Mastering Your Management Skills For Getting A Top Notch Freelance Writing Job

For all the freedom a freelance writing career affords you, there are a few serious limitations to it. You have to be a good manager in addition to being an excellent writer.

How?

Freelance writing demands that you effectively manage your career, resources, finances, and time. No one said it is going to be easy. In addition to that, you need some hardcore management skills in certain areas, such as Accounting.

What you can do to be a master manager in no time is that you spend some time brushing up your skills. Seriously!

• ACCOUNTING: Learning basics of accounting will go a long way in making your freelancing career easy. Creative types hate this, but having accurate records of invoices and payments is going to make tax time less of a horror. Try online for help.


• CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: Your beautiful writing needs to be bought by someone for you to earn any money. It is that simple. Good client relations can give you a steady stream of projects. You will have a satisfied client if you understand their needs and goals properly. The way to do this is to ask questions, and keep asking until you have a clear picture of what is expected of you as a writer. Another important task is to keep communications open and honest. Avoid missing scheduled calls, and respond to every mail you receive on time.


• MARKETING: Ok, you are selling a service. Like all commodities, your services will need some marketing. You do not have to give expensive ads in papers, but packaging and marketing your skills are important parts of building a successful freelance career.


• TIME MANAGEMENT: You will need to clock your work. Your job taking up your leisure or family time is an occupational hazard of freelance work. Make schedules and follow them. A few extra hours per week will not harm anything, but having a disorganized life will.


• PROJECT MANAGEMENT SKILLS: Having good project management skills will help you juggle multiple projects at once. All your projects are going to be different from each other. Not all of your projects will be at the same stage of development at the same time. Handling multiple projects from multiple clients can become hard. Learn to make workflow charts, prioritize your tasks, and follow a timetable.


• DO NOT GIVE UP: All this management talk can make you feel overwhelmed. While there is a learning curve involved, it will be much easier once you get the hang of it. Persevere!