“I can’t possibly write about traveling to the South of France. That’s not my niche.”
“There’s no point pitching to this online magazine targeting urban foodies. I know nothing about brewing beer at home.”
“I can’t contribute any valuable piece of advice to a website geared towards mothers when I’m not a mother myself.”
If you’ve decided to become a freelance writer, you want to get paid for your efforts.
Unfortunately, too many writers feel, or get told, that they have to pay their dues. That means work for free or churn out five articles per hour for content mills to make ends meet. I remember doing it, and it did me no favors.
The good news is that you don’t have to write for free forever, nor do you need to slave away at content mills.
I’ve recently seen the disaster flick San Andreas starring Dwayne Johnson and had a total blast.
Sure, it has clichés. But it is one fun ride that left me pumped up about my freelance writing career and life in general.
Below are some of the moments in the movie that can teach us a good deal about freelancing:
If you’ve dreamed of becoming a freelancer but still never taken the leap, it’s time to get honest with yourself about why. If you really get to the core of why it still remains only a dream, you’ll find that the reason is simple –
It’s FEAR.
Sure you can rationalize it and create reasons.
As a freelancer, you know that having a portfolio is crucial for getting work.
Beginners may be able to skate by without one, but when you’re ready to get serious about professional freelancing, you need an online portfolio that will showcase the best of your work so you can attract and impress higher-paying clients.
With so much technical jargon in the copywriting community, new freelancers can end up feeling overwhelmed by unfamiliar terms they come across when receiving assignments.
I know when I first started as a freelance writer, I wasn’t fully prepared for the learning curve that came with having to know a whole new vocabulary – and there is a lot of new vocabulary!
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You’ve just decided to start freelancing and can’t wait to get started.
You’re setting up your website, updating your social media profiles, and looking for freelance writing work left, right, and center.
Did SAHM, SAHD, WAHM, WAHD and the rest of these crazy acronyms confuse you before you became a parent too?
Maybe you still don’t know what they mean. Let me break them down for you:
