Trying to build a viable business in three months...

C.S. Jones

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I'm 24, no dependents, and a full-time freelance writer with a niche in articles and blogging, and experience in writing about internet marketing, culture, and current events. I’ve also done a little screenwriting and persuasive copy, but only one gig each. No college degree, but no decent clients have ever asked for one.

I'm also planning a move to another city, with a goal—set early last year—for this April. This has been in the works for a long time, it's really important to me, and although I'm willing to postpone it, I'd prefer not to have to set it back very long.

But here’s the rub: I’m broke. Due to a run of bad luck in December, I'm starting 2014 with no money after paying the bills. So I’m setting a goal to get my business functioning again in three months. Plenty of people have started writing businesses in a shorter period of time, and my goal is pretty modest, at ~$2k per month. (With a floor of $1.5k. I’ve lived comfortably off of less before, my rent in the new city will be roughly the same, and I can move with my own car if I sell my furniture. Security deposit is the biggest hurdle.)

I’m not off to a bad start. I recently landed two gigs, both of which I'm starting this week:

  • A photography writing gig that pays a pretty impressive $250 per article, but with a ceiling of 3-4 articles per month.
  • A gig that pays $20 for 500-word blog posts – not amazing, but not terrible – and lets me set my own contribution schedule.

In addition, I have:

  • A pretty sweet website, I'm told.
  • An AdSense and Amazon affilliates subscription.
  • An on-again, off-again gig copywriting for a startup ISP. Doesn't pay anywhere near standard rates, but I like the company and it's excellent experience.
  • Sporadic gigs contributing to a few other sites.
  • A hobbyist blog that brings in fuck all in Adsense revenue, but draws a lot of excitement on the forums I post it to, and has so far been really good for networking with artists and showing off my writing skills.
  • A bunch of random job board subscriptions. (Name one, and I’m probably on there.)
  • Enough experience in professional photography and WordPress to also make some money off of those, as I have in the past.
  • A long list of pitch markets.

Now, my job is to figure out how to cobble together a living out of these things. I’ll be using this thread to track my progress. I’d love any advice or suggestions, but don't feel obligated, since this is largely for myself.
 
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Cathy C

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Before I started writing novels, I did freelance articles. I didn't like the prices paid on job boards, so I concentrated on the national magazine market. The rates are far better ($250 for 750 words is the norm) but it took a little time to crack the first magazine. I focused on a market dominated by men---fishing and hunting, because it made me valuable to editors for "diversity." But the standards are far higher than internet-only ezines or content and the elements of the articles are different as well. I was making easily $2,000/month at my peak and had an article in at least two pubs a month. There are still a TON of magazines on the shelves of stores, and especially hobby ones.

You might give it a try. I actually have the lectures of a course I gave about magazine markets posted here at AW. You might give them a look and see if there's anything that might help you develop a few magazine gigs on the side.
 
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C.S. Jones

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I occasionally pitch magazines, and I have a copy of the Writer's Market. The main problem with them is the long lead times. I could exhaust the whole three months (or longer) just waiting on a response from one mag.

It's also annoying, because pitches based on current events or new developments are pretty much impossible, since the story will be long dead by the time the article runs.

I'll definitely be taking a look at those lectures, though. Thanks.
 
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WriterBN

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Good luck with your journey. Three months is ambitious, but certainly possible. The only idea I have to offer is to try getting into writing for corporate clients. Magazines and blogs and such are good, but writing for companies (especially if you find the right niche) is what will pay the bills long term.

Also, have you factored in health insurance costs? That has been the biggest recurring expense in my 10+ years of self-employment, especially with a family to support.
 

C.S. Jones

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That's a very good idea. Now I have to figure out a niche and what kind of companies to pitch to.

For the niche...

  • I had a four-month gig ghostwriting for an e-business blog last year. It was one of the most educational experiences of my life, and I would be willing to do more online marketing stuff, but I have a non-disclosure agreement, so I don't have a portfolio, just a single testimonial from them. I could write a few articles from scratch, but I don't have anywhere to post them, and therefore not much credibility.
  • I've written about 40 sales pages for the ISP, as well as a little blogging, so maybe I could write more about internet service. It's a very difficult topic for me, since I went into this knowing nothing about it and it's some pretty convoluted stuff, but maybe I could do some more of that.
  • Finally, I might have a niche in photography writing. I have some published (but uncredited) work on CreativeMarket's blog, and once I start completing articles for the site I just started with, I'll also have some credited work for a pretty major player in the field. Plus, in addition to having done freelance photo work, I've worked in a commercial studio for a year. It was an entry-level job, but it's still verifiable experience...

My best bet for a niche seems to be with the creative industries, and photography looks like a good starting point. I'm not sure if photo tutorials are a lucrative enough market to sustain me, but if I try looking for other types of content photo and creative companies might need, it might be a solid option.

I'll do some more research and get back to you.
 
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C.S. Jones

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Twenty days later, I'm at a place where I could theoretically make the 2k a month if I worked very hard at it, but it's not incredibly likely at the moment.

I'm currently working for the photo tutorial site at $250 an article and the $20-per-500-words gig, but I've yet to receive my first check from either yet. For the latter, I've signed up for three articles a week. I'd like to do five, but I don't know the subject matter well enough to crank out one a day yet.

In addition, I also landed two other sporadic gigs, but I've yet to get steady work or a schedule from them yet.

  • One pays $.07 per word for 1,200 word blog articles. It's a subject I enjoy and am fairly good at, as well. (Web design.)
  • One is promising $0.05 per word for articles about information security. I'm not sure when I start, though.

I'm also picking up some extraneous work from Scripted, but that's still nowhere near reliable enough to bank on.

So, in order to reach 2k a month, I'd need to consistently finish...

  • One photo tutorial ($250)
  • One web design article (~$100)
  • Three 500-word blog posts ($60)
  • And 2,000 words of infosec stuff ($100)

...Per week. This is doable by itself, but I also have a blog, a comic, and most importantly, my sporadic copywriting gig for the ISP to maintain. So I'll just have to see who gives me how much work and what works out.

I'm trying to increase my productivity, though. I've started working on improving my typing speed (currently at ~63 WPM) and tracking and trying to maximize the amount of time I spend writing every day.

We'll see how it works out.
 
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Cathy C

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Yeah, your typing speed will need to improve. I'm in the 90-98 wpm range which is closer to what you need to get the job done. I highly recommend a program called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing because while it is for beginners at one stage, it grows with you and I haven't yet maxed it out (including days when I can type over 100 wpm.) it also helps with identifying problems and tailoring drills for the specific issues.
 

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Hi CS, Writer and Cathy,

I like your ambition and wish you awesome success. It sounds like you are off to a great start though I can't agree with the idea of trying to sprint up to that level in three months—though I'm sure you can. A couple of thoughts come to mind:

• Quality/strategy versus a harried grab for quantity

The best thing you can do for your career is to make sure that everything you publish is your very best work. You can have 10 awesome pieces up but it'll just happen to be the one half-assed weak one that an editor might check out. Be careful about taking on too many low-paying articles as the deadlines will force you to attach work you are not proud of to your byline.
On the flip-side, strong articles will draw work to you, work you didn't have to query for. And it'll pay more.

• Your website

Your site looks great for web comic people, but consider a separate site or separate page about your freelancing. I took a quick look and didn't see easy, quick links to your recent published articles. Most editors are busy people. 30 seconds is all it should take for them to find your main selling points as a writer—your published words.

I agree with what everyone has said so far. You can do this. Don't let those lead times scare you off from some of the best work. Plus, be careful about free or low-paying work sapping your awesome energy.

All the best,

Lucie
 

C.S. Jones

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@Cathy C.: I've been using Typeracer and another free online tutorial whose name escapes me at the moment, since I just started it. It's already working really well - I've learned to type comfortably without glancing at the keyboard at all, which I could never do before, which is a major improvement in and of itself. I just need to work on rote speed and accuracy exercises now.

@wonderactivist: I know the forum frowns on newbies self-promoting, but since we're discussing the subject, I don't think it'll be inappropriate to include a link to my freelancing site. This is the one clients see.
 

kohuether

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I think there are some good ideas here. FYI - I improved my typing speed by setting goals and setting my timer. For example, I started out by writing a 400 word article in 30 minutes. Then, I'd write another 400 word article but set the time for 25 minutes, and so on until I could write faster and faster.
 

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Hey CS! What kind of active outreach are you doing to get new clients (besides responding to job boards)? Are you driving traffic to your website, cold calling/emailing top prospects, or associating with business groups to meet the right people?
 

C.S. Jones

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Hey CS! What kind of active outreach are you doing to get new clients (besides responding to job boards)? Are you driving traffic to your website, cold calling/emailing top prospects, or associating with business groups to meet the right people?

Admittedly nowhere near enough. I'm pitching magazines occasionally in my free time, but I've had zero free time in the last few weeks between all the gigs I'm currently doing.

And I promote my website sometimes, but I don't know how to get it in front of people who might be paying clients, aside from sending a link to it in my pitch emails. Handing out business cards IRL has never worked, but I might just be giving them to the wrong people.

But the one thing I'll confess that I don't get is how to pitch businesses.

I've read Carol Tice's articles on how the best money is in content marketing for businesses making over $1m per year, but I have no idea how I'd do that - do I just call and say "Hey. I noticed you don't have a blog. Would you like one?" Not to mention I don't yet have a copywriting certificate or any experience in white papers, reports, or technical writing yet, so I don't know what else I could offer them.
 

Angie

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I feel like I'm pushing this book lately, and I promise I don't have an affiliate relationship or anything, LOL! But the Step by Step Guide (written by Carol Tice and another freelancer) is an excellent first step into freelancing for business clients. It also talks about magazine writing, but there's a good chunk of it about how to land those first copywriting gigs (usually at lower pay) so you can start moving up. It also covers how to approach businesses so that you look like a pro and up your chances of getting projects.

That aside, here's how I usually go about it: Once I've identified a business I'd like to write for (and check on Manta.com or Hoovers.com to make sure they have enough revenue to afford professional rates -- at least $1 mil in revenue and 10+ employees are good rules of thumb), I check out their website. I'm looking for what they're doing right, any news/events that I can remark on when I write my letter of introduction, and any gaps in their marketing. Are they blogging? (Hint: If they have no blog, don't try to pitch one -- I can tell you from bitter experience that it's a hard sell and a struggle to educate them the entire way). If they do have a blog and it's not updated regularly, or has zero comments/followers, that's one potential area to pitch.

I also look for things like free reports to help them get blog subscribers; case studies and white papers to help with their inbound marketing efforts, etc.

Once I've done that research, I write an LOI that tells them why I want to write for them (something like the fact that I love their business/niche/etc - the more you can make it all about the client, the better your chances will be), and (gently!!) point out the gaps I found in their marketing.

It's definitely a different skill set than writing a query letter, but with practice comes ability.
 

C.S. Jones

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That might be the best writing advice I've ever been given. Thank you very much.
 

Angie

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You are completely welcome. :)

I've been given some fantastic support and advice from veteran freelancers to help me build my career, so I'm more than happy to pay it forward.
 

C.S. Jones

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Problem.

My roommate/landlord just told me he's in dire straits financially, and will have to ask me to leave if I can't get him the remainder of January's rent by the end of the month. The photo tutorial client is paying me more than enough to cover it on the 7th, but that's too late. It has to be on the first.

This has been coming for a while - I already owe him a few months' back rent due to that run of bad luck I mentioned in the first post - so I don't blame him at all. It is a royal pain in the ass, though, since I just gave him $100 yesterday in hopes that this wouldn't happen.

It's also strange that I was able to stay here through the slow period, but now that I have enough clients to start paying the rent again, I'm getting thrown out. I'm areligious, but these kinds of ironies always make me feel like there must be someone scripting this.

I owe him $300, and I can't think of any way to make that in three days aside from robbing a bank. Any client work would take too long to pay and the local Craigslist currently has nothing in the way of gigs. So unless I can find someone to spot me it, which I will try, I'm out.

I have a family member I can stay with for a while, and as long as I can keep up my current level of output (and keep pitching on the side), I'll have enough to get by. They don't have internet, but I can get a Clear Spot. And while I know from experience that Clear sucks something terrible, it's at least good enough for research and writing. This isn't the end of the world.
 
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Angie

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Sorry to hear that. :(

Are you asking clients for a deposit up-front? That helps immensely with cash flow (and with avoiding non-payers). My standard way of working is:

Brand-new (to me) client: Under $400 project, 100% up-front; Over $400 project, 50% up-front.

From there, I usually take a 50% deposit on all future projects, unless they're small projects that'll wrap quickly. It helps avoid that money's-coming-but-not-for-a-month syndrome.
 

C.S. Jones

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Since I've been writing mostly weekly assignments for blogs, I never bothered.

But when I start with business clients, doing jobs with set parameters, I definitely will.
 

C.S. Jones

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So, it turns out Clear went out of business while I wasn't looking. not surprised, but it is a huge inconvenience, since T-mobile charges even more.

Also, I can't drive out to get internet at the moment, since I got run off the road by a drunk driver two days ago, so my car is temporarily out of commission.

Thankfully, the apartment complex where I'm staying has free WiFi for residents in the leasing office, so I can use that from 9-6. If I need to use it afterwards, there's a Kinko's (I still call it Kinko's and probably always will) about a quarter mile away that's open until 11.

Anyway, I'm going to spend the next few days pitching intensively as well as working on my regular assignments. I can't get a day job until the car's fixed anyway, so I might as well not let this deter me from writing. The photo tutorials and design articles are enough to keep me afloat for now, anyway.

My goal is to pitch several blogs, at least one or two into magazines, and to find at least one or two businesses with dead blogs that I can offer to work on, as per Angie's first suggestion.
 
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C.S. Jones

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It's been a weird week-and-four-days.

On the bright side, I...

  • Picked up another gig writing about photography and graphic design for $60 per 800-word post. For anyone wondering, I found the editor of a blog I'd written for via Scripted on Twitter and asked him if he'd be interested in having me work for him more steadily.
  • Was able to attend an IRL startup founders' event and make a few contacts who promised to refer me to anyone they know who's interested in a freelance writer. I've developed a system for doing this: I get their business card, then fill out an email about how glad I was to meet them, with a link to my sales page and portfolio, and send it to them immediately after the event.
  • Got the car fixed. It only cost $250 and was done in an hour. For a car that jumped a curb at 50mph (I was run off the road by a drunk), that's practically a miracle. Since there are a few places around town with 24 hour WiFi, I'm back to being able to write whenever, although having to get dressed and commute for what used to be a bedroom job is a pain.

On the crap side, I...

  • Put the $20/post blogging gig on hiatus while I decide if I want to keep going with them. I told them it was due to the car/internet troubles, which is true, but only part of the reason. They really run you around, sometimes requiring multiple major rewrites which leave me making well below minimum wage if I convert the pay to hourly. Not to mention they have strict, down-to-the-minute deadlines. For some reason, it's always the lowest paying gigs that do that...
  • Am not sure how the web design gig is going to go. Although the editor I submit to really likes my work, the higher-ups... Not so much. No word yet about what's going to happen now - one unfortunate thing I've noticed about content gigs is that the editors don't let you know when they don't want to work with you anymore, they just start ignoring your messages like a bad online date.

I've also been pitching businesses, but the $60/post blogging gig is the only one to come through so far.

Also, I should have internet by the end of the month. Maybe. Me and the relative I'm staying with are both moving to a new place that already has it. Moving again will be a pain, but thankfully, I left everything packed from the last time.
 
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You're talking about very small sums of money for each assignment. I agree with the poster who suggested going after corporate clients. It's really the only way to make a decent living at this, IMO. For the past 12 years or so I've made a six-figure income as a freelance writer, mostly from corporate gigs. Most of my invoices are for $1,000 to $4,500. Magazine writing used to account for a much larger proportion of my output, but the industry has changed and the 3,000-word articles I used to write at $1 per word have all but vanished.

I suggest you develop a broad specialty (e.g., health, finance, technology), go after the corresponding markets, and branch out from there.

F.
 
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