Increase Your Chances of Success by Making Smarter Attempts (Part 2)

Your first few years as a freelancing professional involves working hard and a series of trial-and-error. But once you get the hang of it, you will realize that getting rejected is quite different from not making it due to other reasons.

Here's the second one: 

Case Number Two: "We'll keep your resume/portfolio in case we need your services in the future."

Let's say that you're a website developer and you also write content for companies in the process of growth and expansion. You have freelanced for a list of clients whose companies would like to increase their sales by pitching through their sites. 

One day, you were surfing the net when a link led you to a website that really caught your eye. As a freelancer that's not on any company's payroll, you're aware that workers like you are not entitled to health insurance and other medical benefits.

This led you to write articles of your own, calling attention to the possible health hazards that freelancers face as a result of working for long hours while being in a sedentary position and not getting enough exercise.

Now, the website had a "Fitness for Less" advocacy. The past few decades have witnessed a fitness boom, as more and more adults are getting into the habit of eating better and exercising more to reap maximum health benefits and enjoy a life of quality with their loved ones. 

What intrigued you was you didn't see any recipes of exotic meals that sound too hard to prepare, or with ingredients that aren't usually found in your nearby grocery.

And even better, there were no photos of attractive, youthful men and women with toned bodies sneering or smiling at you. Instead, the site is focused on giving reliable and accurate information on how individuals, regardless of age, body type, or lifestyle, can get into the fitness habit.

But when you tried to navigate the site, you realized that it needs a few tweaks here and there. Because of your background in content writing, you know that more people would be interested if you'd present case studies of Average Joes or Plain Janes who work regular jobs, pay bills, raise their families, but still manage to stay fit without expensive gym memberships, tailor-made diets, or personal trainers.

So you proceed to write an email to the site's webmasters, briefly introduced yourself, and cited specific steps on how you can help increase their site's page views. You also attached a one-page resume, plus links to your portfolio of past works. 

Now, what happens when you get a reply that says, "We're happy to appeal to another fitness enthusiast who believes in our advocacy. But our website is still relatively new, and we rely on a limited start-up fund and donations to support our pool of content writers. But even if we cannot take your offer now, we'd like to keep your resume and contact you because we would soon be in need of research assistants and even contributors to our site"?

I'll talk about possible things that you can do in my next article.

Increase Your Chances of Success by Making Smarter Attempts

When you've been freelancing for a while, you become more adept at pacing yourself, meeting deadlines, and negotiating with clients. You tend to make mistakes less and less frequently over time.

And one of the best ways of increasing your success as a freelancing professional is not to try harder, but try to market yourself better. 

There will be times when, in your attempt to make yourself and your services known to your target clients, you'll make several phone calls, send out emails, polish your cover letters and organize your credentials, or even make a few tweaks here and there in your website and other marketing materials.

And yet, some potential clients will turn you down. But what about those instances when you weren't exactly turned down, but for some reason, your prospective client sees no need for your services yet?

It could also be because you didn't do enough research to slant your sales pitch to your target clients. I'll give you several examples and what could possibly be done.

Case Number One: The not-quite rejection letter

If you're trying to make it as a contributing writer to magazines and other periodicals, you may have started submitting manuscripts online first, or to publications with a limited circulation. Since you will need clips to prove your writing ability, getting an article or two published in your community or church newsletter is definitely an advantage.

One time, I gathered enough guts and emailed a query to a monthly magazine that specializes on health, raising awareness about preventable diseases, as well as deciding to switch to more healthful lifestyle practices.

My query had something to do with an article proposal about a psychiatric disorder that has plagued a considerable number of children, teens, and adults in the United States, and is also given a good amount of medical attention by health practitioners here in the Philippines.

After a couple of days, the magazine's editor-in-chief sent a reply, telling me that "without an M.D. affixed to your name, you're not in a position of authority to write about medical topics. And you would need to cite facts given by two to three medical or health practitioners in order to prove your claims."

And yet, having said this, the editor told me that I may be interested in writing about a non-medical or non-health-related issue, and provided me with the procedures that first-time contributors must go through when attempting to break into their magazine. 

So, simply put, the editor rejected my idea for the article, but he was welcoming the possibility of me being a future contributor to his magazine.

For my part, making a smarter attempt would mean immediately proceeding to brainstorm possible topics that are non-medical-related and can be developed into an article, and query the editor again.

There are other instances, so stay tuned as I talk about them in my next posts.

Five Ways Freelancers Can Benefit From Networking (Part 5)

By now you may have gotten a good grasp why getting into freelancing is much like starting your own business. Even if you're working steadily to make a name for yourself, you need other people's help and input as well.

So I would like to start this week by rounding off this five-part article series. Here's the fifth benefit networking can bring you:

(5.) Your network can serve as a source of free advice and opportunities for mentoring.

You can have every detail of your transaction with your client written out in your Contract, you may be charging a reasonable flat fee and require a down payment first before getting started on a project, and you may be turning in exemplary work and meeting deadlines.

Let me just warn you, though, freelancing, just like any careers, is not free from pitfalls, in a sense that something could still go wrong along the way. Sometimes, even the most experienced freelancers have yet to grow accustomed to these "emergencies."

This is where your network can serve as a "cushion" to the harsh realities of your career, and give you much-needed moral support as well as practical advice.

To illustrate, let's say a client attempts to rip you off by refusing to cough up the balance you're asking for the finished project. If there's a fellow freelancer within your network that has dealt with "problem clients" before, well, guess what? He should be your first "go-to guy."

And you must not limit yourselves to the aspect of interacting and negotiating effectively with clients. You may have a better way of collecting freelancer's fees, or your system of keeping books may be less complicated, therefore less tedious to handle. Other freelancers would be dying to hear from you.

Also, mentoring each other is like hitting two birds with one stone. Teaching or training someone to acquire a skill you may already have improves the way you communicate, instills patience and discipline, and allows camaraderie to develop within your network. A fellow freelancer who receives training from you will get better and better, too.

In conclusion, networking creates plenty of win-win situations. So go out there and team up with a network and discover the many benefits it will give you.