The Clash of the Freelance Writing Promise

Yesterday started out with 3 additional inches of rain.

Three. Additional. Inches.

Yep, there went my morning. There was so much water, the basement window well was filling fast, threatening to leak through the window. I spent an hour in the rain, bailing.

For the record, The North Face rain jacket does not repel water. It rather seems to attract it and soak it up like a lovesick sponge. After the rain subsided, I was dripping. I needed change of clothes and a quick shower.

I recovered well, though. By afternoon, I’d finished two remaining projects for a new client and got them turned in early.

That left time to look on Twitter and LinkedIn to see what’s happening in both the insurance world (my specialty) and the writing world.

Seems there are a lot of promises being tossed around out there.

“Accelerate your writing career!”

“Ditch the 9-to-5!”

“Free course!”

“Find clients here!”

“How to start a freelance writing career!

If I had a penny for every one of those promises I’ve seen over the years, I’d be on a beach right now instead of writing this blog. Well, I’d probably still be writing this blog. But from the beach.

Everyone is promising you, freelance writer, the greatest secret for free! For FREE! Unless, of course, you really want to learn something new. In that case, they accept Paypal or credit card payments.

Here’s what I suggest when you try weeding through all these offers and promises….

Stop.

Seriously, stop trying to figure out who has the best answer for you.

Know who has that answer?

You. You have that answer.

Look, freelance writing isn’t easy. I’d be lying if I said I just woke up one day and started making oodles of money. I didn’t. I struggled. I made mistakes. Lot of mistakes.

Then I did something else: I learned from those mistakes. 

That right there is how you succeed at freelancing. You learn from your mistakes. Better yet, you pay attention to the mistakes of others, and you listen to how they overcame adversity.

So I’ll start. I’ve learned:

 — Marketing every day is a must if I want to keep earning.

— Marketing isn’t brain surgery. It’s showing up and asking for the job.

— Actively looking for clients increases your earnings.

— Clients are not always right. Neither am I.

— If the advice doesn’t fit, I don’t use it. Neither should you.

— Doing something, anything consistently to attract clients builds a business. Consistently is the keyword.

— It’s okay to say no to a bad deal, an iffy client, or a situation that doesn’t feel right.

— If they can’t afford me and we can’t negotiate a middle ground, they simply aren’t my client and I’m not their writer.

Writers, what have you learned? 
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever ignored?