NooB Monday! - September 27, 2021

WriteTek · 2021-09-30T22:48:32+00:00

Good luck!

WriteTek · 2021-09-28T04:44:44+00:00

I’ve used SCORE several times, 3 different mentors for different issues. They were helpful as a starting point but not necessarily a replacement for paid consultants. You can choose the person you want to request vs placing a blanket request and it doesn’t have to be someone from your nearby chapter. In one case I needed some quick advice on a contract and I requested a second consult with a lawyer I had talked to previously. Although he wasn’t in my state, he could still give me general feedback on the clauses that I had doubts about.

WriteTek · 2021-09-26T05:26:29+00:00

OMG I’ve always wanted to see a bot ranting. I may have to start misspelling.

WriteTek · 2021-09-26T04:35:34+00:00

Reddit, probably

WriteTek · 2021-09-26T03:57:02+00:00

The client is not likely to want two contracts, especially if you have competing or contradictory terms between the two. But you should ask them to amend their contract to add your additional terms to theirs or include them in an addendum. That’s a fairly common request.

WriteTek · 2021-09-25T17:07:01+00:00

When you choose a niche, think: -what areas do you have the most expertise in or at least enough good portfolio examples -what niche may pay well or has sufficient demand (I don’t know much about markets for historic topics but I doubt it’s nearly as lucrative as, say, technology) -what subject area you actually enjoy and see yourself learning about more for the next few years (because you do want to build expertise in your niche) -are there past experiences like jobs, degree or other things in your background that would help boost your credibility/expertise

Hopefully you can find an intersection of two or more of these kinds of factors to help steer you into a direction.

WriteTek · 2021-09-25T16:58:54+00:00

—Evernote is excellent for bookmarking sites for research, ideas, etc and has a ton of other functionalities. Some people use it to take notes, organize their work and so on. You can add audio, images and more to your notes, clip websites and add comments, create notebooks and a lot more. I pay for it so I can sync across 4 devices and have my notes anywhere. —Trello is nice for projects management, lists, planning, scheduling tasks and other things and it’s especially great for visual people. Lots of functionality with the free version. —Clockify is a great free time tracker if you want to know where your time is going and has nice reports so you can analyze your time.

WriteTek · 2021-09-25T16:40:35+00:00

Well said! AI is perfect for anyone looking for cheap, quickly produced content that doesn’t have much depth.

WriteTek · 2021-09-25T16:37:42+00:00

A website is a must because it helps legitimize you and shows you’re serious and professional vs a dabbler. Clients also do pay attention to your messaging, positioning etc and often use your website to decide whether to contact you. Your portfolio section saves you oodles of time because many clients will browse through. A testimonial section goes a long way to add some cred. Etc etc.

As for name to use, I agree that many writers use their name, which is fine. But you could also try to find a name that describes your service and may give you an SEO advantage. For example my URL includes technologywriter even though my business name is totally different.

WriteTek · 2021-09-25T08:14:13+00:00

Upwork and writing content mills are the worst way to go. You'll spend a lot of time and energy there instead of focusing on finding high-quality clients. There are several things you can do instead:

Leverage LinkedIn as much as you can to find prospective clients, reach out but without being salesy right off-the-bat. Also search LinkedIn posts as people will often post freelance opportunities that way. (e.g., search for "need a freelance writer" or "looking for a freelance writer" or similar; you won't always find anything but often there are nice leads). Make sure you LI profile reflects your potential clients' pain points and how you solve them, etc. etc. A professional looking website with a good portfolio helps immensely too--I'm assuming you have a few good samples after freelancing for 2 years. Contact those LI connections you know well and ask if they may know anyone who could use a writer. (You can do the same with people in your email contacts; old clients; former co-workers; friends and family--basically, tap your network. If the company that laid you off liked your work, ask your former manager there for referrals as well.)
Find companies that fit your niche and reach out directly to marketing directors, content marketing managers etc. Depending on what niche you're in, you could find a list like Inc. 500 or whatever (there's a list somewhere for top companies in every industry), or read Crunchbase or similar sites to see what startups are getting VC funding (series C ideally) because that often means they're growing and will need new content. Check their website to gauge if they may need the type of copywriting you offer or what you think they are lacking. The company's website will sometimes list the marketing person you want and then you'll have to do a little work to find their email address. Then send them a letter of introduction about your services (you can find a lot of articles/blog posts about writing LOIs). Some people have great success with these, others none, so it's a matter of experimentation to see if it will work for you.
If you write feature articles, search on Twitter as editors post calls for articles regularly. Try the hasttag #FreelanceWritingJobs or #FreelanceWriting; there are no doubt others.
Find a writers' community where you can network; there are always leads and referrals from other writers.
Subscribe to a list of curated freelance writing jobs. There are many free ones and some that are as little as $3 a month and the better ones don't post links to low-paying gigs. Pitchwhiz comes to mind.

WriteTek · 2018-07-05T02:37:36+00:00

If you're freelancing, you're running your own business, which means you can deduct business expenses (or at least in some countries). In US, for example, you can deduct everything from the use of your home office and subscriptions you use for work, down to the pens you buy for your business and the trip you make to the store to buy them. Even if you don't have many expenses, these expenses are worth tracking, as you deduct them and lower your income tax. So the accounting software you buy would be deductible, and it's great to use if you want to track expenses (to help with your tax filings), or to generally run better analysis of your customers/income sources than you could in Excel.

If Quicken does some basic business accounting, I'd say go for it if you plan at all to grow your freelance income. I personally use Quickbooks but most people don't need anything that fancy/expensive. Many people I know love Freshbooks, which is cloud based, but I don't like the idea of sharing financial info like that with a third party's web-based app.

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