The Renegade Writer Blog

Gwen Moran is a columnist for Entrepreneur, and has written for everyone from Woman’s Day to On Wall Street to Newsweek.com to Family Business. She’s the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans and is teaching our course Build the Freelance Writing Business You Want.

RW: How did you get your start as a freelance writer?

GM: I was running a marketing communications agency when an editor at Entrepreneur contacted me. I had been pitching some of my clients and, while she wasn’t interested in my clients, she did like my writing style. She asked me to write a piece about marketing for them. A few months later, I landed a column with the magazine. I loved working for them so much – and had long been a frustrated writer – that I shifted my business from an agency to a soloist writing business.

RW: What tips do you have for writers who want to create a business plan for themselves?

GM: You have to picture the end result. Do you want to work for a certain type of publication? Earn a certain amount of money? Break into a specific niche? Once you’ve defined where you want your business to go, then you can back out the steps you need to get you there. You can begin honing topics and pitches for a specific publication or start targeting clients who understand the value that you provide in exchange for a healthy rate. If you don’t have an endpoint in sight, it’s very easy to become scattered and end up going nowhere in your business. That’s when burnout and dissatisfaction set in.

RW: What are your tips for switching specialties? For example, say you’re a music writer who wants to move into writing about technology — how would you get started?

GM: One of the great things about choosing writing as a career is that the core skill set – researching, writing, editing – can transfer to multiple genres. And chances are that you’ve done something that relates to your target area. So, if you are working as a music writer and want to target technology, you might begin writing about the technology side of the music business for your existing clients. Then, take those tech-related clips and begin using them to support pitches to technology clients. Now, you have two areas of specialization, and that kind of diversification can be critical to weathering the ups and downs of this business.

RW: What are anchor clients and how do you find them?

GM: Anchor clients may be large or small clients, but they all fit certain key criteria: 1) They are a good fit for your business. That means that they respect you as a professional and are not abusive. Your work style is a good fit for their culture and there is a relatively low headache-factor. 2) They offer regular work. Whether through their own assignments or through the regular acceptance of your story ideas, anchor clients are those with which you work regularly. You may measure it by the number of stories per month or the amount of income per year, but anchor clients bring the work and revenue you need to keep your business afloat. And 3) they pay regularly. You know that you’ll receive your check within a reasonable and regular time, and you don’t have to repeatedly chase your money.

You find them by working with new clients and providing excellent service. As clients come back to you with repeat assignments, some are going to be a great fit for you – they love your style and treat you as a valued vendor. In return, you give prompt attention and the highest level of service to them. Having three or four anchor clients can really get you through the tough times.

RW: What does a writer need to consider if she wants to freelance while working full-time at another job?

GM: You need to be respectful of both the company that employs you and the people who are hiring you to freelance. That means, don’t use the employers time and resources to do your freelance work unless you have explicit permission to do so. You also need to be aware of the company’s policies and any provisions in your employment contract that prohibit such work. When you accept a freelance job, you need to be sure that you’ll have the availability to complete it, otherwise you’re not fulfilling your agreement to the editor.

It’s possible to do both. You can work on your own laptop and cell phone during lunch and break times, or adjust your employment hours to accommodate your freelance work. Be transparent and honest about what you can do and it’s possible to build a respectable freelance writing business while working full-time for someone else.

RW: Why is it important to build multiple streams of income?

GM: Virtually any type of self-employment is going to have ups and downs in cash flow. If one area of specialization is suffering, then it’s important to have other ways to earn money. That can be other forms of writing – corporate work or book royalties on which you rely when the editorial dries up, for example – or other skill sets entirely. Some freelancers teach at colleges and universities, run seminars, consult in their area of expertise, or work outside of their chosen field entirely to ensure that they have money coming in when times get tough.

RW: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten as a freelance writer? The worst?

GM: The best: Don’t fall in love with your ideas or queries. Spending five hours on The World’s Best Query, sending it out to Your Favorite Magazine and waiting for the phone to ring will only lead to disappointment and an empty bank account. Ideas are part of your currency. Come up with many. Get them out the door. Keep following up, but move on to the next idea, too.

The worst: Always or never ____________. I’ve never stumbled upon any absolutes in this business. You need to learn about running a writing business, then make decisions for your business based on your goals. [lf]