In
2005, Random House published my book, Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer’s
Guide to Making More Money. The book sold well, but eventually Random
House let the book go out of print. I’d anticipated that and had been pressing
the publisher to revert rights back to me—which it finally did at the end of
2012. I was thrilled at the prospect of being able to update and expand the
book, and to publish it myself this time.
To
do so, I contacted and interviewed almost all of the two dozen freelancers
quoted in the original version. It had been a decade since I spoke with them,
and I found that nearly every writer’s business model had changed radically.
The only two writers whose careers had stayed pretty much the same during that
time were also the two writers having the hardest time succeeding as
freelancers—and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Happily, the majority of
them were thriving, due to factors like the following:
Pursuing
new markets. Early
in my freelance career, I wrote almost exclusively for consumer print markets,
and the original version of Six-Figure probably put too much
emphasis on these publications. Today, I found that even writers like me who
used to focus on print markets have branched out, whether they’re writing for
websites, trade and custom magazines, or corporate clients—or a mix of all of
the above.
“Nearly all of my work now is done online, though I
have an assignment for Good Housekeeping magazine right now—my first
magazine assignment in over a year,” says Leah Ingram. “Everything else is
either paid blogging, blogging for myself, or writing custom content for
branded websites.”
Robert
McGarvey hadn’t considered trade magazines as potential markets until fairly
recently. After he wrote a number of stories about credit unions for The New
York Times, he received an email from the editor-in-chief of Credit
Union Times, the industry's leading weekly, asking if he would be
interested in writing for a trade. “I had done very little writing for trades,
ever, but this was 2010 and a changed publishing world,” says McGarvey. “She
was talking about a regular gig. She came to me because she'd seen the NYT
stuff. Oh, she asked if I would agree not to do future credit union-related
advertorial. I agreed. Today work relating to credit unions probably
constitutes half my income.”
Diversifying. Smart freelancers don’t
only diversify the types of markets they write for—they diversify their skills,
too. Erik Sherman has done theater in the past, and now moderates Webcasts and
live events for a number of clients. Wendy Helfenbaum, who is
bilingual, does translation and adaption work for clients.
Andrea
King Collier segued into doing health care policy writing when she saw a need
that few writers could address. “I don't do a lot of health care
marketing work [anymore] but I do more health care policy writing work for
publications, and for foundations. It was just the natural ebb and flow of
things. I do also the occasional white paper,” says Collier. “But because there
are so few journalists that really have the rolodex and the context to do
strong health care policy and health disparity work, it created a solid demand
for me.”
Steve
Slaunwhite was originally a copywriter who began offering marketing advice and
strategy to clients. Then, after publishing The Wealthy Freelancer, a
book on copywriting, he began offering workshops on copywriting and freelancing.
Now he continues to perform a mix of work. “What I do well, and enjoy doing, is
coaching, writing, and training,” says Slaunwhite. “While most of what is do is
writing, I also do one-on-one coaching and consulting with clients, and I do
training and workshops. They’re all related and tied together.”
Consistent marketing. Wendy Helfenbaum has three major clients, two
of whom make up two-thirds of her income. “Mixing in corporate work has been by
far the smartest decision I've made. I've worked for CN [Canadian National]
since 2006, and have written hundreds and hundreds of stories for them,” she
says. “I work mostly for CN's internal communications team, but now have done
stuff for their marketing, recruitment and social media departments too.” She
plans her schedule on the needs of her three big clients, but continues to
reach out to other new markets.
“I still market aggressively, pitching stories and
markets I'm interested in (I do tons of alumni profiles, parenting stories and
architecture/design stuff, all of which I really enjoy),” says Helfenbaum. “I
love the ‘game’ of pitching, the challenge of landing new clients. I do not
take my three regular clients as a given—I know full well any or all could
disappear tomorrow, and if they do, I'm ready to replace them.”
Social media savvy. Finally, the importance of social media cannot be
overstated. When I started freelancing 16 years ago, there was no Facebook,
LinkedIn, Google+, or Twitter. Now most serious freelancers use social media to
at least some degree to network, nab assignments, and develop their platforms.
“More
and more editors are expecting writers to be on social media and to promote
their work, plus being on social media can lead to more work,” says Lisa
Collier Cool. “For example, I just landed a nice corporate gig that includes
both writing articles and providing two Tweets to promote each article, because
the client is very impressed that I have nearly 80,000 followers on Twitter.
I'm also active on Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, stumbleupon.com, and
LinkedIn.”
Gwen
Moran realized early on that social media could be an effective tool for
freelancers. “Social media is important to my business in a couple of
ways. First, by building up a following of engaged friends/followers, I get a
wealth of good information and contacts, as well as a social component to my
day that's lacking when working from home. I consider it my office chatter—I a
window open and check several times a day. It's a great way to fill that empty
few minutes before an interview or conference call,” says Moran. “And I've
gotten a great deal of work and referrals just by being authentic and passing
along good or funny material on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.”
In this competitive business, nothing is constant
but change. Six-figure freelancers—and those who strive to be—are continually
adapting to the market, and finding new ways to continue to find clients, nab
assignments, and make money. You should be doing the same.
**Want to be a six-figure
freelancer—or at least make more money? Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide toMaking More Money, second edition is for you. The updated edition includes a
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media to attract clients; and the latest advice from successful, six-figure
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through Improvise Press; use the discount code
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