ideaLaunch Blog

Our editorial staff works with dozens of top-notch freelance writers. We’re assigning out thousands of dollars’ worth of projects every week. But only a choice handful of writers get repeat work. Remember the 80/20 rule? At our office, 20 percent of the writers get 80 percent of the work, while the rest of the writers … well, you understand.

How can you become the cream of the crop and ensure a steady flow of revenue from your freelance writing skills? Follow these nine tips. (If you’re looking for a sugar coating, go to the bakery.)

1. Check job boards and apply to projects in which you have proven knowledge—I’m talking links to published work online.
2. Follow instructions carefully. If I say there’s a 140-character-count requirement, don’t give me a 141-character tip.
3. Ask questions. The time to ask questions is when the editor is assigning the project to you—not the day before the assignment is due.
4. Reply to my emails—fast. If you’re a professional, you should be able to reply to my emails within the hour. If you can’t, I’m going to assign the project to the writer who can.
5. Proofread. Obvious, right? You’d be surprised at the sentence structure snafus and bloated copy we encounter on a daily basis. Pick up an easy-to-read grammar/punctuation book and refresh your memory.
6. Meet your deadline. The editor always states the deadline upfront. If you agree to it, you have no excuse not to deliver on time. Extensions are happily granted if requested before the due date.
7. Be friendly. I always take the effort to use salutations in my emails and expect this professional courtesy reciprocated.
8. Rewrites. I know—they’re a pain. But it’s both of our jobs to make clients 100-percent satisfied. I’ll try to keep rewrites at a minimum; I just ask that you be patient, understanding and prompt in getting them back to me.
9. Always review final approved copy. This is very important! Take note of what was revised (by either an editor or a client) and consider this a lesson you need to learn before granted the next assignment.

Tags: content marketing, writing tips

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 3:50 pm and is filed under content marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.