A reader recently sent me a link to an interesting piece in The Week, entitled “Is Writing for the Rich?” It was written by the editor himself, Francis Wilkinson, who concluded that the future of freelance writing is mighty bleak, and that, given the unfortunate current financial calculus of the craft, it’s become a field only for those who don’t have to make their living from it – trust-fund babies, those living on Daddy’s money, heirs, etc.
I just LOVE reading stuff like this. Makes me laugh out loud. I mean, when the editor of a prominent national publication is saying this, it’s clear that the commercial writing field, by and large, is flying completely under the radar. I should have left well enough alone and let him spread his “Abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here” message unimpeded. But I was torn.
On the one (greedy) hand, the less people who know about our field, the less competition we’ll have (though, that said, you do have to work hard to get established in commercial writing, and that’ll weed out most people right there…). On the other hand, I firmly believe there’s enough to go around for all of us. And I DO have a few books to peddle…
So, I wrote him a note (email me if you want a copy), essentially cluing him in about our field, which can be a most refreshing financial oasis from the otherwise sad and sorry freelancing paradigm. Addressing some of the inane “talk” about the commercial copywriting field, I wrote: “I’ve heard it all (‘sellout,’ ‘going over to the dark side,’ and other assorted and sundry head-scratchers – as if the only ‘writing’ that’s pure and acceptable is that which provides the writer with neither pay nor respect. Sure seems that way sometimes.
Never heard a word back. Big surprise. And that’s fine. I went on record. Meanwhile, the carnage continues out there. All I hear these days is about how tough it is in “freelance writing” right now – magazines paying nothing, asking for assignments on spec, $10 articles for web sites, all the “how-can-a-writer-make-a-living” talk. Meanwhile, many of us in the commercial field are doing just fine, thank you very much.
Part of the problem – and what I say to anyone who asks what the answer is – is that straight articles (especially for the web) are a “commoditized” project type – meaning there are zillions of writers who can write a decent article. As such, it’s a buyer’s market, and rates fall to nothing. It’s when you get good at project types NOT everyone can do (that’d be us…), and hence, are competing with far fewer people, that you’ll start making more money. As long as you’re in a BIG pool of interchangeable skills, it’s tough to make a living.
What do you think when you read articles like the one in The Week?
What would you have said to Mr. Wilkinson?
Are you hearing a lot of wailing and caterwauling coming from straight freelancers these days?
Any other comments?
I’ve pretty much settled into the same attitude you have. When someone starts with these articles, I just click away.
You know who’s having a hard time out there? The lazy. Those who think they can make a living off content sites or job boards, and aren’t willing to get off their duffs and use unique strategies to convince clients they can’t live without us –at our rates.
I agree — let them wail and take the $1/article jobs.
More of the good stuff for us.
“THE WEEK: All You Need to Know About Everything That Matters”
Uh, sure.
Lets see what FLCWs and our journalistic counterparts have in common and how we differ . . .
We each:
* Stay on top of our specialized markets/topic areas through reading, contacts, conferences.
* Receive assignments and develop pitch ideas.
* Conduct research, interviews and sometimes travel on business.
* Apply creativity, imagination and varied writing styles.
* Meet deadlines and length guidelines.
* Have pride in our work and ethical standards.
FLJWs (journalistic writers):
* Deal with editors, not executives.
* Are paid by the word for some (most?) projects.
* Are paid a month or more after publication, not 30 days (more or less) after delivery.
* Have a limited, dwindling market (as PB notes).
We list . . . you decide.
[ P.S. — ]
* FLJWs earn bylines as a dividend for their work. (Tax-free, but tough to spend.)
Good stuff, folks…
Devon, as usual, not one to gild the lily…;) You’re dead-on (about them being lazy), and as you say, let THEM beat their heads against the wall and wail and moan against the injustice of it all. Got no time for that – I’m too busy with juicy jobs.
And thanks Alan, as usual, though I’d say the professional journalists are, relatively speaking, the lucky ones. They have some respectability, which can translate to work just on the basis of that. CAN. Not a given. The folks I guess I was mainly referring to are aaaaaalllll those living in that sad and sorry world of online writing – the ones working for $5-10 an article, or whining abut it, but who’d be thrilled with $20-30. Lot more of them. And their similarity to us stops at the word “writer” and goes no further.
I was recently asked to answer a short questionnaire for a freelance writing site, and some of the questions were things like:
What changes have you seen in the pay rates and jobs for freelance writers now as opposed to when you first began freelancing?
What are some common mistakes freelancers make when looking for work?
Do you feel the low paying web content craze has driven down the rates for freelance writers?
What are some of the ways freelance writers can find higher paying jobs?
Thanks to the web, writers are paid instantly and don’t have to wait months to see a byline. Do you think that’s made us spoiled?
How do you recommend writers break away from the low paying writing rut?
And all I can think is, “That ain’t MY world” and anyone struggling with those issues are in a whole other parallel reality to the one I’m living in. I especially love the one: “Do you feel the low paying web content craze has driven down the rates for freelance writers?” LOL. My answer? It’s exactly the opposite. Zillions of writers with absolutely no self-respect (much less imagination to envision writing opportunities beyond the bottom-feeding “web content” buyers) have flooded the market and driven the low-paying web content craze. Writing buyers only pay low rates because there are plenty of writers willing to accept low rates. Econ 101. Period. End of discussion.
PB
I’m in the belly of the beast right now (Michigan), and I can safely say that every local freelancer I know (and all the ad agencies) are hurting right now. They may not be going out of business, but they’re certainly seeing revenue falling well below previous years. Even people who have been profitable for the past 5-10 years realize that this year is a turning point; it isn’t simple “laziness” that is hurting business, it’s more the reality of marketing. The vast majority of clients are going through lean times, and typically the first order of business is to cut the communications budget. That absolutely hurts freelancers. Although I’m happy that some writers have somehow insulated themselves from the impact of the worst economy in 20 years, I find my fortunes are in line with what is happening out there in the macro-economy. I am going through a period of re-structuring and re-positioning myself to deal with the problem (a positive outcome), but doing so takes time, and I’m treading water until my new strategies pay off.
> How do you recommend writers break away from the low paying writing rut?
Hopefully I won’t take this off-topic too much, but the “lazy” comment struck me along with this question above. I don’t disagree that some are lazy, but I think, for many, it’s a self-esteem issue that holds them down in the pit of article writing. (Although, the line between the two can be admittedly blurry. Conveniently enough, both are within each person’s control.)
Most of us started our working careers going through interviews and hoping someone picked us for the job. If we got the job, we felt fortunate. The employer then told us what we’d be doing, how much we’d be paid for doing it, when it needed to be done, when we needed to be there to do it, when we could stop doing it for the day, where we would sit, where we could park, how often we were allowed to take time off, when we were allowed to take time off, and how much we were worth when it came time for a raise or promotion, assuming we were worthy of such an honor in the first place.
After years of that, you can get a little soft in stepping up to the plate and grabbing more than what someone is willing to throw your way. It becomes natural to believe that someone else sets your value. And f you’re going to “make it”, you’ll be told. In the meantime, just shut up and go with the flow like everyone else who is hoping to get published.
I sometimes think article writing is a comfort zone for people who want to freelance. There’s the perceived freedom of working for yourself, but you still have plenty of things decided for you (by editors and others) and you’re OK with someone else telling you what your worth is because that’s all you’ve ever know from the moment you were flipping burgers in high school. (Or whatever you started out doing.) That’s not intended to be a knock on anyone. It’s just generally the path most of us traveled because, well… that’s what everyone else in our social circles did. It’s all we knew.
So now, as a freelancer writing articles, you’re willing to work for peanuts in the hope that you’ll be one of the lucky ones who – according to someone else, of course – is told your writing is valuable and you’ll now be promoted to working for cashews which is better than working for mere peanuts. (And if you’re really lucky, you make it to the Macadamia Nut level.)
Unfortunately, there are tons of people at the peanut level and unless they do something radical to take charge of things, there they shall stay. Sadly, when things don’t go as hoped, many will give up altogether and go back to the security of an employer/employee relationship instead of taking another chance on something like commercial writing, assuming they know it exists. (“I can’t do that. I don’t understand marketing. I don’t have a background in sales.”)
So that’s why I tend to chalk it up to a self-esteem issue. But maybe that’s a minority view of the situation. I also have a cold, so maybe it’s just the cold medication kicking in. 😉
> What do you think when you read articles like the one in The Week?
The only thing I was thinking as I read it was whether or not they pay a freelancer to write their new subscriber solicitation and renewal letters, and what value they place on that. It would be interesting to know who writes their marketing material (in-house or freelance) and how much that person is paid. Being in the industry Wilkinson is in (publishing, and not just news), I would have thought writers who focus on marketing material would have been something worth mentioning.
But like you say, if those of us in this field can fly under the radar, that’s not such a bad thing.
Thanks Mike,
Exceptionally insightful, as always. I’m feeling a bit chastened, in fact, after my mini-tirade… 😉 Brings it down to a very human level, and you’re no doubt right about the prevailing mindset of most of these folks. For me, starting a writing business in 1994 was actually just the next self-employment gig in a long line stretching back to 1983, so I didn’t have an employee mentality to overcome, and I’m certain that made things a lot easier. I forget how many folks are coming from just such a background as you describe here, and have yet to cut those psychological – much less financial – apron strings. But, regardless of hwo they got there, many will stay there, and while that’s unfortunate for them, as you say, it’s not all that bad for us…
And thanks Rick, for that reality check. I know a lot of people are hurting right now. In the same vein as yours, I got an email from a fellow FLCW who’d prefer to remain anonymous. He writes:
“Peter: I think there’s the dimension of regionality to all this. Especially on the commercial writing front. In Western New York State, where I ply my trade as a commercial freelance writer and journalist (and, thankfully, adjunct college professor), it’s far, far different from the way things roll in, say, Atlanta or Dallas or Chicago or L.A.
They beat you up here — literally — over a $25 differential. Very, very price-sensitive. And with few corporate headquarters here (Buffalo), it’s slim pickin’s for those of us in the local freelance squad.
While it’s true that these days a writer in Buffalo can conceivably service a client in Bangkok, on a practical basis most of my work, anyway, is based within driving distance (I’m speaking somewhat metaphorically). Yes, a key client of mine (web-based writing) is in California, but my daily bread is buttered from revenue generated through local client assignments.
And, with some exceptions, people here are inordinately tight-fisted when it comes to those all-mighty bucks, which are in increasingly short supply. So I think you need to factor location (region) into the equation. Things vary, depending on where you’re located. At least that’s my impression. Again, thank God for my teaching. It’s been an anchor in a sea of undocked vessels set adrift.”
All that said, I’d really encourage those in the heart of tough country to really try and reach out geographically and move beyond your backyard if possible. There really are good opportunities out there. I know it’s not easy, and it won’t likely yield fruit overnight, but it’s doable.
PB
My tips for writers wanting to escape $10 article sweatshops:
– Offer clients value beyond mere words e.g. content marketing expertise, online PR, distributing content onto relevant sites etc.
– Aspire to write revenue generating copy rather than commoditised SEO keyword content
– If your portfolio is lacking the above – create it yourself! You don’t have to be paid to write
– Network with other writers, join freelance forums and offer value in the way you interact
Worked for me.
Matt aka The Copywriter’s Crucible
Interesting that this comes up today, just a few hours after I read this on Twitter: “The BLS says it’s a VERY good time to be a freelancer https://snipr.com/fk5su” No doubt the huge number of freelancers depicted on that graph are working in the web content arena as the article says, but it also seems that with all the layoffs outsourcing must be playing a role as well.
I can safely say that every local freelancer I know (and all the ad agencies) are hurting right now.
I am with Rick on this. People don’t want to start projects until they see “what happens,” whatever they think that will be with a total reset of economic and financial policy underway. And I disagree that the crap rates of the last few yrs have not affected overall pay scales. I have had it said to my face. And I am not lazy and do not depend on Craigs. I am old school–been doing this as sole support of my family for almost 30 yrs. Now, I wonder…the downturn I have seen started two yrs ago. It’s stories about how everything is great that I click away from. But I always was a contrarian.
I’m stepping in again with more comments:
If you have reliable internet, you’re not limited by geography. If your geographic area’s been hit particularly hard, pitch out of it. Yeah, you have to hustle more now and be more of a hardball negotiator.
I think that the crap rates make clients think they can pay less, but I always tell them, “You get what you pay for”. It’s happened more than once that a client’s gone with someone who low-balled them the rate and got what they paid for — and then came back to me at my rate to get what they needed.
I mentioned this on another site and freelancers started screaming about how they had to lower rates or lose clients and just because they lowered their rates, it didn’t mean the client wasn’t getting good work. Well, when you low-ball too much because you’re worried about losing clients, you have to take on so much work and work round the clock just to keep up with the bills and your quality does go down eventually. Or you burn out. Or you get sick. You can’t maintain that kind of pace indefinitely. Whereas when you put more leg work into it up front, find unique ways to pitch yourself to clients at rates that are reasonable for both of you, you can turn out good work, stay sane AND pay the bills.
It’s one thing if you have a great relationship with a client and know the client’s been hit badly. Work out a short-term contract at a mutually acceptable rate. But make sure it’s clear that when things turn around, so do the rates.
You still don’t need to take on a multitude of crap rate jobs.
Also, a lot of the people I know who are having trouble finding work fell into the myth of the “need to niche” and how finding a niche guaranteed income. I’ve found just the opposite true — because I’ve refused to be locked into a box, I can hire in at a far wider variety of gigs (although there are some whose policies I find odious and refuse to work there, in spite of the cash).
For the niche-bound, this is a chance to expand, do something out of the comfort zone, have fun, try something new, try something you WANT.
Every time I’ve taken that kind of risk, it’s paid off both financially and emotionally. Being terrified during the learning curve was worth it.
All these companies wailing they have to make pay cuts == and not just in freelancing, but across the board — so when are the landlords and the utility companies going to cut their rates? If everyone’s salaries are going down, so should our bills and expenses. And that’s not happening. We’ve fallen into a culture of desperation here, again, just to shore up the CEOs sand the top executives and it needs to stop.
We deserve to be paid decently for our skills. If we don’t respect our own work (this hooks back to Rick’s self-esteem comment), there is no reason for anyone else to respect our work either. It’s not a client’s job to shore up our self-esteem. It’s up to us to build our self-esteem on our own time and then apply to our professional lives.
Is it a harder slog to get the work now? Of course, with such a high unemployment rate. And there are going to be times when we feel tired and hopeless and desperate. That’s why we’ve got each other — to encourage each other in new directions, to share resources, and so we can all earn a good living doing what we love.
But it won’t come to us. We have to find it. And sometimes it means going farther afield than we expected.
Per usual, Devon, you’re spot on. Like I’ve said before, I want to bottle you. :))
Geography does NOT limit you. YOU limit you. I live in a fairly pricey area of the country. I work everywhere. My price here is my price there and vice versa. Yes, you may have a harder time getting $100/hr. in Pittsburgh than you would in Manhattan, but it can be done.
The reason the $10 jobs exist is because foolish people take them. I’ve blogged about this time and again – if you can make the same or more working in fast food, don the paper hat, people. Don’t drag down the industry with you because you’re willing to give away your talent. I had some dude approach me yesterday on Facebook and ask me, in broken English, if I’d write his project for him “for a nominal fee.” I responded that I would, but for MY nominal fee, which is $100/hr. This isn’t my hobby – it’s my job.
As to what I think of those types of articles, I think it’s just propogating the notion that writers’ time and talents aren’t worth paying for. In the past few years alone I’ve seen a huge upsurge in the amount of “toilet jobs”, er, floating around out there. I’m on a one-woman crusade to beat some collective sense into the writing world. These are not jobs – they’re publicly printed insults. Articles that lament the future of freelancing are short-sighted, in my humble opinion.
I’m off my soap box now. Ooo, I get so riled on this topic! 🙂
Can an outsider weigh in on this conversation? I guess I belong in the FLJW group, at least I did. I started out with some commercial experience. It was great by the way – great pay, quick payment. But despite meeting Peter quite some time ago and voraciously devouring his “Well-Fed Writer,” I somehow got off track and wound up writing strictly for magazines and websites. It wasn’t bad at first and I really enjoyed it. It gave me some great pieces for my portfolio. Unfortunately what I found was low pay for a lot of work. I tried getting more money from publications I wrote for regularly but that generally resulted in maybe one article at the new rate and then being totally dropped – without comment mind you. And this was after being told how utterly delightful it was working with someone of my caliber. Other clients simply told me they couldn’t pay any more but assured me they would continue to use me. Oh joy. I get to continue working for the proverbial peanut and a byline. Not!
I got over seeing my name in print long ago. This isn’t an ego trip for me, it’s a job. And I want to be paid what I’m worth. So I’ve picked up Back for Seconds and am starting the dreaded “cold calls.” Frankly, it’s not my favorite thing. It is, as someone’s already alluded to, a self-esteem issue. It seems it’s easier to keep doing what you’re doing rather than sticking your neck out and possibly getting it whacked. It’s something I’m seeing among other FLJWs. They complain about the pay and the lack of work, but I see little marketing going on. Instead they accept the peanuts they’re thrown rather than going after something more substantial. Their networking consists of attending functions with other FLJWs and handing out cards to people they already know. If they do approach a new client and are turned down, or pitch a story idea and get rejected, they simply go back to eating those peanuts. To soften the blow, they puff out their chest and say, “I don’t make much money because I’m an artist. I do it for the love of the written word.” I’ve actually heard that phrase used – no kidding! But don’t get me wrong. These are some very nice and very talented people. They just can’t handle rejection very well. Not too many people can. But if you want to succeed, you have to be able to break out of that blue funk rejection puts you in and try again – and again, and again. And in this economy, if you want to keep writing and make a decent living, I believe you have to explore other avenues, namely commercial writing.
Personally, I think Francis Wilkinson isn’t that much different from most of my FLJW friends, except he has a job. It seems to me that all his article is doing is creating unnecessary angst among freelance writers. And yes it’s true. Many FLJWs think of commercial writing as going to the “dark side.” I’ll give you an example. I used to co-host meetings for a group of independent journalists and I tried bringing in speakers who not only talked about writing, but the business of writing and yes, actually supplementing income with commercial writing. I found the meetings where writers just sat around talking about their craft were well-attended. But attendance at the meetings on the business of writing or on commercial writing fell flat. I think Peter was at one of those. I think we had all of maybe 4 people attend including Peter and myself. (How embarrassing! Sorry, Peter.) Needless to say, most FLJWs have aspirations of becoming successful novelists, or writing for publications such as The New Yorker. Well, a person’s gotta eat. And a little trip to a beach resort now and again would be nice. Personally I’d rather be a FLCW enjoying a gourmet meal rather than a FLJW dining on Ramen Noodles. Sure, I’ve got a book in me. But if I play my cards right – make enough cold calls – I’ll also have a New York Strip Steak or two in there as well. So to my FLJW friends I say, I love ya guys but I’m jumping ship. You just keep on doing what you’re doing and listening to people like Wilkinson. I’ll send you a postcard from a beach in Jamaica.
I used to belong to a non-fiction’s writer’s group, which I stopped attending because the meetings always turned into a bitchfest about how little money everyone was making. Except me. But when I’d explain how I manage to pay a mortgage and afford decent health insurance, the reactions ranged from befuddlement to contempt. Whatever. Live in a crummy apartment forever and pray you don’t get sick. I’m proud of the work I do, proud that I have the guts to make the cold calls and weather the rejection, and very proud that as a direct result of those efforts I can provide myself a more than decent living.
Self-esteem has a lot to do with it. It took me a good six months to get comfortable making cold calls (still hate it) and not to get too invested in each contact, but I got better with practice. You have to have enough sense of self-worth to make the effort in the first place, and that seems to be a terrible obstacle for a lot of talented people.
There’s no doubt it’s tough out there; my clients are paying more slowly and are delaying making commitments for bigger projects. The projects I’m getting now are much different than the projects I was getting a year ago, and I’m working harder to find business–but I’m finding it. I write for the B to B market, so perhaps I’m more insulated from the downtown than someone focusing on writing for consumers. Still, I think there’s plenty of work out there for people who are willing to seek it out and be flexible, and those people can still demand a decent fee for their time and talent.
I second Jill’s endorsement of flexibility. Granted that (regardless of what some overzealous positive thinkers say) all of us occasionally get knocked on our backs by circumstances beyond our control, the question remains: Will you lie on the ground and moan about your bad luck? Will you rush to get up and promptly walk right back into the same wall of circumstances? Or will you take a moment to consider the best next move _before_ getting up? History is full of businesses that went from industrial giants to overnight failures because they refused to bend to changing technology or worldviews; the idea that “what worked once should work forever” would be a fitting epitaph for many a bankruptcy.
I agree that “geography does not limit you”–at least not so much that anyone should have to choose between relocating, finding a new line of work, or actually living below the poverty line. Not in the social networking age. I know freelancers who now do more initial “cold calling” through LinkedIn.com than by the telephone–and are finding just as many clients that way. And if you really _are_ hurting, flexibility counts there too: first, consider it temporary; and second, be prepared to practice a little frugality in everyday life so you can devote more resources to finding new business.
Again: consider any setbacks temporary. There are so many “everything is hopeless” types sounding off these days (not least in the professional media–so is it so surprising if freelance journalists are underpaid?) that one would think the official national sport of the United States was pessimism. Even more than refusing to participate in recessions, we as entrepreneurs should be refusing to participate in pity parties.
Incidentally, if you ever doubt that some people never grow up, just ask an editor at one of the magazines that _do_ pay their writers decent rates, that is, the really well-known glossies. While it may be true that “there are zillions of writers who can write a decent article,” there are apparently even more would-be writers with delusions of grandeur and entitlement: these are the people who open their cover letters with “I know you’ve never published fiction, but I’m sure you’ll find _my_ story is worth making an exception for”; who write back to demand explanations or to criticize the editor’s judgment when a query gets a “no thank you”; who consider themselves too infallible to proofread their own work; and who threaten to sue over others’ published articles “because the magazine could only have gotten the idea from my query on the same subject.” Hopefully, we as FLCWs are too mature for such behavior!
The regional economy issues can’t be underestimated. I live in Houston and just got back from a vacation in South Carolina and North Carolina. The economy there is much, much slower than what we’re experiencing here in Texas. Clients here are more cautious, and spending their marketing dollars more slowly. But, they’re out there and see opportunity in grabbing mind-share right now. The business people I met in the Carolinas were truly struggling to keep their doors open. Those folks are a much harder sell!
As someone who lived/worked on the journalist’s side of freelancing, I have to agree that it is the stinky armpit of freelanding . Way too much work for too little pay. I remember having to hustle writing stories here in the Southern New Jersey area, and then traveling up to NYC to do stories up there. It was pretty bad. But, since reading The Well-Fed Writer and going on informational interviews of my own, I do believe that freelancing can be lucrative. I must admit I was worried when I went onto the freelancing sites and saw those 100 articles for $1 jobs. But, I realize that you have to put the effort in to get the rewards. So if I can hustle for job as a freelance commerical writer the way I did as a freelance journalist, I think things will work out.
I haven’t ventured into yet, but I got the ball rolling. I’m making connections and building up my portfolio with pro bono pieces. That said, I think it won’t be too long before I dive in to professional freelancing.
Are you hearing a lot of wailing and caterwauling coming from straight freelancers these days?
Survey says yes.
I’m an active member of my journalism school’s alumni email list, and people are constantly discussing the state of journalism right now, and if it’s worth it to have a journalism degree, and whether we should even be recommending high school students go to journalism school in this economy.
I e-mailed this list basically saying that your degree is what you make of it, and that a journalism degree shouldn’t make you feel tied to only going after journalism jobs. I’m working on transitioning out of journalism writing into full-time FLC writing, and I don’t feel my degree will be a bit wasted.
Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful, insightful and perspective-rich (geez, that sounds like corporate-speak…) input. No question that geography can make a big difference, IF you’ve been and are planning to continue getting all your work from your local area. But as many of you (Devon, Lori and Katherine in particular) have pointed out, geography isn’t a limiting issue anymore. I DO completely understand getting used to how things have been (i.e., how one has been able to make a decent living drawing only from one’s local market) and it takes some major mental re-tooling to get yourself moving into more profitable directions. And before you do, you go through a “this-really-sucks” period, where you lament the changing paradigm, before finally realizing that you need to shift strategy IF you want to continue making it.
And key to that shift is something that several of you have mentioned, that being not hanging around people who just stand around and bitch about how hard it is. Being a working successful commercial freelancer (or ANY freelancer) is not an easy proposition. It may have seemed that way if you got in when we were all rolling in the clover, but know this: if you can make it through this period, you can thrive in ANY period. Just know, and I’ve said this over and over, there ARE plenty of companies out there doing fine right now, or at least they haven’t scaled back on their marketing, and so, there’s plenty of potential work. I have more than I can handle right now (and sorry, if it gets TOO crazy, I have local resources to call on…), so I’m in the happy position of feeling somewhat like a spectator in this downturn. But that place is not that out of reach. It all starts with believing that it’s NOTthat bad and that there IS plenty fo work if you hunt. And All That Is True.
And know this as well: this downturn WILL weed out those who just don’t have the marketing skills to hang with it, and when things pick up on the other side, it’ll only be better for those of us left in the game.
PB
Like Rick, I too am in the belly of the beast, Michigan, and while I’m definitely interested in breaking into FLCW, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little nervous. In that vein, I, quivering outsider neophyte that I am, have a few questions and hope you all don’t mind if I pick your collective veteran brains.
Given the well documented state of the economy do you think that now is even a good time to jump into this business? Though I’ve recently joined the humble ranks of the unemployed I do have a background in PR and already have a few pieces for a portfolio. I was initially seduced by the idea of becoming a freelance journalist a few years ago. And then my landlord called. So I got job. A soul crushing, imagination numbing, creativity killing job, and put my dreams of Pulitzer glory on hold. Now, having escaped the land of drudgery and with eyes wide open I seriously consider taking the leap again but this time focusing on FLCW. And no, I don’t think of FLCW as settling, or selling out, or crossing over to the Dark Side, especially if the Dark side pays me $60 bucks an hour minimum. Pass me a flashlight!
Now conventional wisdom “suggests” that launching a business in the midst of a severe recession, in a particularly depressed economic region, is…well… unwise. Actually the word “crazy” springs to mind. What are your thoughts? Has anyone out there launched in the last say 12 months, and how are things going? How long did it take before you actually landed paying clients? And for the uber veterans, how much, if any, has your business dropped off? The last severe recession that I can recall happened around 2000 – 2001, when the dot com bubble burst. For those of you who have been in the biz since before then, did you see your business slow up any at that time? Or did you launch during that period, and if so, what was your experience getting off the ground?
Major income can also come from a teaming up of a writer and a salesperson in creating a nice market publication in a local market. When successful, as most are when done right, the money goes on and on.
It’s not just in the writing arena that freelancers aren’t seeing the bigger picture. Although I spent many years as a freelance writer (mostly prior to the Internet), I now work as a book cover designer. I hear how impossible it is to get assignments and how you can’t charge a fair price and stay competitive. Phooey. The worst thing you can do is charge too little, and if you focus on one area, and do it well, then you’ll always have work. I do book covers. That doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t do sell-sheets, post cards or other design work, it just means that when someone is thinking “book” I’ll be in that smaller pool of choices getting paid fairly for my skills. If you say “logo,” my mind automatically goes to two or three designers I know who specialize in logos. Too little focus and freelancers trying to spread the net too wide in an effort to get work, doesn’t help them. “Designer,” like “writer,” is just too general on its own.
The fact is that what a good FLCW really does is to help his clients sell stuff by providing better communication. That’s an objective survival need of all commercial organizations, so there’s no real need for an editor in the middle sneering at the product – the proof is in whether the copy works. I see FLCW as one *very* small step away from being a salesperson. So maybe that’s the “guilt by association” from which FLCW suffers. It’s really a form of outsourced sales effort.