Adventures in Freelancing

Here are just a couple of the steps I took to start my full time freelance writing career:

1. Incorporated. I went with an S corp. I decided to incorporate for liability reasons mostly. Also, I have virtual assistant who works as a contractor for me, but I may decide in the future to bring her on as an employee and offer some type of group benefits.

2. I called the IRS. I decided that I wanted to get some more information about taxes. Turns out, the whole withholding and quarterly estimated thing is pretty easy. It’s all outlined in IRS pub 15, and the withholding tables are in publication 15-t.

3. Saved some money. I don’t have as much of a cushion as I’d like, but I’ve got a few months worth of bills saved up. I also have very little debt, cars and student loans are paid off.

4. I got clients. Getting clients is not that hard. You have to do it. I posted some tips on this on my other blog, Freelance Writerville. I have about 20 people clients and several content sites that I can get money from, so I have plenty of work as I start.

5. I talked to experienced freelance writers and bought their e-books. There is nothing like getting information from those in the know. My favorite so far is the Unlimited Freelancer, which I reviewed here.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back as often as I can, but keep in mind- you can find me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Freelance Writerville.

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I bought an eBook today by another online freelance writer. The book was $37 (yeah, I know, $37???!!). It was pretty good. I think most of the info in the book I knew already, but there were some things that I hadn’t thought of or knew in the book.

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One of the topics covered in the book was deciding whether to be a niche writer or a generalist writer.  This was an important topic for me. So far, I’ve been a generalistfor a lot of reasons.

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1. I didn’t know if (or what) I really wanted to specialize in.

2. I didn’t know what kind of demand there was for different niches.

3. I like to do many different things and learn about different subjects and being a generalist offers the perfect opportunity to do that.

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The problem with being a generalist, though, is that you make less money. You make less money because you have to spend more time researching and because you won’t be paid the premium price of an expert.

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So I’ve decided to specialize. I’m specializing in finance and insurance. I’ve updated my website to show that I’m all specialized out. I’m charging a pretty hefty price for my specialty work and a cheaper price for a general writing that comes through.

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I’m really not sure how this is going to go. I’ll keep you posted.

I‘m seriously never taking any time off ever again. My shoulders are hard as rocks, my jaw is clenched like a vice, my teeth are ground to Chiclets and my stomach is empty and vomitous. You see, I had a deadline today. A deadline of over 5,000 words.

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I knew about the deadline on Sunday, but had to do laundry.

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I knew about the deadline on Monday, but wanted to go to dinner with friends instead.

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I thought about the deadline on Tuesday, but wanted romance time with hubby that evening.

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I made note of the deadline on Wednesday, but had to do some shopping and clean for Christmas.

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I laughed at the deadline on Christmas day.

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I considered the deadline yesterday, but instead decided to read, Lovely Bones.

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I acknowledged the deadline this morning, but had to go to Target and buy new shoes, costume jewelry and deodorant.

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I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT about the deadline at 2:00 PM because I only had 10 hours to complete it.

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I met the deadline around 7. 

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I cried around 7:02.

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I learned my lesson at 7:03.

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Change number…25? Don’t procrastinate.