Gripes about pay are an epidemic within the writing world. However there are nonetheless good-paying assignments on the market. So why don’t writers earn more cash?
In my expertise mentoring writers, there are three most important the explanation why freelance writers don’t earn more cash
Purpose 1: You’re not advertising and marketing sufficient
Once I communicate with writers who’re caught making $10,000 or $20,000 a yr, I normally start by asking them about their advertising and marketing. Are they not getting responses to their queries? Really feel they don’t do properly at in-person networking? Need assistance with their cold-calling abilities?
The solutions are at all times the identical. It isn’t that they need assistance enhancing how they do this stuff—they merely aren’t querying, aren’t networking, and aren’t cold-calling. To sum up, they’re not advertising and marketing their enterprise, apart from maybe taking pictures the occasional resume to an internet job advert.
You’ve bought to consistently be searching for new and higher shoppers to maintain your slate full. That is additionally the way you increase charges: you discover better-paying shoppers, after which in the future you take a look at your roster and understand you’re so busy you’ll be able to drop the lowest-paying account.
In the event you’re actively prospecting, you get extra new shoppers and may drop low payers quicker, resulting in greater common pay. In the event you’re writing for $15 an article, it’s since you’re not taking the time to market your corporation and discover better-paying markets.
Purpose 2: You’re getting assignments as an alternative of constructing relationships
New writers usually get so enthusiastic about having an task that they overlook—each task needs to be, like they are saying on the finish of Casablanca, the start of a phenomenal friendship. You must hyperlink in social media to that editor so that you simply by no means lose observe of them, even when they alter jobs.
Once you flip in your story, don’t let the connection momentum die. You need to be prepared with two or three extra story concepts. In the event you don’t have concepts, a minimum of ask the editor what their wants are developing. As an alternative of a one-off, attempt to flip every relationship into a gradual gig.
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Purpose 3: You’re not reselling
One nice option to maximize your earnings is to take every story concept you’ve gotten and promote it a number of locations. Personally, I’ve recycled story concepts a lot up to now I’m dizzy. I’ll write a few enterprise matter for a Canadian conglomerate, then a U.S. journal, then a company web site.
Reselling accelerates earnings since you leverage the analysis and skilled interviews you probably did as soon as throughout many paychecks, making you extra environment friendly. You may interview one supply and promote the story to their college journal, a enterprise journal, an area newspaper…and so forth. You match extra articles into annually extra simply, you invoice extra, you make extra.
What’s all of it boil right down to? Be keen to exit and actively search for better-paying shoppers, and do your writing assignments extra effectively. Do this, and your revenue is certain to rise.
This publish initially appeared on the WM Freelance Author’s Connection.
