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 essential explanation why freelance writers don’t earn more cash
Motive 1: You’re not advertising and marketing sufficient
After I converse 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 effectively at in-person networking? Need assistance with their cold-calling expertise?
The solutions are all the time the identical. It isn’t that they need assistance enhancing how they do these items—they merely aren’t querying, aren’t networking, and aren’t cold-calling. To sum up, they’re not advertising and marketing their enterprise, other than maybe taking pictures the occasional resume to an internet job advert.
You’ve bought to continuously be on the lookout for new and higher shoppers to maintain your slate full. That is additionally the way you elevate charges: you discover better-paying shoppers, after which someday you take a look at your roster and understand you’re so busy you may drop the lowest-paying account.
In the event you’re actively prospecting, you get extra new shoppers and may drop low payers sooner, resulting in larger common pay. In the event you’re writing for $15 an article, it’s since you’re not taking the time to market your online business and discover better-paying markets.
Motive 2: You’re getting assignments as an alternative of constructing relationships
New writers usually get so enthusiastic about having an project that they overlook—each project ought to be, like they are saying on the finish of Casablanca, the start of a lovely friendship. It is best to hyperlink in social media to that editor so that you just by no means lose monitor of them, even when they alter jobs.
Whenever you flip in your story, don’t let the connection momentum die. Try 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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Motive 3: You’re not reselling
One nice solution to maximize your earnings is to take every story thought you could have and promote it a number of locations. Personally, I’ve recycled story concepts a lot previously I’m dizzy. I’ll write a couple of enterprise subject for a Canadian conglomerate, then a U.S. journal, then a company web site.
Reselling accelerates earnings since you leverage the analysis and professional 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 prepared to exit and actively search for better-paying shoppers, and do your writing assignments extra effectively. Do this, and your earnings is sure to rise.
This publish initially appeared on the WM Freelance Author’s Connection.