First Month as a Freelance Writer.

When I heard the call of freelance writing beckoning me, I immediately dedicated myself to learning everything about the business that I possibly could. I spent a ridiculous amount of time sifting through books and e-books claiming to divulge insider secrets to making money as a freelancer. Months passed and I realized I was no closer to achieving my goals than I was when I first started.

While I was intrigued by the glamour of seeing my name in glossy print magazines, I wasn’t exactly fanatic over the amount of time that reality could possibly take. I needed a financial boost as quickly as possible! It was around this time that my interest in online writing began to surface. After a little research I found that some internet-based magazines pay rates that are competitive with print magazines. I didn’t need any further convincing.

Armed with a little knowledge and a lot of motivation, I proceeded to market my services and polish my writing. During my first official month of freelance writing, my desk was literally FULL of client projects. If being up to your eyeballs in freelance writing work sounds good to you, here are my top four tips for being a successful internet freelance writer:

Create a web presence. I’m not talking about Geocities or MySpace. Your website is going to be your virtual handshake; make it a strong, confident one. Spend a little time learning HTML (many free courses online) and basic website design.

If you have little freelance writing experience, consider doing a few charity assignments. There are also content sites that pay writers for their contributions, such as Associatedcontent.com and Constantcontent.com. The fact that these sources are internet based doesn’t make them any less impressionable, so make sure your writing is in line with what I affectionately call the three P’s (polished, professional, precise).

Market, market, market! It’s a necessary evil. Yes, I’ve felt a bit like a traveling salesman at times. However, which is more likely to happen during your first month freelance writing: clients finding your brand new website while surfing Google, or clients responding to an ad you’ve placed on a service board? So take a break from writing chapter four of your novel, head over to Craigslist.org or Online-writing-jobs.com, and market your services with a killer advertisement.

Keep updated records. Create spread sheets detailing your expenses, income, assignments, deadlines, and everything else you want to keep track of. You’ll find these records indispensable around tax-time and when setting your monthly income goals (you do have monthly income goals, right?)

Learn to take a breather. With so many changes taking place, your first month as a freelance writer will undoubtedly be stressful. Learn when to scale back on your client assignments. Take half a day off and start working on that novel again. The idea is to allow yourself to remember how wonderful it feels to write from that genuine place.