I’m by no means someone who is rich. But I am someone who manages to afford to live in a nice apartment in the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, pay my bills on time and accumulate very little debt between paychecks. For someone who works entirely doing freelance, that’s an accomplishment. Although there are many different reasons that I’ve been able to achieve this sort of steady income, one of the biggest ones is that I continually work to increase the amount of money that I am earning. The main way of doing this is through a job ranking system (described below) but there are also other tricks I implement to make sure that I’m regularly raising my income.
Here are some writing tips that you can follow to steadily increase your own freelance income:
- Aim to make the majority of your income steady income. It takes up a lot of time to hunt down new freelance writing jobs, learn the specifications of those jobs and start earning an income from them. Although one-shot jobs are great for additional freelance income, you should be actively seeking out jobs that are going to provide you with a steady stream of work and a regular paycheck. With a handful of steady jobs, you can organize your time better and get more done which means that you are going to be earning more hourly after just a short period of time has passed.
- Always keep an eye out for other opportunities. Even when you have a steady set of gigs, you should be spending a certain chunk of time each week looking for new freelance jobs. These may be steady or they may be one-shot jobs but either way, they’re out there. You don’t have to apply to everything you see. The goal is to find those jobs that are really going to add benefits to the working situation that you already have.
- Know what you make hourly. You’d be surprised by how many freelance writers who get paid by post or by article or by word don’t know what they earn hourly. You need to work out the math and find out what you earn so that you can set goals towards increasing that hourly rate. You should aim to increase that rate every six months. So, if you currently earn $10 per hour, you want to set a goal to be earning $11 or $12 per hour within six months. This is a measurable goal that will allow you to easily see whether or not you’re achieving success in increasing your freelance income.
- Rank your jobs. Once you have those steady jobs and you know what you earn hourly on each of them, you can rank those jobs. The way that I do it is through a 20 point system. The first category is a 1-10 scale of how much I enjoy doing the job. The second category is a 1-5 scale of how much I get paid hourly for the job. The third is a 1-5 scale regarding how well I can count on that income. For example, if I have a job that I really enjoy doing, I might assign it a 10 on the enjoyment scale. However, if it’s my lowest paying hourly job, it might get a 1 in the second category. And if I can not only count on the paycheck to come on time every month but am also fairly sure that the job isn’t going to be terminated unexpectedly, then I’ll assign it a5 on the third scale. So even though it’s a lower paying job, it ends up with a rank of 16. Once each job is ranked, put them in order from highest to lowest. What you’re going to start doing is eliminating one job at a time from the bottom of the list and replacing it with a job that’s likely to rank towards the top of the list.
- Raise rates on clients. You shouldn’t be earning the same hourly wage today as you were a year ago and your clients should be aware of that. If you have some jobs on the list that you like but that don’t pay enough, see if you can’t move them up the ranks by raising the rates on your clients. The worst thing that is going to happen is that they’re going to say they can’t pay you more and then you can decide if you want to do the work anyway or move on.
In the “real world”, people expect to get raises on a regular basis. They get an annual raise and something get raises even more regularly than that. If you take yourself seriously as a professional freelancer, you’ll demand the same thing for yourself. It’s a little harder when you can’t just go into a boss and ask for a raise but it’s possible to regularly raise your monthly income in order to achieve this for yourself. Sure, there are going to be times when a job unexpectedly ends or you experience a lull in the new jobs that you’re getting. But you can combat these times by actively engaging in the ongoing process of forwarding your own career.
Question of the Day: What else can you recommend for increasing your freelance income on a regular basis?
Make Money Blogging to add money to your pocket each month.
As a I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve been rediscovering the art of altered books. These are turning out to be an ongoing source of inspiration to me in a number of different ways. These ways include:
- Seeing objects in a new light. I noticed the other day that the junk mail I had sitting in my recyle can was filled with colorful and decorative words that might go well in a page of an altered book. I pulled it out and started clipping. I also noticed that a pile of clothes planned for giveaway could be used as the fabric for book covers.
- Redesigning my creative space. Since I’m starting to save more things to be used in making altered book art, I’ve realized that I’d like to have my various art and writing materials more organized and accessible. This is something I’d always planned on as a kid when I dreamed of having my own art studio. I have the space now to make that a reality so I’m starting to work on it, slowly but surely.
- Writing inspiration. Visual art always helps me bring out themes for writing and that’s been even truer as I’ve explored the idea of putting one theme together on a page in collage form.
- Reading material. I’ve been reading a lot of altered art books lately and reading about art is always a source of new inspiration. Some books on altered art that you may want to pick up yourself include:
- Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery
Altered Books, Collaborative Journals, and Other Adventures in Bookmaking
- The Altered Book Scrapbook
- Altered Books Workshop: 18 Creative Techniques for Self-Expression
- New Directions in Altered Books
- Altered Book Collage
- #5167 Altered Books 101
I’m currently playing around with my first altered book project. I went to the bookstore with a goal of finding a book for less than $5 to use as my starting point. The one I found is a small square book on Greek mythology. I’m playing around with methods of altering it and just kind of playing around with being creative. The book is going to be about the emotions and flaws that make up the heroes of mythology and the heroes of our own daily lives … and that theme turned out to be something that I pulled together in a recent short essay on fathers as heroes.
Question of the Day: What altered book artists can you recommend as a source of inspiration?
[Tags] altered, art, book, creativity, projects, craft, inspiration [/Tags]
The image above is hard to see clearly because of the size but it’s something that I found really insiring and I think the image gives you the gist of what caught my eye. This is a page taken out of the magazine Batanga, a Latino music and entertainment magazine that I recommend checking out. It’s one of several pages which showed the type of fashion style that define certain music genres.
Here’s what caught my eye:
-
The really simple black sketches that are remniscent of older magazines rather than new ones.
-
The yellow background that is almost like the color of parchment paper.
-
The cohesion with which one style is pulled together and summarized by these simple sketches.
This is going into my “inspiration resource” scrapbook as something that I’d like to partially emulate in some sort of future art work. I would like to be able to reduce a style or an idea down to one cohesive page of simple drawings and to take that style and rework it into something that looks like it came from another era. Whether this turns into a piece of art or just the simple structure to remind me what a story is supposed to be about, I think it could be a great way to tear an idea down to its essence.
Note: This post is part of daily column called Inspired! Learn more here.
Question of the Day: What is the first thing that comes to mind as you see this image?
[Tags] latino, batanga, inspiration, entertainment, creativity, art, music [/Tags]
I am currently in the process of reading Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist’s Personality, and Career from America’s Foremost Creativity Coach
- Artful Living. This describes the act of trying to infuse artistic creativity into everything you do. It’s about being creative in the way that you parent, in the re-using that you do to recycle items around the home, in the meals that you make for yourself and others. It’s about taking each moment of the day and trying to approach it with your own creative vision at its core. (Another great book specifically about this is Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine.)
- Art-Filled Living. This refers to the way that we try to fill our days with art. We visit bookstores and art galleries, we play music in our homes and attend concerts when we can, we watch fashion shows on television in order to be creatively inspired. These are the ways that we bring art into our every day life in order to be able to see the world with a broader creative perspective. This is of utmost important to developing creativity because without constantly refilling our own creative wells, our sources of inspiration may run dry.
- An Art-Committed Life. This is what the bulk of Maisel’s book is about and it refers to the life that we live once we have chosen to actually make art as a living for what we hope will be the rest of our lives. It is about art as a way of life and not just a part of life.
We may find that all three artistic ways of living apply to us. We may find that only one is really a part of our lives on a regular basis. And we may find that although we have one of these in life, we aren’t embodying the other as much as we would like. (For example, you may bring a lot of art into your life but not approach life as creatively as you would like so you have an art-filled life but not an artful one.) By examining these different methods of filling our lives with art, we can make wiser choices in how artfully we want to spend our days.
Question of the Day: Which of these art lives is most important?
[Tags] art, creativity, inspiration, artful, living, choices [/Tags]
I stumbled upon Brazilian artist Icaro Doria quite literally by using the StumbleUpon toolbar that I have intalled on my computer. Stumbling is something that I occasionally do just to find something new that inspires me. In this instance, I was successful. Icaro Doria’s series of artistic flags uses colors, proportions and statistical information to convey facts about the socio-political environment of different countries and causes. I haven’t ever seen anything quite like this is which is why it stands out as something to be noticed.
Doria uses really simple images to display really complex ideas. He touches on a range of different socio-political topics including HIV, education, drug use, oil consumption and other types of things that affect the global landscape. Breaking these down into really simple images makes it possible for us to just look at the flag and think “wow”. You could get lost in trying to break down the meaning that each image makes about the world around you.
I’m not sure if this is something that I’ll ever use in my own work or not. I keep a scrapbook filled with images of things that have inspired me which I go back to again and again to draw from as a resource for art and writing. I’ve included one of the flags in that book in the hopes that I’ll find something to do with it in the future. Perhaps I will and perhaps I won’t but I’ll enjoy the artwork again and again every time that I see it.
Question of the Day: Can you think of any artist doing work similar to Doria’s flags?
Find Icaro Doria’s work on Centripetal Notion, One Club and Technorati
[Tags] Icaro Doria, flags, art, creativity, stumble [/Tags]
As a writer, I read voraciously. I consume the written word on a daily basis. Although I explore all genres and all types of books, it has become important to me this year to specifically focus on finding and enjoying more books that are specifically about creativity.
There are many different types of these books. There are lengthy academic books on the creative brain and the creative process. There are tips for being more creative in your daily life. And there are books at every level of the spectrum in between those two ends. They are all valuable for providing writers (and other artists) with new ways of looking at their work – and their lives.
One of the books that I picked up this week is Unleash Your Creativity (52 Brilliant Ideas): Fresh Ideas for Having Fresh Ideas
For example, Tip #23 is “Play Your Part” which suggests that you do some role-playing to embody the character that you are trying to write about. It describes why this is good, why you might want to do it and what role-playing really means. It gives suggestions for doing this at different levels of subtlety so that it can be incorporated easily into your real life. (Such as reacting differently in a business meeting than you normally would or simply considering how you would react differently if you were another race or gender than you are.) It provides a specific exercise, a related quote, and direction to another part of the book for a related tip that can expand on role-playing. It also provides two challenges that people doing this exercise might face and resolutions to those challenges. And it does all of this in five pages.
The tips are easy to complete and have the potential to jar you into new creative action. The book can be picked up and turned to any page so that you don’t have to do the exercises in any sort of order. Each one links to another one in the book so that you can see your creativity developing and connecting back to itself. It’s the kind of book that you don’t read at one time but read regularly throughout your creative life.
Question of the Day: What other writing prompt or writing exercise books do you recommend?
[Tags] writing, creativity, reading, bevan, prompts, writing exercise [/Tags]
I have often said to people that my favorite feeling in the world is inspiration. It’s better than falling in love (although much akin to it). It’s better than being content. It’s better than being proud. And of course, it can include all of these other emotions and sensations at different times. Inspiration is a feeling that starts new again and again.
Because I feel this way, it is no surprise that I’ve considered inspiration to always be the underlying theme of this blog. It’s about turning my ideas on inspiration into tangible advice for other writers. It’s about hoping to inspire other writers with the stories of my own successes at freelance work. And it’s about providing links to things that have inspired me in order to spark that excitment about inspiration in others.
Although that has always been what I’ve done here on Real Words, it’s going to turn into something of a more conscious effort. I believe that it’s important to regularly share with others what inspires us individually. So, you’re going to start seeing a daily column here on Real Words called Inspired. Each post will reveal something that has inspired me … a book, a piece of art, a blog post, a theory, an idea, an image, an author, a piece of food … and it will tell you something about why it has inspired me and what, if anything, I plan to do with that inspiration.
There are several things that I hope to get out of doing this column and there are several things that I hope my readers get from it. I hope to challenge myself to open my eyes in a different way in order to be able to always see what new things are inspiring me. I hope to open the eyes of others to these sources of inspiration so that they may look at each of them a little bit more closely. I hope to provide artists of all kinds with more attention to their work by pointing people in the direction of it. Most importantly, I hope that this column encourages others to pay attention to the sources of inspiration in their own lives
Being inspired is the best feeling of all! The new column starts tomorrow and I look forward to your feedback.
Question of the Day: What is your biggest ongoing source of inspiration?
[Tags] inspiration, creativity, writing, resources, links [/Tags]
Sunday mornings. What a great time for laying in bed, computer propped up against your lap, browsing through the blog posts and news articles that you didn’t get a chance to read throughout the busy week.
Here are some of the articles on writing, creativity and other things that I’m reading this morning:
- The Best Way to Feed Yourself @ Pureblogging
- Writer’s Spring-Greening @ WOW
- Fiction Writing: How to Capture Your Big Idea @ MenWithPens
- My Blog Client Wish List @ Freelance Writing Jobs
- The 3 Ways to Write a Blog @ ChrisG.com
- What Can John Lennon Teach Us About Creativity @ Brad’s Reader
- Books on Writing @ Six-Figure Freelancer’s Blog
- Are Your Comments Stressing You Out? @ BloggingTips
- Creativity @ Electron Blue
- What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity @ How to Write for the Web
- Don’t Save Your Best Ideas for Later @ Creative Creativity
- Writing and Cleaning the Toilet @ Using Dreams
- Kick Starting Creativity @ Fur in the Paint
- Creative Journaling @ Authentic Artistry
- Thoughts on Creativity @ My Hungry Heart
And here are some of my favorite works that I authored throughout the week:
- Wi-Fly: Voice Communication on Planes @ Dial-a-Phone
- The Poetry of Altered Book Art (here)
- Amsterdam Art Galleries @ Discount Travel
- Bringing Gifts on a First Date @ Dating Weblog
- Infertility and Survival of the Fittest @ Touched by the Stork
- Planning a Honeymoon in Hawaii @ Kathika
- New Testosterone Gel for Menopausal Women @ Wellness Corner
Check out yesterday’s article on why you would even want to apply for freelance jobs on the weekends.
Blog Jobs:
- Female pop culture bloggers, college or recent grad, per post but rate not stated
- Pop culture/lifestyle, $5 per post
Ongoing writing jobs:
- Arts grant writing, commission-based pay and travel expenses
- Wedding Planning Articles, 4 articles per month at “above market rates”
- IT Writing, rate not stated
- Children’s Story Book development, state your rate
One-shot writing jobs:
- Grant writing assistance, $30-$60 / hour
Editing jobs:
- Publication editor, International Aerobatic Club, preference given to WI residents but not required
- Editor/proofreader, Global Travel Magazine
[Tags] freelance, writing, jobs, gigs, resources, employment, links, freelance writing jobs [/Tags]
Check out today’s freelance job links in the post below this one.
As some of you have already discovered, one of the things that this site offers is links to freelance writing and blogging jobs. Those links are primarily provided on Saturdays and Sundays. There are several reasons why I provide weekend job links. First of all, I think this is a niche that goes unfilled by most freelance job link sites. Secondly, I am committed to being online on the weekends for another job so I have the opportunity to provide this information at that time. And most importantly, I believe that there are people out there who really want a job links resource on the weekend.
Here are some of the reasons that you might want to apply for freelance writing jobs on the weekend:
- Less competition. Many freelancers work Monday through Friday and don’t bother to apply for jobs on the weekends. While they might apply to these same jobs when they start work on Monday, there’s a possibility that people who have applied when the jobs are first posted are the people who are going to get noticed by the employers.
- Immediate jobs. Some of the jobs that are posted on the weekend are emergency one-shot writing jobs which require immediate completion. If you have the opportunity to get these jobs, you can add some great income to your existing work.
- Different opportunities. The same companies and individuals frequently post for freelance writers during the week. Those who post on the weekends are often different. This means that you’ll see unique types of jobs during the weekend. Additionally, it means that you’ll expose yourself to writing for new clients that can become great long-term partners in your work.
- You work weekends. Maybe you have a full-time or part-time job during the week and are trying to get into freelance writing by working on the weekends. Those jobs that are posted on the weekends may have more flexibility in allowing weekend work than some of the other jobs that are available.
Weekend job links aren’t for everyone. For those people who want links during the week, there are great resources out there. (My favorite is Freelance Writing Jobs.) However, there are good reasons for wanting to apply to freelance work on the weekends. For those people, Saturday and Sunday job links can be found here before noon PST each weekend.
Question of the Day: What feedback do you have for me about the weekend job links?
[Tags] freelance, jobs, writing, gigs, freelance writing, blogging [/Tags]
Support me with Flattr!
