If you’re in the writing business or considering going into the writing business, you need clients. Of course you want to have a lot of clients. However, if they’re all difficult then it can be frustrating. No one wants to work for rude or unappreciative clients.

On the other hand, a line-up of dream clients can be ideal. Finding dream clients isn’t always easy, but here are a few ideas to help you find clients you’ll enjoy working with.

Network, Network, Network  (Online and Offline)

Networking builds businesses. Do it correctly and you can build a Rolodex full of great clients. Online networking involves connecting in a number of ways. Social networking is a great place to start. You’re likely already using social networks to connect with friends and family. Why not use it to connect with potential clients? Join groups that represent your writing interests. For example, if you write for the pet industry then connect with pet related groups. Participate in the group, comment on posts and get involved.

Commenting on blogs and participating in industry chat rooms and forums is another way to network online.

Offline, you can join local groups and associations. For example, join your local chamber of commerce and small business administration. Join community groups, participate in get-togethers or you can even host meetings and teach a class.

Ask for Referrals

Ask your favorite clients for referrals. Consider offering them a discount or a credit for each new client they send you. Clients that come from referrals tend to be good clients. If you’re uncomfortable asking for referrals consider creating a referral program. Your clients can join it if they are interested.

Visit Job Boards

Job boards may not always be the best starting point, but they can provide you with the opportunity to thoroughly research a client and project before you apply for the job. This extra information can help you weed out the clients you’re not interested in working with.

Finally, before you begin searching for great clients, consider taking some time to define exactly what a great client is for you. Is it a person who pays well? Is it someone who is easy to work with? Is it someone who is easy to communicate with? What are your priorities? Write them down and then start searching for clients who fit the bill.

Once you have a number of great clients, go above and beyond the call of duty. Give them extras and offer discounts. Always strive to deliver quality products and services. Make sure your clients know you appreciate them. They’ll not only stick with you longer, they’ll refer you to others. It’s a very rewarding way to build a business.

Have patience when seeking ideal clients. It takes a little time and effort, but it definitely pays off in the long run.

To your success!

Being a freelance writer is a dream come true for many. If you’ve dreamed of a writing career, freelance is an excellent option. Here’s a few tips to help you get set up and learn how to become a freelance writer.

Seting up your freelance writing business:

Step #1 – Create your website. Your website is an extension of you. It should accurately represent your personality, your business vision and mission and your services. It also needs to sell your services, and that means a bit of copywriting. What benefit do you offer your prospects? What value do you have to offer?

Consider what information you want on your website. Do you want an about page? Do you want to list your rates? What about a form to fill out to place an order? Do you need frequently asked questions? Testimonials and endorsements? Samples?

Step #2 – Speaking of samples, your clients are likely going to want to review your work. You can accomplish this in several ways. You can list links to your work on your website. You can provide samples on your website or you can simply provide samples when a prospect asks for them. Another option is to offer a free report for prospects to download. This can accomplish two things: marketing and providing a sample of your writing work.

Step #3 – Establish your rates. How much are you going to charge? Establish your rates in advance. This is important because you’ll want to be able to quote consistently. Additionally, you can post your ‘general’ rates on your website.

Step #4 – Establish policies and procedures. Like your rates, you’ll want to establish your policies and procedures. You may also want to publish these on your website. At the very least, you’ll want to send them to your prospects when they inquire about hiring you.

For example, do you require a deposit? If so, how much? How long does it take you to complete a project? How do you accept payment? Do you use projects in your samples? What’s your confidentiality policy? Knowing the answers to these questions and having them established will set your prospect’s mind at ease.

Step #5 – Financials. How are you going to collect payment? How are you going to record income and expenses? You’ll likely need a bank account for your business, along with a method for clients to pay online. For example, PayPal accepts checks, credit cards and bank transfers.

There are a number of steps to setting up a freelance writing business. Make sure to take care of them thoughtfully. They’ll help set the foundation for a successful and long-lasting business. However, once they’re established, you can focus on doing what you love – writing!

How do you get started?

Until you start getting clients, you may want to write for websites that publish your work and give you revenue share. Some of these sites pay up front and some only allow you to make money through the ad sharing programs. This is not a great way to make money, but it does get you started, it gets your name out there and it allows potential clients to see your work.

I’ve used the Yahoo Contributor Network for years. I still publish there from time to time. In fact, some of the most successful freelancers I know still publish there from time to time. It’s also a great way to get backlinks to your portfolio site. So keep that in mind, even though the pay isn’t great. You can sign up here if you’re interested.

Squidoo is another place you can write. This site is a bit different and it’s actually a lot of fun. You build lenses and promote items from places like Amazon, Cafe Press, etc. It’s more of a big community site, but you can get started there.

Along the lines of Squidoo is a place called HubPages. Now, these sites will not make you a ton of money, but they will help get your name out on the Internet and you’ll probably have some fun with these sites. There’s nothing wrong with having fun while you’re learning the ropes and building a business.

To find paying clients, you can get signed up at places like Elance and oDesk. These are bidding sites and they are free to join. I suggest you start with free bidding sites to find out how you like the work before moving to the paid bidding sites.

Check the Internet, there’s a lot of information out there on how to become a freelance writer. Find sites that have a lot of followers. This is a good indication that the author of the site knows his/her stuff and is worth paying attention to.

If you’re looking into ghostwriting, be sure to read my top ghostwriting tips.

To your success!
Patti

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to give a quick update. Today’s topic is about why I stopped doing freelance work.

It’s been coming for awhile but I recently made the decision to just walk away for good (or perhaps a very long hiatus.) There were several reasons for the decision, most of them were personal.

#1. I love freelance writing or non-fiction writing, but it’s never been my passion to work for clients ALL day. I want a time schedule that is lenient and allows me to do the things I want to do.

I recently lost my biggest client due to financial problems on their end. I loved the work but when they closed up shop I decided the work of finding a replacement client and writing for hours on topics that I may or may not love just wasn’t worth the effort or the money.

I’m not a go-getter for client work, so the income from it has mostly been spending money for us. We just lowered our spending budget. LOL

I do know many successful freelancers who love the work and make a good living at it. I never loved the work that much. So don’t let that discourage you if you want to be a freelancer. It just wasn’t for me.

#2. A flexible schedule and wanting to spend more time on fiction work played a big factor in the decision. I’ve been away from fiction for five years now–the time I devoted all my writing to freelance work–and I missed it terribly. Now, I’m discovering that fiction is very rusty and the words do not come easy, but with a flexible schedule and no dead lines, I’m free to pursue that at my own pace.

#3. My husband recently changed jobs and he’s on call most of the time. We never know what time of day he’ll be called out on a job. Since his job allows me to ride along, especially for out of town jobs, I wanted to be able to drop anything I’m doing and go with him. Although this is #3 on the list it’s actually my main reason–him and flexible scheduling. We love spending time together and if he has to spend six hours a day driving, it’s just easier to have someone riding shotgun. We usually have a good time too. You pass a lot of interesting things on the road. :-)

#4. I want to get back into marketing–internet and affiliate marketing. I buy a lot of great products that I’d like to share with others, so this is the perfect way to do that and to make a little chunk of change. Lately I spend more time reading than I do working, but it’s all good. The working part of my life is working itself out.

#5. At this stage in my life many things are going whacko. I have good days, bad days, really good days, really bad days–but they never schedule themselves in so I have to go with the flow. The working life I want to create and work on will allow me to go with the flow. If I need (or want) to skip work for a day or two mid-week, I want the freedom to do that. I don’t want to push myself the way I have in the past for client work. I don’t mind deadlines, but I don’t want strict deadlines.

What will I be sharing or covering on The Scribe? I will still cover some freelance topics, fiction topics, awesome products, what I’m up to or whatever silly mood strikes me and possibly some of my getting back into shape stuff.

Be sure to check back Monday when I have another awesome guest post by James Adams. This one is Five Tips for Printing Your Manuscript.

See you then. Happy Writing!

The Scribe

P.S. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so loving the new look and colors here at the Scribe. It makes me happy. :-)

There comes a time in a writer’s life that they must decide if this is where they want to be and where they really want to go. I’ve done the freelance thing for many years now and frankly it’s just not giving me the satisfaction, or the money, that I desired. The bottom line is, I’m sick of writing for other people. I want to concentrate on my own writing and my own websites.

Before I started freelancing as a career/job/whatever, I had looked into several other avenues to make money and to help people find information. I was intrigued by marketing products, private label rights articles and a few other things. I seem to be leading back towards those things, as opposed to writing for other websites.

The people I had seen doing these things years ago are still in the same business. I have to admit that back then I thought maybe it was cheesy and wouldn’t last. I wanted to make an honest dollar and do all of this writing. Well I still want to make an honest dollar and write, but I also want more residual income as well. So now the past isn’t looking so cheesy. Maybe it’s the path I should have taken back then? Or perhaps I needed to learn a few things before going down that road. Either way, I feel like I’m back to square one and possibly starting over, but that’s okay too, it seems exciting again.

So there will be some regrouping of what the Stafford Scribe is all about. I will still write (for myself), I will still accept guest posts, but I will not be taking on any new clients and I will be following what I want to do and what I feel is right for me.

It will take time to get regrouped and redirected, but it’s not like I’ve been updating the way I should–so most of you won’t miss a beat. :)

I’ve always been about following your passion. Sometimes the passion changes and sometimes it comes back around to where it started. If you find yourself in this situation, just go with it.

Happy Writing Adventures!

Well my new section “Freelance Friday” is here and I’ve got nothing. But since it’s my blog I guess I can highlight myself and tell you a little about what’s in store for some upcoming features.

Mayhem & Madness: I’ve recently started a weekly event specifically for fiction writers called Monday Mayhem & Madness. This is a Monday event where writers can share what they are working on, what they’re putting their characters through (or their characters are putting them through), plots, schemes, frustrations–anything the fiction writer goes through and wants to share.

This event is to help fiction writers meet others through comments and camaraderie. It’s a lot of fun to share and mingle with other writers.

Wednesday Writing Sprint: This is also a weekly event but it’s for all writers–fiction, freelance, poets, etc. The scope of this event is to get as much writing accomplished in this one day as you possibly can. Turn off email, Twitter, whatever you use to network during the week and just ignore it for one day a week so you can concentrate on your writing.

Drop in each week for the Wednesday Writing Sprint and share what you’re working on. I know it’s a contradiction since we’re supposed to unplug–but it really is a great motivator to share with other writers.

And then of course, we have Freelance Friday. I’m not completely sure what I want to do with it yet. I do know since I love fiction and freelance, I want the best of both worlds here at The Scribe and I want all writers to feel welcome here.

Freelance Friday will have some guest posts from great freelance writers around the Internet. I don’t know how soon that will happen, but it’s in the plans. I could call this Fun Friday instead. Any thoughts?

I want The Scribe to be informative, but also a fun place for writers to hang out and share their passion.

We will be adding some new features here at the Stafford Scribe. One of them being Freelance Friday where we will cover many topics in the world of freelance writing. At times we will even showcase some of the most talented freelance writers on the web.

Other features will be announced soon. Look for The Scribe’s Scope in an upcoming post.

If you feel you have something to contribute to our Freelance Friday section, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

Be sure to check out the Guest Blogging guidelines. Don’t worry, they are really easy.

Happy Writing!

So you’ve decided to become a writer.  Welcome to the hardest “easy” job on the planet.  Or you’ve written a book and you’re ready to start submitting your work of art to publishers.  Are you ready for rejection?  It’s a sad reality we all must face and in the beginning of your writing career it can be very heart breaking. But, you will get rejected.  Expect it.  According to some of the greatest and most well known authors on the planet, if you’re lucky, you’ll get hundreds of rejections.

Why would getting that many rejections be good?  Because it means you’re writing consistently and getting your manuscript or article in front of editors and publishers; it means you haven’t given up, you have passion.  You will need that passion and that excitement to stay the course.  If you don’t have it now, you might as well give up on being a writer or just hang out with your blog until you do get it.

Stephen King, one of the greatest writers of all time, and whether you like his work or not, you have to admit he is the master, received hundreds of rejections and was even told to give up writing.  Did he?  Well obviously not or he wouldn’t be so well known.  If you’ve never read his book, “On Writing“, you need to.  I was under the impression (once upon a time) that writers like Stephen never had a rejection in their life.  Turns out, the greats have  had more rejections than anyone because they kept writing and sending out submissions.

Do you have the passion it will take to get those rejections?  It’s not easy and it can hurt your ego, but if you’ve got the passion to ride it out and keep at it, great things can happen.  You will go through periods that you want to quit- it’s understandable, but you’ll never get published if you quit.  Find a support group if you need to, but don’t stop working on your dream and passion.

Even if you want to strictly write online as a freelancer, don’t give up.  Sometimes a hiatus is necessary, but you need to keep writing during your down time.

What’s your tips for staying focused and keeping the passion alive through rejection?

How many ads do you skim that ask for writing samples?  Almost all of them, right?  I’ve posted before about not sending freelance writing samples and why.  Read: Never Send a Potential Client “Writing Samples”.

But I wonder if I should re-think this position.  I personally believe if you have an online portfolio with writing samples included, this should suffice as to whether or not you can write well.  I’m also thinking there may be another way to let the client see your work, while protecting it at the same time. Hearing back from them will still remain to be seen and I will post an update if and when I test this new theory.

My new theory is to send the potential client the writing sample, but make sure it’s already on your website with a copyscape protected logo.  Also send the potential client the link to that page on your site under the article itself.

This way, they get a writing sample in the body of your email, but they also become aware that if they use it without your permission (as many have) that it’ll be duplicate material and caught by copyscape.

I suggest you decide which niche topics you prefer to write on, write some sample articles and then upload them to your website for future use to send to clients for writing samples.  I see no reason why freelance writers have to create something new for each client when you can show your ability in your niche topic with one or two samples already written.  After all, a photographer does not go take new pictures for every client they apply for.  They build a single portfolio, add to it with their best work, and it speaks for itself.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?  Do you have a better way to deal with writing samples?

Happy Writing,
Patti Stafford