How To Move Your Freelance Writing Eggs Out Of A Single Basket In Five Steps

By Dan Smith

At the start of this month I talked about ‘How To Reach The Next Rung On The Freelance Writing Ladder’, which was in response to a comment made by Walker, a reader of my post where I offered to give something back to the freelance writing community.

One of the readers who also left a comment on the same post was Anne, who said:

With risk of sounding like a psychic medium, I instantly felt a connection with Anne, as I was in exactly the same position not that long ago.

Writing for a single company producing articles on a monthly basis, the work wasn’t particularly well paid (in terms of what many would consider to be the going rate for similar articles on a per word basis), but it’s volume meant that whilst I was putting a lot of hours in, I was seeing somewhat of a respectable return.

The problem for me — and I’m sure for everyone else in the same boat — was that although the work could be interesting, the fact you were writing the same type of articles on a regular basis made it feel slightly monotonous and on occasion, a little tedious.

And that’s aside from the fact that you were keeping all of your eggs in one basket — a massive no no in any industry, as if that client pulls the plug on the work they’re giving you, you instantly lose the majority — if not all — of your income.

After a few months of producing the work required but feeling like I could be doing so much more, I realized that I needed to do something about it.

Yes, I could have carried on like I was doing and I would have been able to keep on earning the amount that I was, but I’m also pretty certain I wouldn’t have achieved 95% of what I’ve done this year, including being her writing for Get Paid To Write Online.

The problem that I found when moving forward was that I didn’t come across many resources that told me how to do it, with most basically saying “be confident, be strong, ditch your current client and go on the look out for new ones”.

This is great in theory, but when you rely on your freelance writing income, the risk of there being a gap of weeks or months between leaving a single client and taking on several others was just too big of a gamble to take.

Therefore, looking back on what I did to expand my client base, I believe it can be summed up into five steps, which anyone in the same boat should be able to follow, allowing them to stop keeping all of their eggs in one basket and move along the path to get where they want to be as a freelance writer.

1. Realize that only you can make yourself successful

When I first decided that it was time to move all of my eggs out of one basket, although I knew I’d have to put a lot of work in, I had a bit of a belief that things would just fall into place, someone would take me under their wing and I’d be able to ride on the back of their success until I paved my own path.

Of course, this isn’t how things happen and I soon realized that no one was going to help me be successful except for myself.

And once you understand this yourself and stop thinking you can rely on others, it’s actually quite enlightening, as you realize the freelance writing world really is your oyster.

2. Start networking with people who you aspire to be like

One of the first things I realized when I wanted to expand my client base was that I couldn’t just ditch the client I had and expect to take on six new clients straight away and the process had to be a smooth, gradual one.

As most people in the similar situation, the problem was that I didn’t know how to do it gradually and so I started networking with the people who did.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just start e-mailing the world’s best freelance writers saying “Hey, how do I be successful?”. I was — and still am — genuinely interested in how to continually develop and so I simply started becoming more involved with discussions on their blogs, reading everything they posted and questioned the bits that I didn’t understand or wanted to know more about.

After a few weeks, I started to e-mail a few of the people directly, explaining that I really liked their blog, their work in general and that would they mind if I asked a few questions.

And from that, I’ve managed to develop some really great friendships with people that I owe a lot to.

I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it a million times again, but the freelance writing community is the most friendliest I’ve ever had the pleasure to work in and I’ve found that whenever you want a bit of advice, all you’ve got to do is ask.

3. Look at your rates

Even up until the start of this year, I didn’t have any set rates for my freelance writing work. The client I received the vast majority of my work from paid me a set amount of money per article completed, which I had no idea if it was good, bad or about right and any single pieces of work that I carried out I accepted based almost primarily on whether I would enjoy writing it than anything else.

One of the first things I learnt when I started to expand my client base is that I needed to have some type of rate sheet that I could refer to.

It didn’t need to have rates on that were set in stone and there was no reason why I couldn’t provide a tailored a quote based on a client’s individual needs.

However, it became imperative for me to have something to hand that I could refer to if a potential client came to me asking for a price on a project or if I saw a gig advertised and I wanted to assess whether it would be worth my while.

It’s only a small thing and it won’t take you long to create, but you’ll find that your whole outlook changes once you realize how much you want — or need — to be working for as a minimum.

4. Get blogging

If you’ve followed my posts here on Get Paid To Write Online, my own blog or any other blog that I write or have written for, you’ll be aware that I strongly believe every writer should be writing on a regular basis, with a blog giving you the perfect platform to do so.

The reason behind this is that the more you blog, the more comfortable you feel, the quicker you find your true writing voice and — something that’s particularly important when you’re looking to develop your client base — the more people read your work and begin to associate you with being a quality writer.

There are some writers who believe that you shouldn’t have to pitch to clients and they should come to you and there are others who believe you should be continually pitching for new projects.

The way I see it is why not work right down the middle of both views?

And this is where blogging really shines through for the first view, as if you can provide content on a regular basis in a specific niche or two, you’ll find that over time you’ll come to be known as a knowledgeable person in that field, something which can be particularly lucrative when people begin to approach you for advice, quotes and work.

5. Seek and ye shall find

When I began to expand from having a single client to several, I spent hours trawling the web for new work.

Maybe I spent too much time looking for jobs, time which I could have spent dedicated to developing my actual writing skills, but from the hours upon hours I spent each day, once I’d figured out what was a scam and what was particularly low paying, I managed to work on some really good projects.

What’s important to remember here is that not only should you refrain from applying for projects that are out of your reach in terms of experience just because they pay well (the time spent applying for them can be better spent elsewhere), don’t disregard one off gigs — they might only be asking for you to write an ‘About’ page on their website now, but you’ve got your foot in the door and if you provide quality content, chances are they’re instantly going to come back to you in the future.

As I said in point one, it’s all too easy to sit back and expect someone else to make you a success. The truth is, that just isn’t going to happen and you need to be actively looking to develop and expand yourself.

Start by understanding that only you are in charge of your own future, begin networking with people who are in a position that you want to be in, have a set of rates which you know if you stick to with new clients will mean you’re in a good position financially, begin writing regularly to garner a following and become known in your field and continue to be on the lookout for new work.

Moving your freelance writing eggs out of a single basket into half a dozen baskets isn’t an easy process and it can be daunting, but it’s imperative to a sustainable career as a freelance writer.

Image: boughtbooks (Flickr)