know that you have records documenting how much you earned in foreign amounts, but also how much you declared in your LOCAL currency for tax purposes.
It seems like a pain to do this, but many tax offices around the world will offer some very cool incentives to people and companies that export goods around the world. I'm not going to go into that here, as I'm in Australia and I only know lots about our own cool incentives. Your accountant can tell you more about your own cool exporting benefits.
Example Two:
Let's make this example a little trickier than the first. Let's assume I'm an Australian and I'm taking a working holiday in Thailand, where I need to spend Thai Baht in order to eat and pay for cool day trips to visit tigers and elephants, or to buy umbrella drinks from the pool bar. But my client pays me in UK pounds. Then another client places an order and pays me in US dollars, but I'm still partying my way around Phuket, writing in style from my resort balcony only when I'm not in the pool.
Now where do I pay tax?
1) In Thailand? That's where I was when I created the product.
2) In England? That's where the UK pounds came from.
3) In America? That's where the US dollars cam from.
4) In Australia? That's where my exporting business is registered and where I am a permanent resident.
The answer is number 4: where my business is registered and where I live normally.
No matter which country you change it to, no matter where you live, and no matter what currency you need to spend to pay your bills - if you earn a foreign currency and you convert it over to your own money at home, you pay tax right there at home in your own currency amounts.
Easy, huh?
I hope this clears up the international tax questions a bit more for you all :)
12/3/11
Text Broker is Now Accepting International Writers
A while back, I did mention TextBroker as a paying freelance market for US writers (the original post is here: http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2009/01/textbroker-paying-freelance-market.html)
However, yesterday I received an email letting me know that TextBroker is opening a European branch to allow native-English speaking writers from the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia to apply. The UK Text Broker site is here: http://www.textbroker.co.uk
Now, being a cheeky Australian, I actually managed to join up with the US-version of Text Broker for a short time. They INSIST that writers supply a W-9 form in order to continue writing for them. I obviously can't do this, as a W-9 states that I'm an American citizen paying tax in the US. I'm not. I'm a sun-burned Aussie paying tax to the good ol' Australian Tax Office.
However, I joined up and was immediately issued a 'rating 3'. Apparently everyone begins at rating 3 until they've written a few articles for clients to prove their writing levels. On the US site, it took me a week to get moved up to level 4. I reached the $200 threshold (and thus couldn't write any more without a W-9) before I could be rated again.
Oops ;)
Once your articles have been rated by the clients and checked by TextBroker staff, you're either moved up to a rating of 4 or 5 stars - or dropped down to a rating of 1 or 2 stars - or you might even stay where you are at 3 stars.
Either way, your rating is determined by the quality of writing you submit.
With the US TextBroker site, your pay rate is determined by your star-rating. The UK-version of TextBroker is exactly the same.
Pay for the UK site will be in Euros via Paypal. You will need to have a balance of €10 or higher to be eligible for pay out. Payments are made on the 6th of each month.
Pay Rates with TextBroker UK
The pay rates for a regular 500 word article are as follows:
2 stars: €3.50 (approx $4.70 USD)
3 stars: €4.50 (approx $6.04 USD)
4 stars: €6.00 (approx $8.05 USD)
5 stars: €20.00 (approx $26.88 USD)
These pay rates equate to the following amounts per word:
2 stars: 0.7 cents Euro
3 stars: 0.9 cents Euro
4 stars: 1.2 cents Euro
5 stars: 4 cents Euro
So - if you're in the UK, Europe, Canada or Australia and you want to join TextBroker, visit http://www.textbroker.co.uk. They're accepting writer applications now before opening up the site to clients, but work is expected to start coming through in the next week or so.
Good luck!
Edit: As a side-note, I wonder if their editors will make allowances for the differences in acceptable punctuation and grammar between UK English and the heavily-modified US-English styles? Again, I'll update this post when I learn more.
However, yesterday I received an email letting me know that TextBroker is opening a European branch to allow native-English speaking writers from the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia to apply. The UK Text Broker site is here: http://www.textbroker.co.uk
Now, being a cheeky Australian, I actually managed to join up with the US-version of Text Broker for a short time. They INSIST that writers supply a W-9 form in order to continue writing for them. I obviously can't do this, as a W-9 states that I'm an American citizen paying tax in the US. I'm not. I'm a sun-burned Aussie paying tax to the good ol' Australian Tax Office.
However, I joined up and was immediately issued a 'rating 3'. Apparently everyone begins at rating 3 until they've written a few articles for clients to prove their writing levels. On the US site, it took me a week to get moved up to level 4. I reached the $200 threshold (and thus couldn't write any more without a W-9) before I could be rated again.
Oops ;)
Once your articles have been rated by the clients and checked by TextBroker staff, you're either moved up to a rating of 4 or 5 stars - or dropped down to a rating of 1 or 2 stars - or you might even stay where you are at 3 stars.
Either way, your rating is determined by the quality of writing you submit.
With the US TextBroker site, your pay rate is determined by your star-rating. The UK-version of TextBroker is exactly the same.
Pay for the UK site will be in Euros via Paypal. You will need to have a balance of €10 or higher to be eligible for pay out. Payments are made on the 6th of each month.
Pay Rates with TextBroker UK
The pay rates for a regular 500 word article are as follows:
2 stars: €3.50 (approx $4.70 USD)
3 stars: €4.50 (approx $6.04 USD)
4 stars: €6.00 (approx $8.05 USD)
5 stars: €20.00 (approx $26.88 USD)
These pay rates equate to the following amounts per word:
2 stars: 0.7 cents Euro
3 stars: 0.9 cents Euro
4 stars: 1.2 cents Euro
5 stars: 4 cents Euro
So - if you're in the UK, Europe, Canada or Australia and you want to join TextBroker, visit http://www.textbroker.co.uk. They're accepting writer applications now before opening up the site to clients, but work is expected to start coming through in the next week or so.
Good luck!
Edit: As a side-note, I wonder if their editors will make allowances for the differences in acceptable punctuation and grammar between UK English and the heavily-modified US-English styles? Again, I'll update this post when I learn more.
11/2/11
Facebook: Social Networking Business Tool or Freelance Career Killer
And so, I have days and even weeks when I forget to log into my account at all.
So, why is it that so many writers who really need to be working hard to make the money they need to pay bills or mortgage or other expenses spend hours and hours per day sitting on Facebook chatting with friends or playing time-wasting games?
Is this a secret way of saying they don't really feel like being a professional writer today?
Or is it a complete lack of respect for the responsibility of the self-employed lifestyle they chose when they decided they didn't want to work a 9-to-5 job where they had no Facebook access at all?
I see it a lot: writers who complain that they can't find enough work or can't earn enough to pay the bills. They stress, whine and complain about staying up really late at night to catch up with overdue workloads. They leave paying orders they have accepted sitting unwritten for days and days and days....
And then you see those same writers playing or chatting on Facebook for three hours at a stretch, a couple of times a day. You shake your head in disbelief when you see writers who have submitted 88,000 words to a non-paying fan-fiction website just for kicks, even though I'm the lucky writer who gets to complete their actual PAID overdue work they didn't bother to complete - even though they moan that they can't afford to pay rent.
I don't know about you, but when I'm working, I like to .... you know.... WORK!
This means I'll sort through my schedule. I'll plan what I'm going to write for the day. I'll shut down my email program, turn off Skype, take my phone off the hook, crank up the stereo and sit my butt down to earn my mortgage-payments.
Sure, I get clients complain that it took me two hours to get back to them. They want to know why I don't respond to my emails or Facebook messages or Skype calls that instant. Of course, there are some clients who forget about the 16+ hour time difference and decide to try and contact me while I'm snoring soundly in the middle of the night.
But I explain it to them clearly: when I'm working, I'm really working. I'm not chatting. I'm not socializing. I'm not playing. I'm not networking. I'm not surfing the net, or goofing off in front of a movie. All of those things are left for when I've finished work for the day, completed outstanding orders and made the money I need to keep a roof over my head.
After all, I have a mortgage to pay. I have a daughter to feed. I have bills to pay and a myriad of other financially-related things to worry about. The last thing I need to be doing is wasting time playing with "social networking".
So.... tell me what I'm missing here. Should I spend hours of my day chatting on Facebook to other writers who are also complaining about not earning enough? Or is social networking a complete waste of time for a professional freelancer?
You tell me.
10/25/11
Have I Told You Lately How Much I Love My Job?
It's true. I really do love my job. I love writing. I love researching information that clients want. I enjoy the challenge of finding a way to say the things clients want said in just the right way.
Sigh.
I have the best job in the world.
And yet.... there are days when I would happily strangle some clients. I'd happily strangle other writers. I'd happily throw rocks at people who tell me that I sit at home and do nothing all day except "play" on the Internet.
But those days are the exception.
The majority of the time, I spend my days doing what I love best. I write. I wake up, take my daughter to school, take the dog for a run, go to the gym, shower - and then sit down to write for the rest of the day in one solid block of uninterupted writing flow.
Some days I might write about things I don't particularly enjoy. Clients order the weirdest things sometimes. So I remind myself that the privilege of sitting at home, getting to enjoy my lifestyle is worth the annoyance of painful topics.
And then there are days like today, where I get to write about topics I truly love and enjoy for hours on end. No interuptions. No annoyances. Just the pure bliss of writing fun stuff until it was time to pick up my daughter from my mother's place at dinner time.
I'm grateful that I don't have to fight with traffic every day to commute to the city. I'm grateful that I get to spend precious time with my daughter. I'm ecstatic that I get to earn more money sitting at home than I could earn working at the bank. I'm so very happy that I get to do what I love most all day, and I'm seriously thrilled that I have the opportunity to live my life feeling free, rather than feeling shackled to a j.o.b.
So - if I said so lately, I feel that I should remind you (in case you forgot)....
Have I told you lately how much I love my job?
I really do
Sigh.
I have the best job in the world.
And yet.... there are days when I would happily strangle some clients. I'd happily strangle other writers. I'd happily throw rocks at people who tell me that I sit at home and do nothing all day except "play" on the Internet.
But those days are the exception.
The majority of the time, I spend my days doing what I love best. I write. I wake up, take my daughter to school, take the dog for a run, go to the gym, shower - and then sit down to write for the rest of the day in one solid block of uninterupted writing flow.
Some days I might write about things I don't particularly enjoy. Clients order the weirdest things sometimes. So I remind myself that the privilege of sitting at home, getting to enjoy my lifestyle is worth the annoyance of painful topics.
And then there are days like today, where I get to write about topics I truly love and enjoy for hours on end. No interuptions. No annoyances. Just the pure bliss of writing fun stuff until it was time to pick up my daughter from my mother's place at dinner time.
I'm grateful that I don't have to fight with traffic every day to commute to the city. I'm grateful that I get to spend precious time with my daughter. I'm ecstatic that I get to earn more money sitting at home than I could earn working at the bank. I'm so very happy that I get to do what I love most all day, and I'm seriously thrilled that I have the opportunity to live my life feeling free, rather than feeling shackled to a j.o.b.
So - if I said so lately, I feel that I should remind you (in case you forgot)....
Have I told you lately how much I love my job?
I really do
8/12/11
Should Freelancer Writers Negotiate for Better Deals?
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm going to talk about negotiating for higher rates of pay, lower word counts, or easier keyword topics.
And you're wrong.
I'm actually talking about negotiating for the services and products you use in order to make your freelance writing income happen in the first place.
You see, I understood fairly early in my freelancing career that if I could keep my living expenses and costs to a minimum, I actually wouldn't need to earn nearly so much to live very comfortably. By this, I mean paying off credit card debt, personal loans, other pointless expenses that don't add to your quality of life. All they do is eat your income every month, so you end up working for the bank instead of for yourself. So I did all that and paid them all off. I have no personal debt (outside of the mortgage), I bought solar panels for the house, grow my own organic vegetables, and cook healthy meals at home. Yay me. I reduced my expenses beautifully, so my income really IS mine to spend - and not everyone else's.
However, I still have a mortgage. I still have to pay for Internet provision. I still need a mobile phone. I still pay insurance premiums. And I still need to put fuel in the car, even if I do work at home 98% of the time.
So I decided on Monday that I was going to conduct a little "experiment". (Actually, the experiment was really for an article I'm researching/writing for an Aussie magazine, but it's still valid here too).
I looked at my costs for the things I need and wondered if there was a way to reduce the amounts I pay, yet still get the same - or even better - products, services or provisions. Then I jumped online and did a quick search for competitor's companies offering the same services, products or provision. I compared the costs with what I'd receive in return. I made lots of notes.
And then I called my own provider, bank, or insurance company and told them what I'd found. I told them that I was thinking about switching to take advantage of those better deals. Here are my results:
- My bank reduced my mortgage interest rate by a further 0.8% off the interest rate I was paying previously. That reduces my mortgage payment each month and reduces the amount of interest I'll pay over the rest of the term. YAY!
- My bank also upgraded my credit card to a Platinum card from a regular credit card - even though I'm one of those annoying customers who pays all bills with it at the beginning of the month, and then pays it all off before any interest can be charged. They make no profit out of me, yet they still upgraded it.
- My mobile phone provider gave me a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone - you know, the cool, new smart-phone with Android operating system, without me having to pay any extra on what I currently pay, rather than see me leave. Woo hoo!
- My mobile phone provider also offered me a new Samsung Galaxy 8" Tablet PC as part of the same "business" package, that is connected to the same data allocation as my mobile phone. Yay :)
- My Internet service provider agreed to upgrade me to super-high speed broadband, with an unlimited data transfer amount, and dropped my access bill by $10 per month at the same time, rather than see me leave. Hee hee!
- My insurance company agreed to offer me a 10% discount off my current premiums because I have my house, car and contents all insured with them. Woo hoo.
So, what's the point of all this?
The point is - the vast majority of freelance writing tips you read around the place are very focused on telling you how to get your income up, how to work harder, how to ruin your wrists and your eyesight by working longer hours and writing more stuff. They focus on ways for you to work into the night trying to establish blogs or other sources of revenue.
I'd rather make it easier for you to spend less money so you don't have to write nearly so much to still enjoy a great lifestyle. It means you get to enjoy writing a little more, but also face much less stress about having to earn so much to cover your bills.
Have fun calling your own service providers with what you find on your own research. I know I did.
:p
And you're wrong.
I'm actually talking about negotiating for the services and products you use in order to make your freelance writing income happen in the first place.
You see, I understood fairly early in my freelancing career that if I could keep my living expenses and costs to a minimum, I actually wouldn't need to earn nearly so much to live very comfortably. By this, I mean paying off credit card debt, personal loans, other pointless expenses that don't add to your quality of life. All they do is eat your income every month, so you end up working for the bank instead of for yourself. So I did all that and paid them all off. I have no personal debt (outside of the mortgage), I bought solar panels for the house, grow my own organic vegetables, and cook healthy meals at home. Yay me. I reduced my expenses beautifully, so my income really IS mine to spend - and not everyone else's.
However, I still have a mortgage. I still have to pay for Internet provision. I still need a mobile phone. I still pay insurance premiums. And I still need to put fuel in the car, even if I do work at home 98% of the time.
So I decided on Monday that I was going to conduct a little "experiment". (Actually, the experiment was really for an article I'm researching/writing for an Aussie magazine, but it's still valid here too).
I looked at my costs for the things I need and wondered if there was a way to reduce the amounts I pay, yet still get the same - or even better - products, services or provisions. Then I jumped online and did a quick search for competitor's companies offering the same services, products or provision. I compared the costs with what I'd receive in return. I made lots of notes.
And then I called my own provider, bank, or insurance company and told them what I'd found. I told them that I was thinking about switching to take advantage of those better deals. Here are my results:
- My bank reduced my mortgage interest rate by a further 0.8% off the interest rate I was paying previously. That reduces my mortgage payment each month and reduces the amount of interest I'll pay over the rest of the term. YAY!
- My bank also upgraded my credit card to a Platinum card from a regular credit card - even though I'm one of those annoying customers who pays all bills with it at the beginning of the month, and then pays it all off before any interest can be charged. They make no profit out of me, yet they still upgraded it.
- My mobile phone provider gave me a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone - you know, the cool, new smart-phone with Android operating system, without me having to pay any extra on what I currently pay, rather than see me leave. Woo hoo!
- My mobile phone provider also offered me a new Samsung Galaxy 8" Tablet PC as part of the same "business" package, that is connected to the same data allocation as my mobile phone. Yay :)
- My Internet service provider agreed to upgrade me to super-high speed broadband, with an unlimited data transfer amount, and dropped my access bill by $10 per month at the same time, rather than see me leave. Hee hee!
- My insurance company agreed to offer me a 10% discount off my current premiums because I have my house, car and contents all insured with them. Woo hoo.
So, what's the point of all this?
The point is - the vast majority of freelance writing tips you read around the place are very focused on telling you how to get your income up, how to work harder, how to ruin your wrists and your eyesight by working longer hours and writing more stuff. They focus on ways for you to work into the night trying to establish blogs or other sources of revenue.
I'd rather make it easier for you to spend less money so you don't have to write nearly so much to still enjoy a great lifestyle. It means you get to enjoy writing a little more, but also face much less stress about having to earn so much to cover your bills.
Have fun calling your own service providers with what you find on your own research. I know I did.
:p
7/19/11
Recession Proofing Your Freelance Income
One of the biggest benefits of being an international freelance writer is the ability to completely recession-proof my business.
Did you know that when the Global Financial Crisis hit, my business actually got busier and more profitable? I didn't struggle to find new clients and I noticed existing clients began to order more than usual as well. Yet I know plenty of people who really had a hard time when the economy turned down.
So let's look at ways to avoid that ever happening to your freelance business - and how you can recession-proof your own income easily.
Income Streams
Consider this: if you had one full-time job as an employee, you'd get paid every week (or fortnight, or month - whatever). You pay your bills and your living expenses using this income, because it's regular and it's safe. Right?
However, what happens when that employer decides he doesn't need you any longer, or the business goes broke and fires all its employees? What happens to your 'regular' income then? And how will you pay your bills if you can't find another job to replace that one?
The vast majority of people have one sole, lonely stream of income they call a "salary". This leaves them vulnerable to changes in the economy, changes in the work-force, and changes in the company in which you work. It leaves you dependent on working 8 hours a day for someone else's business too.
But if you had another form of income coming into your household at the same time, would the loss of that J.O.B. really hit you so hard?
Imagine if you had two employers, both paying you regularly. If one decided they no longer wanted to hire you, you would still have an income coming into the household simply because you have that secondary income stream.
Now take that thought a little further and imagine if you had six or seven regular income streams. If one stopped, you might notice a bit of a drop in income, but you wouldn't go broke.
Creating Multiple Streams of Income
The idea of "multiple streams of income" isn't new. In fact, investors have been doing this for centuries, deriving alternative sources of income from rent received as landlords, or by earning dividends on stocks they own, or from royalties earned on book sales, inventions and other goodies.
The Internet has just made creating various revenue streams far more interesting and easier for most people to access.
For a freelance writer, the ability to generate multiple streams of income has never been easier than it is right now. Look for clients in different parts of the country, or even international clients. This reduces your risk of becoming dependent on one particular client or company and it protects you in the event of one particular geographical location suffering from an economic downturn.
Diversifying Your Income
The key to really recession-proofing any business at all is to understand about diversifying your income a bit and broaden your debtor base.
Think about where you derive the bulk of your freelance writing income from right now. This is your primary source of income. If that source is a content mill, offering lots of steady work at average rates, at least you know you always have that to fall back on.
Now think about any other alternatives you might have to add to your current income without impacting too far on the time it takes to generate your primary income.
You might go out in search of new private clients who pay a little higher than your content mill work earns. While your private clients might not order regularly, when they do order, you have a way to earn a little more than usual.
Aim at some higher paying markets in between your content-mill pursuits. Magazines are always in need of well-researched articles. Approach the editor of a niche magazine about a topic that interests you and see if they'll be willing to pay you for your efforts. You might be surprised by the answer.
You might not have the time (or inclination) to apply to a second content mill, so why not consider selling some extra work directly on Constant Content? You get to choose what topics you write about and you get to set your own prices. These guys pay out twice a month for amounts over $5, so it could be a handy bit of extra cash you didn't have before.
You might prefer to spend a little of your spare time working on more creative pursuits. Short fiction still sells very well and can be great fun to write. There are plenty of paying short fiction markets out there.
Some writers might prefer to take a break from writing articles and web content, but still want to add to their incomes a little. You might try a bit of Paid Forum Posting as a side-income. This is where you contribute to making someone else's forum look busy and you get paid for your efforts.
It makes absolutely no difference what you choose to do - this is YOUR business, after all. You have the freedom to build it in whatever way suits you best. The key is to find things you enjoy. Work with clients who treat you well. Break into other areas that interest you.
Then reap the benefits of having various income streams arriving in your account multiple times a week.
Alternative Currencies
I know I've said it before, and many writers simply don't get the point, but earning your freelance writing income in various currencies other than your local dollars can really protect you against a fall in the value of your own local dollar.
Here's a direct example: When I first started freelancing, the American Dollar was worth far more than the pitiful Australian dollar. In fact, $1 little pathetic Aussie dollar was worth about 0.52 cents per American dollar I was earning. So it made good sense back then for me to charge my clients in US dollars.
Logically, whatever I charged in US dollars could be converted to almost double again in Aussie dollars, so I was doing well.
Then the values all changed. The poor little Aussie dollar is now worth more than the US dollar. In fact, if I charged my American clients the same amount now as I did a couple of years ago, I'd be taking a pay cut. The Aussie dollar is now worth $1.10 for every $1 US dollar. That's a pay cut of more than half for doing the same work load.
If you're serious about your freelance business, you'll learn about how other country's currencies can benefit or hinder your income progress amounts. It really does make a difference to understand how various currencies can affect your overall profits or losses. I know this because I take very careful note of the exchange rates every day of my life.
Freelance writers really do have plenty of ways to keep income rolling into the household without ever needing to be reliant on one employer, one company or one client.
Did you know that when the Global Financial Crisis hit, my business actually got busier and more profitable? I didn't struggle to find new clients and I noticed existing clients began to order more than usual as well. Yet I know plenty of people who really had a hard time when the economy turned down.
So let's look at ways to avoid that ever happening to your freelance business - and how you can recession-proof your own income easily.
Income Streams
Consider this: if you had one full-time job as an employee, you'd get paid every week (or fortnight, or month - whatever). You pay your bills and your living expenses using this income, because it's regular and it's safe. Right?
However, what happens when that employer decides he doesn't need you any longer, or the business goes broke and fires all its employees? What happens to your 'regular' income then? And how will you pay your bills if you can't find another job to replace that one?
The vast majority of people have one sole, lonely stream of income they call a "salary". This leaves them vulnerable to changes in the economy, changes in the work-force, and changes in the company in which you work. It leaves you dependent on working 8 hours a day for someone else's business too.
But if you had another form of income coming into your household at the same time, would the loss of that J.O.B. really hit you so hard?
Imagine if you had two employers, both paying you regularly. If one decided they no longer wanted to hire you, you would still have an income coming into the household simply because you have that secondary income stream.
Now take that thought a little further and imagine if you had six or seven regular income streams. If one stopped, you might notice a bit of a drop in income, but you wouldn't go broke.
Creating Multiple Streams of Income
The idea of "multiple streams of income" isn't new. In fact, investors have been doing this for centuries, deriving alternative sources of income from rent received as landlords, or by earning dividends on stocks they own, or from royalties earned on book sales, inventions and other goodies.
The Internet has just made creating various revenue streams far more interesting and easier for most people to access.
For a freelance writer, the ability to generate multiple streams of income has never been easier than it is right now. Look for clients in different parts of the country, or even international clients. This reduces your risk of becoming dependent on one particular client or company and it protects you in the event of one particular geographical location suffering from an economic downturn.
Diversifying Your Income
The key to really recession-proofing any business at all is to understand about diversifying your income a bit and broaden your debtor base.
Think about where you derive the bulk of your freelance writing income from right now. This is your primary source of income. If that source is a content mill, offering lots of steady work at average rates, at least you know you always have that to fall back on.
Now think about any other alternatives you might have to add to your current income without impacting too far on the time it takes to generate your primary income.
You might go out in search of new private clients who pay a little higher than your content mill work earns. While your private clients might not order regularly, when they do order, you have a way to earn a little more than usual.
Aim at some higher paying markets in between your content-mill pursuits. Magazines are always in need of well-researched articles. Approach the editor of a niche magazine about a topic that interests you and see if they'll be willing to pay you for your efforts. You might be surprised by the answer.
You might not have the time (or inclination) to apply to a second content mill, so why not consider selling some extra work directly on Constant Content? You get to choose what topics you write about and you get to set your own prices. These guys pay out twice a month for amounts over $5, so it could be a handy bit of extra cash you didn't have before.
You might prefer to spend a little of your spare time working on more creative pursuits. Short fiction still sells very well and can be great fun to write. There are plenty of paying short fiction markets out there.
Some writers might prefer to take a break from writing articles and web content, but still want to add to their incomes a little. You might try a bit of Paid Forum Posting as a side-income. This is where you contribute to making someone else's forum look busy and you get paid for your efforts.
It makes absolutely no difference what you choose to do - this is YOUR business, after all. You have the freedom to build it in whatever way suits you best. The key is to find things you enjoy. Work with clients who treat you well. Break into other areas that interest you.
Then reap the benefits of having various income streams arriving in your account multiple times a week.
Alternative Currencies
I know I've said it before, and many writers simply don't get the point, but earning your freelance writing income in various currencies other than your local dollars can really protect you against a fall in the value of your own local dollar.
Here's a direct example: When I first started freelancing, the American Dollar was worth far more than the pitiful Australian dollar. In fact, $1 little pathetic Aussie dollar was worth about 0.52 cents per American dollar I was earning. So it made good sense back then for me to charge my clients in US dollars.
Logically, whatever I charged in US dollars could be converted to almost double again in Aussie dollars, so I was doing well.
Then the values all changed. The poor little Aussie dollar is now worth more than the US dollar. In fact, if I charged my American clients the same amount now as I did a couple of years ago, I'd be taking a pay cut. The Aussie dollar is now worth $1.10 for every $1 US dollar. That's a pay cut of more than half for doing the same work load.
If you're serious about your freelance business, you'll learn about how other country's currencies can benefit or hinder your income progress amounts. It really does make a difference to understand how various currencies can affect your overall profits or losses. I know this because I take very careful note of the exchange rates every day of my life.
Freelance writers really do have plenty of ways to keep income rolling into the household without ever needing to be reliant on one employer, one company or one client.
7/15/11
Self-Employed Freelance Writer or Low Paid Employee?
Recently, I met a freelance writer who is a very strong writer. She's disciplined. She follows client instructions. She sticks to deadlines. She takes on more work than a mother with two young kids should. And yet her spouse believes she doesn't have a "real job".
It never ceases to amaze me how biased some people can be against self-employed freelance writers. Believe it or not, there are really people out there who believe the life of a full time freelance writer consists of sleeping in until 10am before playing Facebook games all day.
These same biased people don't seem to see the hours of research, the long hours of sitting alone, writing countless articles or press releases or reviews, and trying to stick to insane deadlines set by clients who seem to believe we're all capable of writing 20,000 words a day with only 24 hour notice. All of this is done, by the way, while looking after a home, raising children, cooking meals and still being a wonderful spouse.
Yet, when pay-day arrives and there really is money sitting in the bank account, all those hours of sitting around and doing "nothing" actually seem to make sense to those who don't live in this world every day.
So how does a freelance writer explain the nature of being self-employed to a spouse or loved one who is determined to believe that working at Wal-Mart for $10 is a better option?
Is setting out to find a part-time "J.O.B" really worth the effort? Should you look for something that will give you regular hours every evening that means you need to give up your precious time with your kids? Is it worth it to miss out on time alone with your spouse while you're out earning minimum wage for a j.o.b?
More importantly, is it worth the extra cost to pay for fuel to drive to that job, the extra cost of paying for work clothing, cooking less healthy meals for your family, buying take-out more frequently to make up for being tired, paying for baby-sitters, putting up with managers telling you how to do your job and all the other tiny little bits of cr@p that go along with earning minimum wage?
Or is it worth the effort to show these freelance-biased people just how and why they're so WRONG in their thinking?
Of course I think the latter. Let's get into it in a little more detail:
Earning More Money
As a freelance writer, the amount you earn is 100% dependent on you. The amount you write, the type of work you accept, and the clients you choose will all play a part in determining your income. If you really sit down and apply your butt to your chair, get those fingers working on your keyboard and actually WRITE, you'll make money.
Work out what you're capable of writing in an hour of solid work and charge accordingly. Be sure you charge your clients more money than you could earn flipping burgers at McDonalds.
Spending Less Money
The vast majority of freelance writers fail to accept that working at home also means you need to earn less money to live more comfortably. You don't need to earn so much to pay for fuel or car maintenance or repairs. You just need to walk to your computer.
You don't need expensive uniforms or fashionable work clothes. You just need to be wearing something comfortable enough to allow you to sit and work.
You don't need to buy expensive take-out lunches when it's far easier to make a simple sandwich in the kitchen.
Add up the amount you're NOT spending and you'll soon find that you're able to live far more comfortably working at home than you could if you were heading out to work part-time.
Tax Advantages of Being a Self-Employed Freelance Writer
One thing serial-employees really don't understand is how badly they have it as employees. You see, they earn an hourly rate, which is then taxed at exorbitant rates. Then they receive their "in-hand" pay - the amount they get after tax is already automatically deducted, along with health insurance. From this remaining "in-hand" amount they receive, they're expected to pay bills, buy food, pay for fuel, keep the Internet connected, contribute to their 401k (or superannuation, depending in which country you live) and then put some aside for savings.
How very backwards.
Yet a self-employed freelance writer has the luxury of earning their money first. They get to pay their phone bill, Internet bill, pay for computer upgrades, deduct home office equipment, including printers, stationary, software, pens, desks, chairs and other fun tax deductible stuff that is the same in almost EVERY country.
After they've paid for the deductible things they want and need in order to continue earning a freelance income, they are taxed on what's left over. This means they earn similar amounts of money, but they pay for the things they need for their business with pre-tax dollars. They pay less tax in the long run, which gives them more money at the end of the day.
Of course, this is where most people who are stuck in the "employee mindset" really struggle. These are the people who simply don't understand that it's also their responsibility to with-hold their own taxes from the amounts they earn. They forget they need to pay their own insurance, pay their own health premiums - basically take some real responsibility for running a real business.
A true freelancer cherishes taking responsibility for the business-aspect of being a freelance writer. This includes learning what can and can't be deducted as part of operating a business from a home-office.
Yet all the while, a freelance writer is still "sitting at home playing on the Internet"
The Best Part of All
The very best part about being a self-employed freelance writer is the ability to enjoy your children growing up. You're not off working as a miserable low-paying employee while someone else cares for your kids. You're at home, able to work your schedule around their needs. You don't get to miss that first step, that first tooth coming out, that first day of school - all those important things far too many parents miss out on.
You can get up and prepare dinner in your time without having to struggle through peak-hour traffic for an hour first.
You can catch up with friends when it suits you to do so and then catch up your workload aroundd this.
So Why Don't Employees Understand?
Serial employees only ever think of the "regular" pay check they receive each week. They don't understand that the nature of being self-employed is all about taking responsibility for being self-disciplined and working around a schedule. They don't understand about finding clients or sticking to deadlines. They don't even understand that sometimes you'll get paid once every two weeks - but other times you'll be paid 4 times in a week.
They only see that they are given a set number of hours to work. They work them and they get paid on a regular basis. Nothing is ever mentioned about their productivity or effectiveness or accountability or responsibility. They just get paid and they like the certainty and regularity.
Maybe this is why they're paid so poorly?
Employees don't have the freedom to increase their income by raising their rates. They don't have the ability to diversify their incomes and bring in extra streams of cash. They can't find better clients who will cherish them and place bigger orders that add up to even more money overall. They can't just decide to do a bit of extra work when it suits them in order to earn a few extra dollars here and there.
But freelance writers can do all these things.
So the next time a serial-employed person dares to tell you to go out and "get a real job" - tell them to learn a bit about how business works before they dare to question what you're doing
:p
It never ceases to amaze me how biased some people can be against self-employed freelance writers. Believe it or not, there are really people out there who believe the life of a full time freelance writer consists of sleeping in until 10am before playing Facebook games all day.
These same biased people don't seem to see the hours of research, the long hours of sitting alone, writing countless articles or press releases or reviews, and trying to stick to insane deadlines set by clients who seem to believe we're all capable of writing 20,000 words a day with only 24 hour notice. All of this is done, by the way, while looking after a home, raising children, cooking meals and still being a wonderful spouse.
Yet, when pay-day arrives and there really is money sitting in the bank account, all those hours of sitting around and doing "nothing" actually seem to make sense to those who don't live in this world every day.
So how does a freelance writer explain the nature of being self-employed to a spouse or loved one who is determined to believe that working at Wal-Mart for $10 is a better option?
Is setting out to find a part-time "J.O.B" really worth the effort? Should you look for something that will give you regular hours every evening that means you need to give up your precious time with your kids? Is it worth it to miss out on time alone with your spouse while you're out earning minimum wage for a j.o.b?
More importantly, is it worth the extra cost to pay for fuel to drive to that job, the extra cost of paying for work clothing, cooking less healthy meals for your family, buying take-out more frequently to make up for being tired, paying for baby-sitters, putting up with managers telling you how to do your job and all the other tiny little bits of cr@p that go along with earning minimum wage?
Or is it worth the effort to show these freelance-biased people just how and why they're so WRONG in their thinking?
Of course I think the latter. Let's get into it in a little more detail:
Earning More Money
As a freelance writer, the amount you earn is 100% dependent on you. The amount you write, the type of work you accept, and the clients you choose will all play a part in determining your income. If you really sit down and apply your butt to your chair, get those fingers working on your keyboard and actually WRITE, you'll make money.
Work out what you're capable of writing in an hour of solid work and charge accordingly. Be sure you charge your clients more money than you could earn flipping burgers at McDonalds.
Spending Less Money
The vast majority of freelance writers fail to accept that working at home also means you need to earn less money to live more comfortably. You don't need to earn so much to pay for fuel or car maintenance or repairs. You just need to walk to your computer.
You don't need expensive uniforms or fashionable work clothes. You just need to be wearing something comfortable enough to allow you to sit and work.
You don't need to buy expensive take-out lunches when it's far easier to make a simple sandwich in the kitchen.
Add up the amount you're NOT spending and you'll soon find that you're able to live far more comfortably working at home than you could if you were heading out to work part-time.
Tax Advantages of Being a Self-Employed Freelance Writer
One thing serial-employees really don't understand is how badly they have it as employees. You see, they earn an hourly rate, which is then taxed at exorbitant rates. Then they receive their "in-hand" pay - the amount they get after tax is already automatically deducted, along with health insurance. From this remaining "in-hand" amount they receive, they're expected to pay bills, buy food, pay for fuel, keep the Internet connected, contribute to their 401k (or superannuation, depending in which country you live) and then put some aside for savings.
How very backwards.
Yet a self-employed freelance writer has the luxury of earning their money first. They get to pay their phone bill, Internet bill, pay for computer upgrades, deduct home office equipment, including printers, stationary, software, pens, desks, chairs and other fun tax deductible stuff that is the same in almost EVERY country.
After they've paid for the deductible things they want and need in order to continue earning a freelance income, they are taxed on what's left over. This means they earn similar amounts of money, but they pay for the things they need for their business with pre-tax dollars. They pay less tax in the long run, which gives them more money at the end of the day.
Of course, this is where most people who are stuck in the "employee mindset" really struggle. These are the people who simply don't understand that it's also their responsibility to with-hold their own taxes from the amounts they earn. They forget they need to pay their own insurance, pay their own health premiums - basically take some real responsibility for running a real business.
A true freelancer cherishes taking responsibility for the business-aspect of being a freelance writer. This includes learning what can and can't be deducted as part of operating a business from a home-office.
Yet all the while, a freelance writer is still "sitting at home playing on the Internet"
The Best Part of All
The very best part about being a self-employed freelance writer is the ability to enjoy your children growing up. You're not off working as a miserable low-paying employee while someone else cares for your kids. You're at home, able to work your schedule around their needs. You don't get to miss that first step, that first tooth coming out, that first day of school - all those important things far too many parents miss out on.
You can get up and prepare dinner in your time without having to struggle through peak-hour traffic for an hour first.
You can catch up with friends when it suits you to do so and then catch up your workload aroundd this.
So Why Don't Employees Understand?
Serial employees only ever think of the "regular" pay check they receive each week. They don't understand that the nature of being self-employed is all about taking responsibility for being self-disciplined and working around a schedule. They don't understand about finding clients or sticking to deadlines. They don't even understand that sometimes you'll get paid once every two weeks - but other times you'll be paid 4 times in a week.
They only see that they are given a set number of hours to work. They work them and they get paid on a regular basis. Nothing is ever mentioned about their productivity or effectiveness or accountability or responsibility. They just get paid and they like the certainty and regularity.
Maybe this is why they're paid so poorly?
Employees don't have the freedom to increase their income by raising their rates. They don't have the ability to diversify their incomes and bring in extra streams of cash. They can't find better clients who will cherish them and place bigger orders that add up to even more money overall. They can't just decide to do a bit of extra work when it suits them in order to earn a few extra dollars here and there.
But freelance writers can do all these things.
So the next time a serial-employed person dares to tell you to go out and "get a real job" - tell them to learn a bit about how business works before they dare to question what you're doing
:p
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