Have you ever asked this question? And if you did what was the answer? Was it related to your skills, or your attitude, or your perception?
I am asking this question because these are the things that stop most of the people from making it big in the freelance writing career. Let’s examine each one of them so that we can get idea about what to avoid, and make it big as a freelance writer.
This is a classic trap that engulfs everyone who has self doubt about one’s quality. It makes you believe that you are not qualified enough for the job. You should, therefore, stay clear of the job, and should never even try to get closer.
I have this to tell you about “the skill” problem: no one is too qualified or too less qualified for the freelance writing job, or for any other job. We all, indeed, have shortcomings, but those are mere matter of proper training, and some research, which is easier these days than it ever was in the history of mankind.
This is another classic excuse. People always complain about lack of time for following their dream. They say they are too busy working in the offices, managing their families, and securing better life for kids and spouses. Sure they are very important, but these things could not be a reason for your “I do not have time” mindset. What is behind this “no time” mentality is the lack of organization and schedule. Make a schedule for writing, and stick to it. When I say make a schedule, I do not mean to suggest making a schedule for writing daily. It could be for weekends as wells.
This is a very short sighted reply I have heard from the freelance writing quitters. They say why join freelance writing. There is no future in it. I will suggest them to look outside the window, take binoculars if needed, and see how the media is operating — online as well as real world. They all source content, and a large portion of content is sourced from freelance writers. They is future in it, dude.
What else is stopping you from taking a freelance writing career? Waiting to hear from you.
Tags: Asking This Question, Attitude, Better Life, Binoculars, Conte, Excuse, Freelance Job, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing Career, History Of Mankind, Lack Of Time, Large Portion, Mentality, Mindset, Perception, Real World, Reply, Self Doubt, Shortcomings, Source Content
A better title would have been: “Freelance writing: how many clients you should keep at one time?”, but I didn’t want to make the title run for miles.
Whatever! The answer is all the same, which is: as many as you can handle. Do not chew more than you can digest. It will give you an upset stomach.
What’s the benchmark?
There is no external benchmark; the benchmark is the quality of work you produce. The moment your quality starts deteriorating you should put a stop sign outside your home office. You would not like to risk producing second-rate content, articles, or whatever it is that you write for your clients.
Then…
How many should I keep?
I cannot say for sure how many you should keep, but I can tell you about how many I keep and how you can decide how many you should keep. Generally, I keep 2-3 fulltime clients—depending upon the volume of work given— and work 1-2 one-off projects that do not have too tight deadline.
How much you want: Say what you may, but you are doing freelance writing to pay your bills, be it your fulltime venture or part-time juggle. Therefore, you need to keep in mind your monetary target for a month.
How many hours can you devote: You also need to find out how many hours in week you can put aside for your freelance writing job.
How many articles can you produce in an hour: I understand this sound like absurd, but bear with me because I know people who can produce two articles of 500 words in one hour. Initially, you will not be able to write more than 40-50% of an article in an hour, but soon you will improve.
Use the number you got from the above and calculate to find how many articles you need to write in a month to meet your monthly monetary target. The number you will thus get is the amount of work you need per month. If one client can fulfill this requirement then you do not need a second client—which is unlikely.
So, how many clients do you need at a time to fulfill your goal? Post the number you get after doing the math. I am eagerly waiting to hear from you.
Tags: Benchmark, Content Articles, Find Articles, Freelance Job, Freelance Writing, Math, Part Time, Rate Content, Stop Sign, Target, Tight Deadline, Upset Stomach, Writing Articles, Writing Job
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