Welcome back!

Many freelance guru’s point out that not all the freelance work exists in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. There’s plenty of work to be had in your own locale due to local magazines, newspapers and small businesses. Thanks to Craigslist, I landed a freelance contract with a local website and software applications company.

I have been working for this small business since the last week in April and I have learned a great deal about small business, marketing and the family-owned small business in particular. I’ve come into contact with a lot of clients who want and need different things. They all want to increase revenue but many are still in the dark about their web presence and how software applications can make them more efficient.

Your perception of your writing skills or lack of them really emerges as you begin to writing content about everything including locksmith services, fire extinguisher sales and service, Christian childcare, insurance adjuster training, patio covers and landscaping.

 When it’s all said and done, you wonder how you made any of these services sound interesting to someone not in the field.

If you find yourself with an opportunity to write locally for the businesses that cater to your neighborhoods, you may surprise yourself with the contributions you can make to those businesses and your metropolitan area. Good Luck.

As writers we often hear the advice to write what we know. I may have started out that way but I often quickly find that my stories move into unknown territory. My first novel was differently based on experience but it wasn’t based on my experience alone. I added many layers that were not part of my own biography.

What made me come to this conclusion has to be when one of my clients wanted to know if I knew anything about commercial landscaping. I had never written on this topic before and we’ll see how I do when the assignment begins tomorrow, but my response to him was, “I didn’t know anything about the other projects you’ve assigned to me.” Lucky for me every one of those assignments went off much better than expected. I never thought I would be writing about a Christian childcare center, patio cover company, two locksmithing businesses, watch repair, an appliance repair business and a fire safety corporation. Not only have I written about those things, I’ve done a pretty good job at it as well.

Thanks to research and some critical thinking about what people want and what they expect from an interaction with any of these businesses has been my guide.

So the next time you wonder if you can write about something, remember that you really don’t know until you try. Certainly research is huge, but how you translate that research into relatable experience that causes people to connect is the real test.

If you enter any kind of self-employment scenario after having been employed for many years, it is very difficult to break free of the “aim to please” mindset. Sure, the circumstances are similar. If you want to keep your job, you make your employer happy. If you want to keep your business afloat then you make your customers happy. But there is a difference. Customers are happy when you deliver on your promises and ecstatic when you give a little bit more. Employers want to get the most out of you regardless of your pay scale. In business, more services equal more revenue. This is not necessarily the case in an employment situation. In fact, most employment contracts are written broad enough to allow employers to tack on more duties without having to pay you more. We’ve all read phrasing to this effect, “The following list of job requirements include but are not limited to the following…” or “Additional duties may be required at the discretion of the company based on its needs”.

When you are in business for yourself, whether you run a business of one or more, the thought process can be very different. A business peddling products may do well to offer free samples or provide “value-added” extras to entice repeat business. As a freelancer, more is just more for the client and may become a drain if the price wasn’t set properly to begin with.

Here’s a perfect example. As an employee, I always pushed myself to give more and go the extra mile in the hopes that it would be considered when it came time for raise evaluations.  I would do my best regardless, but when raises are based on performance, you’re enticed to push yourself a little harder. When I went freelance and finally landed a regular gig, I wrote over one hundred articles at $13 apiece.  I know many veterans would scoff and label me green, but I figured I had to prove myself and over time the articles could be produced rather quickly because they were formulaic. Suddenly the article storm ended but just as suddenly they began again but this time I was commissioned to write a handful of articles at $150 apiece. This was a much improved proposition. I thought, “I made it. I’ve proven that I can write well and now I am making above industry standards because of it.” Then out of nowhere, I began receiving offers for those $13 formulaic articles again. I continued to do those figuring that the higher priced articles would be less frequent. Then suddenly, I found myself in a position no freelancer wants. I kept getting those formulaic articles but they were becoming less formulaic.  All the articles were the same length so it had nothing to do with word count. It had everything to do with the skill required to write the non-formulaic articles.

As a professional, I took my fee since I had already agreed to it, but began to inquire about the differing pay rate. The differing articles were offered by the same company but handled by two different content brokers. The $13 lady would keep me tied up and I would possibly not see another $150 article. I had to politely and professionally withdraw myself from this racket.  

As a full-time writer in an economy where random $13 articles don’t pay the bills, we have to think like a business and know when to seek clients elsewhere. You can rely on volume and sell knock-off product at a fraction of the price or you can rely on quality and sell the real deal for what it’s really worth. I’ve always preferred quality over quantity.

Shortly after that, the same client returned to me a short time later offering articles at a more respectable payrate. When you’ve proven your worth it, it’s rewarding to claim what you deserve.

Many veteran freelance writers will tell you never write for free. That is excellent advice unless you are writing for yourself or you’re trying to break in with no clips to show prospective clients. If you are really that fresh, it may be necessary to write for free at least at first. I landed my very first freelance assignment more than ten years ago. I just didn’t know it at the time. I started out writing catalog copy for a medical supply company. They didn’t sell cotton balls or tongue depressors, they sold engraved coffee cups, pens, lumbar pillows (to target chiropractors) stationery, appointment reminder cards and the like. I was paid hourly but I was a vendor not an employee. I worked part-time while earning my English degree.

My next experiment with freelance writing involved an assignment I landed on a job bidding website. No, not the one you’re thinking…:) It was Rent-a-coder.com, and I landed a job writing how-to business articles. The client wanted me to write articles on how to start various businesses. In most cases he had a chunk of information and I just had to retool and polish it. Sometimes that meant cutting it or expanding it. I landed that gig without a freelance writing credit I could provide electronically. Sure I had the catalog copy writing experience, but it was in print and I didn’t have a scanner. So I quickly wrote an article on how to propose telecommuting to your employer and I provided a low bid due to my inexperience.  “Due to my inexperience” is a loaded phrase because I ended up winning the bid to write ten articles for $30 with no regard to word count. A deal that was ridiculous for nearly ten years ago, but sadly rather common these days with writers competing for jobs around the globe.

He liked my work and offered to provide more opportunities at the same pay rate. I thanked him for the opportunity and moved on, because frankly, it’s about more than just landing a gig, it’s about claiming the value in all you do. Writing for free in certain circumstances feels like a good idea. At first, whether it is for publicity or landing that writing gig, it seems like fun brimming with anticipation but it quickly becomes monotonous and degrading.

Often prospective clients will ask for a free writing sample. Make your decision on a case by case basis. You can tell if the client is trying to narrow down an in-box full of prospective writers or if he/she is simply trying to get good content. If trial sample is short say, 200 words or less, and it won’t take heavy research or a long time to write, give it a whirl if you really want the gig. Otherwise, look for a client who can make a decision based on your fantastic clips.

The culture of human nature is so complex due to the various shades of gray. Marketing my writing skills and fettering out legitimate project leads are a huge part of my day to day tasks. Some days are better than others with a healthy list of potential job leads. However, every job seeker, entrepreneur or salesmen has that moment of desperation, where they momentarily consider a project, a job or a potential buyer they might not normally consider. Sometimes it leads to a big sale. (Think of the rich guy who walks into a high end store wearing polyester lime green pants and an orange checkered shirt–he’s not wearing a 3-piece suit or flashing a Rolex so he’s probably not going to buy anything right?) Other times it leads where you might expect. It leads to nothing at all or a lot of grunt work not worthy of your time.

I had one of those moments last week. I saw an ad for a company seeking writers. The company claimed to provide research reports, book reviews, dissertations and essays to business and students. It sounded like the writer could pick and choose the projects they’d prefer to complete. Immediately I felt a sense of immorality in this offer. I’m that kid who wouldn’t “share” my homework with those who failed to complete their own. If they made a genuine effort to do their homework and just got stuck on one question, that’s one thing. But those kids who rather play video games or watch television than do their homework didn’t get any help from me.

Anyway, I filled out the form figuring I could complete the assignments for companies only. Let someone else write student essays if they wanted to, but I wasn’t going to do it. The company replied that my writing met their criteria and that if I was still interested I would need to write a new sample to ensure that the level of writing from my portfolio was indeed my own. All over the website there was strong language to deter plagiarism. Did anyone see the irony here? Once it dawned on me, I could not continue. This company was so concerned about plagiarism, yet they are provided term papers to students. It’s never said that these student clients would submit the papers as their own, but common sense would indicate that’s the purpose for these papers.

It goes to show just what the written word can accomplish. It can sway your thinking or cause you to interpret reality differently based on what is written or left to interpretation. In all your endeavors, make sure you analyze what’s not being said or written as well as what is.

Earlier I mentioned how there are some great perks to freelance writing that may not be obvious at first. In addition, I am starting to recognize instances where what I focus on is being drawn to me.

Here’s an example that illustrates both points. I was using my favorite writer’s source site, HARO, to get a source for a skin article I was writing. An aesthetician who happen to be in the same county  in which I live, responded with some great material for my article.

Not only did Lisa from Skin Scripts, provide a great quote and a great story that illustrated the point I was trying to make, she also offered me a discount on a facial.  That’s sounds pretty sweet all on its own, doesn’t it? You bet, but it gets better.

I go to her website as part of my research and I am greeted by fresh, shining happy multicultural faces. It turns out that her skin clientele falls within the multicultural demographic. I was so excited because not only did I have great material for my article, I now had material for my blog audience, not to mention I was going to get a facial that was geared toward my skin type.

I went to visit her and Lisa’s story is very unique in that an abundance of multicultural referrals were funneled to her from dermatologists and other folks in the business of beautifying the skin. Now with the increasing demand for multicultural skincare based on her reputation, she needed a solution that would help these patients with their specialized needs. The result is her own fantastic  skincare line for multicultural folks.

Many assume that darker or olive skin doesn’t need as much attention  “it doesn’t burn” or it would seem that blemishes and imperfections are not easily noticeable as it is on extremely fair skin.  I’m here to tell you that I had  my first sunburn experience in 6^th grade. I was under the mistaken assumption that I wouldn’t burn so I did without the sunblock which I had done my entire life up to that point. Well, I was painfully mistaken as my nose and cheeks burned. It hurt to the touch and I had no idea what was wrong. Needless to say, I learned something new about my skin that day.

I’ve been using Lisa’s Skin Script skincare line  since December and my face has never been this hydrated. It is also becoming very even and some of the rough spots are finally starting to smooth out. This isn’t just a plug for Lisa’s skincare line, but an example of how my focus on multiculturalism has attracted products and people into my life with a similar focus. What and/or who are you attracting into your life based on your focus?