So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer? Here’s What You Need to Know

1. Introduction: So What's The Deal With Freelance Writing: hi, many Miss Mercer Donnelly and I'm a full time freelance writer, content strategist and founder of Feel Like Collective. A writing, coaching, editing in tutoring services. I'm so excited to share my first class and still share all about freelance writing. In early 2018 I took a fully vigil freelancing, and I haven't looked back. I love the flexibility. I love the ability to write for clients, companies, brands of blocks all over the world. And I'm super inspired to share my story through this class with all of you. Whether you've heard of freelancing and you're wanting to live, learn more. Whether you've been doing freelancing for a while or you're just curious for tips and advice, I'm excited to share all of that with you, and I welcome you to this class. There's no specific skill level. You need just the willingness to work hard and participate, and I will also be giving you some projects. Resource is to help you on your journey, I told you. Figure out the writing style to give you advice and how to write pitch letters and just give you the experience you need to be successful in your industry. so so excited to have you here and or teaching you so first things first. Here's what you can expect from this class. The first thing we're going to talk about is how nothing is impossible. Whether you started freelancing, you're curious about it or you're thinking about pursuing a full time. Our first lesson is going to be about overcoming the impossible and really focusing on building your dreams in your journey, step by step. From there, the second lesson will be focused on building your personal brand and portfolio again. Doesn't matter your skill level on this. The focus is to work on creating a grand and whether that's online in person, working on different writing topics or tactics. We're gonna learn to build your brand and your social media presence so that you can sell yourself to your potential clients. We'll also work on tips and tricks for building a portfolio and what that actually looks like and what potential clients are actually looking for. Less than three is gonna be all about your resume, so putting together a resume that's going to make you shine it's going to be clients interested in what you have to say, and what's going to give you the edge over your competition in terms of style in terms of content and really giving you a personality that people can connect with and hire you for services? Lesson four is all about getting what you deserve, focusing on rates and figuring out exactly what you should charge for different projects compared to you. Others in your industry compared Teoh, others at your skill level and also looking into local as well as a worldwide different rates to figure out what's best for you and to give you the money that you deserve based on how hard you're going to be working. Also giving you the confidence to walk into meetings or having email conversations with potential clients, where you are confident enough to share your rate without hesitation. Lesson five is all about pitch. What the heck is a pitch? We'll talk about writing pish letters, what the components of a solid pitch letter are and how she really reach your clients and potentially earned there services through a solid pitch. And with this, it's also covered letters how to sell yourself not only on your resume but with your cover letter as well. Lesson six is focused all on networking What networking is what that means and how you can connect with different groups, people in your industry and use potential clients on and clients that you do have as referrals for future. And finally, we're going to talk about growing your work, growing yourself and staying positive in a highly competitive industry. So now that we've gone through the framework of this class, clear that this is going to be a huge resource for you and your freelance writing career, whether you're someone that loves to write about animals or someone who prefers to write about kitchen supplies, this class is something for you and can teach you the basics of freelancing so that not only can you get started if you haven't yet, but you could really boost your career. Your resume, your cover letter, sell yourself to potential clients and hopefully make future clients as you continue down the road. I'm glad to have you be a part of this class. Look forward to our next lesson 2. Nothing Is Impossible: Welcome back. This is our first class. The focus is nothing is impossible when you're looking to become a freelance. So that's the first and most important component is to understand that nothing is lost. When I first started freelancing, there was so much down and hesitation that I personally had and the people that I loved and people supported the hat. A lot of people think that freelancing is a really great deal, and honestly, it ISS especially you're leaving a full time position. What I've learned, though, is that if you if you feel very passionate about it, it's something that's very important and crucial to your success, and that belief is the most important thing. Jumping into freelancing doesn't necessarily have to need that you're giving everything up to see the future of risk. In fact, if you're starting off with a full time job, sometimes you can begin to dabble with freelancing before you even leave that position. Ah, lot of the process is just learning what you're interested in, what type of content you want to write and how to reach your market. Those are all things that we'll talk about in this class. But just to explain. But the focus of this last it is going to me. It's all about the idea that nothing is freelance. Industry is crazy. A lot of people are turning to this profession because of the flexibility, the ability to change your own schedule, work your own hours and having the ability to write for multiple, different places that pursuit different interests. I know that's what really enticed me. In the beginning, I didn't want to be locked down to writing for one company, law, website or brand. I wanted to be able to expand myself and my network to write for different places, different companies and to challenge myself to write in different genres, different types and styles that's resonating with you, that it's important to really think seriously about whether feelings thing is the right option for you. If you feel inspired about writing for different places, if you are looking to get out of the month pain and you're really looking to challenge yourself, this could be a perfect for your choice. But first you have to know that nothing is impossible. What do I mean by nothing is impossible? Well, first you have to make the steps to really get yourself to that belief into that mindset, You can say nothing is impossible all you want, but if you're really serious about being a freelancer, you have to put in the research. Just start from the very beginning. Problem with freelancing is that a lot of people jump in thinking that it's easy to be completely honest view. Freelancing is anything but, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. When you jump into freelancing, you're accepting the fact that you're not going to have a full time salaried position. You're accepting the fact more often than not that you're not going to have the benefits that you might have had a full time position for a salary positions before. There's a lot of risk involved, and so that's why it's kind of a bad rap, honestly. But what I mean, but nothing is impossible is that it is possible to make a living freelancing. You just have to know the steps, and you have to take them slow rather than just jumping and willing. No, ah, lot of people who jump into freelancing honestly failed because they're not prepared. They don't do the specific research in their industry to understand what clients are looking for, what type of writing the half to perform, what their skill set needs to be and what their rates of these are all huge components that things were gonna touch on in our different lessons as you continue with this class. But for now, the most important component is research. When you go to research freelancing, it's not as simple as doing a Google search and saying What to freelancers make for How can I start freelancing? It's definitely more in depth. You have to figure out what the content you wanted right for me. I love creative, vulnerable, vulnerable essays, but that's not it. I want to expand to write about products, to write four companies that deal with Holmes to write for parenting box. Those are just a few of my personal examples and for me to understand how to freelance right for those people, I had to research what they were really looking for for parenting websites. Are they looking for personal essays or are they looking for product wraps? That's just an example of some research that I did. You also need to research your local area, depending on where you're from, can give you a lot of information about the success of freelancing. What type of freelance options are available, what companies who could potentially work for in a variety of other questions that you could have answered? Local restarts can also give you information on rates in your area. Rates can divert, depending on your location on depending on the demand for felines, right? It's always important to get a solid understanding of your local area before you jump in. Because if you have rates that are outlandish for waging low, it's really gonna hurt your chances of being successful that grandma research is very important to have a good start. So we talked rates. But what else do you have in mind beyond during the research into what kind of writing you are doing and what grades you can charge? You also want to look into you know what I mean by budget. Well, your budget is what you are actually going to be able to spend Reliant way. If you're thinking freelancing, you're thinking money coming in, right, right. But there's also a lot of budgeting that's involved in positive gate start. For example, do you need to register yourself as an LLC or sole proprietorship? That's an important question to ask yourself, especially depending on how much work you're looking to take off. You might need to legitimise yourself as a business by registering your state or with local tax laws to get yourselves tax and other taxes. When you register as a business, you'll also be getting a separate Social Security number. Or he I am. Those are all things that would put together add up and costs. You also want to consider things like purchasing any laptop, a webcam, items you might need to complete your freelance projects. These things all cost money, so it's important before you jump in to really think about your budget, How much money do you realistically have to get start? How much are you really to invest? And is it realistic? Sometimes these questions could be difficult to ask yourself, and in the beginning stages, that might seem like a terrible idea to jump into freelancing. But don't give up honestly. As long as you're thinking through these processes before you start, it's instrumental in your success. What's a realistic budget Honestly, it all depends. It depends on the type of content you're going to be writing the people you're going to be writing for and what resource is and things you have right now for me. I had a laptop. I didn't have to invest when you lapped up to get started. But I didnt have LSE. I had to invest in my lnc. I had to pretend the money to register my business legally. Those were a lot of expenses in the very beginning which might set you back. But I was very excited. Get started. And it felt to me like a risk and the investment that was working. And it might be the same for you. Beyond pledging, though, you have to think of a few other forecasts. So, yeah, it's been talked about research. We've talked about figuring out what type of content you want to write. You talked about rates. We've talked about budget and now we need to talk about family. What is van with Ben? With is basically the time and the ability that you have coming in is a freelance. For example, if you're currently working a 9 to 5 job, you have to figure out how many projects you could realistically take on or how many hours you can actually add to your schedule. Working in 95 can be extremely taxing. You don't want to jump into freelancing and take on projects that you're not going to be able to finish. If you can't adhere to deadlines or answer client emails on time, it's going to set you back in your business before you even start. And it's going to give you bad faith. It's important to think about how much time you realistically have to invest in your business. Is it going to be a side hustle is It wouldn't be a passion project. Will it eventually turn full time, or are you going to jump into full time right away? That's what I mean by band with You want to assess the time and the ability within your schedule to complete projects, take on new clients and really work towards building your career? Maybe this looks like quitting a 95 or stepping away from something that you find half These are all things to think about, and I would caution you to think about that before you actually jump in. But honestly, the risk is exciting as well. Don't be foolish, of course, but if you really feel compelled to be a freelancer, you've done the research and taking steps on my all needs jump in. That's what I did. I felt so passionate about leaving my 9 to 5 for the flexible life of freelancing because I knew that I wanted to share my voice with different places, different people, and I wanted to start with full time coaching business. It was a risk, yes, but to me it was worth it because I knew that I had the drive and the ambition to really pull a lot of clients and to dedicate myself to my work full time. I don't know if that relates to you and it might not, and that's OK. As long as you're taking the steps before jumping in, and as long as you're being smart, when you jump in, you will be able to start with success. I'm excited for you. Remember, the most important thing in the key point to this lesson is nothing is impossible. When you take those steps and you walk forward with excitement. Your career is ready to end this lesson. I want to provide with you a resource that will really help you get started. I call this a freelance goal sheet. Basically, this document will help by outlining your goals, your vision, your excitement and it will be a record sheet that you could look back on. As you start and reference throughout your career for the reason why you started and why this is so important to you. I'm gonna extend this project you and leave it in the classroom. I would love if you fill it out and save a copy into our class section so that other people can read your freelance why? And understand why this is so important to you as well as share ideas, collaborate and hopefully me, other people who are just as passionate. That's all I have for this lesson. But the focus of next lesson is going to be all about building your brand portfolio. I'm super excited to share with you all the information I have on that and what it really needs to be a freelancer with the brand 3. Building Your Brand & Portfolio: Welcome back. This is lesson to focusing on building your personal brand portfolio. For this wasn't we're gonna be talking about three different things. First, your website second, your social media and third your online portfolio. Within that we'll also talk about resume and cover letter, but that has its own class section as well. Let's jump it. First things first. Your websites just start freelancing. I would advise you to have a website, although it's not 100% necessary. I think it's super crucial for people to be able to find you virtually and to you, for you to use as a landing page to guide people to your work, your services and what you can offer. Do. You have to have a perfect website before you start freelancing? No, you don't. But will it help? Absolutely. Components of a strong freelancing website encompasses burst. Do you want to be very clear about who you are and what you offer? When people go to your website, it should be absolutely crystal clear that you're a freelance content writer. It should share the type of content that you've written. It should engage people to read about you and to see samples of your work and depending on your area or your industry, it should also showcase bits and pieces about who you are. Behind the scenes. You want your website to be all the questions that someone might have answered in one place . For example, if you look at my website, I have a picture of me and a little description about who I am and one AM passionate about . If you scroll down, we'll see what I offer my services. You'll also see examples of my blog's in my work. Well, I'm not saying that my website is a perfect example. I am saying that it helps people to navigate exactly who I am and what I can offer them. You want your website to be super reader friendly, and it's also important within that have your website be compatible on all types of devices , from a laptop to a tablet to a smartphone. A huge majority of people use smartphones now, so it's even more important that you're looking at how your website is smart phone compatible. What I mean by that is, is there a lot of content on the page? Is it busy? Distracting is it readable? Are images moving and text readable on the page with And are they able to navigate the different buttons in areas of your website with meats? If the answer to any of those questions is no, you might want to take a deeper look at your website because it's going to be a huge tool in resource for you as you afford interference career. You also want your website to be super fun. I think of fun. Website really showcases your personality depending on your industry, this may or may not be appropriate for someone like me. Fun and having unique brand is huge. I want my website to be colorful. I wanted to be engaging and I wanted to show not only who I am professionally but who am personally as well. That might relate to you as well, and it's important. It's though, to really create a website that helps you stand out. There are so many resource is for creating websites. All you have to do is do a simple Google search. You can connect with freelancers that work in social media content, website design coding, etcetera. They can help you put together a website that's really going to showcase for you. And since they're freelancers as well, they might have competitive rates. But you could even offer a collaboration with your services and their services to really get a website that's gonna help you stand out. Okay, so you talk about what? Since the next step is to talk about social media again with social media, is it necessary to have to be a freelancer? Yes and no. Honestly, you don't need it to start. But I would highly suggested your social media is what really showcases your brand. And compared to your website, which is more focused on your services and offerings, your social media can be more fun now, depending in your industry. This may or may not see similar to mine. For me, my most important focus with my social media is to be extremely authentic and to share my vulnerable writing. I pride myself on personal essays, poetry and really digging Dean. That doesn't necessarily translate all the feelings content writing I do because I do right for companies that are very business oriented or that air about consumer products. Home house, it's taxes, income, etcetera. I go on now, am I going to be able to speak to every single one of those companies and clients in my social media? No. But my social media is a branding tools to really help people see my voice and see why my style is applicable to the conscience they're trying to write. It also gives people a behind the scenes. For me, something that's very important is sharing pictures of my boyfriend son. Our family is super important and in some ways can be used as a branding tool for parenting websites. Parenting contact, which I'm super passionate about. Right when I share on my social media pieces about us and writing about us, it helps me to work directly and collaborate directly with parenting blog's websites because they see that I am writing that content frequently on my social media and therefore they're excited to use my content and my voice on their pages. What I'm trying to say is that your social media can be a powerful market. You can link people to your social media for them to see how you run social media pages. You can expand and show that not only can you write block close for example, but you could also write social media captions. Also, social media is really fun, and you can get creative with how you present yourself, your team's colors, designs and even showcase some of the projects that huge, especially if you're just starting out. Social media is huge. Sometimes people wouldn't even argue that it's more important than a website. I'm not sure if I'm on that campaign as I think they're both very important. But having social media can really help you reach an audience. You might not have reached simply a website, especially if you build up an audience and create content that they're engaged. All right, so we have website. We have social media. The last piece of setting up your personal brand is creating a digital portfolio, especially for content writers. Nowadays, having a digital or online portfolio is really instrument. This is something that you can simply link Teoh when you're writing a cover letter or sending an email and have clients look at your work direct. What do you mean, a portfolio? Well, you need information about who you are. Of course, the services that you offer and samples of your work depending on your industry, you do need to be very specific. In fact, I just revamped my writing for for you about three weeks ago because I added a few different types of content that I had had on there before for my writing portfolio. As you can see here, I start off with a picture of myself and a little description of who I am and 1 90 I want to be creative in that description because that's me. Whether that relates to you or not is up to you. But as you scroll down, you'll see that I have clearly labelled different sections for my different types of writing and the content that I've worked off. I, including here social media as the old friendly articles, excerpts, emotional essays, books, websites that I run, etcetera. I like to have everything that I do all in one place because it makes it really easy for the clients. Therefore, they're even more engaged in acts work with me because I'm so clear in order next, at least that's what I taught me something. But for you, it's really important to have a design in your portfolio that makes sense. That's user friendly and that can really show you are my portfolios attached to my website . But yours doesn't have to be. It could be a simple linked to a drop box. It could be something you have on your dick page. It could be anything, really. That works for you. But the most important thing is to have it because that will show people what you do and give validity to the work that you say. 4. Creating A KickA$$ Resume: rating A strong resume is a huge component of your freelance career. Honestly, it might be most important component because it's what you will be sending off everything. Touch a client, customer, business log and Brandt. So what exactly do you need an arrest, right? Well, first things first. Obviously, you need your name and contact. You want that to be front and center of your resume at the very top to clearly label who you are, depending on, your industry may or may not want an objective. I have been in the education industry for a while, so I love objectives. I used them for the resume that I have for education. But is it necessary for freelance writing? Honestly? No. Especially because as you send out your resume, it may or may not be sent out to a bunch of different companies, and you might not have the same objective. Don't let me object it slowly down. What you really need to focus on is your education experience, relevant work skills, so education. It doesn't necessarily matter whether or not you have a background in writing. I would say that nine times out of 10 that's not important What's important is that you are following writer and that you sell yourself. Remember that a lot of what you talk about, what he said in your So yes, you want your resume to be solid, but you want to keep every single detail out. The most important components of your resume besides your name and contact information, of course, is your education, your experience and your relevant skills. Does it matter if you have a background or education in writing? No, it doesn't. Does it matter? Is you had freelance writing in the past. No, it doesn't. What you want to sell yourself on is your relevant skills and experience that it all could be related to. Freeman. Maybe you drafted emails for a prior company. Maybe you were super organized. Whatever relevant skills you can find, you want to highlight that it doesn't matter if they're specific to freelance. Know what matters is that you're selling yourself on your resume and then in your interview setting, you're taking all the information from your resume and your embellishing so that people have a full sense of who you are and why you be a perfect a lot of time with freelancing, you may or may not have a. Sometimes it may be over video. Sometimes it's more or less working back and forth an email. It's important to really sell yourself in your resume for this exact reason. If you don't get to having in person contact people, you really want them to know you are just by looking at. Which brings us to the cover letter. I put resume and cover letter in this together because they're very similar and yet they're very different. You want your resume to be the professional side of you. Off course. You can be creative and add a little spunk, especially if you are someone that's interested in design and you want to add maybe a little color or its design elements have that. But you do want your resume to be professional because your cover letter is going to be a bit more person, the components of a solid cover letter, in my opinion, our first to have a strong introduction, something that really grabs the reader's attention and brings them into focus. What's going to make your letter stand out in a sea of thousands of potential and you want to start with something strong that speaks to you in a confident and yet not bragging way. When I worked with my coaching clients, we talk about this all the time. It feels awkward and unnatural to brag on yourself in your skills, but it's important, especially in a cover letter. But how do you do this naturally? Well, imagine that you're talking about someone else. To be honest, that's what I always do. When I think about writing a solid cover letter, I pretend that I'm writing about someone else or that I'm reading about some houses experience. Sometimes I even sub in a different name in my head is that I don't feel like I'm ready about myself at all. That gives me the Justin's to really brag on my skills in a natural way that doesn't I feel awkward or conceded. Bragging is important, but finding a way to do it appropriately is he. Before start with that strong attention getter introduction and then talking about your relevant skills and experience in a fun and more personal way. That's the folks of the cover letter. While your resume will speak to your experience, it's done in a more professional and discreet and very succinct way your cover letter gets to dive in. You get to explain why the's different experiences have really shaped you. And while I'll make you a perfect fit for the position, you can also add a little personal information. If it's a political, for example, because I'm so passionate about writing families and parenting being honest home. If I'm writing to a parenting website and I'm wearing a cover letter, I get to add a little bit of information about my boyfriend, son and why I am so passionate about type that can really give a personal edge to my cover letter and hopefully help me stand out in terms other out. You may not have that exactly spirit. You really want to dive in to each and every cover letter that right, you won't really have one template that will apply to all, although as working cover letters, you can create some that can help you fit into different areas. With these, do you need to write a new one every single time you don't, but you definitely want to make each cover letter right. You need to that specific position if it feels generic, or if it feels like you're just writing the same thing to every person the employers pick up on that. And they were we interested in your work because they feel like you're just sending out market tablets. So resume and cover letter go hand in hand. Really breaking means down and finding ways to make them engaging is important. I want to show you my example of my recipe. First, I host my resumes online. That's another way for me to really grab my virtual clients and it really show them who I am without the back and forth of a female thread. Sometimes chemo could be overwhelming, and sometimes clients just want to read about you without going through the hassle of having a conversation. I found that when I share my resume online, people can look up and see if I'm a good fit and kind of avoids the back and forth, or even a phone call where we find out in the end that we're gonna do, I recommend post your resume online honestly, only if you think that it's smart for you. A tip with that is to make sure that you don't put any identifying information like Social Security number. Oh, number or address. Don't want people to know that much information about you, but you could definitely quit your city. So, for example, I 15 Diego, California That's information that people could Google about me. They could find it all over my website. I'm not worried about that, but I definitely leave my personal address out. If you look over my resume template, you'll see my name. You'll see contact information. You'll see a list of my experiences. This is how I label my previous freelance experience, and this may or may not relate to you, depending on whether you've been a freelancer before or whether you've had relevant experience specific to writing. This is how I loved together by freelance career. I've been writing for forever but professionally on my resume. I put when you love it because that was the year graduated from college. Having that information here, I can list out some of my strongest publications as well, a speak two different companies and thea amount of us have had on different articles. This section really functions well to capture my freelance experience, and then I also have remained my resume to talk about other writing and different types of outside of freelancing. I've written for a large application. I've also done writing, coaching and tutoring within my university. And I've had experience a different facets that I want to also highly on my recipe and not be restricted to just one section of all my work. Am I saying that this is the absolute way you have to lay out your resume? No, not at all. But I just wanted to show you this to give you an example. This also leads directly into the project for this class which I'm so excited to share with you. I'm sending you over a resume tablet. You can download it and fill in your own information here when I challenge you to be creative with it. I love to see people that take this to the next level, make it personal, make it branded, and add sections that really speaks to who they are. So my challenge for you at the end of this class is to take that template and making your own. I would love it if you have posted in our class under the project section, and that way people could see your work, see what makes you stand out, get ideas for their own resumes and really collaborate. And maybe it will be enough for services. Your resume is going to be a page that defines you in the best way. So taking the time to really build your especially with this class project will be so instrumental in making you a successful freelancer. I'm excited to see the projects that you creates a pressure to post them. I will also share more samples of my work, too, and that way we can connect with one another. And of course, if you haven't yet, please follow my skill share profile. You'll see updates about my classes and you'll be able to engage with different conscience that I post. And I hope you I'm looking forward to seeing your projects 5. Getting What You Deserve: getting what you deserve. How did the chairman, your freelance springs? So you're looking into rates? I mentioned this in the introduction video, but before you even start freelancing, you should have already left your rates. If you haven't shame on you what you need to do that now, it's super important to have an understanding of what will be earning as a few answer based on your area, your location and the type of content. If you don't know that rates for your area or what's realistic, then we might get into a situation where asking for too much or too little, and this will greatly hurt your chances at he's successful writer. How do you find information about your rates? Honestly, it's easier than you think. If you do a simple Google search and include things like your state or city, you could be able to see competitive rates or freelances in your area. It's also awesome to connect with Resource is on linked in or even Facebook groups because a lot of people will post information about their rates or other links to articles that share local rates Were area rates for even worldwide rates for different freelanced content knowing your rate is important because it helps you walk into conversations and email her. It's a confident if you don't have a set rate, you're going to look like you don't know what you're doing, and I hate to break it to you. But that's the truth. If you don't know what your services are worth, it's really important to take a step back and think about that. If you're just starting out, obviously you're going to start at a lower rate and that's natural and it's OK, but don't sell yourself short. Just because you're starting out doesn't you're not skilled at what you dio, especially if you had relevant experience in writing or just in general working into her job. You don't want to sell yourself short in terms of rates, but you also don't want over. So I think if you're charging way too much, people are going to take you seriously or they're going to talk to other people in their network and let them know that your rates are realistic. Once you determine the type of content that you're going to write, it's important to consider things like hourly pay First Project it's hourly. Pay is what you make per hour. Sometimes this is what's preferred by certain client, but I wouldn't say it's across the board. The upsides to work in that an hour rate is that if you're someone who works at a methodical pace, it allows for a certain amount of money to be made for our. That could be very fair and consistent. However, if you're someone that works quickly, it anything move through a lot of projects for our. It might not be in your best interest church, our great finishing earlier than others and thus at a disadvantage. How do you know whether to choose hourly or project based? Sometimes it depends on the clients, and sometimes it depends on the work. In my personal example, I feel that I like to do project based because I can honestly work your things quickly, and I could get work back. To find something I like to do is charge on a project because that way, talk to my clients directly, figure out exactly what you're looking for, send them the information and be able to work back and forth several provisions on once physical great, but it all depends. If you're working in a more part time rule or an ongoing project, it might be easier to just do hourly and cattle of your hours. Some clients, for our lead to because it allows them to see how many hours you've been working on a certain project. And it's a better way for them to keep track of what money they open sometimes a project based if you get a little messy because he tried to certain rate and there's no way to determine how long worked on it other than to have a work pound, for example, that it might be a little bit more difficult for them to figure out whether that rate is justifiable. But honestly, there's positives and negatives, either one. It's important that you set the rate before you do the work, though, and something else that's really important Senate race is created. Contracts. A contract would be something that you find a template with online. You could be something you create yourself, or it could be something you reach out to a lawyer or a legal team to treat for you protecting yourself. When the contract is extremely important, you don't want to do work and not get paid for it. And you don't want to put yourself in situation where you're not being honored for the work . Create with contracts. It's awesome for to not give people work if you are waiting on payment. And I say that because it's happened to people, it's very important that when you're working on a contract that you're following that contract. If you're supposed to have a certain today, make sure you're following it. Otherwise, you risk music payment because you're not following your contract. You sometimes clients will cracked the contract for you. But I like to create my own contract either way because that protects anything, especially because I haven't ellos. When it comes to contracts, though, be smart about what you're giving your fines. I can't tell you how many people that I met in freelance industry that have sent their work before receiving payment and completely ended up not getting created all, so be smart. Something that I could advise you to do is to do partial payments. Partial payments allow the customer or client to pay half when they receive the first draft , and then, if they request revisions at the end. For the final draft, they send you a full payment. But make sure you created contract. We need to that. So that's everything on rates. The key there is to research before you start know exactly what to charge for different types of content. No. What's acceptable for someone starting out or based on your skill level? Know what type of rates you want to do, whether project based or hourly, how you're going to catalog your hours if you are doing hourly and what contracts you're going to set up to make sure you get paid on time and barely, our next class is going to be focused on pitch letters. So excited to talk to you about what pitches and how to get started writing your 1st 1 6. What The Heck Is A Pitch: welcome back to our next lesson. What the heck is a pitch? So what the heck is a bitch? A pitcher pitch letter is something that you will be sending to a potential customer client business brand or blog's selling yourself of what services you could provide specifically concentrating if you're a freelancer, which is usually applies to a website or a journal or Mex, what you're going to be doing is reaching out, and they're going to sell yourself in what's essentially a short covering letter. You know, of course, you're going to introduce yourself, your skills, your background, and then, depending on the Journal, you might actually either send a copy of your work or a pitch reference of what you think that you could write that will be successful in the website. So what do I mean by that? For example, I've sent dozens of pitches to places like Media Medium is a website and online journal where writers can submit pieces and they could also pitched a specific outlets on. I pitched a few things to parenting and to show your love and relationships for, and basically what you do with pitch letter or pitch email is you introduced yourself, sell yourself and then I either could drop me link to a completed drop, or I can do a proposed draft. So, for example, if I created titles or headline, I explain a little bit about what that story will be about. And then I send that you the editor of the magazine, in a clearing the spicy most saying, Hey, I can write this. This is what it's going to be back. Are you interested or not? Whether you're actually sending the full article or just synopsis is up to you, and it depends honestly on the magazine as well. Some magazines make refer to have a full article, and some make just prefer to have a synopsis. So the most important thing here is to really research and find out what that magazine or journal is looking for, so that you're not sending something that before along those lines with pitch letters, think of them as cover letters. We covered cover letters in a previous lesson, but the key here is to really sell yourself. Why should your story be chosen for this magazine? Why should you? A feature? What about you or your writing really makes you stand out. Think, too, about how your voice could be either unique or a perfect fit for the last one. And what I mean by that is that they're very different. Say there's a platform that has a voice already. If you're going to sell yourself on a unique voice, that means you're telling this magazine or company or brand etcetera, that what you have is something different, and that might be exactly what they're looking for. If you showcase how your voice is different, the mackin appeals to them. Is something you which could really help them move this website or magazine, etcetera. Forward. On the flip side of that is saying you're a perfect pitch. Perfect. It means that your voice fits exactly with the voice and style of this website or magazine . Thanks ever. So as you're writing your pitch, you really want to think about going to stand out what we're going to perfectly fit in. Neither is wrong, but both are very different in terms of how you're actually writing your pitch letter. Make sure as well that you also get the editor's name, so you're addressing it to someone directly If you don't know, do some digging in some research and it still can't figure it out. Make sure your which letter is very professional. It's short and sweet, though sometimes cover letters could be a little bit longer. Reaching a full page Your pitch email shouldn't be that long. Basically, you're just talking about what type of article you want to write, even the title of it. A brief synopsis if you're not including a draft link for an attachment and then a little bit about who you are. And it also helps sometimes if you've been published on other prominent magazines, journals, books, etcetera, that you drop a few of those names as well. Having credibility in the industry is important, but it's not necessary. So if you are starting out, don't be discouraged. You could always pitch, and the worst thing that can happen to someone says no. But the best thing that could happen is that your voice is heard on another platform, and from there you'll just continue to grow short and sweet. That's everything I have about writing the perfect pitch letter, and next lesson is going to be out about networking. NetWare Network Network. What that means, Why it's important how exactly you could do it 7. Network, Network, Network: Today's lesson is called Network Network Network. And guess what? It's all about networking. So what is networking? Well, the definition of networking is honestly change, especially network. Because of social media, the Web and the Internet has become huge. You could network simply with the push of a button you could network with Global Search. You could network through a D. M. On Minster Ground networking has expanded, and because it's expanded so much, it's even more important networking correctly and that you're really throwing a lot of effort into this avenue when it comes to freelance career. So how come you network well, first, before we even get to social media and the Internet is in person network. If you worked with a client for a company before, reach out to them and ask them for referrals. Although this isn't necessarily in person percent, it's a great wage. Really. Extend your reach without having to worry about Internet as much. Word of mouth referrals are huge, and it could be a great way for you to build your freelance group. Naturally, if someone speaks highly of you to someone else, it's just paves the way for future clients to come your way. Make sure that you're reaching out to the people that you've worked with and asking them for reviews as well. Reviews could be somebody that you could personally after your website. It could be something that someone is posting on your social media accounts. Anel, etcetera. There are so many ways for people to really help boost your business, especially, have a lot of experience. And that starts by reaching out and asking for the girl's beyond that networking. Like I said, expanse to everything on the Internet, you could network their job sites. So, for example, linked Clinton is a great tool. And honestly, I feel like it's so underappreciated. There's so many things you could do with Link did you can have people write reviews for you . You could have people recommend skills you could network with other people in your industry . You can reach out to suspect brands and companies directly. Five. Freelancing jobs Jeremy Lake didn't tips. First search freelance jobs. Make a search that comes up at the top of your feet, and you can also subscribe to the mouse. If you put a freelance writer, you'll get sent to your inbox, all the feelings writer options in your area or even as far as you. That's a huge way to not only see potential opportunities coming away, but to show those opportunities and those those clients and companies that you're interested in looking for work on your linked in profile. You can have a setting that allows you to actually be able to set yourself is available for work. If you're interested, you can show that you're looking for hire, looking for part time, full time or any opportunity. That's just a simple way for potential clients and customers and brands to know that you're available for work. Beyond that, you really want to build up your legion portfolio that it showpieces yourself. Think of it as a combination of a writing portfolio and a resume and a website combined. It's an awesome tool for not only marketing with other people, but just sell yourself, share what you can do and to collaborate with others. It's a great networking tool, and because it's so business based and professional, it really showcases that you're serious about your freelance career. Beyond job related sites like think, then you can also use closer media for networking, and I would highly recommend this. I feel that almost I would say maybe 70% of my clients have come from my social media, and it's just been a slow and steady growth, which I am predictably the same for you. Honestly, social media can be huge because you get to share behind the scenes you get to share about your services. As you build your following, you can add direct links. You can showcase things on your story. You could drop a link in your profile. The opportunities and options are endless, so use it as a network. If you post about your business or your freelancing, then in someone conference or like your picture, reach out to them directly. Tell them what your services are. Engage your followers giveaway. Just count your services. Find ways to really connect with people and get them excited about what you can do. Because when you do this, then it will bring awareness to what you're actually doing with your freelance career. If you have social media and you're not advertising your business or what you can offer, people aren't what you know about it, so use your social media as a way to hold. And now I don't mean just deeming people willy nilly. I mean being precise and and kind and respectful, of course, as you go through this process. But don't be afraid to reach out to people because if you don't reach out to people, they're not going to know what you offer. If you find that someone's engaging with a certain type of content or if someone says, Hey, you know, I'm interested in learning more, make sure you're following up with that person. Something that I do is create a separate document. It's on my Google drive so I can have it on my phone and I can have it on my computer. And it's just a list of people that have contacted to help me keep on track. We're following up. So, for example, if someone reached out to me about my coaching services and I contacted them, I put the date that I contacted that what we talked about it, that I had a follow up to you. And when that follow update comes, that's when I shouldn't be male or reminder and I say, Hey, we talked about this I'm so looking forward to speaking with you again. Do you have questions, etcetera? That Paul office so crucial because it shows A that I'm serious about what I'm doing be that I'm genuinely invested in that person and see that I'm actually talking my stuff. Creating a she or a doctor like that will be so helpful for you to keep up to date with your followers and hopefully land those clients that are just not sure and driving. So that's networking. It's all about reaching out to potential clients. It's all about building customer base. And it's all about creating a brand for yourself on the Internet that you could point Teoh in person. It's kind of making your whole 3 19 career come full circle, and it's one of the most important things. Well, I guess I say that about everything, but it's a huge component of being successful freelancer, So that's networking in a nutshell. Hopefully it's our last and final section is our confusion. I'm going to wrap up the points that we've talked about in our last sessions and really kind of give you a whole package of information to just throw out you so you can start your reliance career. I'm so excited to wrap everything up and thank you from being here for watching and sending your projects to our page. I look forward to connecting with all of them and to be a resource for you, as you afford in your career. If you haven't already, please follow my skills. Your profile. I'd love to get to know you to connect with you and to network with you on social media as well. 8. Conclusion: Grow, Work Hard & Stay Positive: Hi. Welcome to our final class session. I'm so excited that you've been here and honestly, I'm a little sad to see you go. But thank you for your participation. If you haven't already, please drop your projects into the class section. I love to see them. I'd like to comment on them. I'd love you. Also follow my skill ship profile. And that way you back connecting you on social media, etcetera. I want this class and this platform to really be a resource for you. Please do your part and posting projects. And connecting with me is that I engage with you. All right. To recap our class, I'm going to leave you with final thoughts. Dang positive and focusing on rope. Freelancing is tough. Honestly, it's a very competitive market because so many people are out trying to get all the same positions. People love the flexibility. They love the independence. They love being able to stop their own schedule and work on their home turns. And because of that, it makes us market very. But that shouldn't scare you. It should inspire you as a freelancer and going through this class you can honest and say that. You know, I went well and you can be confident moving forward. I hope that you have all the tools you need. And if you have any questions at all, Joan has its content to recap. Here's what we're talking about way talk about rape. We talked about creating a scam out resume. We talked about a cover letter writing a pitch, bolstering your social media, creating a strong website, online portfolio and being confident that's keep as you went forward. In your freelancing career, you're going to face moments, struggle. You're going to pitch to clients and they're going to reject. You're going to share your rate, and people aren't gonna like you're going to be passable, that you're going to be frustrated. You're gonna want to give up. But don't because freelancing is honest. It's so worth it. And you are passionate about this. That's why you chose to engage in this class in the first place. If you get frustrated, go back to the first project. We didn't last and re read your falls, your aspirations and your wife. That will be an ongoing resource and reminder to you of why you are doing this in wind support because it obviously is. Don't lose sight about beyond that. Focus on high row. Reach out to people that you worked with past, even if it's not related to freelancing useless people as recommendations or references, reach out to previous clients and ask them to write recommendations. Overviews online that you could search. Approach your online presence. Ask people to communicate with you and social media comment and, like your pictures recharging on LinkedIn. Ask your friends and family to support your business. Have people re share your information on their social pages? Really work on throwing your attention, your focus in your energy into freelancing. If something you wanted to you and especially if it's something you want to full time, you have to be confident. You have to continue and you have to know that it's not going to be easy, but it's worth it. I hope this class has provided the skills to help you start your freelance career, jump forward in it and really be successful again. If you have any questions at all, or you just wanna chat with me, feel free to follow my profile and you can. I love to see people on social media and I love to see your projects. If you haven't already, dio be sure to drop them in this class and to also connect to be in social media. I'm looking forward to seeing you all out there in the human world and again walk, board and confidence. He focused on your growth and even in the setbacks, stay positive.