Find it Hard or Impossible to make Money Writing?

Freelance Writing is one of the ways you can make money from home. There are various ways you can earn money online. However, I am sure you would have tried all that by now or are starting to find your way. Do you find yourself in a situation where you keep working and nothing productive seems to come out of it? Do you feel like you are working yourself 24 hours, writing great articles for your blog and no one bothers to show up and read?

It happens and it happens to all the people but some. These some people are far and few between. And there is a very good reason why people are noticing their work and not yours! And that is because.... I'll come back to that later but let me ask you a few things first.

Do you feel you deserve to be read?

Do you feel you are providing a service to your readers?

Do you feel that you deserve the money that comes to you in the form of residual income?

Do you feel the need to justify your time spent on your computer working unlike most people who hold a 9-5 job?

If you answered "Yes!" to any of the above questions, you have limiting beliefs! With limiting beliefs, you will only attract limiting results! This is the law of the universe. The more you feel you not deserve something, the more the universe will deprive you of it!

If you feel you are writing worthless pieces, the universe reciprocates and no one reads those pieces anyway! This further enhances your limiting belief and you start feeling more worthless and the cycle continues!

If you feel that you have written a masterpiece and you need to have an audience now, you are limiting yourself as well. You cannot force someone to read your work. You need to do your best and let the universe do the rest! By best, I mean a few things.

1) You need to write the best piece (I'll write another post on how you can do that, if you aren't already!)
2) You need to promote your work
3) You need to believe in your work
4) You need to let go of your work and start working on another asap
5) You need to be grateful and be ready to receive comments and criticisms
6) You need to be ready to receive the residual income

Remember I mentioned the few people before? If you do not, go back and read again. These people have that something which you do not have. That is "BELIEF!" aka "FAITH!"

They do their best work and let the universe do the rest.

Money is like water. You need to let it flow. If you nourish limiting beliefs, it is like stagnant water. It does not flow and it does not enrich!

Make an oath today. Promise yourself that you will do your best and only your best. You will see that you will see that money will start flowing towards you.

The Power Of Questions!

As a writer, what is your most important job?

Think about this for a while and write down whatever comes to your mind. After you have done that, read on.

You would have come up with various things a writer is supposed to do; writing, putting across a message, make a living and so. Would you agree with me if I said that the most important thing a writer MUST do is to engage the reader?

Yet many miss this point completely. What intrigues a reader more than questions!

"Did you know........?"
"Have you noticed.......?"
"Wouldn't it be ................?"
"Let me ask you........."

All of these statements make your reader sit up and take notice. You may have a point to make to your reader. However, when you do not make that point point blank and lead your reader to make that point to himself, you have a winner! The power of questions is such that the reader will not only be convinced by your message but he will also not doubt it. He will not doubt it because he believes he drew the conclusion himself.

Therefore, use questions in your writing more often and see how that engages your reader and how successfully you are able to make your point!

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.

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.