Regular followers will remember writer, Robert Medak, from an earlier post on Writers in Business. Robert is a freelance writer, editor, book reviewer and aspiring author. He has written or ghost written over 350 articles and 80 book reviews. Today he is joining us to answer one of the biggest questions facing writers.
This is a simple yet complex question, with an answer to match.
Unless your name is Bob Bly or someone as well known, please don’t quit your day job.
It takes time, effort, marketing, quality work, and referrals to become a go to person for writing. It isn’t going to happen overnight no matter how often some people tell you. They will probably try to sell you some course, program, or get you involved with PLR articles or books that you can rebrand to call your own. Others will try to get you involved with affiliates.
I don’t do any of that since I offer 100 percent original work and test it with Copyscape for and possible plagiarism questions. I have also signed an ethics pledge.
I have gone so far as to turn down work due to ethical concerns. I realize individuals will make their own decision, but you still have to face yourself in the mirror each morning and have to live with your modus operandi of business; for writing is a business, have no fear about that.
If you choose to enter the realm of freelance writing, you will need to price your services and believe that you are an entrepreneur, because you are.
When the economy slows down so do writing jobs. With the diminishing number of magazines and newspapers, the number of places that would normally take a chance of new writers also diminishes. Along with this, many companies are looking to outsource to other countries where labor is cheaper than the United States.
It is still possible to make a living as a writer depending on how hard you are willing to work at finding jobs.
The best way to find jobs is to start out locally. Check in with your local Chamber of Commerce, Church, and Civic Groups.
Build a website, blog, guest blog, use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to let potential clients know you exist. If potential clients don’t know about you, they will not come to you. Build a portfolio of work that you can show to potential clients. Keep a CV/ Résumé up to date; some clients make ask for one.
Watch out for any signs of frustration that things are not happening according to the way you think they should when jobs do not come easy, you are not the only one trying for them.
Excellent ideas! Thank you Robert. You can find Robert online at the following sites.
