Write you are…

As some of you already know, I recently swapped homeworking and shifts for a new full-time job. So I’ve left freelancing behind for the most part, although I write for a few other magazines within the company that employs me. I learned a few things in two and a half years as a freelancer, and I’ve already learned plenty more from being on the other side (i.e. recruiting and managing freelancers, rather than being one).

Here are the things I think every freelancer should know. Some I wish I’d known at the start. Some I think are blindingly obvious, but experience tells me that isn’t the case.

Misplaced snobbery will do you no favours

There are two types of misguided snobbery that won’t help anyone’s freelance career.

1. Being snobby about niche titles. Take, for example, the wannabe columnist who told the Guardian she was going to “try to sell pieces to Parochial Weekly and Boring Things For You magazine” and anyone who has ever hooted with derision when I’ve mentioned writing for a magazine about some obscure subject or other.

Newsflash: very few people make a full-time living from writing; fewer still make theirs writing purely for big-name consumer publications; and niche publications often make very pleasant clients who pay well – and quickly. Yet too many people see trade and industry titles as nothing more than a stopgap. If you want to make a good living as a freelancer, don’t be one of them.

2. Being snobby about tabloids. I was hugely irritated by Wannabe Hacks’ post on being too proud to write for the Daily Mail, which basically says that writing for the Mail may sometimes be necessary, while perpetuating the snobbish view that it can only ever be necessary, not desirable. Sure, it recognises that you can’t just write for, say, the Guardian all the time, but it discusses the question of whether to write for the Mail as a debate between paying the rent and changing the world.

Right, because writing for an audience of millions is completely pointless. There’s no value in writing for a tabloid, ever. It’s much better to preach to the choir (and a comparitively small choir at that) all the time. What particularly pissed me off about the Wannabe Hacks post was the insinuation that there was very little good journalism to be found on the Daily Mail site. Which just isn’t true. Yes, there’s plenty of dross on there, but there’s some excellent writing, too. Whereas presumably we’re supposed to think everything in the Guardian is Pulitzer-worthy?

Writing for tabloids isn’t as easy as a lot of people think it looks. They are often far more demanding than broadsheets. It’s not easy to sell in and write a story for the Mail. It’s fo0lish and misguided to be snobby about writing for tabloids. And, oh yes, they often pay better (the best rates I ever got as a freelancer were around 65p a word, from News of the World’s Fabulous and the Daily Mail) and more promptly. I have never yet had a payment wrangle with a tabloid, as it happens.

Read adverts properly and tailor your CV accordingly

I picked up several high-profile gigs by responding to adverts on Gorkana (including a part-time job at a Sunday paper and production shifts at a weekly). A number of people told me I wrote good CVs and covering letters. Why? I kept them concise, and tailored them to each individual advert, contact or opportunity.

You wouldn’t believe how many people send long, rambling CVs stuffed with irrelevant details, and/or fail to re-nose them appropriately (e.g. sending a CV focused on writing experience to a production editor/chief sub, or failing to mention online experience when approaching a website).

Not only is sending out the same blanket CV just plain lazy, it’s also foolish. Big-name publications may scan for certain terms or phrases – if your CV doesn’t contain them, it may well get binned unread. How do you find them? Er, duh, they’ll be in the advert.

Personally, I made what I thought of as a master CV – one document that contained all my experience and skills – which I could edit and rejig as needed. I then put together a few tailored CVs for different areas (writing, online, production, copywriting). So whenever I needed a CV, I could just tweak one of these existing documents.

Keep in touch with clients – and treat them like human beings

You are more likely to get work from existing clients than new ones, so court repeat business – wisely, that is (so don’t beg for work, and don’t bug people). In other words, don’t let client relationships go off the boil.

I sometimes left it too long before checking in with people, only to end up regretting it. Because, if you want to build up a really good, ongoing relationship, and if you want that editor to start coming to you with commissions, or at least to always respond to your pitches, you shouldn’t just be talking to them when you want work.

Thanks to the internet, it’s easy to keep in touch. Which could just mean checking in by email once in a while or, if they use social media, adding them on Facebook or Twitter (if, and only if, they use those to chat to writers and work contacts). Try to meet up in person if possible, e.g. for coffee.

Don’t be a stalker, obviously, or ignore their personal boundaries. You should be able to take your cues from them, e.g. if they clearly hate people phoning them for a chat, or don’t have time to write long emails. If you can’t read their signals, well, you kind of need tips on more than just freelancing.

One last note on this subject: if an editor is made redundant, don’t be a dick. Stay in touch with them. Offer help, advice about freelancing, contacts, whatever. People have long memories, and if you stop talking to your contacts when they stop being useful, they’re probably not going to forget it. That, and freelancing is one big circle of karma and word of mouth. Which brings me to…

Don’t be afraid to help other freelancers

I’m not saying you should hand over all your contacts or spoonfeed new freelancers. But remember that other freelancers aren’t just your competitors. They’re also your colleagues, and they can recommend you for jobs they can’t do.

I once passed a gig that paid around £600 for a day’s work to someone who’d helped me out loads. I started freelancing for the magazine that now employs me full-time after another freelancer passed on some shifts she couldn’t do. And round and round it goes.

Some people think recommending someone else may do them out of future work. Well, perhaps, especially if you fail to maintain that client relationship. But here’s a story for you. A new client once rang and asked me to do an interview at very short notice. I just couldn’t do it. Rather than just say no, I asked them to give me half an hour and I’d find them someone else. The client was delighted because I’d helped them out of a hole and taken away the stress of finding a freelancer at short notice – and went on to give me around £7k of work.

You’ll find part 2 here.