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.

Today’s writer charges just $2.50 for up to 450 words, which is just over .005 per word. He promises perfect grammar and spelling. Here is his response to my ad and my response to him:

So, his strongest area is politics. He guarantees correct English, and no grammar- punctuation flaws. His bio states that he has a Bachelor’s with a major in political science and minor in English. Too good to be true for .005? Yes, of course. After looking at his bio, samples and posts on the board, I knew EXACTLY what I would get…….and I did get what I thought I would.

Huh? Honestly, there is a lot wrong here- but he is charging the right price for his work. This would take a lot of time to time to rework and make readable. It is not quality content, although he obviously is trying. I think in this case (not in all) the language barrier might be too much of a hurdle.

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I have another sample from a writer who was in the .01-.02 range, but I don’t think I need to post it. Although, he did put the word, “crotch” in it- which is awesome because I have been looking for a way to get crotch onto this blog. If I had known all it would take was a post about wrestlers, I would have written it ages ago.

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Anywho, I think that I have learned all that I need to from this inexpensive experiment. Content buyers (website owners, whatever) need to hush up if they are paying a low amount for a writer. Anything under .05 per word and they should consider themselves BLESSED if they get decent work. Those of you who write well (and I know some of the blogs I’ve read have made me feel threatened to be competing with you) and write for under .05 per word, your clients should be kissing your toes (that’ll be a google hit) because that shit ain’t right. Content buyers who say we need to lower our rates to be more competitive are either taking advantage of us or are extremely short-sighted.

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The other thing I learned? Stop undervaluing myself. Sometimes, I get scared. When another freelancer gets a job that I didn’t, or I feel like someone wrote a really great article that I couldn’t, or I get the feeling that another writer has more business that I do, or a buyer tells me no, my price is too high…I get scared. I start to think…what have I done? I can’t make this work. I’m going to leave my job and end up losing my home because I write like an idiot. I’m such a dumbass. What made me think I could do it? WHO DO I THINK I AM??? But the thing is, I have to do this. Period. Even if me is bad writerer, me has to take the chance. Just like Petri 1 and Petri 2, I am a Petri. They are out there, just like me. Maybe they don’t follow directions as well. Maybe they haven’t quite developed their voice. Maybe they lack finesse. But will they always? As they write and get feedback, they’ll improve. 

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Lastly, I think I learned quite a bit about honesty.  Neither of the authors I featured had an authentic voice in their pieces. It felt like they were trying too hard- which I totally get. Isn’t that what we all do when we are trying to please a client? But, how about if we let our real voice creep in a little? Can that set us apart from the pack? I’ve heard your voices, and I think it can.