Seven Deadly Freelance Mistakes

Hello Writing Etc. Subscriber!

I spoke with two freelancers this past week. Freelancer #1 was swimming in work, just raised her fees, and actually complained at how busy she was. Freelancer #2 told me the economy is killing her business, she’s considering quitting writing, and might have trouble making her monthly bills.

How can two freelancers experience such different realities?

I thought a moment and pinpointed seven differences between the successful freelancer and the discouraged freelancer. As you read on, make a mental note on how many of these deadly freelancing mistakes may have affected your writing career.

Mistake #1: Not writing daily

Successful freelancers write daily. Every. Single. Day. Holidays included. They even write on their birthday. If you don’t write (at least nearly) daily, you really shouldn’t call yourself a writer.

Mistake #2: Not learning to market

Marketing is a nightmare for many freelancers. “We’re creative people! We don’t do such lowly things as market!” Yeah, right.

Gone are the days when publishers do all your marketing. It’s a reality successful freelancers embrace. Learn the secrets of effective marketing and you’ll always enjoy a fruitful freelance life.

Mistake #3: Not marketing daily

Once you start studying marketing, you’ll find it’s a fascinating topic. The danger here is that you’ll become a professional studier of marketing rather than a marketer.

To sell your writing, you have to engage in marketing. You have to jump into the big, scary pool and start swimming. Regular marketing equals regular work.

Mistake #4: Not reading

To write effectively, you must expand your knowledge. Period. You have to remain on the cutting edge of your field. You’ll only do this by reading.

By reading, you open yourself to new thought, you’ll find yourself less likely to wind up in an echo chamber, you’ll find yourself filled with new ideas. Read daily. If you don’t think you have time to read, check this out.

Mistake #5: Allowing emotion to dictate action

Freelancing can be difficult. However, if you allow emotions such as depression, fear, anxiety, etc. to dictate your actions, you’ll quickly find yourself in a slog of unproductiveness.

Freelancing isn’t fair. Freelancing often doesn’t pay well. Those are realities. If they make you feel bad and unable to write, you may want to consider another profession.

Mistake #6: Not tweaking queries

Some queries will hit paydirt fast. Some will bomb. Rewrite the bombs, tweak the successful queries and see if you can make them work better.

Never assume anything you’ve written can’t be improved. Keep writing, editing, tweak your sales pieces. But most importantly, don’t give up.

Mistake #7: Not creating a website

Sometimes it feels like we’ve got a glut of writing websites on the Internet. That’s not exactly true. While many writers may have websites, not many of them are good websites. Nor are they effective websites. If you’re not making mistake #2 and #3, you’re website will likely be a profit center instead of an expense.

So, how did you stack up? How many mistakes have you committed? If you’ve found areas you can tighten your freelance life, take action, do the leg work, and monitor your results.

Freelancing is the best game in town. Seriously, it is. Every word set to paper is worth it.

Write on,

Beth 🙂

P.S. If you’re committing any of these deadly freelance mistakes, click the link below. This title will get you going fast. We’re talking three volumes of hard core freelance information in one handy download.

Just click here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writing Etc./Filbert Publishing News – April 4, 2013

ISSN: 1545-5580

Make Your Writing Sparkle. Write Killer Queries, Get Published.

Join the brightest, most ambitious, and talented group of writers on the ‘net.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To subscr*ibe to Writing Etc. and receive the fr*e e-book, “Power Queries,” surf here:

http://filbertpublishing.com

Forward Writing Etc. to all your friends! They’ll be glad you did.

You can easily manage your subscription to Writing Etc. by clicking the links at the end of this e-mail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can use any of these articles free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes and be sure to include this byline:

This article is courtesy of Filbert Publishing. Make your writing sparkle, write killer queries, get published. Subscribe to Writing Etc., the free e-mag for freelancers and receive the e-book “Power Queries.” http://filbertpublishing.com

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*-

http://www.WritingForDollars.com

WRITERS FIND MARKETS EASILY – Worldwide Freelance has a NEW fully-searchable Markets Database. Discover writing markets from North America, Europe, Australia and other places. It’s free, so come and try it out

here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~