10 Feb 10 Freelance writing – Have You Read Your Job Description?

If you thought by choosing freelance writing as a career you will just write, write, and do nothing else then let me prick the balloon. Your client wants many more things from you. Do not get scared, you will not be asked to do any fancy stuff like coding, scripting, PPC campaigns, and all.

Then what other works a client will demand?

Basically, you will be asked to do stuffs related to writing only. And in my career, primarily I have been asked to do following types of work (other than writing):

Many clients have asked me to do like keyword research, for writing purpose only. This actually is not all that bad. It helped me conceptualize the article or press release while researching.
At times, clients also asked me to submit articles to various social bookmarking sites. I helped my clients with 2-3 submissions, at max. I do not think I would have agreed to submit an article to 100 or so social bookmarking sites. It would have been waste of time for me, but for 3-4, I never said no.
Clients may also ask for content suggestions, and about other things he can do to meet his goal. This in fact is an opportunity in disguise to cross sell other services that you offer. If you are writing only articles for your client then you may suggest him to use press release to get some link juice, or may be forum posting and all.
I have also given some marketing and SEO suggestions to my clients. Depending upon your background (I have my background in marketing), you can either say yes or politely say no.

Word of caution

Do not say no to your clients’ request, at least not directly, if you can help him. And also do not ask for money for every suggestion that you offer—I know people who do so—because it looks cheap. For that work you may get paid, but it will reflect badly on your professionalism. You may lose the client.

If the work is going to take hours of your work then say this to client, and if it is going to take hardly 10-15 minutes then do not bother. It also depends upon your relationship with your client.

Tags: 15 Minutes, Background, Balloon, Campaigns, Caution, Content Suggestions, Disguise, Freelance Job, Job Description, Marketing, Press Release, Professionalism, SEO, Social Bookmarking Sites, Submissions, Suggestion, Waste Of Time, Writing As A Career, Writing Career, Writing Job

Filed in Writing with 0 Comments

11 Nov 09 Finding Business Contacts

In a struggling economy, networking should be a top priority for you, especially if it hasn’t been in the past. You need business contacts, no matter where you are on the chain. Through business contacts, you open up the possibility that you will be able to find better work. Your business contacts are also great to have should you ever lose your current job. Basically, these are professional associates from different organizations that you regularly keep contact with.

But to get business contacts, first you have to find them. A business contact can be remarkably useful down the line in your career. These relationships are great because they are mutually beneficial. Think about your skill set and what you could offer to help someone else. From anything like advice, to career prospect options, what do you have to give?

How much you can commit to providing will dictate what sort of business relationship you can form. As business contacts are a two way street, you have to have something to bring to the table. Try using websites like LinkedIn. They are social networking resources for professionals and can be a good start for anybody.

Make sure you have business cards with you all the time. Whenever you’re in the appropriate scenario, like a work related conference or event, they will be very useful. Meeting people is great at the moment, but you need a way to keep in contact beyond. A business card is the fastest and easiest way to do just that. Not to mention it’s the most professional route. Professionalism always gets you bonus points.

Remember to keep your ears open all the time. Pay attention in the break rooms, and when you’re eating lunch. You could find a great new business contact in a different department. Somebody you were completely unaware of, and someone you could benefit from.

From there it’s as simple as maintaining the relationship. If you want to be able to get trusted information from them, you have to provide the same. Don’t hesitate to inform them of news around the company. From job openings, etc. Let them know what’s going on around you, and the opportunities available, and they will do the same.

Tags: Bonus Points, Business Card, Business Cards, Business Contact, Business Contacts, Business Relationship, Career Prospect, Ears, Lunch, Meeting People, Networking Resources, New Business, Pay Attention, Professional Associates, Professionalism, Related Conference, Relationships, Skill Set, Social Networking, Top Priority

Filed in Business, Career Management with 0 Comments

10 Nov 09 Power of Checklist and Why Should You Have One Handy

It is often impossible for busy freelance writers to keep track of everything that they have to accomplish in order to successfully complete the work at hand. Often times, you end up missing one thing or another, and it is not before you have hit the button send that you realize the mistake you have committed. But by then it is already too late, and the process of sending an apology mail followed by the correct version of the piece that you sent starts. Generally, clients will not say anything, nevertheless, it reflects badly on your reputation and professionalism. Hence, you should work on doing the things right in the first time only, and in that checklists help a great deal.

Benefits of a checklist

A checklist offers many benefits, and unlike its how-to part, it does not require us to invest lots of time reading it. A checklist offers the following benefits:

It helps us know what we require to accomplish in order to get the work done before we embark upon.
It works as a guiding post, when we get stuck in the middle of the project and ask now what.
A checklist helps us verify if we have missed something in the project.
A checklist is easily scanable, and it should be kept handy when doing some work, as it will help us remember what needs to be done.
A checklist can help us properly prepare the budget keeping each item in mind.
It can prove to be a valuable asset when it comes to making a business decision.

Conclusion

One must keep a checklist handy whenever one embarks upon a new job. As said above, it will prove to be a very valuable tool right from the beginning.

Tags: Apology, Budget, Business Decision, Conclusion, Deal Benefits, Freelance Writers, Handy, Invest, Mail, Mistake, New Job, Professionalism, Reputation, Right From The Beginning, Valuable Tool

Filed in Writing with 0 Comments

10 Nov 09 Power of Checklist and Why Should You Have One Handy

Benefits of a checklist

Conclusion

Translator

Recent Posts

IT List Favorites

Categories

Gossimer Press Releases

Gossimer Promotions and Announcements