When I first started freelancing full time, it was just me, my 14-year-old cat, the ticking clock, and the occasional phone interview during the day. In other words, very little human interaction and some very welcome silence.
And for a while, that was just fine with me. I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf. And having grown up as an only child, I’ve never minded my alone time. In fact, sometimes my family and my closest friends argue that I seem to enjoy my alone time a little too much. So for the first few months of freelancing, I …read more

Want to know the easiest way to snag a freelance gig?
For starters, don’t look in the classified section or on the freelance job boards. If you answer an ad, you have to assume that you’re competing against hundreds of other eager freelancers for the same gig.
Now don’t get me wrong: I have had some success answering ads. But the bulk of my work is a direct result of my quest for those hidden opportunities that no one else knows about. Under normal circumstances, it really is possible to land some great gigs by visiting freelance job boards and answering ads.
But …read more

It takes a twentieth of a second for Web surfers to make a decision about a Web site. So how long do you think it takes for an editor or potential client to form an opinion about you when your LOI lands in their inbox?
I’ve sat in the editor’s chair, and I’ll tell you: not long. On a busy day, you’re lucky if they even open your e-mail. Especially if their inboxes are flooded with a steady, unending stream of freelancers looking for work.
When you write an LOI, you don’t have long to make a good impression. So you want …read more

Wish you could score some assignments and gigs without having to spend all that time writing, researching, and tailoring queries?
Well, sometimes you can do just that with an LOI, or letter of introduction.
So what exactly is an LOI? It’s basically the written version of a cold call. It’s an unsolicited letter or e-mail that tells a potential client or editor how your background and work experience make you a top-notch candidate for future projects and writing assignments.
Of course, sending LOIs won’t magically land you assignments. But sometimes sending an LOI to an editor or client is all it takes for …read more

For weeks, you’re so slammed with work that you hardly have time to eat, sleep, or breathe. And then finally, there’s that feeling of sweet relief after you hit the send button on that last assignment. But suddenly, you realize your calendar has too much white space and you have no work assignments scheduled for weeks.
While you were busy cranking out all those stories and editing those articles, you shoved your marketing efforts to the back burner. Now, you are paying the high price of the feast-or-famine freelance cycle: no work assignments = no money.
Sound familiar? I have yet to …read more

 
Good Friday afternoon Rejection Letter Olympians!
So did you get any rejection letters or assignments landing in your inbox this week? Be sure to award yourself points for both (2 points for a rejection, 3 points for an assignment) and log your results in the comments section below. Remember—every “no” means you’re getting closer to a “yes!”
As for me, I heard back from a couple of editors this week—both want me to pitch stories after the new year when they have the budgets to hire freelancers again.
I also heard back from a company that will be launching a new e-publication after …read more

 
Give yourself a pat on the back if you received a rejection or “no thank you” from an editor or potential client this week—it means that you were getting your name and ideas out there. And it also means that you weren’t letting the fear of rejection affect your marketing efforts.
Receiving rejection e-mails and no responses is just part of the marketing process. And it really is a numbers game. The more calls you make, and the more queries and LOIs you send out, the more you’re going to hear “no.” But you’ll eventually start hearing “yes” too. And if …read more

 
Everyone needs an accountability partner, so I thought I’d start a weekly feature here called The Rejection Letter Olympics.
Yep, you read that right. How many rejection letters or “no thank you” e-mails can you rack up in a week?
I’m basing this weekly challenge on the very sage advice of Thomas Watson, founder of IBM: “If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.”
Along the same lines, someone early on in my freelance career told me that every “no” gets you closer to a “yes.” So taking that theory to heart, I am setting up this challenge to …read more