Many people are scared of getting their jobs taken away by ‘off-shore’ workers. But those very off-shore markets need good English language content, and are willing to pay well for it. This represents a very good opportunity for writers in English speaking countries such as the US, the UK, and Canada.
If you want to make a great living and never have to worry about a lack of freelance writing work, there is a single keyword that you have to know: Diversity.
The top mistake that I have seen hundreds if not thousands of freelance writers make is to focus on a single writing market or client to the exclusion of all else. If this client or writing company fails that freelance writer is instantly out of a job and often doesn’t even get their final payment due to them.
Project Diversity
One very large freelance writing site was hit hard two years ago by the institution of a Google ranking system. This site was, without question, a ‘content mill,’ that is a writing site that generates vast amounts of content to select websites for low prices. Google punished not only their company and partner sites but also the writers on those sites as well by lowering their rankings. Content that used to be on the first page of hits after a Google search were suddenly pushed to page 5 and beyond. This hurt the writers and the site. Overnight the available topics and writing assignments dropped from hundreds of thousands to hundreds. Writers that had been making a few thousand dollars a month couldn’t make $100 a month.
That is just one example of why diversity in clients and writing sites is necessary. The old adage ‘life is what is happening when you are busy making other plans’ applies well here. Every freelance writer needs at least three writing sites or clients, each able to provide enough work to allow the writer to pay his or her bills. A far better idea is to have multiple clients and to keep adding more when a great deal appears.
The final important aspect in project diversity is that no one wants to write on exactly the same topic all the time. It gets boring and your work suffers as a result. One of the best things about a freelance writing career is that your workday is never exactly the same two days in a row. One day you may be writing about luxury pet spas and the next day you are writing about the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
Market Diversity
The key to an exceptional freelance writing career is not just diversity in projects but also diversity in markets. You need to have clients located throughout the United States but also throughout the world.
Thanks to the Internet, the world is a much smaller place than it was just 10 years ago. Now with the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and portable computers, it’s not only possible to work anywhere but also to work for people who live half a world away.
English has become the International language of business and as a result even markets that are traditionally closed to non-native speakers of their language are in fact open to writing done in English.
A noted linguist, James Griffin, once said that you aren’t fluent in a language until you can properly use its slang. There is a great deal of truth in this as we frequently note when we laugh at jokes where a foreigner tries to use English slang and fails miserably. There are subtle nuances in language that are hard to pick up for even the most gifted student of the language.
This is where the native English speaking freelance writer comes into play. Not only can we write the articles that the foreign client needs but we can also advise them on the changes necessary to get their message across to an English speaking audience. These writing assignments generally pay very well, particularly in Europe and Asian markets.
If you are wondering about payments, and every freelance writer does, payments arte made via Paypal. You can request payment in American money and it’s a simple matter for them to send payment that way.
Companies and individuals that want to expand into English speaking markets rarely employ full-time English copywriters and are eager to hire a freelancer. Because there is inherent risk in expanding into a new market, many companies shy away from hiring a fulltime English speaking writer, if they can even find one. A freelancer takes much of that risk away for the company. For the freelancer, they can find a long-term valuable client that is grateful for the help in expanding their business.
Many freelance writers are unaware of additional benefits to working more globally. For starters, a recession in your immediate geographical region or even your nation may not have reached the foreign market. This means that while work may have slowed in your area, there is plenty of work in their area.
Speaking of work slowing down, the holidays can be tough for freelance writers in the US. Many companies begin slowing down the week before Thanksgiving and don’t resume until the second week of January. While it seems like the whole world is slowing until after the holidays, this isn’t true in most Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Not only do these areas observe a different set of national holidays, they also have a different approach to business surrounding those observances. In most cases, only the actual holidays are observed with business as usual going on at other times.
Approaching potential foreign clients is no different than approaching US based clients with the exception of the formality level. When dealing with potential foreign clients always be exceedingly formal. In some cultures this is required or offense is taken. Beyond that, there is no difference in approach.
Expanding your clients to those in other nations is really no different than expanding your clients into other towns or states. It requires the same marketing and promotional skills but the rewards can be very beneficial financially. You will have a buffer against slow working periods, recession and boredom. Becoming a global freelance writer only makes sense in this age of mass communication. Start thinking globally now and you can secure your financial future for years to come.