A familiar refrain I’ve seen on many a freelance writing blog is the age-old lament about the lack of opportunities to get paid a decent wage for freelance writing. Many, many writers it seems spent lots of time on sites such as Craigslist, elance, Guru.com and others in search of jobs that often don’t pay more than a few dollars per assignment. Inevitably, these kinds of opportunities seem to lead to lots of disappointed and disillusioned writers out there (including myself in the not-too-distant past).
What I’m wondering is, why don’t more writers put their energies into marketing themselves to companies in their own local areas, which are likely to provide higher-paying opportunities? I admit, it’s difficult to do this. Cold-calling is not many people’s cup of tea, and can be especially intimidating if you’ve never done it before. But working for companies is clearly a more attractive alternative than wading through page after page of online bidding sites for opportunities that often lead nowhere.
So, what’s your approach? Do you market yourself actively, or spend more time looking for advertised job possibilities? I’ll also try to post a poll to gauge reader reactions on this.
1 response so far ↓
Lesley // Sep 25, 2008 at 8:02 am
Hi there! I just found this blog post as I was Googling for advice on finding clients. I’m hoping to delve into the freelance writing world soon and I’ll admit, I’m standing on that cliff, very afraid to jump because I don’t have clients lined up.
I’ve been victim to Craigslist’s seductive pulls and while I’ve never written assignments for low rates, I’ve seen countless listings that look great, then when you scroll down it’s like “no pay” or “published to expand your portfolio!” it’s like, do you honestly think that’s going to work for a professional? I don’t think so!!
I think what you say about marketing to local businesses is a really smart move. I can’t believe how many people write articles for 5 cents a word or worse. Pitiful. I sort of feel like if you’re willingly taking jobs where you’re paid next to nothing for what should be excellent writing, then that’s your fault for settling for less. Though I also understand the desperation of “well at least I can get paid something, and I don’t have any other options”.
If you have any tips for how to approach local businesses (i.e. direct mail, calling, email marketing) I’d love to talk with you! For someone that’s just starting out it’s very daunting for me to get started, but I’m confident I can do it once I understand effective ways to find clients.
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