The Writing Jobs

Creativity is often stifled between the three short, gray walls of your office cubicle. For many, escaping the cubicle and working from home seems like a dream come true. However, your freelance career can easily fall flat if you suffer from a lack of certain crucial skills.

1. Write well. This one seems obvious, but if you can not consistently write professional pieces that are free of glaring grammatical and mechanical errors, you should probably stick to your day job. Freelance writing requires writing, and lots of it. Anyone can write, but your clients hire you to write well. If your writing is not pristine, your clients will wonder why they hired you in the first place.

2. Mange your time wisely. Your home can easily become a time-wasting trap. Why write when you can read a book, watch TV, do the dishes, or clean the shower? Those that are unable to manage their time may find that they go entire days without writing anything at all. They might end up staying up until 3 AM, churning out less-than-perfect pieces in an attempt to finish a client's work before the deadline. Freelance writers must be careful not to fall into this trap. Many freelancers find that setting a schedule helps. Determine when you are most productive and decide to work during those hours, with no interruptions or distractions.

3. Respect your customers. Your clients are your source of income. This fact alone should be enough to make you respectful of their wants and needs. They may be moody, inconsistent, or intolerable, but you still need to please them in order to get paid. The major perk to freelancing, however, is that if you feel a client is being unreasonable or you just plain don't like them, you do not have to accept their assignments. Of course, if you have already accepted an assignment before you found out how much you don't like them, you will need to complete it to maintain a professional appearance. However, you can let them know that your future work load will prevent you from taking on any more projects from them, ever again.

4. Keep yourself organized. As a freelancer, you will most likely not have a secretary to do your filing for you. You will have to keep track of all of your documents, projects, and contracts on your own. By keeping an organized desk, or desktop if you prefer to keep everything on your computer, you can easily backtrack to the contract where you explained the costs of a certain project and the client agreed. Managing your deadlines on a calendar can help you avoid turning in projects late. Having detailed, organized records will save time if issues ever arise, and could ultimately save you from liability.

5. Hold yourself accountable. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of a freelance writing career is being accountable for your own actions. If you miss a deadline, you can not shift the blame on to anyone else. You can apologize, hope they accept, and move on. This can be scary to many beginning freelancers, but accountability can help drive your performance. If you know that you, and only you, will be held responsible for any missteps, you are far more likely to remain cautious and provide quality work.

Crystal Schubert is an experienced, freelance web writer that can help build your online brand and brand recognition. She writes compelling, well-researched website copy, web articles, and SEO articles that help turn clicks into conversions. In addition to web writing, she is adept at creating business-related writing, including press releases, brochure copy, and professional letters.

Visit her website, Schubert Solutions to learn more about her services and her competitive rates. What are you waiting for? Hire a web writer who can enhance your online presence and catch the eye of your target audience.