Tag Archives: Freelancer Tips

How Free Writing Can Unleash your Creativity

November 14, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 30 Comments

As a freelance writer or blogger there are times we experience moments when we don’t have the inspiration to write. We experience writer’s block or are simply not motivated to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).

Although such moments come and go, it’s not something that should be encouraged. In fact cultivating the habit and discipline to write everyday can completely change your life and improve your writing.

 

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Free writing is an incredible practice that unleashes the creative ideas lodged within you as well as gets you in the mood of writing.

What is free writing?

Free writing is basically a writing activity where you allow yourself to write out whatever comes to your mind without stopping, editing or rationalizing what flows from your mind. The aim behind free writing is to uncover those thoughts or ideas that you hide within you, far away from your conscious mind.

Free writing doesn’t care about structure, efficiency or accuracy in grammar, or the right choice of words. It focuses more on the process of unleashing your creativity or unearthing those thoughts or perspectives you don’t voice out. Most times you bury your creative side by over thinking about what you write. Free writing liberates you from anything that would hold you back from freely expressing what you have in your mind. Free writing gives you a unique voice.

 

How free writing works

What makes free writing so effective with unleashing your creativity is that it completely prevents you from over thinking what you write. Most writers will edit as they write or pause for a long time trying to come up with the right word, phrase or sentence structure. This usually slows you down or discourages you from going any further. Since you’re not allowed to rationalize what you write, the results of your free writing exercise don’t reveal what you expect. In essence it allows your creativity to roam freely, which is what we need to shine like a diamond that we are.

Free writing helps reveal your writing voice and inspires you with ideas and raw materials you can use for your writing projects. Free writing pushes your unconscious side to reveal new thoughts, ideas or perspectives that you never realized you kept within you.

 

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How to free write

Free writing has only one rule: write fast without thinking. This will give you the freedom to allow yourself to flow with the stream of creativity. This is because writing fast will ensure that your hand writes (or types) faster than your brain can think. This takes your writing out of the zone of your consciousness and permits whatever you had within you to take the lead.

To get started, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Time yourself so that you stay focused on writing. 10 minutes is enough time to free write.
  2. Write quickly without stopping until your time is up.
  3. Let the first word that comes to your mind prompt you to start writing. Don’t think about the right opening sentence. Just work with what comes to your mind and write about it. Even if you have no idea what to write about, write about not having an idea to write about.
  4. Don’t worry yourself about grammar or spelling mistakes. Messy is allowed. What’s important is the process of writing, not how or what you write.
  5. Don’t judge, critique or edit your writing. Don’t allow anything to interrupt your flow. All the editing and fine-tuning can be done later.

 

At the end of the free writing exercise, you’ll be surprised about the deep insights you’ll find in your writing. You’ll be inspired with new ideas on what to write. And most of all, you’ll unleash your creativity.

Do you free write?

 

 

How to Negotiate a Higher Rate as a Freelancer

July 3, 2016 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 44 Comments

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Any job you put in time, effort and expertise is valuable. Sadly, some clients tend to under-pay. As a freelancer, you don’t receive a fixed salary. The amount of money you make from a project depends on certain factors such as your experience, the number of hours you put in your job and the scope or extent of the project assigned to you.
From personal experience, negotiating my rates as a freelancer has been tricky. But negotiating a higher rate – even trickier. Negotiating a higher rate is something you take step-by-step. Here’s how I do it:

I take note of my minimum rate
You need to know the lowest amount you can charge for a project without suffering a loss. This is your minimum acceptable rate (MAR). Your MAR = (Annual living cost + annual cost / hours you work a year) + tax. This formula gives you an estimate of your MAR.
Have the figure handy. The MAR gives you the least amount you can charge for a project. Since you want to negotiate a higher rate, you need to make sure your rate doesn’t go anywhere near your MAR. So if your MAR is £50, you want to start negotiating from £150 for example, so you have room for negotiation.

Charge per project
When you charge per project instead of charging per hour you earn more money. There’s some sort of psychological effect behind charging per hour. The natural view a client has of charging per hour is that the project ought to be done within a shorter time and they don’t see any reason why they should pay for more hours. This makes them undervalue your work and look down on the quality of the project no matter how hard you work on it.
If you charge per project, the client feels that even if the project takes a long time to be complete, the project will be of value and they’ll feel more willing to pay. If you complete the project quickly, it’s a gain to you unlike charging per hour where you earn less when you complete the project quickly.

 

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Show your client their financial gain
Help your client realize that they’ll make more money from the completed project than they’ll pay to have it done. Sometimes, negotiating for higher pay is all about perception. The client at the time may be so focused on the short-term loss or expense that she misses out on her long-term gain.

Adjust the scope of the project instead of the pay
Sometimes a client may come with a budget of how much she can pay for a project. Instead of turning the client down, explain how much of the project their budget can cover. So instead of cheating yourself by accepting the project as it is, clearly tell your client the scope of the project you can cover based on what they are able to pay. So if a client is only able to pay £30 for example, explain what services you can provide for that price.

Name your price
Some freelancers and blogger are afraid of quoting a high price. They think that doing this will scare off their clients. This is often not true. Naming your price pushes you to find people who are willing to pay your rates for quality work. You find yourself attracting high paying clients and keeping them. Accepting any price offered means you will always be working for peanuts.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below please.

Happy Sunday.

 

 

The Power of Social Media

June 19, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 56 Comments

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You can’t imagine how much social media helped me grow my career as a freelancer. I always found it fascinating how fast information spreads on social media. So many people are connected together through this medium, it is silly not to make the most of as many social media platforms as possible.
Right here, from the comfort of my home, I can be in contact with anyone regardless of where they are in the world. I guess that’s why there are many social media networks springing up year after year. I wonder how many new platforms would be launched or relaunched this time next year. Just look at Snapchat for example, it has been around for a while now but it looks like people just discovered how cool a platform it is, with all the sudden noise I see everywhere about it. I am on Snapchat, but I don’t use it or plan to use it. I can only cope with a few. I only just started using Pinterest, so please follow my pins, lets pin away together. Also, follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, I am active on all 3.
What’s nice is that I can keep in touch with my audience, my clients, and my friends and family, for free. Well I pay for my WiFi, but communication is a lot easier and cheaper with social media channels, than it was say 15 years ago.

Social media gives my business that needed boost and exposure. I would be lost without it.

Here are some ways freelancers can experience the power of social media –
1.    It Acts as a Platform to Showcase your Skills
When you’re into freelancing or blogging, what’s one thing you need to help your business or blog grow? Clients or readers, as the case may be. The best way to make your potential clients/readers know about you and what you do is by showing off your skills.
Millions of people log in to 1 social media channel daily. Show your unique talent by uploading your work on social media. It can be in form of a well-written article, a video, audio or even a photograph you’ve taken. Whatever form you share your work, social media enables those who view it to assess and appreciate your skills.
Once you put out your best content, it will advertise itself.
2.    It Helps your Work Gain Exposure
This goes hand-in-hand with the first tip. As more people view your work and like what they see, they will begin to share it with their friends. When more people share your work, it gains exposure. It may even go viral and you become a household name in your niche.
3.    It Gives you Opportunities to Network
I have to say that this is one of the most important sides to social media. Social media make it easy for you to get in contact with readers, clients and other freelancers in your niche. You have groups and communities on social media where you can find people in your niche or people looking for what you’ve got to offer.

Developing a good relationship with people in your industry opens new business opportunities in form of partnerships or collaborations. The best part is that you can get to learn from each other’s experiences as well.

I have met so many clients through social media, and many have become regulars. Your network is your net-worth, remember that.

 

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4.    It Helps you Build a Reputation that can be Trusted
Social media gives your target audience access to your life and business. It helps them form a connection with you, know what you are up to and what your freelance business is about or see how you relate outside your blog. As you share value and inspire others with your work, you build confidence in the minds of your clients as someone they can trust for things relating to your industry. Pretty cool, right? This is a great way to retain your present clients and gain new ones.

Social media is very powerful! Make the most of it by being consistent and putting your best work forward every day. Live to inspire others with your kind words and motivation. Give your audience an insight to your world. Most importantly, connect with those who can make you better.

Are you active on all social media platforms? Which are your favourites and why?

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