You can spend all your time as a freelance writer looking for work, or you can spend all your time looking for work. As you can imagine, you will make more money working. Many new freelance writers would love to find a way to spend time writing rather than constantly having to worry about where the next paycheck is going to come from. Established freelance writers, on the other hand, spend very little of their time looking for work because just seems to find them.
Is there something magical that happens as a freelance writer gains more experience working in the industry? What exactly is the reason that established freelance writers don’t have to work so hard at finding work to do? The answer lies in business relationships. Somewhere along the way, new freelance writers learn how great it is when a client throws a second or third project their way, and this over time may turn into a business relationship that involves tons of recurring business that you don’t have to search for. Since you make more money as a freelance writer when you don’t have to spend your valuable time looking for work, you can see that there is a financial incentive for establishing relationships with your clients. But how do you go about establishing great relationships?
Be Picky. You aren’t best friends with everyone you meet in life, and the same goes for the business world, too. As a freelance writer, you will work with many great people and companies over the course of your career, but you will also find some duds, too. If you don’t enjoy working with a client on the first project you do for them, chances are that promoting and encouraging a relationship with that client for the long-term will only make your job miserable for months and years to come. So above all, be selective about how you choose to encourage relationships with.
Do Your Best Work. Nobody is going to want to work with you again if your work is shoddy or you can’t meet deadlines. There are a ton of freelance writers out there who would love to work on a project like this one, and if your client isn’t happy with your work, the bottom line is that he or she can easily find someone else to do it. However, it really is a pain for a client to find and test out new writers, so once you have an “in” with a client, you will find that many will keep coming back to you if they enjoy working with you.
Ask For It. You may work in the world of freelance writing every day, and so it’s easy to think that all of your clients know you are eager to keep working for them. However, your clients may be working in the world of insurance, information technology, healthcare, or any number of other fields, and they likely don’t have the first notion of what life is like from your vantage point. So they won’t know how eager you are to keep working for them or how you’ve enjoyed working on their project unless you tell them. As a freelance writer, each time you complete a first project with a client you have enjoyed working with, tell them you enjoyed working with them and would love to continue working with them if they are in need of your services. Even if the client doesn’t need your services then, make a point to check back with them in a few weeks to see if they could use your services then. Avoid hounding them, but many freelance writers have seen their next project come from a friendly reminder sent to clients from time to time.
Keep in mind that business relationships are built over time. While they take time to nurture, you likely need to be proactive from that very first project in developing a relationship with clients you enjoy working with. And even when you have established a relationship with a client, you aren’t free sailing. You must continue to perform well if you want to keep earning your clients’ business.
