How To Launch A Part-time Freelance Writing Career
Posted on Nov 20, 2008 10:08:55 AM
In the industry of freelancing, among the most in demand are writers. This is especially true with the birth of the Internet, which tripled the need for writers because of the various websites and online content that are constantly being updated.
There are actually lots of work a freelance writer can go into especially if they have established the right contacts. Freelance writers are needed for writing online content to boost website viewership. In fact, online content is fast becoming one of the major sources of freelance assignments, not only for writers, but also for other freelancers, such as photographers, web designers and graphic artists.
Even though there are lots of assignments and freelance jobs waiting on the sidelines, this does not mean you’ll be getting a fair share of them. You still have to compete with a lot of freelance writers for these jobs. To make sure you stay competitive, here are some tips:
MARKET YOURSELF
If you plan to freelance, make sure people know you do freelance. How else will they know unless you tell them? When you meet people, don’t hesitate to give them your business card and tell them that you do freelance work. Self-marketing is essential as this will give you the contacts you need to start a freelance career.
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
It is important you always do your best and make sure you take care of your work reputation. Your work, whether they are PR write-ups or newspaper articles, will be the basis for clients hiring you for future freelance work. So make sure you always give your best in every assignment.
ESTABLISH A SOUND AND SOLID REPUTATION
It is not only your work you should take care of, but also your attitude in dealing with people. You can be the most brilliant writer, but if you are known in the industry as difficult, you will find it hard to get freelance jobs. Take care of your reputation especially in terms of work ethics and meeting deadlines, as these are important factors that employers consider in hiring freelance writers.
LOOK FOR JOBS
Of course, it is not also right that you just wait for people to give you work. You can actually look for assignments yourself, just to tide you over before actual assignments come in. There are many ways to look for freelance jobs.
You can log on to job sites where they have a special section that posts freelance jobs or part time jobs. Some are even located in different states, which you can actually accept since most just require telecommuting and not your actual presence.
Another way to look for jobs is to ask people you know for referrals.
An excellent resource to learn about launching a freelance career is Andy Anderson’s book or audio book, “How to Make Money from Home as a Freelancer,” published by .PaydayPublishing.com.
HOW TO BREAK INTO FREELANCE WRITING
One of the best things about being a writer is you can hold a permanent job and still write on the side. That is the good thing in having a creative profession. You can do freelance jobs in your spare time while still being employed. In fact, many magazine writers and journalists accept writing and editing jobs on the side, while others who can afford not to have a permanent job will settle in with freelance jobs.
There are some freelancing jobs that can pay a lot and can even exceed a person’s monthly pay. Permanent writing jobs, however, provide the security. You wouldn’t want to wake up one morning without money to pay the rent, right?
Freelance writing jobs are a dime a dozen especially with the advent of the Internet. Writers are frequently commissioned to do online content to keep websites updated and informative. Still, one needs to know where to look and how to look if you want to get regular assignments. I find many of my paying freelance writing jobs at .FreelanceWriting.com.
Below are some tips to get freelance writing jobs:
GO ONLINE
There are a number of writing jobs you can find on the Internet, and you can do most of these freelance jobs at home. You can submit most of your finished projects to the client by e-mail, and get paid the same day.
ESTABLISH A NETWORK
Being a writer, you have to establish a network of people who will recommend you for jobs and writing assignments. PR professionals, for instance, look for writers who can do assignments for them. The same goes with owners of companies who advertise on the Internet or those who maintain websites which you can write for. Editors of magazines and newspapers also regularly seek freelance writers for articles and editorials.
There are a lot of individuals and companies who look for part-time or freelance writers. The bigger your network is, the more people can help you find freelance work.
ASK FOR A REFERRAL OR A RECOMMENDATION
The first step in asking for a referral is to do such an outstanding job that your client will want to refer you to his colleague. Although writing is big business, the industry is actually pretty small. Chances are your boss will also know someone who is doing a similar project. Ask for a recommendation to another person who needs a writer. This is one way to get assignments.
WRITE WELL
The key to having a great freelance writing career is to take care of your reputation, not only in terms of your writing, but also in the way you deal with people. For instance, you can write so well but if you are always missing deadlines, no person would want to deal with you. Remember that writing involves deadlines and you have to keep up with it if you want to succeed in the industry.
What Is Freelance Speech Writing?
Posted on Nov 7, 2008 11:21:46 AM
Freelance speech writing is the champagne of freelance writing; it offers a high degree of creativity, a high-profile clientele, and the chance to have your work heard among elite people. Of course, there are downsides as well: your style is restricted to that of the speaker, and the pool of jobs is substantially smaller than many other forms of freelance writing. But on the whole, the advantages make it very attractive to pursue gigs as a freelance speech writer.
Speech writing is one of the oldest forms of communication. Much of what we consider good rhetorical practice today goes back to the Romans and Cicero. Until the previous century, long rhetorically-polished speeches were a central (and enjoyable) part of serious literature, from the hieratic diatribes of Shakespeare’s Lear to the long burlesque flights of Dickens’s heroes and grotesques. Today, speech writing is mostly confined to large formal parties, serious events, and political careers, but something of the dignity of the art’s long history still adheres to people’s ideas about roaring good speeches. Speech writing is the art of making people appear both persuasive and dignified, of turning ordinary people into sources of entertainment and wisdom. As expected, writing speeches effectively can be difficult to do well.
The key to effective speech writing–as well as the key to effective writing in general–is to know one’s audience. In speech writing, the audience is a literal one: an employee pool, a group of wedding guests, or a rural electorate. The speechwriter should, before setting even one word to paper, find out who the speech is intended for and take this into account when structuring the work.
Once you know your audience, know your speaker. As Bernard Shaw once said, it’s impossible to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear — or at least, people don’t want to believe it’s possible. If the CEO you’re writing for is known as a good ol’ boy, down-to-earth businessman, it won’t ring true if your speech contains a number of high literary allusions and elaborate rhetorical constructions. If you’re writing for a museum curator, opening with an off-color joke and referring to “the folks back home” is not necessarily the best way to go.
You not only have to know about your client’s perceived character, but about his or her actual speech rhythms. Interview your client if possible, or if not possible, try to get access to videos, tapes, or other recordings. This should give you some idea of voice, and some understanding of how best to express your ideas in the “client’s words.” If a speech doesn’t sound natural coming from the client’s mouth, the speech won’t work and you won’t develop a good reputation that leads to more assignments. So put in the time, get a good idea of the client’s voice, and use it exclusively in your work.
Framing your speech around the subject matter can be tricky, but fortunately all the prep work you’ve been doing will make it a much simpler proposition. If you know your audience, your client’s speech style, and your client’s public perception, you’ll have a decent compass for navigating your speech through possible dead areas, out of dark, depressing moments, far to the lee of excessive frivolity, and generally on an even course from the first attention-getting moment to the conclusive point. It’s difficult to know exactly how a speech will play before it’s actually delivered, but you can get a rough idea by reading your drafts to a friendly audience (spouse, friends, children), or by tape-recording yourself delivering the speech into a mirror. A good speech doesn’t have dead moments, doesn’t bore, and reaches a series of short, conclusive points to keep the audience’s attention from wandering over time. If you do plenty of revision work and get a real idea of how your speech sounds when read aloud, you can fine-tune appropriately in order to ensure a successful speech, and a satisfied customer.
Of course, getting customers in the first place can be tricky: the speechwriting market is usually fairly small and fairly exclusive, since only the very wealthy can usually afford to have professional speechwriters work for them. The Catch-22 here is that the very wealthy typically only want established, proven speechwriters, a difficult preference for novice speechwriters to deal with. You can establish yourself and build a reputation, however, by advertising heavily in local papers, club newsletters, and anywhere likely to need a speech writer at some point in time: wedding planners, local organizations, startup corporations in your area. This may not be the best-paying work, but it’s essential to building a proven reputation as a good speechwriter. Once you have some gigs under your belt, start upping your level of advertising to include corporate newsletters and trade journals, and make sure to network at every event where you’ve written a speech. Word gets around, and eventually, if you promote yourself well, it’ll get to the right people.
In any case, it’ll be some time before your speech writing is well-known enough to command high prices, and to allow you to make it the exclusive focus of your freelance writing career. Keep up some other freelance jobs, write speeches whenever you get the opportunity, and keep up the self-promotion among the right circles. If you’re talented and you’re fortunate, you can make the switch to the champagne of freelance writing, and achieve that most satisfying of jobs: you can become a successful freelance speech writer.