Comments on: Writers Worth Tip #6: It’s Not About the Money

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:54:00 +0000

It's because that's what I serve, Cheryl Ann. Masala chai. Milk and sugar. :))

Great points, Maryan. It's obvious we do need to make money to live. What we don't need is to make money the primary focus of our careers. We need to understand what we need to make and how we intend to make it. Then apply liberally. :)

By: Cheryl Ann

Cheryl Ann — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:53:00 +0000

Now how could you know I’m a tea drinker? Yes, with milk, please!

By: mkpelland

mkpelland — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:52:00 +0000

IN an era when the national economy is crashing and people are out of work everywhere, it may BE about the money – to feed your family and provide a roof. What other business on this planet admonishes its workers, “It’s not about making a living.”? I’ll tell you, in 30 years’ experience as a full time working, paid, freelance writer, to me those who don’t succeeed are invariably those who don’t understand that writing for a living is a business. You CAN be successful but you must brush up your business skills, market yourself, polish your work and never let up looking for new customers. If you’re cruising the Internet, pining for a miracle job with glamour and riches, or harvesting SEO paragraphs for six bucks each, you are not making good business decisions. Fine tune your business acumen. Read and watch freelancers making a living and follow their successes. Go all the way back to people like Kerouac – he wrote to live. If it’s a vanity thing for you or a great hobby, that’s altogether different. If it’s a serious way to make a living – take a marketing course. The artistic satisfaction comes much more easily when there’s food on the table and the rent is paid.

maryan pelland
http://www.ontext.com

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:15:00 +0000

I have to admit that my best output is when I need the money, i.e. when it’s my main source of income.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:21:00 +0000

I’m with Melissa and Georganna. Oh, the things I’ll do for clients I like — especially the ones that give me regular, ongoing work and reliable payments! Conversely, I’ve never hesitated to dump the ones that are difficult to work with — even when they DO pay well.

By: Georganna Hancock M.S.

Georganna Hancock M.S. — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:45:00 +0000

This is the same as organically optimizing a website or a blog for search engines (SEO) -- if you write it well, they will come. In the case of blogs and website content, that means material rich with value, info, meaning, worth to the readers. Not keyword stuffiing.

My metaphor just broke, I think. Anyway, I'm too tired to try to extend it for the point of this post.

For freelance writers, repeat business seems to be the meat and potatoes, and that might be a good focus ... but then it IS all about the money. Bringing in a base amount regularly that you can depend on.

For me, having moved more into editing, it's all about the clients. Not putting up with "problem" clients, slow payers, unreasonable demands. So, I guess that is not being about the money, too. I'm worth more than taking abuse just for the bucks.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:05:00 +0000

I actually focus heavily on obtaining long-term clients. There are plenty who just need a few pages of copy for their new website, and then I never hear from them again. That boosts my income, sure, but I’m always on the lookout for clients whose business model is conductive to lots of ongoing copywriting and web content development.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Cheryl Ann, I’m so glad to meet you! And I’m thrilled that you’ve decided to ask for what you’re worth. :)) That’s the ultimate reward to a writer’s career – getting to do what she loves AND making a good living at it. :))

Thanks to Erika for directing you here! I hope you both make yourselves at home. Plenty of room. Want some tea? :))

By: Cheryl Ann

Cheryl Ann — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:56:00 +0000

I feel like I've emerged from a cave into a land of real writers! After a few months of trying to fit into a society of writers who seem to have little respect for their craft or who claim to make lots of money by writing 5- to 6-page direct mail letters that convince people to buy things they neither need nor want, I'm so happy to be here.

You've also helped me leave Elance behind. It was a two-month exercise in frustration and feelings of incompetence, a time wasted in formulating bids when I could have been developing my own business. As a friend recently warned me, I was fishing in a pond with 10,000 other fishermen.

Just so you'll know, I found you through the link on Erika Dreifus's blog. Thanks for your very timely project.