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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Freelance Clients - The Light Handed Lovable Type

Freelance Writing Success Mantra : "Know your clients to know what they want and give them exactly what they want!"

The Light Handed – Lovable Type
How to find one

Light handed clients forms between 50-70% of the client base I have handled so far. And they are very easy to come by in a very lucrative article writing niche rather than any other form of writing. These clients have very simple requirements. Read the description and you will see that only a skeletal requirement will be given. Also, these clients tend to give a lot of freedom to write on the topic in whichever angle you choose as long as you turn in quality work.

Their pay could vary. Some of the light handed clients pay the minimum as they feel their expectation is kept at minimum itself. Some of them pay really well and even provide ongoing work as long as you are interested and turn in quality work. I have experienced that such clients tend to provide increments without asking as well.

How to deal with one

Dealing with light handed client is quite simple. Look at the pay and look at the requirement and do your best keeping these two factors in mind and you will do well. Keep your communication to the minimum as they would prefer it that way unless otherwise stated. If you keep emailing them they will reconsider hiring you for long time. They prefer the hand-off method. The light handed client is okay as long as they do not spot any major mistakes in your work.

How to write for one

Read the client requirements carefully and ask if you are not sure about anything like you would for any other assignment from any other client. Keep your spelling and grammar intact. Some of these clients are not very fussy about sentence structures. They are happy as long as your work passes the basic requirement of readability.

Understand their requirement and work on them with as little mistake as possible and you are safe. This does not mean sub-standard work. Please do not read or understand them in that way. Light handed clients do not sit on the neck of the freelancer and demand every detail about the hours they put into the work or demand reports every day. Their demands are as simple as what is described to you when they hand you their work.

Is it good or bad?

Working for a light handed client could be good or bad depending on your agenda. If you are a freelancer who is looking for a client who gives you a free hand in doing the job, light handed client is your man. If you are looking for a client whom you want to build a long lasting working relationship with, light handed client is your choice.

However, the hands off approach by the client could mean that there is very little opportunity for you to learn about them or their business. You are very unlikely to find out how your work is being used. You will not be able to grow as a freelance writer working under such a client. There might exceptions though.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Freelance clients - The Heavy Handed Perfectionist Type

Freelance Writing Success Mantra : "Know your clients to know what they want and give them exactly what they want!"


The heavy handed –Perfectionist Type

How to find one

If you are given a contract or you landed the job based on the bidding system from a freelance portal, you can make out this type of client. The contract or the job description from a heavy handed client will come with every tiny bit of details addressed from spelling to grammar and from daily reporting to the presentation of the final report.

If you are not able to make out from the freelance contract or the project description, you will find out after you turn in your first assignment.

How to deal with one

You have to be extremely cautious when dealing with such a client as they tend to be very detail oriented and will go through your work with microscope before they release your payment. Also, be prepared for changes in your writing as the heavy handed client wants the final product to be as perfect as possible.

If the pay is good, your work must be good as well and there is no harm in the client being heavy handed. However, if the client is paying $1/500 words, this type of approach is not tolerable for most freelance writers.

How to write for one

Be very careful if you want repeat projects. Watch your spelling, grammar and sentence structure. Be especially mindful about the deadline. Never even think about handing in the project past the deadline. If you are asked for progress reports at specific milestones or time, be sure to hand it in.

Is it good or bad?

Working as a freelance writer for a heavy-handed client is an experience in itself. If you are paid reasonably well for such an approach you will definitely start learning some of the characteristics of a super freelance writer! You will be more conscientious about the way you write and be more disciplined in meeting your deadlines, if not anything else. Overall, your writing will improve.

The downside is that if the pay is not good enough for to tolerate this type, you may feel overwhelmed and apprehensive. Most importantly you would never want to work for this client ever again.

Looking for freelance writing clients? Know the different types before you start work

Knowing your client for whom you are freelance writing makes a lot of difference to the way you actually write. Freelance writers work with clients with varying temperaments, expectations and pay structure. Knowing them will make your writing a lot more easier as you will know exactly what to deliver. In the coming posts, I will bring you through a few of them whom I have personally worked for. Through this you will be able to identify the different types of clients when you come across them and also know if the behavior is acceptable and how you can deal with this client. You will also know how working for such a client will benefit your freelance writing career.

The different types of freelance writing clients you will encounter are;

The heavy handed - Perfectionist type

The light handed - Lovable type

The no handed - Can't be bothered type

Click on the links to read about them. This post will be updated as and when I come across new types which cannot be classified as any of these types. If you know about any other types of clients you have worked for, do let me know so that I can include them in my list as well.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Steps to Online Freelance Writing Success

If you have the mindset that says “I freelance as a hobby” or “I freelance to make ends meet,” you will be doing that only. If you are serious about attaining success through freelancing and really hope to quit your job one day to do full-fledged freelancing you have to start treating your freelancing efforts as a real business. 


Shift Your Focus

The very first thing you need to do if you want to be a successful freelance writer is shift your focus. Take your freelance writing seriously and give it equal importance in your schedule and your life. You will see a significant rise in terms of satisfaction and earnings when this happens.

Make Time to Write

Consistent writing schedule is necessary if you want to start on a fast track to freelance writing success. Even when you are not writing for a client, you need to keep writing to build your portfolio or to just increase your research materials. If you get stuck with a writer’s block or are feeling lazy even doodling something will help keep the momentum. If you pass the day wothout writing even one sentence you are digging the grave for your freelance writign career.

Consistent apprach is very important. If you are not writing because you do not have a job from a client, become your own client. Come with your own writing assignments and start writing.

Set up a Writing Station

Many freelancer writers work from home for very good reasons. Reasons range from kids to freedom from a regular job. And not many are able to sustain the momentum they had wen they started out as a online freelance writer! Well, if you use your kitchen space or your bedroom to write you will find that you are doing much more of other things compared to actually writing. When you set up a special corner in your home for you to work on your freelance writing, you will find that you get much more done in that short span of time.

Learn to Handle Disruptions

As I mentioned before, many freelance writers work from home and unless you are staying alone you are bound to face distractions. What makes the situation worse is that your parents, spouse, siblings, kids or friends may not even acknowledge that you are working and may feel that you are free. This is a very real issue faced by many online freelance writers. The basic reason being that people are still not able to digest the fact that you can actually be working from home on your computer in your pyjamas.

To handle this you need to keep a working space intact and be sure to let the possible disrupters that you are not free when you are at your workstation.

KISS (Keep it Short and Simple)

Nothing is more dangerous to an online freelance writer than a bored audience and an irritated client. Depending on your audience keep your articles short and simple unless otherwise required. If you are writing for a general online audience, you must ensure that you keep your article sentences and paragraphs short. You can organize your article by incorporating bullet points where appropriate for an easy read. If your articles are easy to read and understand you will gain more readers as well as clients which will accelerate your freelance writing success.

Find Avenues to Showcase Your Potential

The initial step to finding freelance work is to look for it. You should register with leading freelance portals to bid on projects and land yourself some jobs and get some reviews about your quality of work submitted. This builds credibility and increases your workload as more clients feel comfortable hiring you. Freelancer.com, oDesk, Elance are few of the best portals around.

However, you need to slowly move away from this. In order to be a successful freelance writer, you need to develop yourself into someone the clients will come looking for instead of you approaching them. This is not going to happen overnight. Lots of hard work, persistence and relationship building are required in order for your freelancing career t come to such heights. Once you manage this, there is no looking back. Do note that you still need to keep an eye open for good opportunities.

Charge What You Are Worth

Face it! You are in this business to make money and you are not going to make it unless you charge your worth.Many freelancer writers are baffled when they are asked what their per-hour rate is or how much they charge per article or word. As mentioned before, you need to treat your freelance writing career as a business. Ask yourself if you would you ever go into business without knowing how much to charge for your product or service. Why should your freelance writing charges be any different?

Do not be afraid to charge what you are worth. Negotiation is always an option. However, if you under estimate your worth you are getting exploited and I will take a lot of time before your pay gets revised. If you over estimate you will lose your assignment as well as the client.

Be a Professional

Your quality, assignment turnaround time, communication must be of top notch quality. A lack in any of those departments will delay your success. Excellent service is what sets apart a good freelance writer from a best freelance writer and only the best are really successful. The best mantra here is to under promise and over deliver.
 
I have written a slightly different version of the same article which can be found here

Top 3 reasons why a Freelancer will Survive a Recession!

It may sound ironical but it is true that freelancers are in high demand even during recession. In fact, the demand for freelancers increase during recession times. If you just take Internet content for example, you will realize that many new websites are springing up every day! Now where do these contents come from? Surely someone must be writing them and I can safely say that more than 90% of the contents on the Internet are written by freelancers. There are many reasons for that.

- Lack of time
- Lack of expertise
- Low cost high quality
- Flexibility
- Geographical reach

Here are the top 3 reasons why a freelancer will survive a recession - Click here to read more

Do I need experience to be a freelance writer?

Anyone who can write can be a freelance writer. Experience is not vital for you to land a freelance writing opportunity at all. When I say anyone can be a freelance writer, it literally means that. There are many clients out there who are willing to give new freelancers a chance. The only requirement would be a no obligation sample work.

So what is needed to succeed at a freelance writing career if not experience?
A lot of dedication, hard work, persistence and consistent improvement are the qualities that you must have in order to make your freelancing career a success. If you are the sort who gives up in the first month itself, freelance writing is not for you. Your freelance writing career will only be as successful as you want it to be. No more no less.

The amount of success and client base you will have will definitely depend on your quality of writing as well as your communication and turnaround time. Spelling mistakes, grammar etc will give your experience and knowledge away and if the mistakes are major, you will never hear from the client again. Meeting the deadlines is a must and if you are unable to, your chances of keeping the given opportunity will be gone as well.

Moreover, if your communication skills are poor, your freelance writing career is at stake. Clients prefer freelancer who can communicate effectively at least via email in order to keep them posted on the status of the project. If a report is required at the end of the project and you fail to submit, this will result in poor communication as well on your part.

Opportunities available for new freelance writers
There are many Freelance Portals on the web and many more opportunities offline that provide opportunities for beginners. You only need to know where to look for them. Some of the online Freelance Opportunity Portals are

GetaFreelancer.com

Elance.com

oDesk

Also, if you are looking out to build a portfolio of articles so that you can get started with approaching clients article directories and ezines would be the best place to start. One of the best directories on the web is Helium.com and one of the best ezine is e-zinearticles.com.

Hence, experience can only make you a better freelancer. However, in order to land your first freelance writing job, you need not have any experience but the best of qualities.

Why would anyone want to be a Freelance Writer?

The best answer to why you want to be a freelance writer is within you. Reasons can range from hobby to major career change. However there are certain strong elements in a freelance writing career that moves people like you and me to take freelance writing seriously. Here are listed few:

1. Freedom
Who loves working under a boss? In everyone, there is a voice which urges entreprenuership. For some people, the voice is louder and hence they take the path of uncertainities and acheive. Some are happy with their month to month salary check and live within their means. Freelance writing provides freedom and lets you become your own boss of your own destiny.

2. Flexibility
Freelance writing provides you with the flexibility to choose what to work on and how much to work. Also, you can choose when and where to work. Moreover, you decide your own rate and the niche you want to write about.

3. Diversity
You are no lonfer stuck in the same job! You are writing and high chances are that you will be writing on various topics. You do researches based on your interest and the topic on hand. A new and exciting project everytime!

4. Money
Whether you are freelance writing part time or full time, you get paid. It is only time that you land a good client and a regular flow of work before you see the real money coming into your bank account.

5. Balance
Especially you are a parent, you would love to spend all the time with your kids monitoring their growth, schoolwork activities and so on. Freelace writing provides you with this balance necessary in order for you to be with your spouse and kids whe they need you the most.

There are many more reasons people take up freelance writing as a career. Do share with me about your personal motivation factor that urged you to try or take up freelance writing as a choice of part time or full time career.
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