Tag Archives: freelance job hunt

freelance jobs

A Little Freelance Job Hunting Secret

freelance jobs how to lose a freelance jobHere’s a quick little secret you can use to lower the bad search results when you’re hunting for freelance jobs. Ever notice how many crappy search returns you get when you search on the plural of your freelance specialty? Try Googling the phrase “freelance writers” in your favorite job board. When I do this kind of search, the results are absolutely POLLUTED with the content sites that have spammed the job board with every different kind of ad they can cram in there.

Aside from being totally annoying (and perhaps I’m not using the same kind of freelance job boards you are and you’re getting different results) this is very much a waste of time if you try Continue reading A Little Freelance Job Hunting Secret →

advice, editorial, freelance money

Freelance Trendspotting Part Two

how to set freelance ratesby Joe Wallace

Yesterday I talked about watching freelance trends to get an advantage in the freelance job market. I caught a bit of criticism from a couple of fellow editor/writers for saying that a market correction was coming.

According to my friends, the market correction has already happened–the huge influx of new freelancers due to layoffs and cuts has taken freelancing into the mainstream and is no longer the exception to the rule  it once was.

Ahhh, yes, I tell my friends, but the market won’t stay this way forever. Once it starts moving into more profitable times a lot of freelancers are going to feel the competition getting even tougher than it already is. But by then it’s too late–you’re already hooked on your morning commute from the bedroom to the coffee pot to the computer, and you’ve grown accustomed to the unique bouquet of your own unwashed carcass at 2 in the afternoon.

So how do I personally watch freelance job trends to get a read on what’s hot and what’s not? Continue reading Freelance Trendspotting Part Two →

advice

Trendspotting: The Key to Freelance Survival

freelance job survival

by Joe Wallace

What do the record industry and freelance writing have in common? There are many similarities (for better or worse) but one of the big ones is the need to spot trends as they happen and pounce on them before a golden opportunity becomes a missed opportunity.

In some cases writers have it easy–the established ones are paying close attention to trends in their niche topics and riding those trends to landing more articles and web content. I do a lot of finance writing, especially on topics in the housing industry. I trend spot simply by researching my latest round of blogs and articles–in the last year the phrases “Obama Mortgage” and “Hope for Homeowners” have found their way into my work with a frequency that surprised even me. But those articles sell and bring clicks. Following the news has made me a lot of money this year.

But that kind of trend spotting is a bit of a no-duh truism for many. What’s the “secret sauce” of trend spotting? Continue reading Trendspotting: The Key to Freelance Survival →

advice, resources

Applying for Freelance Jobs? The One Thing To Remember

freelance-writing-advice-3by Joe Wallace

I know some people think I’m too hard on freelancers–in my FZ writing, I’ve done everything short of telling (some) people to go back to their day jobs. I hear cries of, “Joe, you’re just too mean!”

But now some OTHER freelance sites are saying what I’ve been saying for ages, and it seems that I’m not such a bad old editor after all. Case in point, a recent post at Freelance Switch called,”How NOT to Apply for a Freelance Position.”

Freelance Switch put out a call for designers and other creatives a while back, and wouldn’t you know it, they got tons of really crappy responses. I feel their pain. One missive from the post goes, “…out of all who applied ONLY 10% actually provided what was asked for.” Holy crap, you got as much as 10%? How’d you pull THAT off?

Here’s the secret to applying for a freelance job. Ready? Grab a pen, you might wanna write this on your arm: Continue reading Applying for Freelance Jobs? The One Thing To Remember →

advice, editorial, lifestyle

Find a Freelance Job

freelance-writing-advice

Are you trying to find freelance jobs? Don’t you love the marketing hype you read at the freelance job sites? This is one of my current favorites:

“Now it’s easy to market your freelance services and find all the business you need to succeed.”

That’s pretty funny. If any of you disagree, I urge you to drop the rest of us a comment and let us know WHY it’s so easy for you, cuz the rest of us would really like to learn your secret.

Here’s one of MY secrets–I like to market myself locally without giving out a bunch of PR-style hype. What could be better than getting to know a group of people socially, learning about who they are and what they do and waiting for an opportunity to offer your services when the opportunity clearly presents itself?

For more experienced freelancers, this is a “no duh” situation. Here’s the part that’s not so obvious.

You can really set yourself up in the networking department by bringing people together who aren’t connected, but really should be. My major problem with a lot of self-promotion/marketing strategies is that they require you to interact socially with people, but always with that ulterior motive of scoring work off them later.

What feels much better for me than just waiting for the right moment to offer freelance services (which I do when it feels appropriate, which isn’t all that often), I like to connect people who need each other. Tom the banker needs a night watchman? I just happen to know a college guy who needs some extra cash. The gallery owner needs some extra artists for an upcoming show? Here’s the number of that painter I met last week.

All I do in these situations is set people up, knowing that eventually what goes around comes around. I don’t really have to consciously work at doing this, it always feels natural and right when it happens. But I’ve noticed that when you bring people together who need each other, they tend to believe they’d like to repay the favor someday.

So while you’re out there filling in all those blank fields in the freelance job bank forms, marveling at how easy it is these days to market yourself online, try a little game–watch your results with your in-person “PR” and your online freelance job hunt and make note of which one benefits you first and for how long. I won’t say the online stuff will always let you down–far from it–but your most lasting results just might come from people who have to look you in the eye when they’re dealing with you.