reynoldswriting.com Blog

Recently I read an anxious post by a fellow copywriter on a writers’ forum. She was relatively new to the business but had done well enough for herself by landing a steady stream of work from a fairly deep-pocketed corporate client. Unfortunately, she wrote, that stream appeared to be drying up into a trickle. She assumed she could find another sugar daddy somewhere, but where — and how?

This writer suffers from a mistake that many of us make, whether we write for a living or not. It’s called putting all your eggs in one basket, and it isn’t a good spot to be in. I know, because I’ve been there.

When I first launched my freelance writing career, I knew a little about writing but not much about how to run a writing business. I had two major clients who called me every once in a while and supplied me with enough work to pay my rent and (some of) my bills. It was a tenuous existence at best, but I was just happy to have any kind of freelance work at all. And it was so easy! All I had to do was sit around and wait for the phone to ring.

You can predict the next twist in the plot. One of my big clients decided to take the work I’d been doing in house, and the other went totally silent — I later learned that it had pulled out of town altogether without bothering to let me know. Instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, I suddenly found myself just sitting around, which doesn’t pay terribly well.

So for any fellow freelance writers or other contractors out there, here are some tips for keeping abject poverty at bay:

Multiple eggs. It’s great to niche yourself so that your target market can zero in on your services and vice versa, but build some versatility into your offerings as well. You might want to learn how to work in multiple formats so you can create a press release, two-column video script or whatever else a client might need with equal ease. Or you could establish yourself as a generalist who can write on every conceivable subject from eyebrow tweezing to rocket science.

Multiple baskets. Build your clientele through a variety of channels, including online ads, a well-optimized Web presence, active participation on social media sites and face-to-face networking. Always play the “who do you know” game by asking your current clients and networking buddies for referrals. Make an effort to help others in the same way. Plug into the community and let it work for you.

Whatever you do, don’t wait until that stream has become a trickle. Whether you’re a freelancer or some other small business trying to remain strong, work on your eggs and egg baskets right now — and you’ll never find yourself without an omelet cooking on the stove.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

I’m picky about my writing tools. It might be just my nature, though it’s more probably because I spend most of my waking hours banging out a living keystroke by keystroke. I know that various writers throughout history have had their favorite toys. Andy Rooney, for instance, used the same old manual typewriter for most of his career. (His voice haunts me now: “Didja ever wonder why I did that?”) Even back in ancient times, a monk or scribe somewhere was probably insisting on a quill made only from the feathers of that turkey over there.

I didn’t even draft on a computer early in my professional career; I used a pen. A Pilot Precise V5 to be, well, precise. Once I started using the keyboard for all stages of writing, I found myself gravitating toward those laptop-style models with the scissor-switch keys. When one of them died on my recently, I replaced it with the closest match I could find. It just feels right to me.

The other day I decided that I was tired of my creaky old version of Microsoft Word. Instead of shelling out for the current version, however, I stopped and thought: Now might be the time to switch horses. Word’s sheer wealth of capabilities seemed to get in my way at times, offering me so many options that I sometimes found myself thinking about the writing tool instead of the writing. What do I really want in a word processor? I want something that feels invisible and gets out of my way, giving me all the options that I need and none that I don’t.

That’s what businesses seek in selecting their writing tool — a professional copywriter. They want someone who will work quietly and efficiently in the background on their behalf. They want a skilled technician who can hammer their raw ore into a dazzling finished product with a minimum of muss and fuss. They want someone who, as Apple would put it, “just works.”

That’s what I strive to do. I keep my pricing, work processes and communication methods as simple and streamlined as possible. I offer my opinion when clients want it and keep my mouth shut when they don’t. I filter complex, often unfinished ideas into clear, effective messages. And perhaps most important of all, I take the time up front to get to know my clients so I can anticipate their needs before they’ve even expressed them.

Whatever your writing tool of choice — a pen, a keyboard, a word processor or a professional copywriter — go with the one that just feels right. You’ll get a lot more done with a lot less effort.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.