A Demand For Freelance Writing

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

If you are like many people, you are probably in a job that you can’t stand or that you are underpaid. Maybe you were laid off your job. Whatever the reason may be, you have decided to go at it alone. Starting and running a business is the hallmark of America today.

Many people have taken the plunge and became freelancers. The question is what type of work is available? If you have a decent command of the English language, why not do what thousands of people have done, and continue to do on a daily basis – take up writing.

There is always a demand for freelance writing. If you are going to be a writer, you have to know the tricks of the trade. Typing your fingers on the keyboard is not enough. You have to know what is involved. This includes the legal, mental, physical, and intellectual side of it. If it was simple as typing words on a computer screen, I think everyone would try to do it. Writing is not very simple. It takes a good knowledge of English.

There are people that claim to write, and there are legitimate writers. The legitimate writers know exactly how to write. They have an excellent command of the English language and use it well. The wannabe writers don’t have good training in English, but find it fascinating to write, so they want to be a part of it.

Unless you are very skilled in using the English language, you can’t be a writer. Stephen King even said once that those that write know how to do it well. Those that don’t know how to write, puts everyone else to sleep.

Basically, what matters is that when you know how to write and can do it well; you put yourself in the position where you can make a lot of money. Once you have established yourself as a good writer, you won’t have the problem of getting clients.

Writing is not just about putting words on paper. You have to be more than a writer. You also need to be an editor. It doesn’t matter how well you know the English language, when you write, you will place words on the page.

The words you use may or may not be right. Even when you do have a good grasp of the English language, your brain may end up causing you to put words down in the wrong order, using the wrong syntax, or wrong grammar. This is why you need to be an editor. This way you can catch errors before others see them.

If you are looking to start your freelance writing career, or are just interested in giving it a boost, this course can help you do that. You will earn how to get started as a freelance writer. You will learn how to set up your office so you can write as a professional. You will learn how to set up a schedule so you can balance your home life with your work life. Remember, in this course, you will learn how to work at home as a writer, which is what freelance writing is about.

As a freelance writer, you will learn how to find clients. You will be shown how to write a contract. You will be shown how to set fees so you are paid what you are worth. If you decide to write for magazines, I will show you how to write an affective query letter.

One of the earmarks of a freelance writer is landing clients. When you are going after clients, most of the time you will be required to submit a proposal. I’ll show you how to write one that wins you the job.

If you choose to write so as to get your work published by a conventional publisher, I will help you do that. I will show you how to write and format your manuscript so that it is most appealing and not rejected. If you whether write your own books and self-publish them or have them published using POD, I’ll guide you in how to do that.

Another form of writing you may get involved in is with column writing. Much of the time, when you become really good at it, and develop a following, your column will become syndicated. As such, I will help you write and sell your first column. If you already have a column, I will show you how to tweak it so it carries more weight.

If you decide to be a commercial writer (writing for B2B), I’ll explain what commercial writing is and what type of writing assignments you can get. If you are looking to write for the Web, I’ll help you do that. Lastly, I will show you how to handle your finances so you can keep your taxes rate down. When you keep proper records, it makes things much easier for you.

If you are ready to take the writing world by storm, go on to your first lesson and let’s begin.

Lesson 1 - Getting Started as a Freelance Writer

Working as a writer does help you make money. There are many people doing it on a full-time basis. As a writer, you will be provided many opportunities to write documents for various clients. You may end up writing articles for websites. This is also known as web content. You may be required to provide marketing copy. You may be approached by someone who wishes to hire you to write a book for him. Perhaps, you just want to write your own books.

It doesn’t matter what type of writing you do, when you do it, the results are very rewarding. You’ll have the opportunity for independence, creativity, and even fame. You’ll be able to share your expertise with others. You can entertain, educate, inspire, and motivate others.

What is even better is when you can do something you love to do. You may find that your writing will influence others to make changes in their lives. There’s no other feeling in the world than that of knowing you helped someone at a time when it was needed.

Writing is a big ego boost as well, especially when you see your work in print, with your byline (your name) under the title, or at the end of the piece (document). The one thing about the writing life that is true. When you see your name in print one time, you look forward to seeing it over and over again.

The great part about writing is that you don’t need any special skills, other than to know the English language well. If you have a B.A. in English, that’s fine. It will help in your writing. On the other hand, if you don’t have a degree, you can still enter the writing profession.

I know many writers that do it part-time to start and only got their high school diploma. They bought a few style guides and studied them thoroughly. One writer I know of graduated from high school, and went to night school for 3 months, studying English. She received a certificate from that school.

From a legal point of view, you don’t need any special business license to operate as a writer. With the Internet, you can live anywhere and work as a writer. All you need is something to say and a keyboard to type on.

Being a writer has its ups and downs just like any other profession. You can make good money doing it. On the other side of the coin, you will face frustrations at time. Initially, it takes time to get a writing career going. You have to look for clients. This will be hard to do since you don’t have any samples to provide just yet. Finding high paying clients at first is also hard to do, as you are not established yet.

You have to remember that freelance writing is a business. You may have to use your creative side, but you still have to consider the money side of it. Every business or publication you write for, will only consider the bottom line – the dollar.

The publication wants to see results. If they get the results they want, or even more results, you will be high in demand, however, if your writing doesn’t give them anything, you are a lost cause. Freelance writing is also about handling correspondence, keeping records, and handling your finances.

The great part about writing is that you have a flexible schedule. You are not tied down to a rigid schedule, as you would be with a nine to five job. You can set your hours to whatever you want. I know some writers that work only a few hours in the morning, then they take off the rest of the day to be with their family. Other writers work during the afternoon, and during the evening after supper.

If you are just starting out, and you have another job at the moment, you may do what others writers have done. You might consider moonlighting for a time. This will help give you experience and hopefully, you can develop some samples.

Once you have reached that level where you can depend on writing as your major source of income, you can stop moonlighting and approach it as a full-time profession. By moonlighting, you have the chance to decide if writing is for you or not.

Points to Ponder

You’ve read about what freelance writing is. Based on what you’ve read so far, why do u think so many people want to get involved in writing?

Opportunities

As a freelance writer, you will have plenty of opportunities including the following:

Magazines: Take a look at any newsstand and you will notice a ton of magazines sitting on the ground or on the shelves. Most of the magazines you see are nonfiction types. In fact, nonfiction makes up the majority of the magazine market. They are also the highest paid markets for freelancers. Imagine writing a 1500 word article for Time Magazine and getting paid $3000 for it. There are over a thousand magazines in the marketplace and that number seems to be climbing.

With the rise of the Internet, such print magazines are now going online so they can reach a wider audience. This increases your chances of getting work assignments. The negative side of magazine writing is that often they pay on publication. This means that even when they accept your piece, you have to wait months before you are paid. The exception to this is if the magazine pays on acceptance. Even when they do buy your piece, you may not see it in print for months at a time.

Online Periodicals: There will be plenty of opportunities online for you. You can write for webzines, e-mail newsletters, and companies that offer offline media, but have expanded online. In the past, online media didn’t pay very well, as the advertising draw just wasn’t strong enough. That has changed in recent years as advertising has picked up a great deal.

Online markets work on a faster schedule. When you work for such outlets, your piece may just see publication within a week. If you can work for print publications, you can work for them online as well. They do have the same needs: a beginning, middle, and end.

Newspapers: You will find there are many newspapers in this country. Many of them do hire freelance writers on occasion. The difference between magazines and newspapers is the newspapers look for the local angle. They want what is newsworthy. They don’t want just anything. When writing for newspapers, you can often send the same piece to other non-competing newspapers. Newspapers also publish stories immediately.

Nonfiction books: Writing nonfiction books is worth looking into. If you have a particular expertise in something, you can find writing books or e-books for others very lucrative. This kind of work is also referred to as ghostwriting. If you are writing for yourself, you can often get an advance, if your topic is pretty popular.

Business Writing and Editing: Here is another area that you may want to focus on. When you write for businesses, especially corporations, you will find the pay is generally higher than other types of writing. You can also land steadier work, once you prove yourself to be at the top of your game, and can provide what the client wants.

When you write for businesses, the types of writing you may end up working on can include brochures, reports, sales literature, documentation, and other documents. You may also perform editing work. Editing involves taking documents that the client sends you, and verifying the documents are written properly. You can charge by the word when performing editing functions.

Points to Ponder

Looking at the various opportunities above, do you see an area that you are good at or would like to get involved in?

Earning Potential

One big question that every beginning freelance writers asks is how much can one earn. This really depends on the type of writing you do. If you write for publications, you are guided by the publication’s rates. If work for yourself, you can control the amount of money you make.

Basically, your income potential will depend on skills, expertise, the type of services you perform, and the amount of time you devote to your writing project. If you do work for publications, as a first-timer, they may offer lower rates than those experienced with clips. This is normal. Once you have established yourself with clips, you can expect to make more money. This is the exception, not the rule. There are markets you can get involved in that pay good for even beginning writers. An example of pay rates could be $25 to $500 for a piece.

If you want to figure out how much is possible to earn as a writer, consider these things:

The market: Locate markets that match your interests and experience. For example, if you have experience in computers, you would do well to find markets that deal with computers.

Their pay rate: How much do they pay? Do they pay by the word or the page? Contact the publications of your choice. Notice if they cover the kind of topics you can write. Find out what they will pay for those topics. Start at the high-paying markets first. If you are rejected, you can always go to the lower paying markets.

Length on piece: How long does it take for you to do research and write the piece? If you take on a writing project that consists of 1500 words, and get it done in four hours, you can find yourself writing a great deal over the course of a day or week. This is also a way to tell how much you are making per hour. For example, if you are paid $3000 for the 1500 word article, and it does take you four hours to research and write it, your hourly rate for that job is $750.

Time on schedule: If you want to be a writer, you have to know the amount of time you can devote per week to writing. If you can write for 40 hours, you can accomplish quite a bit during the week. Don’t forget, you have to add in the time it takes for research to.

When you first start freelance writing, you will find the money won’t start coming in right away. It will take time for the money to come. You have to go through a start-up process first. It is during this time you are deciding whether to work for yourself or work for publications. If you do decide to work with publications, the response time is usually around six or eight weeks. In some cases, you may not see your first check for a month.

Points to Ponder

Considering the amount of money you can make, do you see yourself making a ton of money as a writer?

What it takes to be a Freelance Writer

If you are wondering what it takes to be a freelance writer, here are some factors to consider:

Writing ability: You do need the ability to write decently. The better you can write you can make more money. If your writing is decent, write something and get it critiqued. If your critique is okay, then you can try to write something and sell it. The worst case scenario is that your work will be rejected. If you are told your writing is weak, take a course in English, so you can improve the way you use the language. By updating your English skills, this will help in your efforts to write better.

Business knowledge: If you want to be a freelance writer, consider the fact writing is a business. Your writing is not just a form of self-expression. You are creating documents that will be published by someone or a business. You have to think of your writing as a business. As such, you can no longer think about writing something on a subject, because you feel like it. You need to think about what to write to be paid for it. Writing is part of the business, research it the other. You also have to take care of administrative tasks like negotiating contracts, billing clients, keeping accurate records, and maintain your files.

Professional attitude: If you want to be a freelance writer, you must show a professional attitude. Any time you deal with a client, make sure you are professional in the way you deal with the person. Showing a professional attitude means knowing when to send a query letter, format a manuscript, handle e-mail correspondence, meet deadlines, negotiate contracts, so on. Being professional also means controlling your emotions. It means behaving in a courteous manner.

Motivation: To run a freelance writing business, you need to be motivated. You need to have a desire to write. That desire must really be strong. When running your freelance writing business, you may find you have to give up some of your social life to get projects done on time. Being motivated also helps you when there is no one else around to support you.

Perseverance: There will be times when you may find giving up is close to the door. If you really love to be a writer, you need perseverance. Times will be tough. You need thick skin at times, when you receive rejections. You will face discouragement now and then. It is at these times that when you have perseverance, you can ride the storm and can conquer your dreams.

Discipline: One great trait of a freelance writer is discipline. As a freelance writer, you have no one to tell you when to work. This is when you really need to be disciplined. By being disciplined, you will take on your task, no matter the situation you’re in. You won’t need someone to look over you, making sure you get the work done. To be a successful freelance writer, you need to be able to be a self-starter. You must be able to finish what you start. That takes discipline.

Freelance writing can be a lucrative career choice if you way the facts, and know the costs involved. It takes self-sacrifice and an on-going commitment. If you can achieve these attributes, you have an excellent chance of being not only a freelance writer, but also a really good one.

Points to Ponder

Considering what it takes to be a freelance writer, do you believe you have what it takes to work in that profession?

Summary

Working as a writer does help you make money. There are many people doing it on a full-time basis. As a writer, you will be provided many opportunities to write documents for various clients. You may end up writing articles for websites. This is also known as web content. You may be required to provide marketing copy. You may be approached by someone who wishes to hire you to write a book for him. Perhaps, you just want to write your own books.

It doesn’t matter what type of writing you do, when you do it, the results are very rewarding. You’ll have the opportunity for independence, creativity, and even fame. You’ll be able to share your expertise with others. You can entertain, educate, inspire, and motivate others.

As a freelance writer, you will have plenty of opportunities. You can write for magazines, online periodicals, newspapers, nonfiction books, and business writing and editing. When you write for businesses, the types of writing you may end up working on can include brochures, reports, sales literature, documentation, and other documents.

Exercises

1. Write down about a subject you like and give it to someone to read. Ask for feedback. Is their feedback good or bad?

2. Write down a list of subjects you are really good at or like quite a bit. These subjects are what you will use when doing a search for magazines and newspapers.

Review Questions

1. As a writer, you will be provided many opportunities to write documents for various clients.

a. True

b. False

2. Being a writer gives you and opportunity for independence, _______, and may be even fame.

a. selection

b. Creativity

c. Inspiration

d. Motivation

3. When working as a freelance writer, you'll be able to write for magazines, newspapers, online periodicals, and what other entity?

a. Individuals

b. Businesses

c. Animals

d. None of the above

4. To earn money as a writer, you need to consider the market, their pay rate, length of the piece, and what other?

a. Research

b. Money

c. Time

d. None of the above

5. Of all that attributes to be a freelance writer, which one of the following is not one of them.

a. Writing ability

b. Business knowledge

c. Professional attitude

d. Able to date more often

Lesson Two - Setting Up Shop

To be a freelance writer requires very little money to start it. It’s not going to cost $10, nor will it cost $4000. The only costs will involve purchasing a few basic tools. These tools will consist of equipment, supplies, and some resources.

Your Home Office

The one thing you will need is an office in your home. This will need to be a place you can go to that is quiet while you work. Some people don’t mind distractions like music or TV, while others need it perfectly quiet to do their work.

It doesn’t matter where it is in your writing space is, as long as it is a permanent location. This is where you will set up your computer, fax, copier (if you have one), and any other equipment you will use in your work. It needs to be a place where you can close the door, especially when talking to clients. If you live alone, you don’t have to worry about having a door. You can work in the living room or bedroom.

Make sure the desk you use is well equipped to handle your monitor, keyboard, mouse, books, DVDs, or whatever you place there. Some writers have a desk with a printer table connected to it, or set aside. The desk has a sliding drawer so they can place their keyboard and mouse to keep it out of sight when not in use.

It would be good also, if the desk was large enough to hold books, notes, and other materials you may need, while doing your writing. You should also have drawers where you can store things like pencils, pens, files, folders, and many other accessories.

Besides the desk, you should also have a bookshelf where you can store reference books and other most often used books. This way you have easy access to them. Don’t forget your chair. It should be as comfortable as possible, since you will be sitting in it for a long while.

Your computer should be primarily used for your writing work, not for personal use. In addition, your computer should not be used by anyone else in the family. If you live alone, you may want to consider using a laptop as your secondary computer. This computer can be used for personal reasons only.

If you have a personal email account, consider also getting a business or professional account. You don’t have to spend the money to do this. If you have your own website, such as www.yourdomainname.com, you can set up an email so that it can be [email protected]. This way it sounds professional. If you were to use Gmail, Hotmail, or AOL, it won’t be professional.

When it comes to a printer, the best type would be an all-in-one or four-in-one. These are printers that also work as scanners, fax machines, and copiers.

Setting up your computer should include Internet. This will mean connecting the computer to an outside line. Most homes have cable or DSL. You need to have a computer that is Internet ready. If it is, there will already be an Ethernet network card installed in the machine. You just need to run a cable from your cable modem or DSL to the port on the back of the network card. If you don’t know how to do this, ask someone to do it for you.

While setting up your home office, don’t forget your phone. You should consider a second phone line from your existing phone. If you work off the phone company, ask that they install a second line. Tell them this will be a business line. Then buy a small phone you can use for that purpose. This way you can have a business line and a personal line in your home. If you rather, just have a second line opened on your primary account, and set it up as a distinctive ring so you can tell which call is personal and which is business.

Points to Ponder

Talking about a home office, do you currently have one? If not, do you know where you can get all the equipment you need to start one?

Extras

Above, I covered most of what you will find in a home office. Now I will provide the extras that can help make your home office more productive. You don’t need all these extras. Just be aware of them.

The first extra to talk about is Writer’s Market. Writer’s Market is the place to go when you are looking for leads for writing assignments. There is well over 3,000 magazines, plus a ton of book publishers, and markets for screenplays, greeting cards, and many other writing jobs.

You can get the print version or the online version. If you purchase the print version, you automatically have access to the online version. Just use a special code that is listed on the inside cover, back cover, or within the first page of the book. If you are not a book subscriber, you can still gain access to and subscribe for the online version (www.writersmarket.com).

As a part of your home office, you will also need certain writing supplies and stationary. There will be times you’ll need to send something out in the mail, therefore, have a good-quality 20-lb. white bond paper will work well. You will also need a box of 9x12 envelopes, as well as a box of #10 business size envelopes. Don’t forget blank CDs.

When buying supplies don’t overlook pens, pencils, felt pens/markers, and erasers. You may be using your computer, but you will also need to use pencils and pens for other purposes. Make sure you have them in stock. You also want to include paper clips, rubber bands, rulers, Post-it notes, and file folders. It is also a good idea to keep note-pads around, as you will be jotting down facts presented to you over the phone.

Before you begin doing any kind of writing, it would be a good idea to create stationary with a professional letterhead. You can do this in Word. Create the letterhead and save it as a template. Then when you write a letter to a client, you can include your letterhead. This is a professional way of doing business.

If I were you, I would also consider getting a flash drive. You can obtain them in any computer store. They come in sizes like 2GB or higher. They are great to have as you can transfer files from the flash drive to your computer. Let’s say you have to meet your client. If he has some documents to give you, he can place them on your flash drive. When you get home, you can plug the flash drive into an available USB port and copy the files from your flash drive to your desktop or hard drive.

I would also recommend you purchase an external hard drive. This type of drive is very useful for backing up your files. You should always consider having a backup drive for all your work.

Points to Ponder

Of all the extras mentioned in this lesson, how many of them do you have?

Summary

To be a freelance writer requires very little money to start it. It’s not going to cost $10, nor will it cost $4000. The only costs will involve purchasing a few basic tools. These tools will consist of equipment, supplies, and some resources, including a desk, chair, printer, fax, scanner, copier, and many other accessories.

Exercises

1. Write down what equipment you presently have with what is contained in this lesson. Compare what you wrote down with what was provided in this lesson. Do they differ?

2. Look up the cost of each item you have written down. This will help you better understand the cost of starting your freelance writing business.

Review Questions

1. The only costs to start a freelance writing business will involve purchasing what.

a. A few basic tools

b. A large house

c. A large car

d. All the above

2. Your home office should be a part of the home where everyone congregates together.

a. True

b. False

3. When it comes to a printer, you should seek those that have many functions built-in like a scanner, fax, and what else.

a. Phone

b. Modem

c. Copier

d. Flash drive

4. Writer's Market is an extra tool for your home office as it is the place to go when you are looking for what.

a. Pencils for sale

b. Pens for sale

c. Leads for writing assignments

d. All the above

Lesson Three - Scheduling When to Write

As with any business, you have to set up time to do it. It isn’t like going to a job where you know you work nine to five. Working as a freelance writer, you have control of your own hours. You dictate when to work and when not to.

When working as a freelance writer, you have to look at time as one thing – investment. Investment you say. How is time an investment? Look at it this way. There is an old expression that "time is money." Actually, it should read "time is like money." There is a lot of it each day. However, if you don’t plan your activities correctly, that time will slip away.

If you want to be successful in your freelance writing career, you must consider the time you have and make setting up a schedule and committing to it a priority. There will be times when work will extend 12 hours in a day. That can happen. Extending yourself to meet deadlines is something you will need to accept, as it will happen often.

Points to Ponder

Do you think that time is money, or is it just an illusion?

Time Management

The one factor you will find when you begin writing is that you will never have free time to do it. What you will need to do is transfer the time you usually take for other chores or duties and switch that time for your writing. In other words, if you have a schedule where you have poker night, bowling night, and maybe movie night, you may just have to switch gears. This may mean transferring the time you took to play poker, bowl, or go to the movies, to work in your writing business.

It may be a hard choice at first, but in the end, if you really want to be a freelance writer, there will be hard choices to make initially. I have a friend that wanted to be a freelance writer so bad, she gave up ladies night out just so she could stay home and write. Her friends didn’t like it at first, but when they say how dedicated she was, they excused it.

If you have trouble arranging time, why not get an appointment book and list everything you need to do in it. Appointment books are broken down into 15 minute increments. Buy one and put down everything you do during a given day. After you have recorded everything you do during the course of a day, time it. You’ll be surprised by how much time you actually waste in a given day.

Points to Ponder

What do you consider to be time management? In other words, what is time management to you?

Priorities Matter

If you really want to be a freelance writer, you must be certain with your time in relation to the activities you pursue. You have to set priorities. This means setting the time to perform your writing services comes first.

Take a look at your appointment book I talked about in an earlier section and see if you can categorize the time. Here are some categories you may want to think about: unavoidable tasks, necessary tasks, tasks you enjoy doing, tasks you need to do, tasks that should be done by someone else, tasks that take too much time, and tasks that are mainly for fun. Let’s look at each of these in order:

Unavoidable tasks: These are tasks that you can’t skip. They are absolutely essential to take; like your writing business.

Necessary tasks: These tasks include eating, cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, etc. Although, these are necessary tasks, you may find that some of these tasks can be done in better ways to save you time, especially if you live alone. If you have a family, you may want to allocate some of the tasks to other family members.

Tasks you enjoy doing: You don’t want to give up everything you enjoy doing. You do need some diversity and stress relief from your work. On the other hand, don’t crowd too much fun in, or you won’t have time for work.

Tasks you think you need to do: Such activities such as volunteering at a charity event is one such task you can avoid. Certain household duties also fall into this. Perhaps there are certain chores that you do, that really isn’t necessary. If this is the case, think what would happen if you didn’t do them. Would not doing them hurt you or your home any?

Tasks that should be done by someone else: There are tasks that you may perform yourself that others could just as easily do. Maybe you feel guilty if you don’t do them. That kind of thinking as to change if you wish to be a freelance writer. It is time to delegate the chores to someone else, so you can focus that time on your business.

Tasks that take too much time: If you look at the many tasks you perform now, I’ll bet you’ll find that you spend more time doing them than is necessary. The best way around this is to evaluate the task you are doing, and see if there are shortcuts that you can take to cut the time in half or down further. If you aren’t sure, ask someone for guidance. I am sure there are people that have done the same thing but found a way to do the tasks faster.

When you look at each task, you may be surprised by what you discover. Now is the time to look over your task and determine what to change. If you don’t do it now, you’re likely to fail as a freelance writer, as your time will be limited.

Points to Ponder

What tasks do you consider important and not important?

Eliminate Time Wasters

If you really want to succeed at freelance writing, you must find a way to eliminate things from your life that waste your time. Don’t forget, you are working as a freelance writer now, or at least this is the career path you wanted to pursue, as such, you will need to make some changes.

What are some of the time wasters that exist in the home? Here are some of them: television, junk mail, magazines, errands, telemarketers, and household chores. If you think about it, television could be lowered or even eliminated from your daily tasks, as there really isn’t much on there that is good to look at these days. If there are shows that are important, simply record what you have to see and play the show back at a later date, when you do have some free time.

If you watch shows with the family, explain that you need to work, as you are on a time table. If they understand freelance writing is the way you pay the bills, they will go ahead and watch the show without you. They can always get you up to speed with the show later.

The same goes with movies. If you are on a strict schedule, either record the movie and play it back later, or sign up with Netflix or some other video service and rent it when it is available, and when you have time to watch it.

When junk mail, this is an easy one. Every time you get mail, if it is junk mail, toss it in the trash. That is what the trash can is for. If you want to keep the sales letter to learn how to write one, place it on your desk in your office, but throw the rest of the package away.

Magazines can be good and can be bad. If you have magazines you only skim through, why not just stop the subscription, and go online when you have a chance, to read the article. This is only if the magazine is also online. If you get magazines that are necessary for your craft, place them on your desk to the side, and when you get a break from work, look the magazine over. Once you finish the magazine, toss it or tear out the article to save it.

Running errands is the biggest time waster. If you have certain errands that you must run, pick a time during the day when you have more energy, and when there is less traffic, this way you can get them done faster. Also, see if you can combine certain errands together so as to get them done first, especially if the places are close together. For example, if you have three errands to run, and two of them are right next door to each other, while the third one is across town, then go across town first, do that one, and then finish the last two as you head for home.

Telemarketers are a huge waste of time. I know you hate to be rude, but with telemarketers, you have to be. When someone calls and starts giving you some kind of sales pitch, just be polite and say, "No thanks" to the person and hang up. The best way to prevent telemarketing calls is to put your number on the do-not-call list. You can get this by going to https://www.donotcall.gov/.

Household chores are also considered time wasters. You may not think they are. However, when you perform the chores and look at the time it took to do them, you may be surprised. The best way around this is to look at the chores you have set up and see if you can get someone else in your family to do them. Assign the chores to each person. Reward the person for doing the chore. This is usually an incentive that will get the person to do the chore.

If you live by yourself, hire someone to come in and help (if you can afford it). If you can’t hire someone, take a look at the chores you need done, and see if you can put them off to another day, or see if you can speed up the process of getting them done.

Your main goal is to limit unnecessary time wastage, so you can focus that time on running your freelance writing business. Once you get the business to the level where you are making good money, then perhaps you can level out a little and lower the amount of hours you work.

Points to Ponder

Since you are in the process of transitioning to freelance writer status, do you have any tasks that you deem a waste, and that you can eliminate?

Summary

The biggest factor for any new business is setting up time for it. By working as a freelance writer, you have control of your own hours. You dictate when to work and when not to.

When working as a freelance writer, you have to consider time as an investment. There is so much time in a day. If you don’t plan your activities correctly, that time will slip away.

If you want to be successful in your freelance writing career, you must consider the time you have and make setting up a schedule and committing to it a priority. You have to be great at time management, and learning to set aside time, by rearranging your task into priorities. You also have to eliminate wasted time as well.

Exercises

1. Write down what tasks you perform each day. Take the time to do those tasks and record how long it takes to do them.

2. Look at all the tasks in exercise one and evaluate them. When evaluating the tasks, decide which tasks are time wasters and which tasks are not.

Review Questions

1. When working as a freelance writer, you have to look at time as one thing – investment.

a. True

b. False

2. What is the biggest factor to consider when starting your freelance writing business?

a. Money

b. Family

c. Time

d. Equipment

3. If you really want to be a freelance writer, you have to set what.

a. Priorities

b. Money

c. Family

d. Education

4. If you really want to succeed at freelance writing, you must find a way to eliminate things from your life that _______.

a. Waste your time

b. Speed up your time

c. Help your family

d. Help your computer run faster

5. Your main goal is to limit unnecessary time wastage.

a. True

b. False