This is a review of How To Make Money on Elance, an information product for freelancers produced by Alexis Rodrigo. Sparkplugging has not been paid to write this review but did receive a free review copy of the product. There are no affiliate links in this review.

In How To Make Money on Elance, freelance writer and internet marketer Alexis Rodrigo shares what she learned from Trish Lambert (an Elance Premier Provider) about making money on Elance. It consists of an interview with Trish (in both audio and PDF format), a worksheet, and a mindmap to give you an overview of the material.

If you’re looking for solid advice to help you make the most of the time you spend on Elance, then you won’t be disappointed with this product.

It’s obvious that Trish (the interviewee) knows what she’s talking about when it comes to getting clients through Elance, and Alexis asks her just the right questions. At $27, it’s a worthwhile investment if you’re planning to spend a lot of your marketing time on Elance. There’s no “fluff” or “filler” – just solid, practical tips that you can apply immediately.

So I definitely recommend this product for those of you currently using (or planning to use) Elance. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you probably shouldn’t start bidding for jobs on Elance without the information contained in How To Make Money on Elance.

But if you’re serious about attracting high-paying clients, I don’t think Elance is the place to do it.

This is just my opinion. A lot of people have apparently made real money on Elance – but not me. I got my first two freelance writing jobs through Elance, so in that sense it was a good way for me to dip my toe in the water (and maybe it’s a good option for you if you’re a freelancing newbie). But I have found that I can attract higher-paying clients in far less time using other marketing methods, so for the most part I’ve given up on Elance.

There are some good jobs posted there, but they’re hidden amongst a slew of crappy jobs posted by people whose primary goal is to pay as little as possible (regardless of quality). It takes a lot of time and energy to sift through the junk, find worthwhile jobs, and then craft customized bids for those jobs, so you have to be sure it’s worth it.

My advice: if you’re using Elance, keep track of all the time you spend trying to get jobs in addition to the time you spend on the jobs. Then keep track of the money you make (net of Elance fees) and determine how much you’re actually making per hour. With that information in hand, you can make an educated decision about whether to continue spending time on Elance.

Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & communications consultant for businesses that need smart, impressive content. She blogs here and at The Breadwinner Mom. To learn more or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients,” visit her website at http://tracifeitlove.com.

In today’s post, we’ll cover the most important step: adding content to your website.

Step 5: Create Content That Converts Leads Into Clients

As a freelancer, you will want to have at least the following pages on your website: (1) Homepage; (2) About; (3) Services; and (4) Contact Me. You may also want to add client testimonials, samples of your work, and other information that helps demonstrate your knowledge and skills. As you draft the content for your site, keep the following tips in mind:

Your Homepage

Before you write anything for your homepage, decide what the function of your homepage is going to be. Is it to get visitors to sign up for your e-newsletter? Is it to get visitors to call or e-mail you for a consultation? The most important thing is to decide on a next step that you want visitors to take, and then make that step the primary focus of your homepage.

Keep your homepage uncluttered, and make sure that visitors can easily find the answers to three questions: (1) what do you do? (2) why should they hire you to do it? and (3) how can they contact you? If people have to hunt for this information, they won’t. They’ll just move on to the next website.

Finally, don’t put a bunch of links to other websites on the homepage of your website. If you do, you’re just inviting visitors to leave your website. Why do that?

Your “About” page

The “About” page is often the hardest one to write. You have to talk about yourself, which is always difficult, and you have to promote yourself without coming across as unlikeable or egotistical. It’s not easy.

I think the most important thing to remember about your “About” page is that it’s not really about you. Yes, you have to provide information about your background and expertise, but think about this from your potential clients’ perspective. They want to know about you only so they can figure out whether you can help them. Don’t disappoint them; explain how your background qualifies you to meet your clients’ needs.

If you’re really having trouble writing your About page, consider getting some help. I know this may seem crazy to those of you who are writers, but even the best writers can run into trouble when they try to write about themselves.

Your “Services” page

Be specific about the services you offer. Potential clients may not have hired a writer/graphic designer/etc. before and they want to know what it will be like to work with you.

The big question freelancers have when it comes to their “Services” page is whether they should post prices. I think you have to decide what will work best for you. I post a range of prices so that potential clients have some idea what I charge. This helps me to pre-qualify leads (by culling out the people who can’t or won’t pay what I charge), and gives clients a little bit of guidance about pricing. You may decide that posting prices is a bad idea for your particular business, and that’s fine. Whatever works for you.

In General

All of the content on your site should be client-focused and serve a purpose. Don’t feel like you have to fill your site with hundreds of pages of content; just get your point across and encourage visitors to take the “next step” down the path towards becoming your client.

photo credit: dbdbrobot

Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & communications consultant for businesses that need smart, impressive content. To learn more or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients,” visit her website at http://tracifeitlove.com.

Now it’s time to talk about how to make your site look good (without spending a fortune).

Step 4: Select a theme and then customize it.

Whether you’re working with Wordpress or Squarespace (the two platforms I recommended earlier in this series), you’ll need to select a “theme” (called a “template” in Squarespace) for your website. The theme you choose will determine the basic look of your site.

Selecting a Theme in Wordpress:

If you’ve created a self-hosted Wordpress blog, you can select a theme by logging in to the admin area of your site, clicking on “Appearance,” and then clicking on “Add New Themes.” This will allow you to choose from a variety of free themes. There’s nothing wrong with using a free theme, especially if you find one you really like – just make sure you add some customization to make your website unique.

There are also premium (read: not free) themes available elsewhere on the web. There are a lot of them (do a Google search for “premium Wordpress themes” and you’ll see what I mean). The premium theme that I use on my site is Thesis, which I highly recommend. I selected Thesis (and subsequently became a Thesis affiliate) because it is exceptionally flexible, easy to use, and well-supported. If you choose a premium theme, you should follow the installation instructions from the theme designer instead of using the “Add New Themes” button.

Selecting a Theme (Template) in Squarespace:

If you’re using Squarespace, go to your website and then log in. Click on the paintbrush in the upper right-hand corner and you’ll see the Appearance Editor pop up on the bottom half of your screen. You’ll see a button that says “Switch Templates” on the lower left-hand corner of the Appearance Editor. From there, just select the Template you’d like to use. Once you select a template, you can use the Appearance Editor to change the colors, fonts, column sizes, and other design elements of your site.

Customizing Your Site

Once you’ve selected a theme or template, you’re almost done – but not quite. If you stop now, you’ll have a site that looks pretty basic (and possibly very similar to a lot of other sites out there). You don’t have to spend tons of money on a web designer, but if you’re willing to spend just a little bit it will make a big difference.

For my site, I hired a designer (Jamie Varon of Shatterboxx Media) to customize the stylesheet, the header image, and my subscription button. I was really happy with it turned out, but you may not even need to go that far. At the very least, I recommend that you get a custom-designed header image. You can find very inexpensive designers on Elance, but be careful to review samples of their work before committing. Alternatively, find a website you like and ask who designed it. You may end up paying more, but you’ll probably be very happy with the results.

So that’s it for now. If you run into problems or have any questions, share them in the comments and I’ll see if I can help!

Up next: Step 5 (Content and Copywriting)

photo credit: Paul Keleher

Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & communications consultant for businesses that need smart, impressive content. To learn more or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients,” visit her website at http://tracifeitlove.com.

Step 3: Decide whether you want to publish a blog and where it should go.

In my last post, I listed three options for setting up your site: using a hosted service (which I recommended against), creating a self-hosted site using Wordpress, or using Squarespace to create and publish your site. Whichever option you chose, you will now need to make your first big decisions about the structure of your site.

In this post, we’ll go through the first two big decisions you need to make. To learn how to implement your decisions on a technical level, I recommend that you review Getting Started With Wordpress or the Squarespace Manual (depending on which service you chose). If there’s enough interest from people in the comments, I would also be happy to run a free webinar demonstrating how to do basic setup stuff in Wordpress and/or Squarespace.

Note: If you are creating a self-hosted site with Wordpress, you’ll need to install Wordpress on your site before you do anything else. Luckily, most of the hosting providers out there (including the three I mentioned in my last post – Reliable Webs, Bluehost, and Godaddy) will install Wordpress for you. You can either go into your control panel and navigate your way to the “install Wordpress” button, or just call your hosting provider and ask them to install Wordpress.

Now on to those “big decisions” I was telling you about.

1. Will your website have a blog?

The first decision you need to make is whether you want to have a blog on your website. You don’t have to. I emphasize that because if you’re not going to have the time to update your blog regularly, you probably shouldn’t publish a blog at all. A stale blog is much worse than no blog.

At the same time, a blog is a fabulous way to establish your expertise. If you have the time and writing ability to update your blog at least weekly, go for it. Just make sure that your blog is geared towards your prospective clients, rather than other people who do what you do.

2. Will your blog be on the homepage of your website?

Your blog doesn’t necessarily have to appear on the homepage of your site. Since the primary goal of your site as a freelancer is to sell your services, you may want to create a simple homepage that quickly tells visitors (1) what you do; (2) why they should hire you; and (3) how to contact you.

On the other hand, if your blog posts are well-written and provide information that would be useful for potential clients, you may want to keep it front and center.

Not sure what to do? Start looking at your competitors’ websites. See what you like and don’t like. Take the time to figure out what format would best show off your talent and abilities.

What’s next?

Between now and the next post, think about whether you want to publish a blog on your site, and if so, whether you want it to go on the home page. Once you make that decision, you can begin setting up the basic framework of your site. Starting next week, we’ll cover (1) the other pages you must have on your website; (2) how to customize the look of your site without spending a fortune; and (3) how to write web content that helps you get more clients.

Please share your questions and/or suggestions in the comments! The more direction you give me, the more useful these posts will be.

photo credit: tj scenes

Step 2 – Choose a web host and purchase a hosting package.

Two basic options: Hosted blog service or self-hosted.

There are two basic ways to publish a blog-based website: (1) use a hosted blog service, such as www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com; or (2) use a self-hosted blog. What’s the difference? The main thing you need to know is that with a hosted blog service, you have a lot less control over your website. Different services have different rules about what you can and cannot do, and you should review those rules carefully if you’re considering using a hosted service.

If you really want your site to look professional and business-like, I recommend against using a service such as Blogger or Wordpress.com. They may be easier to set up (and free), but you’re sacrificing the ability to completely customize your site.

Note: Wordpress.com is a hosted blog service; Wordpress.org offers Wordpress blog software for free download, which you can then install on your self-hosted blog.

Setting up a self-hosted website.

If you’ve decided to take the plunge and set up a self-hosted website, congratulations! You’re on your way. I think you’ve made a good decision. Now it’s time to choose a hosting company.

There are literally hundreds of web hosts to choose from, and there’s no way I could list them all. Here are 3 web hosting companies that I believe to be reliable and user-friendly. I’m an affiliate of ReliableWebs, but not the other two:

1. ReliableWebs

2. Bluehost

3. GoDaddy

All three of these companies will install Wordpress for you (one less thing to worry about). I recommend that you visit their websites, read about their offerings and pricing, and select the one that you think will work best for you.

You could also choose another company – I’m just trying to keep things simple. The important thing is just to select a company and purchase a basic hosting package (it should be less than $10/month).

One other option: Squarespace.

Just in case any of you are freaking out or feeling overwhelmed by the idea of a self-hosted site, I want to mention one other option: Squarespace. Squarespace is a hosted blog service, but it gives you far more control over your website than services like Blogger or Wordpress.com. It has a lot of built-in options that make it easy to get your site up and running, and the learning curve is much shorter than with a self-hosted blog.

Unlike Blogger or Wordpress.com, Squarespace isn’t free. After the 14-day free trial, you’ll have to pay $14/month for the version allowing custom domain names (meaning you can post your website to your own domain name, instead of on a domain name such as www.yourname.squarespace.com). But if you’ve ruled out self-hosted blogs because you think they’re beyond your technical ability, I strongly recommend Squarespace over the other hosted services. I built my first website (The Breadwinner Mom) with Squarespace and have been happy with it so far.

I put together this extremely brief video to show you what it’s like to set up a new site with Squarespace. It’s my first foray into the world of video so please let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement. Hope you find it useful.

(note to the curious: I don’t work for Squarespace and I don’t benefit financially if you use Squarespace. I just think it’s a good option for people who don’t have the time or inclination to learn about self-hosted blogs)

photo credit: KristianD

COMING FRIDAY: Step 3 – To Blog Or Not To Blog?

Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & communications consultant for businesses that need smart, impressive content. To learn more or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients,” visit her website at http://tracifeitlove.com.

In light of that goal, I’ve put together a “Build Your Own Freelancing Website” series that I hope you will find helpful.

Each post in the series will cover one step in the process of building your own website, and I’ll be available to answer your questions about that step in the comments.

Please keep in mind that “building a website” is a huge topic and there’s no way I can cover everything. Maybe it’s better that way, since I got the impression that many of you are suffering from information overload on the subject of websites.

So we’re going to keep it simple. My plan is to just take you through the steps I followed to create my site. If that sounds good to you, read on!

Step 1: Choose and Reserve Your Domain Name.

The first thing you have to do is choose a domain name for your website. You can search for available domain names at Instant Domain Search, Go Daddy, 1 and 1, or elsewhere (there are a lot of services that sell domain names). In most cases your first choice for a domain name will be the name of your business, but you may find that someone else has already taken that name. What to do then?

You can use your own name (this is what I did), a name that describes what you do, or an abbreviated version of your business name. Whatever you do, just make sure that potential clients won’t accidentally end up on a competitor’s site when they’re looking for you.

If you’re having trouble finding a good domain name, try www.bustaname.com. You can enter a bunch of words that you would like to include, and it will give you a list of different options based on what’s available.

Once you find a domain name that you like AND that’s available, purchase it. It should cost you less than $10/year.

What else do you need to know about domain names? Please share your question(s) in the comments! To make sure you don’t miss a post in the series, subscribe to the Freelance Parent blog.

photo credit: KristianD

COMING WEDNESDAY: Step 2: Choose and Purchase a Web Hosting Service.

Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & communications consultant for businesses that need smart, impressive content. To learn more or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients,” visit her website at http://tracifeitlove.com.

When you’re setting up a business, trying to find work, completing projects, handling administrative tasks, and trying to be a good parent at the same time, “branding” tends to sit quietly on the “when I have some free time” list. And we all know what happens to the stuff on that list.

I’ve been as guilty of this as anyone. I sort of have a brand – “smart writing for smart businesses.” But I haven’t spent enough time defining and building it. So I thought I’d do some research on branding, share my findings with you, and then try to apply that knowledge to my own business (I’ll keep you updated on that).

Here are the most important things I’ve learned so far about branding for freelancers:

1. Your brand has to quickly tell people what’s different about you. I like the way Dave Navarro put it in “3 steps to creating a freelancing brand that sells,” a guest post on the Freelance Folder blog: “Since the drop-dead easiest way to get extra business without extra work is by word of mouth, it’s up to you to give all of those mouths the word(s) they need to say.” In other words, it should be easy for people to tell others about you in a way that differentiates you from your competitors. What do you want people to say about you? What words should come to mind immediately upon hearing your business name? Do those words make it obvious why potential clients should choose you instead of someone else?

2. Your brand has to address a real need. This one is fairly obvious but extremely important – it’s pointless to build a brand around something people don’t care about. Make sure that your brand will really resonate with your target market.

3. Your brand should strike an emotional chord. Without an emotional aspect, your brand is boring and you won’t be able to command top-notch rates. That’s because your prospects are more likely to make decisions based purely on your rate if they view your service as an interchangeable commodity. If, on the other hand, your brand makes prospective clients feel something that makes them want to work with you, your rate becomes less of a deciding factor.

4. Consistency is key. Two types of consistency are important here. First, your message has to be consistent. What you tell people about you and your brand (through your logo, your blog posts, your social media activity, etc.) has to be consistent in order to make an impact. Second, the level of service you provide has to be consistent (consistently good – or consistently great if you’re selling yourself as the best in your field). People gravitate towards brands they can trust.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list (branding is a huge topic), and I’m sure I’ve left out some important stuff – so please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments! We can all learn a lot if we share our knowledge and experiences.

Constant Content is a site that basically works as an article broker for freelance writers. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and while my earnings there aren’t spectacular (around $2,000 total), I also spend very little time there, so consider it a good investment of my effort. It’s a good option for freelance writers that are going through a slower period.

How It Works

The way the site works is you, the writer, turn out an article on any topic that pleases you (unless responding to a request, more on that later) and submit it. You set the price and decide if you only want to sell usage rights or full rights. There is a strict approval process that ensures only top quality articles get into Constant Content’s article database, but once you’re in, potential buyers can view and purchase your article. Constant Content takes a percentage off the top (35%) and the rest goes into your account, which is paid out at the beginning of each month if you have $5 or more pending.

Article Requests

While you can write on literally any topic, people do put in special requests for articles. The majority of these are going to be “public requests” which any freelance writer can respond to. For example, you’ll be notified that someone is looking for ten articles on kitchen sinks. You write a couple of articles using their keywords and submit them. Once these articles are approved, you can send them to the buyer who will purchase only the articles he or she is interested in. To tell you the truth, I haven’t had a lot of luck with this method unless the buyer is looking for a large number (10+) of articles. With just one article, the fastest article writers will get the job . . . but the article that you wrote for the project still goes into the directory and is available for sale should someone want it at a later date, which they usually do if the topic is a popular one.

There are also private requests where someone will contact you through your Constant Content inbox and request specific articles. These are pretty much guaranteed pay and I’ve made a good chunk of cash off this type of request. If you do a good job, these buyers will usually come back to you time and time again. Building up a reputation is very valuable.

How Much Can You Earn?

Once you have an article approved, it’s on the site and in the public eye even if you never write another article for Constant Content. I usually go through bursts where I’ll upload 10-20 articles at a time and then not touch the site again for months at a time. Despite ignoring them completely, my articles continue to sell and I receive a monthly payment from the site, even if I haven’t logged on in weeks.

Since you set your own price, you can ask for just about anything. There are some freelance writers who underprice themselves and offer their work for $5, but most of the buyers who come to Constant Content are willing to pay good money for quality work. Most of my articles are priced between $25 (for usage rights) to $50 (full rights), but I’ve sold several for $100, as well. Remember that Constant Content does take 35% off your price, so if you sell an article for $50, you receive $32.50. Since these are articles that I wouldn’t have sold otherwise and that I can usually turn out in 10-15 min. it’s worth it for this price.  Remember that you can write what you want, so there doesn’t have to be a lot of research involved.

I wrote a post on my blog in February about how to sell articles on Constant Content which you can read here: http://athomemomblog.com/how-to-sell-articles-on-constant-content/

If you’re just getting started freelancing, then you will quickly discover that your potential clients are going to want to see some samples. It makes good sense, after all, to ensure that they’re hiring someone who is up to the task. On the other hand, those who are just getting started may have no idea how to go about getting those samples or the best way to use them.

The most obvious place to get your samples would be from projects you’ve already completed for other clients. If you’re a freelance web designer, for example, then you would certainly want to direct prospective customers to sites you’ve designed for other clients. From those samples, he or she can get a feel for both your style and your abilities.

Samples are also really important for freelance writers. Clients will often want to see that you have experience writing about their topic, in addition to the fact that you can string together a coherent sentence! Of course, you’re not always going to have samples written on the exact topic, so you might have to get creative when it comes to sending along appropriate samples.

If you are so new that you don’t have any previous projects to use as samples, it is fine to make some up. After all, you’re just trying to give the client a sense of what you can do. He or she won’t usually be too concerned about whether the piece was published/posted/etc. There is an exception for print media, however, as these “markets” will very often only want to see writing or photos that were published in other print publications.

A Few DOs and DON’Ts

Do:

• Try to send samples that are related to the topic or style the client requests.
• Have an online profile that clients can view.
• Send samples as attachments if the client requests it.

Don’t:

• Send samples that don’t represent your best work. If you’re a freelance writer, that means triple-checking the grammar.
• Expect an employer to be interested in everything you’ve ever written. Consider sending two or three samples with a note that more are available.
• Forget that you can use your blog or pieces you’ve submitted to article distribution sites as samples.

Finally, some potential clients may ask you to work “on spec.” This means that they’ll give you a topic and expect you to write a sample to their specifications. If they like the work, they’ll pay you for it, and if they don’t, then you’re up the proverbial creek. We rarely recommend that freelancers work on spec.

I know that this is a huge topic, so if you think of something that I forgot to cover here, please leave a comment letting us know!

Of course, if you’re not acting in a professional manner, then the jig will be up pretty quickly. Your “professional freelancer” persona is going to need to be bolstered by your behavior and your actions. There are a few things that you can do to portray yourself as the professional that you want to become.

Always, always, ALWAYS make your deadlines. Sure, you might get away with it once or twice if you get an extension or get your project done the day after you said you would; but you’re not going to last long working this way. For one thing, you’re not going to get repeat clients, and they are such an important aspect of succeeding in freelance work. In addition, if you miss enough deadlines, it will start to become a habit, and we all know how hard it is to break a bad habit.

Spend a little money. Now, we have argued—quite vehemently, as a matter of fact—that you don’t have to have a lot of money to get started freelancing, and we stick by that. On the other hand, we also believe that if you lay a little money out up front, you can probably advance more quickly. One of the best things you can spend your money on is a professionally designed website. This does so much to improve your credibility, and it will get you jobs. The other area where we recommend you spend a little cash is to have business cards designed and printed. The free ones you get online are cool and all, but a really well-designed card gets a lot of attention, and you’ll be amazed how often you’re able to hand them out (like at a Christmas party, for example).

Network appropriately. Get yourself LinkedIn. Twitter. Blog. Go to local functions. We got one of our best clients because Tamara attended a marketing association meeting one time. When you do these things, tell people that you’re a freelancer and that you have your own business. On the other hand, we recommend that you don’t call yourself the CEO, COO, or something along those lines. It actually looks more amateur than professional. Besides, if you’re really a writer/photographer/designer at heart, then isn’t that a title you want to wear proudly? (There’s nothing wrong with “Senior Designer,” though. )

Charge what you’re worth. We’ve already talked about setting your freelance rates. One thing I didn’t really mention, though, is that a lot of potential clients will judge you by those rates. If you’re not asking enough, you won’t look professional, and they’ll skip right over you. If you’re charging too little, you may just come across as a hack.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a big secret. Of these four suggestions, there’s only one that Tamara and I did “right” when we started our business. We didn’t have a website when we started, and our first one was built by Tamara’s husband. (We still think of it fondly, but it didn’t do for us what the new one does.) We definitely didn’t charge what we were worth and are still finagling the appropriate rates all this time later. I also believe that we referred to ourselves as the CEO and COO for a short time, which now makes me shudder.

The point is this: You can certainly make it, even if you do just about everything wrong. As far as I’m concerned, there’s really only one major rule to freelancing, and it’s this:

“Don’t suck.”

The rest of it can be learned through trial and error if you have enough time. Or, you can take the advice of people who have already made the mistakes and skip over all the annoying stuff we did to ourselves. Instead of just calling yourself a “professional,” you’ll know that you really are one.

There is absolutely TONS of talk on the blogs about how to set your freelance rates. You will probably notice, however, that while everyone talks about how to set your rates, no one tells you what they actually charge. There are a couple of reasons for that, in my opinion:

• If you tell others what you charge, they might undercut your rates and get all your great jobs.
• Other freelancers might make fun of you for not charging enough. (There are a couple of freelancers in the blogosphere who make it their personal mission to go around berating freelancers who don’t charge enough.)
• People might think you’re too big for your britches if they learn that you’re charging three times more than they are.
• Our culture has certain taboos regarding talking about money in more than hypothetical terms.

Tamara and I have attempted to break through some of these obstacles by posting our own freelance income report each month. Of course, we didn’t do that early on when we were happy to make a couple hundred dollars a month, but that’s mostly because we hadn’t thought of it yet. We really want to try to take some of the mystique out of freelancing, so that’s why we made the decision to post those reports. When you read them, however, keep in mind that we’ve been doing this for about a year and a half, and between the two of us, we probably work a little more than 40 hours a week.

One Approach to Setting Freelance Rates

So, how do you set your freelance rates? There are tons of opinions out there on the subject. Some say that you should determine how much money you need to make and then divide that by the number of hours you intend to work to get a reasonable hourly rate. If that makes sense to you, then go for it! Other suggestions include charging a per-word or per-project fee. We use this approach quite a bit in our business. We base the rate not only on the size of the project, but also on the type of project. For that reason, we have different prices for “web content,” “ebooks,” “SEO articles,” and other types of writing.

I may get yelled at by other freelancers for disclosing this, but here’s how we got to this point:

If that last item didn’t scare you off, then keep reading to find out how you can make the freelance leap yourself.

The first thing that we recommend an aspiring freelancer do is learn about the field. There are tons of blogs out there that can help you learn how to get started freelancing, as well as how to be a better writer, how to balance home life and work life, and every other aspect of the business. I already mentioned Michael Stelzner’s Top Ten Blogs for Writers (which we would think was awesome, even if we weren’t on it). Personally, I find that in addition to Freelance Parent, these three resources are exceptional for newbies:

• Allena Tapia’s About.com page on freelance writing should probably be your first stop. I’m linking you directly to her page on “How to Get Started in Freelance Writing.” It is must-read material if you’re considering this career.
• Freelance Writing Jobs is a favorite place to “hang out” and soak up the freelancing life. Reading the comments alone is like taking a crash-course on freelance writing. You will see the good, the bad, and the ugly there. In addition, you will get some direction on where to look for jobs. I will warn you, though, that the jobs listed there are extremely competitive, so consider it as an education resource first, and a job resource second.
• We also love James and Harry over at Men with Pens. They have a ton of great information on how to be successful as a freelancer. The writing can be a little in-your-face, but that’s kind of a blessing to new freelancers who might be thinking this job is easier than it really is. The Pen Men are not afraid of a little hard work, and you shouldn’t be either.

There are tons of other great blogs that can help you get a feel for the business. Try to look at both the good and the bad of what they’re sharing. There are a lot of challenges that go along with freelancing, and most of the blogs don’t sugar coat it. In addition, many of the bloggers will take the time to answer questions you leave in the comments section.

Finally, there are some great ebooks and print books out there that deal with the subject of how to get started freelancing. For the absolute beginner, I would recommend checking out Write for the Web: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing on the Internet. (I’m linking you to a review we did of it some time ago.) It was actually written by the Men with Pens team, and it really is a valuable resource for those who want to learn how to make money by writing for various online publications.

So, what have I missed? If you “established” freelancers have more suggestions, please leave them in the comments so our new readers can benefit from your experience. And, newbies, we want to know what questions you have!

This list focuses on how to become a freelance writer, but you can apply the ideas to almost any type of freelancing.

#1. Learn everything you can about how to be a freelancer.

Check out other freelancer’s blogs. Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers has compiled an awesome Top Ten Blogs for Writers list that represents a great place to start.

#2. Determine if you’re any good.

While bad writers can make money freelancing, good writers can make more. Just because you can type, it doesn’t mean you’re a writer.

#3. Set your rates.

There are plenty of blogs out there that will tell you how to set your rates, but most writers are actually pretty secretive about what they really charge. It boils down to figuring out what your time is worth and setting your rates accordingly.

#4. Be professional.

While you don’t need to have a website and business cards to get started, they can go a long way in presenting you in the right light. The more professional your look, the more seriously potential clients will take you.

#5. Have quality samples on hand.

Most of the jobs you bid on will require writing samples. If you haven’t already been published somewhere else, then go ahead and write samples on topics that interest you.

#6. Find the jobs.

Whether you’re scouring Craigslist (also, consider checking out Freelance Writing Jobs, since they collect jobs from Craigslist and a lot of other sources every day) or bidding on Guru.com, you need to go where potential employers are posting their jobs.

#8. Find a niche.

Being able to write on “any” topic can definitely be handy, but you can often make more money by being a specialist in one or two subject areas.

#9. Set goals for yourself.

Write them down, and in addition to financial goals, think about thinks like how to transition from your current job to freelancing, as well as what type of exit strategy you might want to employ.

#10. Treat it like a job.

If you were working for someone else, you wouldn’t be able to miss deadlines or ignore the less fun parts of your job. If you want to succeed as a freelancer, then you still can’t do these things. Ask yourself a few questions to make sure you’re on the right track.

With the economy the way it is, more and more people want to get started freelancing as an option to help make some extra money. For some, a job layoff has necessitated that they look for work somewhere else, and we all know that there aren’t a lot of places hiring. For others, the rising cost of energy, fuel, groceries, and everything else has led to a shortfall of cash. Many of these people are wondering if freelancing might be a real possibility for solving some of their financial problems.

The answer is “yes.”

Those of you who know us, though, know that we’re not going to tell you that it’s easy. It’s hard work, but so rewarding. If you really want to learn how to do this, stick around this week, as we’ll be going into more detail on all of the topics listed above.

I’m sure that getting settled in to the new office has a little something to do with our decreased posting in the last week or so, but there’s another factor. Basically, I’ve been trying to figure out how to be polite about a topic that is really rubbing me the wrong way. I emailed my dad about it, and he barely spoke to me for several days, and he’s sort of required to love me. You folks, well, you’re not at all beholden. So, I’ve been trying to figure out how to say what I want to say without having half of our readers unsubscribe from our feed.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured it out, so I’ll just say what I have to say. My suspicion is that a third of you will say, “You’re damn right, Lorna!” Another third will likely wonder, “Is she talking about ME?” and get their feelings hurt. The rest of you will probably want to tell me to shut up and stop whining. Still, Tamara and I have always said that this blog is supposed to be a view into a real-life business and should be a tool for freelancers. That said, it’s time to get to the freaking point already.

I am annoyed with freelancers. I am annoyed with freelancers who call themselves professionals but then do ridiculous things. I am really annoyed with people who have recently tagged “freelance” to the front of whatever title they previously had because the economy is bad.

See, I’ve already gone too far. I don’t mean to say that I don’t like new freelancers. In fact, it’s the opposite. I love new freelancers. You folks are half the reason that this blog exists. Seriously, if you’re a new freelancer, you should consider clicking the “getting started” category to the right, because we have a bunch of blog posts that are geared specifically toward helping you get your business underway. We have much love for the new freelancers.

The ones we’re not so thrilled about…hm, maybe I had better go back to writing in first person so as not to implicate Tamara in any of my haughtiness…The ones I’m not so thrilled about are the ones who email us saying that they got laid off because of the economy and thought they’d “just freelance” for a while to pull in some extra money. No kidding, someone actually asked us if we could give him work because he wanted to “just freelance” while job searching.

What can I say? I’m extremely offended. If it is so easy to “just freelance,” then why are you coming to me?

I know that the current economic climate means that small business has more potential than ever. I know this because practically every one of my clients asks me to write about it. Maybe I’ve just done so many articles and blog posts on marketing/changing careers/budgeting/etc. in a recession that I’ve bought my own hype on why it’s a good thing for some of our businesses. Unfortunately, I think other people are equating “good” with “easy.”

That brings me to my next bitchy point: Freelancing isn’t all that easy. You have to constantly find and bid on new jobs. You have to meet deadlines. Theoretically, you have to be good at your craft, too. Believe it or not, we have recently discovered that there are quite a few “freelancers” out there who do not fit even one of these three criteria.

From the very beginning of our business, we have looked forward to the day when we would have enough business to be able to bring in other writers. I’m a pretty pie-in-the-sky, Kum-Ba-Ya type, and Tamara and I have both been so excited about the potential for our business to help other people, parents especially, to pursue their dreams of working from home. Now that we’re at that point, it’s been exciting to get to know some freelancers who are interested in working with us.

I want to start by saying that we have worked with some great writers so far. We’ve developed relationships with two ladies, in particular, that we are just thrilled about. Unfortunately, some of the others have been pretty disappointing. I think I’ll probably go ahead and compile some of those experiences for another post about how to successfully subcontract work from other freelancers. Let’s just say that not only did they not have to go out and find or bid on jobs, but some have blown off deadlines, one plagiarized herself, and a couple never even got the job because the samples they sent were so poorly written that we would have spent more time editing than it would take to write the pieces ourselves.

I suppose the biggest question is why on earth I’m taking this all so personally? For some reason, I find the dismissive attitude of so many people who claim to want to be freelance writers really insulting. I know that others are hiring them (probably not more than once, mind you), and that they’re undermining my whole profession. I’m annoyed by someone who sends me a nightmare of a writing sample, along with a bid for more than double what a project pays. Are you kidding me? I’m out-right pissed at the number of people who seem to think that there’s nothing to it if you want to “just freelance.”

You know what? There are no rules about what you have to actually do to be considered a freelancer. You don’t have to be reliable, or ethical, or even good. But, if you’re not and you still insist on calling yourself a freelancer, you’re going to tick hard-working freelancers off.

One interesting thing that has come out of the situation, though, is this discussion about writing for print media versus writing for the web. This issue actually goes back a long way for us. I seem to recall that it was the end of 2007 when we did a review of Men with Pens’ Write for the Web: A Beginners Guide to Writing on the Internet. It was probably around that same time that our friend Allana Tapia first started (lovingly) harassing…I mean encouraging…us to get into print media.

We’ve heard Allena’s arguments, most of which revolve around money, and I,, especially have been nearly seduced. (Tamara’s more interested in becoming a fabulous romance novelist.) In addition to potentially higher pay, being published in a magazine is one of those things that I always thought would make me feel more like a “real” writer. Until I really became a freelance writer, my ideas of what it entailed were a lot different. I expected to be querying editors and getting form-letter rejection notices from Reader’s Digest and Vogue.

What I found, however, was web writing. I mean, it was just sort of there. Bidding on several jobs on Guru seems a whole lot easier than trying to write just as many pitch-perfect query letters. Just the thought of truly using my Writer’s Market for its intended purpose is enough to give me heart palpatations. Here are the reasons I have mostly avoided print media up until now:

• It seems much more time consuming to get a gig.
• The gigs seem way more competitive.
• A magazine article would take way more work than a lot of the web writing we do.
• Magazine editors expect you to come up with your own ideas.
• Narrowing down the markets is overwhelming.
• You can’t get the gig without already having good published clips.

I have to say that those are all fairly compelling reasons, although, this whole discussion about money has made me feel like I need to look at them more critically. Are they reasons, or are they excuses? I suspect there’s a little of both.

So, I’m looking to you folks. What kinds of experiences have you had with print media? Has it been worthwhile, or was it more work than it was worth? Do you have any words of wisdom to share with the rest of us?

I’m going to try to revisit this topic a little more often, as we tend to mostly focus on the web writing stuff. I did actually get a few print pieces published in the last few months, so I suppose I have a little experience to share on the subject. Still, I know there are Freelance Parent readers who know way more about the subject than we do. Let’s hear from you folks!

At first, this might not seem like a bad idea. After all, maybe you don’t have a lot on your plate right now. What could it hurt right? The truth is that it can hurt. It can hurt you, your bottom line, and your peers.

There are a lot of freelancers out there who get extremely passionate about why spec work is the ultimate evil, but I’m not going to go that far. While I totally get their point of view and agree that spec work is not something that should be done very often (if at all), I draw the line at believing that all the potential employers asking for spec work are simply the spawn of Satan.

Because I once asked a friend to do work on spec. I thought it was an awesome idea. He could take some pictures for me, and if the project went well, he could share in the rewards. I shudder now when I think about how he probably agonized over a nice way to tell me “no.”

I did what a lot of others do. I assumed that he would be excited to be involved in the project. I also figured that he would be happy to share in any proceeds. Thank goodness he was a friend, or I would have looked like a real jerk.

Now that I’ve admitted to being naive, I will tell you that there are also people out there who really do want to take advantage of you by requesting spec work. There are a few ways they do it:

• They tell you that your work will be seen by others, and that’s such a great deal for you. In most cases, that is really not a good deal at all.
• They say that they’ll pay you if they like what they see. So, if they don’t like it, you just wasted how much of your time? Seriously, that’s like paying them to tell you “no.”
• They promise more work in the future. Again, there’s no guarantee you’ll get it; and if you don’t, you’ve just paid for the privilege of being passed over.
• They’ll ask for “students” or “beginners” and tell them this is a chance to build their portfolio. Honestly, I sort of “get” this one, but I still have to say that it’s pretty low to assume that a student or beginner doesn’t have any value.
• They play on the fact that they don’t have much money because they’re a small company, or a start-up, or whatever. Oh, Lord. I think that will have to be another post. All I can say is, “if you can’t afford to start a business, you can’t afford to start a business. Duh.” Besides, how should their lack of money in any way affect your lack of money?

There are even nastier folks out there, too. Some of them will take a big project and break it up. If they have ten or tweleve freelancers doing parts of it “on spec,” then they can actually get the entire project done for free. Others take your work and then have someone really, really cheap change it just enough so that they’re not technically using your work and don’t have to pay you.

First of all, I have to point out that—as is so often the case with debates—I think we all ended up practically “arguing” the same point, just in different words. I agree with the way James phrased it:

“We’ve determined (all four of us) that it’s possible (but not preferable) to start a freelancing business on less than $500.”

Yep. We agree on that. You can totally do it with less than $500, but you’d better have a backup plan.

So, here’s where I get a little rant-y. I hope you’ll bear with me, as I think I actually have two mini-rants brewing at the moment.

Point #1:

Tamara and I absolutely know that we are privileged. The mere fact that we live in North America means that we are privileged. Also, the reason that I mentioned our working spouses was to be clear to everyone that we knew we were in a fortunate situation. Of course, that’s not to say that we are (as Tamara so eloquently put it) “a couple of rich bitches who decided to take up freelancing because we got bored of sitting around and having our nails done.”

We started freelancing because we needed money and wanted to earn it on our own terms. When we decided to start our business, Tamara’s husband had taken on a second job, and I was trying to figure out which maternity outfit was going to work best for my upcoming job interviews. She even took a part-time job at the beginning to help her family meet expenses. So, while we are absolutely a couple of fortunate people, we want to be clear that this wasn’t just a lark or a hobby.

This leads nicely into my second rant…

What Did You Have to Say?

Anyway, there have been some really good discussions sparked by the debate, both in the comments here and over at their blog.

Some folks see things the way Tamara and I do:

Annette Elton has first-hand experience starting a freelancing business with nothing more than a website and an Elance account.

Tony Lawrence also has some experience bootstrapping, although he points out that it shouldn’t be a way of life.

Genesis Davies started freelancing by spending $1 an hour at an internet cafe!

Others feel that it takes more to be successful:

Heidi Blodgett is investing over time to allow her to make the leap from her day job.

Heike Miller is finding that it’s much more expensive to become a virtual assistant than he originally expected.

Trish Lambert feels like we need to get rid of the “starving artists” metaphor once and for all.

Some saw both sides of the story:

Laura Spencer notes that while it may not be totally cheap to run a freelance business, it beats the pants off of working for The Man.

Graham Strong also weighed out some pros and cons, citing that a freelance business is inexpensive to start, but there are some other benefits (and drawbacks) to working from home.

John Hewitt points out that you can get started on the cheap, but that it’s really a lot easier if you’ve got some cash to back you up.

A whole lot of the arguments we wanted to make were already brought up in the comments sections on both blogs, but we’re going to go ahead and make them anyway. After all, we started this thing, it seems only right we’d be bull-headed enough to make you listen to the rest of our thoughts, eh? So, what follows on the next page is the rest of our side of things.

You can read James’ response to our first post on the topic by checking out Men with Pens and “The True Cost of Starting a Freelance Business”. Feel free to leave him and Harry a comment over there to say why you think Tamara and I have the right idea. (Or tell them why you think they’re right…really, it’s all in good fun.) Then come back here on Friday to see our rebuttal to their response.

Well, the public’s wish is our command.

Our amiable friends James and Harry over at Men with Pens have agreed to let us call them out this week, and we’re taking full advantage.

You see, we like James and Harry. We think they’re swell. We think it’s totally cool how they’re two guy friends running a freelance company. After all, we’re two girl friends running a freelance company. We like it that they’re a little geeky, too. We’re nerds, as well; just in a different way.

Still, we have some major differences of opinion among us. You see, Tamara and I believe that one of the best parts of having a freelance business is that fact that it costs practically nothing to start and run. Unlike other businesses, we didn’t have to pay for a franchise, stock up a bunch of inventory, or go back to school and get an MBA.

We figure that we started the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency for the cost of about $220. That includes filing for our tax ID, getting city and state licenses, and setting up a Vendor account on Guru.com. We each contributed half, and we were able to pay ourselves back after getting our first couple of gigs. You could probably also add in a few bucks for the coffee and bagels we consumed at our first real business meeting. All-in-all, though, the financial investment was pretty darn low.

Now, over at Men with Pens, they have a different take on the cost of setting up shop, and if you pop on over there, they’re going to tell you why the Freelance Parent ladies are all washed up with their post “The True Cost of Freelancing.” Feel free to add your two-cents’ worth by sharing your thoughts in the comments section. Better yet, pipe up and tell them why we’re right! We’d love to know how you figure the cost of starting and running your freelance business. In fact, we’re going to be at this all week long, so if there’s a topic you’d like to see us debate, bring it on.

So, if you’re going through debate withdrawal now that the candidates are back on the campaign trail, you can join in with us and the boys as we take a look at how much it really costs to play the freelancing game.