How To ‘Take Charge’ As a Freelance Writer
By Sharon Hurley HallOne of the reason that I became a self employed freelance writer was that I wanted to work for myself. In other words, I didn’t want a boss. It’s worked out ok. In fact, I’m a tougher boss than any of my former bosses or current clients, and I get results every time.
As writers, we provide a service for our clients, and like other service providers we say that the customer is always right, but it’s not true. The reason that clients come to us in the first place is because WE are the experts in writing. They may have ideas, but they don’t always know how to put them down on paper, and that’s where we come in.
As writers, we have to be in charge of the writing process, otherwise it can all go wrong.
If you have ever had a job that took three times as long as expected, with more revisions and much less satisfaction than usual, then you’ll know what I mean. Taking charge of the client relationship can help you to avoid time consuming mistakes and a bad relationship. Here’s how you do it.
Writing Services
When clients approach you, be clear about what services you offer, how much they cost and when you require payment. Setting prices can be a nightmare if you’re new, so invest $10 in your career and buy an online subscription to Writer’s Market. That will help you with getting your prices to the appropriate level. Browse around other writers’ sites and see how they approach promoting themselves to clients. Many successful writers are very specific about their services. If your client wants to buy a writing and layout package and you only do writing, find someone who does layout, get a quote and then give your client a package price. Don’t feel that you have to go beyond your skill level. You will end up stressed and your client won’t be happy.
The Brief
Be clear about what information you need from the client in order to proceed. Getting the brief correct from the start will save you a lot of hassle. You need to find out:
- what information the client is providing
- what the intended audience is for the writing
- what the purpose of the writing is
- how much research you will need to do
- where the writing will be going
There may be other issues as well, but these provide a good starting point.
Corrections …
Once you have received the deposit, do a draft piece based on the client’s specifications. Send it to the client for a critique. I do this whether clients ask for it or not, so that they can see if I am providing what they want. It saves me time, too, because if there’s a problem I only have to fix it on 1,000 words instead of 10,000 or more. Getting client approval at this stage means that you can be more efficient later.
… And Contradictions
Don’t be afraid to tell clients that they are wrong. I once had a client ask for a search engine optimized article. He told me how many times he wanted the the keyword included. I let him know that if we did it his way, he would have a keyword stuffed article that would not achieve the desired effect and would be virtually unreadable for human eyes. Instead, I suggested using the keyword less frequently, with a few synonyms thrown in. He agreed, and I’ve had two more jobs from him since. If you know of a better way to do the job, then let clients know. They are paying you for your expertise.
Additional Services
Remember to suggest extras. If you are writing web content for a website, the chances are that they could use an article marketing campaign for driving traffic. If you are writing articles, then suggest blog posts. You are the expert, and there is always something to add that will give the client added value and increase both your reputation and your bank balance.
About the author: Sharon Hurley Hall is a born again blogger who has been writing for more than 20 years. She is a freelance writer and ghostwriter who specializes in ebooks, SEO articles and blog posts. Sharon runs the freelance mentoring blog, Get Paid To Write Online.
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