It’s easy to get locked in to the same writing style, the same subject matter and the same word usage. If you broaden your horizons, you allow yourself the opportunity to expand your offering to potential clients.
Try listening to a different radio station, reading different books, reading an alternative newspaper, and experiencing new things to help you diversify.
Looking up to pick up some extra traffic to your blog? Create a list of valuable resources for your readers. Not only will you attract traffic from the blogs you link to, but your post (if useful enough) could become viral.
We give a lot of freelance advice out here on Freelance Advice (SEO what??), but we aren’t the definitive word on freelance advice (it’s a little much now, huh?). What websites do you like to go to for freelance advice? We’d love to hear about them!
When you are having trouble with an assignment or other business-related thing, go out and get a cup of joe. Yeah, maybe you already have a whole pot of joe sitting on the counter, or, maybe you don’t like joe…whatever. Just get up and outta your house and get some perspective on whatever is giving you trouble. Chances are it’s not as important as you think it is, and getting away from it will help you realize that.
There is a difference between valuing your time enough to set reasonable prices for your work and thinking that you are some omnipotent ruler’s gift to the industry. There are many amazing writers nipping at your heels who simply don’t know how to value their own writing. Many of them are just as smart, talented and awesome as you are–and they are much less expensive.
That does not mean you have to lower your prices to compete with them–that would be a mistake. It simply means that you need a better reason than, “I’m awesome” to charge those rates. Remove your pride in your talent and your prejudice against newbies just starting out and get to the real value you offer.
Everything you do in your business should be to appeal to, attract, and score your target client. When you create a portfolio, network, market, query, whatever, your goal is to be appealing to your client. So before you make any decisions or take any action, try to think about how your target client will view it and whether or not it will be appealing to them.
