Quick copy! Tips for Freelance Writers to Increase Income and Production (Part II of II)
Shopping Product ReviewsThe following is a continuation of the six tips I outlined for increasing freelance writing income and production in yesterday’s post. Without any more preambles:
4. Series: As in, divide longer articles into Part I, Part II, etc. I like to write series for two reasons: i) I get more legs out of a topic; ii) I sell more, which can generate more work from a publication.
After all, if an editor likes your work enough to buy a series from you, they’ll probably be willing to work with you on a more regular basis. This works well for publishers in some cases because, like a cliffhanger in a TV series, it keeps their readers coming back.
5. Write what you don’t know (in bits): Eventually, you will fall short on the subjects you know, especially if you are in the habit of producing a certain volume of work.
Writing about what you don’t know expands your body of work and knowledge base. Researching a piece will usually lead to ideas for more articles.
NOTE: Writing about what you don’t know will take more time than writing about what you do know. So, you will be producing less. To counteract this, write about what you don’t know in parts. For example, research it for a few days so as not to detract too much from your production.
6. Typing technology: This type of writing usually yields more. The reason I’m highlighting this genre, instead of saying medicine, is that most of it uses technology. We just don’t think about it because it’s so common.
You’d be surprised how many people don’t know simple things that you can take for granted. For example, adding a signature to your email, saving images from a digital camera to a computer, downloading songs to an iPod, etc.
I was listening to Z100, a popular radio station in Atlanta, a few weeks ago and heard the show’s host, Bert, say that he had no idea how to download songs from the Internet. One would think that if anyone knew this, it would be someone like him.
I got an iPod for Christmas, and I have no idea how to download songs onto (?) it. Look, I don’t even know which sentence fits. Until my 13-year-old nephew finds time in his busy schedule for his aunt, that will have to wait.
My point, you never know who needs the information you take for granted. Therefore, do not take for granted the technological knowledge that you have. Make him pay, and do the rest of us a favor. “charging your ipod“- article anyone?