Falling Into Freelancing Will Leave You Broke
You can avoid the mistakes I made
A lot of people get into freelancing without knowing what they are doing.
They step into the car, get on the road and believe if they keep driving they’ll ride into the sunset with a bag full of money beside them.
Sounds like a dream. And it is. Because not knowing where you’re going and how you’ll get there will leave you driving around in circles or into walls. You’ll become as frustrated and lost as I was a few months ago.
I was 22 and all I knew was that I wanted to write for a living. I knew I hated waking up in the morning and commuting to work. I disliked having bad bosses (I’ve developed a phobia for them).
This was enough for me to jump headfirst into freelancing. Who needed plans? I’d make them along the way.
What I did make along the way were mistakes. A lot of them. I do not regret making them or sobbing at night because I was broke. But I want everyone who is just starting out on this journey to learn from my blunders and avoid them.
So here they are. A list of every mistake I made that new freelance writers should avoid.
Letting Clients Set My Rates
So we pay $0.02 per word, when can you start?
Every single person I wrote for when I started out would dictate their price. I would sit there smiling and nodding, trying my best to drown out the voice in my head telling me I deserved more.
Some clients try to get you to commit to a price without giving you specifics first. Don’t let anyone push you into giving a quick yes. Slow down, breathe and weigh the work against the rates they are offering.
Negotiation is not something many people are good at but it’s a skill every freelance writer has to learn. Working for any price isn’t sustainable.
Learn to ask for higher pay for your work and to push back against unrealistic demands. This is easier when you are confident in what you do and when your rent is almost due.
Saying Yes To Everyone
If you are good at saying no, freelancing will be a breeze for you. Not entirely but it will save you from a lot of bad situations.
I spent the first few years saying yes to every gig. From the few that rewarded my hours of work to the jobs that stretched on for too long for too little.
Doing this led me to waste hours that would have been spent on writing for my own blog, pitching for paid guest posts or writing for people that would value my work.
I know the uncertainty of freelance writing makes it easy to take every job. Fear makes you think, “If I don’t take this how sure am I that I’ll get another one?”
This is a valid concern. But you’ll keep writing 1000 words for $5 for years without end if you don’t say no and go after clients that will pay you well.
If you ever think of the fact that no other client might show up again, ask yourself why you are waiting for them to show up and not looking for them instead.
Writing with no bylines
There are over 50 articles out there that I authored with no trace of my name. They are on websites but they do not lead back to me. It is too late to claim them as my own.
What made me ghostwrite articles for next to nothing? Ignorance.
I had no idea that it was important to have something to post future clients to. To say oh look, I did this for them, now I can do this for you. I sold these articles for a few pennies, long gone, spent in minutes.
When you write, try to make sure that your name shows up underneath the headline or at least get a hefty compensation for creating something someone else takes credit for. In freelance writing, your byline is your lifeline.
Having a nonexistent portfolio
When you write a lot, you have those pieces that you are sure were blessed by the gods. And then there are those that feel less stellar. Putting the golden pieces in one place and whipping them as fast as the client says shows me what you can do is important.
Instead of a self assured response to requests like this, I would freak out, search around my computer for a piece I could find and present it to them. Most of what I typed was on MS Word and inaccessible when I was not close to my laptop. Saying “I am not home right now, I will send them when I get to my laptop” does not look good.
Now I’ve learned to keep my best work online, within reach. (It’s a much better idea to share relevant and stellar pieces).
Thinking I Had No Value
Being a writer is not just about writing. Each time you create a piece of content, you are solving a problem. I didn’t realize this until much later.
Yes, I needed their money but they also needed my help. I was the writer, the one who would craft content that would bring traffic to their site or convert customers, doing what they could not do themselves.
My lack of confidence drew vultures in instead of clients, people willing to pick at every insecurity in order to reduce my rates.
Now I know what I do is not something just anyone can do.
Learn early that you are a problem solver and people need you. When you know this, you will be able to look people in the eye and say yeah, go with the cheaper guy and when you are done, you will come back to me.
Avoiding The Talk
I’m sure I am not the only one who worries that the client would bolt when I send in my rates. So I avoided talking about money.
I’d let it take the back seat in conversations and you can guess that it always ended in disaster.
Setting rates up front is important. It lets people know that if you are a good fit for them or not. Not everyone is your customer, it is better that those who can not afford you to leave so you can work with others that can.
Being a lone writer
Solitude and silence is great for writing but the freelancing life gets lonely.
I had a lot of creative friends but none of them were freelance writers. They did not understand my problems. They could not see when my articles were shit. They praised everything and offered a shaky shoulder when I had problems.
Being part of a community of freelance writers means a lot. I am still looking for more content writing buddies, but the few I’ve made have changed me. One taught me how to charge better. The other is my pitching buddy.
Freelancing is tasking. You need people like you, that understand what you do and can help you.
Waiting For Clients To Find Me
Waiting for people to find me and ask me to write for them was easy. It was easier than putting myself out there and pitching every day. It was less tasking than doing the actual work of getting myself in front of clients I wanted.
Some writers get a steady stream of clients without doing much, there are other people who have to pitch numerous times a week to find clients.
But I realized that sitting around wasn’t going to get me work. And you might have to accept this too. If you want to work for better people, go out and look for them. Or find ways to get their attention.
And when you find them, don’t just send in your work and move on.
Ask for referrals. Try to upsell clients. Throw your pride down the toilet. Letting a client go after business is like writing a caption without a CTA.
Now that you have read my mistakes and judged me, take out a map and draw out your path. Avoid the places I pointed out and learn what works for you.
There’s no formula to succeeding at freelancing but at least now you can make better choices. Good luck on your journey!
