Nuts & Bolts
Business of Freelancing
Boost Your Bottom Line
Seven Strategies to Help you Make More as a Freelancer
By Kelly James-Enger, Special to WIW
How much can you earn as a freelance writer? There aren’t many
hard numbers available, but one study conducted by the National Writers
Union found that the average freelancer only made $4,000 from his or
her writing. A mere 16% of fulltime freelancers made more than $30,000
a year.
If that sounds depressing, take heart—plenty of self-employed
writers make double that and even more. How? By finding higher-paying
markets for their work, developing relationships with editors and other
clients, working more efficiently and reusing their research. If
you want to boost your bottom line, try these simple steps:
Set Financial Goals
You may set goals for yourself as a writer—to be published in
a major magazine or to finish your novel—but have you set financial
goals as well? Consider the work you’re currently doing, how much
time you spend writing, and pick a dollar amount to aim for—and
then break this down into monthly, weekly and daily goals.
For example, a couple of years ago, I wanted to make $60,000 freelancing
fulltime. This number might seem daunting, but when I break it down (assuming
that I’ll work 240 days out of the year—that’s Mondays
through Fridays, with four weeks off for holidays and vacations), it
comes to $5000 a month, or about $240 a day. Instead of trying to make
$60,000, I focus on producing $240 worth of work each day—and then
I track my progress. As long as I meet my daily goals, I’ll achieve
my annual income goal as well.
Aim Higher
It doesn’t take exceptional math skills to realize that writers
who are paid more for stories are going to make more money than writers
who are paid less. That means you need to start targeting higher-paying
markets if you’re not doing so already. There’s nothing wrong
with writing for smaller publications that pay less, especially when
you’re a relatively inexperienced writer and are building your
portfolio. But as you gain experience, you should start going after work
that pays better. If you spend all your time working on stories that
bring in only minimal income, you won’t have time to pitch the
larger, better-paying markets. Make it a goal to average more for the
stories you write over time, regardless of the markets you’re working
for.
Think in Hours, Not Words
Most freelancers are paid per word for their work. This figure, multiplied
by word count, tells you how much you’ll make for writing the story,
but may not tell you whether it’s worth it to take it on. The real
question is how much time the story will take—the assignment amount
divided by the number of hours you put into it gives you your hourly
rate for the piece.
For example, if I’m offered a 1,000-word story for a national
magazine that pays $1.50 word, but I wind up spending 40 hours researching
and writing the query, researching the story, writing the piece, doing
a revision or two, submitting my backup material, answering additional
questions from the editor, and the like, that comes out to a rate of
$37.50/hour. Compare that to a 1000-word piece for a smaller magazine
that pays only $0.50/word, yet the story requires minimal research, totaling
5 hours of work for the piece. That’s $100/hour—and a better
use of my time.
Ask for More
Get more green for the work you’re already doing and you’ll
wind up making more money. Don’t be afraid to ask for more when
an editor offers you an assignment, and be prepared to back up your request.
Is the topic one that will take significant time to research? Is the
editor requesting a quick turnaround that will require you to work over
the weekend to complete the piece? Have you done a good job on past stories
that you can point to? Remind the editor of your abilities as you request
a better rate, and don’t worry that you’ll lose the assignment—in
five and a half years of freelancing, I’ve never had an editor
pull a story because I asked for more. (I have had editors stand
firm and say, “Sorry, that’s the most I can offer” and
then had to decide whether the piece was worth the money.)
Develop Regular Clients
There’s an old business axiom that says that 80 percent of your
work will come from 20 percent of your customers. I’ve found it’s
true for freelancing, too, and it’s one of the reasons I’m
such a big believer in the importance of developing relationships with
editors and other clients. First, it’s much easier to get work
from an editor you’ve worked with before (assuming you did a good
job, of course.) Second, you’re more likely to get more money because
editors usually pay their regular contributors a higher rate than “one-shot” writers.
Finally, when you build a relationship with an editor, he or she will
often come to you with ideas, which saves you time having to
query. Tell the editors you’ve worked with that you’d like
to write for them again, and follow up at regular intervals with ideas
or touch base to keep your name in front of them.
Think Beyond One-time Stories
Rather than looking at a story as a one-shot piece, look for ways that
you can resell your research and work—in other words, think beyond
a one story/one sale mindset. Come up with multiple angles that you can
pitch to multiple markets, and see how many stories you can spin from
the same basic concept. Find markets that will buy reprints and resell
your work. Sell reprint rights to articles. Look for new ideas or updates
on topics you’re covered before. The more mileage you get out of
your research and work, the more you’ll make from it, too.
Set New Goals
Finally, revisit your goals at least once a year. Are they reasonable—challenging
but not impossible? It’s a good idea to review where you are in
your career, the types of writing you’re doing (and the types you
wantto do), the amount of time you have to devote to writing, and other
priorities to help you set new goals. Ultimately the money you make is
only one aspect of the satisfaction you’ll get from freelancing—but
that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. The time you spend focusing
on increasing your income pays off.
Kelly James-Enger owns BodyWise Consulting and is the
author of books including Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer’s
Guide to Making More Money (Random House, April, 2005.) www.becomebodywise.com
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