Mistakes to Avoid as an Online Freelance Writer

Every freelance writer makes mistakes. It cannot be helped. As we learn new things part of the learning process is making mistakes. Though, if as a freelance writer you learn from these mistakes than no harm is done. You will take this new found knowledge and apply it to make your freelance writing business better. There are some mistakes to avoid as an online freelance writer than can save you heartache and pain in the long run.

Online freelance writing jobs don’t come easy. The competition is fierce and most of your time as a writer is spent on the hunt for the next paycheck. As we gain online writing jobs there are a number of mistakes that we are apt to make.

Many online freelance writers will learn more from their mistakes than from their successes. Learning from our mistakes is how we gain knowledge. If we apply what we have learned from our mistakes to our business overall we make our writing business better for ourselves and clients.

These are several mistakes to focus on that you can avoid and make your freelance writing business a success.

Do not underprice your work

Underpricing when it comes to your work is detrimental. A number of writers have done this in the past and some of us still do.  Lots of writers find it uncomfortable to discuss money. Generally the longer you write or run a freelancer business the easier this topic of discussion will become. Although this is not an easy subject to discuss as a freelance writer running a business it is a must do task.

Everyone has the right to get a fair price for work produced. This is very critical if you are providing a job filled with excellent work by way of expert or exceptional experience.

There are a number of ways to measure whether you are underpricing your freelance writing work. If you bid on a number of different jobs and never lose a bid, you are underpricing your freelance writing work.

One way to underprice your work is charging by the hour. Many times charging by the hour penalizes a writer that works fast to get the work completed. A great example of charging by the hour and how it will underprice your writing work is with jobs that require a great deal of experience or expertise to perform, but don’t require a great deal of time to execute. Think about the dentist that puts in a filling for a tooth with a cavity. It may mean 15 minutes of work, but the expertise is what you are paying for when you get the bill for hundreds of dollars.

Failure to sell yourself

Freelance writers have the job of selling their services and themselves to clients. This is a large part of getting work as a freelancer, marketing you. lots of times a client will know what they want, but are unable to voice the exact details to you.

Selling yourself is not giving clients snake oil or getting something for nothing. You are selling yourself to clients and giving them terrific client work as a product for pay. When you sell yourself and services to clients make it about them. What the client wants and needs is extremely important to marketing yourself and letting them know they have found what they are searching for in you. Don’t fail to sell yourself.

Don’t always say yes

Learn how to say no. Always saying yes is not a good thing. There are ways to say no that are polite, will retain you clients and still get the job done in a lot of cases.

Newbies to the freelance writing community don’t want to say no. It is important to build a client list as well as earn income, but there are times when saying no is beneficial to your business. Imagine that you are offered a job for freelance technical writing. This is not your area of expertise and in fact this is a job that is out of your league. Saying yes and accepting the writing assignment can cost you a client, your credibility and hurt your business by taking your attention away from jobs that are more suited to you. Sometimes saying no is a good thing. Don’t always say yes.

Over committing your resources is not good

Over committing is not good for business. There are clients that you will have that will certainly try and corner the market on your time and energy. Having one client that takes all of your time means the relationship established is one of a boss and an employee versus a client and a freelancer.

When you are working for a client you must still market and sell yourself to bring in other clients and future work. This task can be nearly impossible when you have one client monopolizing your time. This is another situation when saying yes is not always a good thing. When this client dictates your work and hours when the job is done you don’t have the next job in line which takes a bite out of your income.

Get testimonials

Clients that you have worked with that are satisfied and demand your work time and time again are generally your biggest source of income. Many of these satisfied clients will use you for referrals to other clients and other business resources. When you have these types of clients make certain that you receive a testimonial for their satisfaction with your work.  Ask them to post testimonials to your website or blog. Websites such as LinkedIn have an area where you can post testimonials and referrals from clients along with your business information. Clients that typically enjoy working with you are eager to tell it and will provide you with testimonials without issue. This is easy marketing forfreelance writers and their business. Remember to sell yourself.

These are mistakes to avoid and as online freelance writer that can help make your business better and your income grow. The next paycheck is always around the corner waiting for you to snatch up. 

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