Talk to any successful freelancer and a few things will come up repeatedly: Don’t take rejection personally, approach it as you would any other business, set up a website, network, pitch, pitch, pitch.
I’ll add another thing that has been crucial in my success as a freelancer: Know that you CAN.
This month, I’ve heard about and read far too many articles from writers who’re suffering in poverty, who complain about the lack of well-paying markets, the disrespect from editors, the long lead times, the low pay rates, and the demise of print media as we know it. One Indian blogger called freelancing “a beggar’s market.”
While all of this is of course true (except the “beggar’s market” part, which I don’t buy), like everything else in life, the success or failure of your freelancing business will come down to two fundamental questions: how much do you want it and what steps are you going to take to get it?
When I first started freelancing, I didn’t look at the market in my own country. I looked at what a successful American freelancers made– $100,000 a year– and made that my goal. I pitched foreign markets, I made sure my writing was of international standards, and I found ways to make myself indispensable to editors who’d pay $1 a word or more.
I still haven’t touched that six-figure target that I set for myself, but I’m sure that in the next two or three years, I will. Because I believe that I can. Because this belief allows me to take the steps that perhaps other freelancers wouldn’t take if they’ve bought into the idea that it can’t be done by a freelancer sitting in the developing world where 10 cents a word is considered a good rate.
In the following months, I’m going to be interviewing top freelancers, editors at national publications, and giving solid tips and advice about how to succeed as a freelancer. Yet, none of that is going to make one bit of difference in your career if you’ve already bought into the idea that it can’t be done.
Forget about those freelancers who say they’re living on government support, delete the negative voices from your blogroll and start interacting with and learning from people who’re already hitting the targets that you’ve set for yourself.
You’ll find that making a very good living as a freelancer isn’t as difficult as it’s made out to be. But you first need to believe that this success or failure lies in your hands.