Right now the freelance market is crammed with laid off writers, editors and other creative types trying their hand at self employment.
With so much supply, it’s important to stand out. One way to do that is by offering some added value to work you perform for existing and new clients.
What’s added value? It’s some extra bang for the bucks you’re getting paid. It could be as simple as meeting deadlines or being pleasant and easy to work with – OK, sometimes that’s not so simple, but you get the idea.
Added value can be other things too. Here are 5 easy ways to add value to your freelance business – and 1 harder one, in case you’re up to the challenge.
1. Suggest art. Some magazine editors require this, especially if they’re small or trade publications. Beat them to the punch by including suggestions for photos or graphics in your pitch. As you do interviews, ask sources or their PR reps to forward art to you or directly to the editor or art director – they might not use it, but it’s there if they want it.
2. Include art in pitches. Rather than just collect art, offer to provide your own. If you can shoot photos or create charts, graphs or PowerPoint slides, say so in your pitch. And don’t forget to bump up your fee accordingly. Any news operation with a Website is interested in these kinds of extras.
3. Turn things in early. I have a Website client I write stories for every month. Stories as well as pitches for the following month’s work are always due around the 20th of the month. I shoot to file stories a couple days before the deadline and sometimes up to a week before so my editor isn’t slammed with copy she has to deal with at the last minute. Ditto for pitches. I know she appreciates it because even after her freelance budget got cut she’s still sending assignments my way.
4. Accommodate special requests. Be flexible. Agree to a shorter or longer word counts or deadlines if something on the publication’s end changes. Yes, you may end up making less on an assignment, then again you may end up making more because they’re paying extra for a rush job or because they’ll now remember you as that can-do writer and say “yes” to your next pitch. Two editors at a trade magazine I regularly write for turned to me recently when other freelancers fell through. In one case, the original writer on a story had too many commitments and bailed so the editors offered it to me – I immediately said yes. In the other case, a different freelancer was late filing a piece for a certain section but I’d filed a piece for the same section earlier than my deadline, so they used it first.
5. Treat editors like friends. In some cases they are. In others, I try to cultivate a friendly working relationship so they’ll think of me as being low-maintenance and send work my way. I forward information to editors if I think it’s something they’d be interested in (but never chain email). I write LinkedIn recommendations if they ask – and if I honestly have something good to say. After all, they’re just as anxious as we are about the job market these days.
There are more difficult ways to add value too. With so much work moving online, you can add value to your writing by learning SEO basics, HTML, Photoshop, InDesign, blogging, podcasting or other multimedia skills that add dimension to your storytelling, and your portfolio. This added value is harder to attain because it’s not something you can just do – you may have to take a Webinar or class. But if that’s what it takes to help you stand out in a crowd, it’s worth it.
What are extras you offer clients to set yourself apart from the competition?
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A few weeks ago, an editor asked me to provide a vblog to accompany my story. This was on Friday afternoon and he needed it on Monday morning. Yikes – I don’t have a webcam and I haven’t shot and edited video since taking a multimedia course in college (when they provided the fancy equipment and software), but I told him I’d do my best to make it happen. Turns out my digital camera can hold up to 60 seconds of video, so after deleting and reshooting about a million times, I finally had a usable video. Part of me feels like maybe I should have said no to a last-minute request like that (can’t spend every weekend tearing my hair out for an editor), but another part is darn proud that I came through!
Wow! I was actually pleased, reading through this list, to notice that I do all of these, including most of the more difficult ones. (At least, I offer… not everyone takes me up on it.)
Well, except for the turning in work early, although I’ve done that a few times in the past few months. When I have the extra days, I tend to take them to look over the story a few more times to get it *perfect*.
I recently offered to proofread the final product free of charge. And for one editor, I often act as a second set of eyes for her in emergency situations.
Another thing I do is to promote the work once it’s published. This helps me, but also helps the publication.
I hope this comment doesn’t sound “braggy.” That’s one thing I’m working on in my business–to promote myself better and to not sound so down on myself and my skills in public.
Good post.
Great post, many good suggestions. Never forget to go out of your way and treat all your clients like gold.
For some more great posts on freelancing feel free to check out my blog.
Effective Marketing Strategy How to get new clients when starting freelacing.
There are some great tips here that established professionals should do without question and newer freelancers can really learn from. The only one that gave me pause is “treat and editor like a friend.” I think we want to treat editors like customers – being respectful, considerate and accommodating. Call only when necessary, be brief and respectful of their time and don’t be a pest.
Maryan Pelland
Chicago Home Technology Examiner
[...] WordCount’s 5 easy ways to add value to your freelance business [...]
Great advice for freelancers. Thank you for the info!
Dawn: Thanks for the suggestions of offering your services to editors for proofreading, etc. I hadn’t thought of that before but it makes total sense. I’ve also started promoting my stories on Twitter or on this blog or blogs that pertain to the subject as another way to add value: it’s good for my business and good for the publication too.
Michelle
I agree that it is important to treat editors like the clients they are. However, I’ve known some of my editors since we worked as reporters for the same newspaper or magazine. In those cases, they really are my friends, so I walk a fine line between respecting them as work colleagues and appreciating them as friends. In those cases, I’d like to think we work together as a team rather than as boss and underling, both with a role to play. Treating our relationships that way helps me put things into perspective, so when a story gets thrown back at me for revisions I know it’s not personal, it’s for the good of the project.
Michelle