Kathy, that's great to hear you've had success with the ads! There's still work out there, I guess. I must be hitting it at the wrong time or wrong place.

I think you're already ready for paying work. Understand that most freelance writers starting out charge something. I like that you're volunteering for nonprofits, but even these have budgets they could be spending on quality writing. I would suggest instead of volunteering, try sending out the proposals without mentioning volunteerism or pay and see what happens.

Your conversion rates don't have to drop. It takes some practice, but you can soon understand how to approach specific clients and win the business. For each writer, it's a different process, but you'll know when you hit upon it what works best for you. Some love the phone, others have great success with letters of introduction, and others with proposals. The key in all is to understand your potential client before you make that initial contact. It takes a little research, but it's worth it.

Monthly Assessment for November, 2011

Queries: I didn’t dare send out any more queries this month as I already had two projects on the boil from September and I’m only able to freelance part-time.

Job postings: I also didn’t respond to any job posting but mostly because I have yet to get a decent resume, website and portfolio together. Once I do that, I think responding to job posting will become much less of a chore.

Existing Clients: In September I sent out an e-mail to five local non-profits offering to donate my writing services in order to build my portfolio. Two out of the five responded right away. I’m still working on a project for one that includes line editing and web/sales copy. I wrote a press release for the other that they “loved” and they said they would let me know if they had any paid (yay!) work for me in the future.

New Clients: One client I contacted in September surprised me by responding two months later. I am now set to work on writing a grant for them. I have never written a grant before so I’m teaching myself as I go along. I think it will be a great skill to have, though.

Earnings: $0, all volunteer work for now. Happily though, once these three projects are completed I think my portfolio will be fleshed out enough for me to start looking for paying work.

Bottom Line: I am very excited to start the new year with a nice portfolio and finally start looking for some “bread and butter” clients in earnest. I am worried that my 3 out of 5 client conversion score is going to drop considerably once my services are no longer free.

Got a new gig that starts in December. Lots of work, and I'm really excited about it. Hoping it lives up to my expectations. 🙂

My income took a major surprise hit about 10 days ago… love the aim higher motto Lori… I'm aiming higher and aiming differently… will post about it as the dust settles. Meanwhile I'm hip deep in business planning things.

Paula, great point about being paid to do the work you would have done anyway. Smart!