Gripes about pay are an epidemic within the writing world. However there are nonetheless good-paying assignments on the market. So why don’t writers earn extra money?

In my expertise mentoring writers, there are three most important explanation why freelance writers don’t earn extra money

Motive 1: You’re not advertising sufficient

Once I communicate with writers who’re caught making $10,000 or $20,000 a 12 months, I normally start by asking them about their advertising. Are they not getting responses to their queries? Really feel they don’t do properly at in-person networking? Need assistance with their cold-calling abilities?

The solutions are all the time the identical. It isn’t that they need assistance enhancing how they do this stuff—they merely aren’t querying, aren’t networking, and aren’t cold-calling. To sum up, they’re not advertising their enterprise, except for maybe capturing the occasional resume to a web based job advert.

You’ve received to continually be searching for new and higher purchasers to maintain your slate full. That is additionally the way you elevate charges: you discover better-paying purchasers, after which in the future you take a look at your roster and notice you’re so busy you’ll be able to drop the lowest-paying account.

For those who’re actively prospecting, you get extra new purchasers and may drop low payers quicker, resulting in greater common pay. For those who’re writing for $15 an article, it’s since you’re not taking the time to market your enterprise and find better-paying markets.

Motive 2: You’re getting assignments as an alternative of constructing relationships

New writers usually get so enthusiastic about having an project that they neglect—each project needs to be, like they are saying on the finish of Casablanca, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It is best to hyperlink in social media to that editor so that you just by no means lose monitor of them, even when they alter jobs.

Whenever you flip in your story, don’t let the connection momentum die. You need to be prepared with two or three extra story concepts. For those who don’t have concepts, at the very least ask the editor what their wants are arising. As an alternative of a one-off, attempt to flip every relationship into a gradual gig.

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Motive 3: You’re not reselling

One nice technique to maximize your earnings is to take every story thought you’ve and promote it a number of locations. Personally, I’ve recycled story concepts a lot previously I’m dizzy. I’ll write a few enterprise subject for a Canadian conglomerate, then a U.S. journal, then a company web site.

Reselling accelerates earnings since you leverage the analysis and skilled interviews you probably did as soon as throughout many paychecks, making you extra environment friendly. You’ll be able to interview one supply and promote the story to their college journal, a enterprise journal, a neighborhood newspaper…and so forth. You match extra articles into every year extra simply, you invoice extra, you make extra.

What’s all of it boil right down to? Be keen to exit and actively search for better-paying purchasers, and do your writing assignments extra effectively. Try this, and your earnings is sure to rise.

This submit initially appeared on the WM Freelance Writer’s Connection.