Classes for Aspiring Writers
As a successful freelance writer, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how I’ve been able to earn a living and build a writing business when so many print writers are out of work, and writing is such a difficult field to break into. I’ve worked with some writers one-on-one, but there were always more people who had more questions or wanted information. Unfortunately, most of the writing books out there today about breaking into writing were written five or ten years ago; before the electronic age really took off.

I’m here to tell you about how you can become a successful freelance writer in the electronic era.

I’ve completed the format for a series of 3-hour weeknight “intro” classes which get into the basic info of how to start a freelance writing career in the electronic age. I’ll be providing resources and information that attendees can use to put together their own business plan and start their writing careers!

For writers who want more one-on-one help with starting a writing career, I’m offering consulting or personal training sessions, and I’m also going to be offering a weekend workshop to get into more detail and help writers begin to create their strategy to kick-start their new careers. Writers can choose either, based on their needs, the format in which they learn best, how much personal attention they want and how much one-on-one time they need.

A Book about Freelance Writing in the Electronic Era
Part of the reason I’ve been waiting to announce this class is that I’m working on a companion project – a book about Freelance Writing in the Digital Age. The book covers many of the things I discuss in the class, but it goes into detail and provides examples, and there are extra chapters in the book that deal with the practical day-to-day reality of being a self-employed freelance writer. I’ve been waiting to talk about the book until I have official confirmation that it’s complete, but I decided that it’s not fair to delay the class until the book is ready to go, so I’m preemptively spilling the beans. I haven’t yet decided whether to go with a traditional publishing format (i.e. through an agent and publishing company to create a physical book) or to publish in an electronic format; I’m currently evaluating both options and will release more details once things are finalized.

Stay Tuned for Dates and Venues
The class content is finalized, and I’m currently in the process of researching a venue for the class. I’ve evaluated a few places, but there’s one Boston-based venue where I’d really like to host it (as it’s a venue where I’ve taken classes myself, and feel they have a lot to offer writers) so I’m waiting to hear back from that group first. If they don’t have room in their current workshop schedule, I’ll book one of the other venues I’ve researched and announce the dates.

Web Conference Options
I’m also looking at putting together Web conferences for writers who aren’t able to make it to the Boston area. I’d like to be able to help writers across the country start successful writing careers, and I’m researching my options for doing Web-based conferences and putting together electronic materials. I think the physical classes will be ready first, but hopefully the Web conferences won’t be far behind!

Stay tuned for dates and venues, and in the meantime, if you’ve got any questions you’d like to see answered in the class, post them here or email me!

Treat Every Job Like a Big Job

First and foremost: treat every job like a big job. Don’t put small jobs off because they’re ‘small’ and they won’t pay you much; treat your small clients with the same respect and responsiveness that you provide your ‘big’ clients. You never know when a small client can refer a big client, or even when a small client expands the scope of his business or marketing efforts and needs more from you. You could do a few articles for a client who decides he likes your work and wants to hire you for a gigantic recurring project – you just never know what a job can bring you. If you treat your ‘little’ clients poorly, aren’t as responsive, or simply don’t put in as much work on their projects, you could be cheating yourself out of a ‘big’ client through word-of-mouth.

Reach Out to Your Clients Periodically

Some clients are just one-off projects, but most clients have the potential to be recurring clients, or to provide referrals that can be valuable to your business. Reach out to your clients periodically. Send out an email, or send out holiday cards to remind your clients that you exist, and to thank them for their business. If you’re genuine with your sentiment, clients will appreciate you and they’re more likely to remember you. If you pay lip service just to keep your name fresh in their thoughts, most clients will sense that and dismiss you and your contact as a marketing device. It might work, but not as effectively as genuine sentiment, or genuine appreciation for your clients.

Thank Your Clients for Referring Business

If you do have a client who refers new business to you, don’t just take on the new business – actually thank your client for referring the business your way. At the very least, send a quick email or phone call to thank the client for the referral. Even better is a handwritten note – particularly in this day of electronic communication, it’s really nice to get a handwritten thank-you note. This small step can show your client that you appreciate their referral, and make them more likely to refer you again – and give you more business when it happens.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing is a Powerful Tool

Word-of-mouth marketing is truly a powerful tool. At this point, a year and a half after starting my freelance business full-time, probably 80% to 90% of my work comes from repeat clients and referrals. I spend far less time searching for and bidding on new projects, and more time doing paying work. Any freelancer knows this is the key to building a successful business – minimizing the non-paying aspects of the business and getting more paying work – and if you use these techniques to build your referral business, your business will be much more profitable and productive.

Do you have any great tips for building a client base through word-of-mouth marketing? Share them with us! I’d love to hear what unique approaches other freelancers take to building a referral business.

Take on many different projects.
It’s easier to have one or two large projects per month, because time spent searching for work is time spent not making money – but sometimes it’s a good idea to take on many different projects. If you’ve got multiple projects going, it’s easier to force your way through the less interesting topics knowing that you’ve got another project that you’ll enjoy. I try to do the writing I’d rather put off first, and use the ‘fun’ project as my reward for getting the other writing out of the way.

On the months when I find myself working on one big project, even when it’s a project I like, I often find myself getting bored with the content or tired of working on the project. I do so many drafts and revisions that I’m constantly looking at my material – and I usually hit a point where I’m no longer really seeing at it at all. Having another project to work on, even a small project, gives me something else to focus on and takes my mind off the big project content. Then, when I go back to the big project, I gain fresh perspective and it’s almost like seeing the content through new eyes. I usually do more productive revisions and writing after working on something else and then coming back to my main work.

Submit query letters to your favorite publications.
One of the best ways to write what you love, and still pay the bills, is to submit query letters to your favorite publications. If you love reading it and you’re interested in the subject, imagine how much fun you’d have writing it! A well-crafted query letter, a new take on a familiar topic or a completely untapped story may be enough to get your foot in the door. If you do a good job with early assignments, editors will remember you and be more likely to work with you again. You could even become a regular contributor to your favorite publications!

Write for fun.
Many of the writers I know are creative writers at heart, most of whom just do copywriting and other writing work to pay the bills. If you’re a creative writer type, it’s a good idea to exercise your creative writing muscles as frequently as possible. By having “fun” writing in your life, you’re less likely to experience burnout over the every-day writing that pays the bills.

The difficulty comes for many people when they spend a full day writing, and then want to do anything else when they’re finished, as more writing would feel too much like work. I’ve found two ways to overcome this writing inertia. One: work on a really fun project. Even when I’ve been writing all day, I can still get into working on my novel because I want to see what’s going to happen next. (That’s not as weird as it sounds – more on the creative writing process another time.) Two: use a different work space for ‘fun’ writing. If you have an established office or home office for your ‘work’ writing, try to move your ‘fun’ writing to a different room. Use a laptop and write in the living room. Take it on the road and write in a coffee shop. In many cases, getting out of the ‘work’ mindset is as simple as a change of setting, and then writing becomes fun again.

There’s no question that a delicate balance exists between writing for hire and writing as a labor of love. Ultimately, every writer has to come up with his or her own path to find that balance and live a successful writing life. If you’ve found other ways to strike the balance between paying the bills and writing for fun, I’d love to hear them!