Eight Ways to Expand Your Business

If you’ve been freelancing for a while, perhaps it’s time to think about expanding your business. Other small business owners have the luxury of being able to hire help, open branch locations, even franchise their business. Unfortunately, most of those don’t work with freelance writing.

Working for yourself, by yourself, means that you can only do as much work as you have time. And there are only so many hours in a day. That puts a limit on expanding your business. Sure, you can take on larger projects, but when you work on a large project, such as writing a book, you don’t have time to do the smaller ones. And frankly, most book projects don’t pay nearly as much in the long run as working on a bunch of shorter and less complicated pieces. So how can you expand?

1. Revise your sales presentation. When the same bland renewal notice for a magazine subscription arrives in the mail, you don't give it a second look. If you want to renew an editor's interest in your material or build up assignments on a higher level than in the past, you must revise your presentation. Analyze the way you pitch ideas now and see if you can improve on it. How well does your current method sell your ideas? Is your timing and the sequence of ideas logical? Is the market holding you back or are you holding yourself back through fear, lack of expertise, or timidity?

2. Create a brochure. Don’t forget you are a business. And businesses advertise. Some kinds of writing may allow you to run ads in journals or newspapers. But the majority of what you do most likely doesn’t lend itself to direct advertising. So why not create a brochure of your work. Hotels do it. Airlines do it. All sorts of businesses do it. This doesn’t have to be an expensive, glossy affair. It can be nothing more than one page folded in thirds. You won’t have too much room, but there’s enough to include teaser quotes from your writing and perhaps a few photos. Short excerpts of articles will do the trick.

3. Keep up with marketing chores. And don’t forget, that many top freelancers spend several hours a day doing marketing chores, staying in contact with publishers, editors, agents, and other clients either by phone or Email.
    
4. Use books as premiums. If you’ve written books, consider using copies of them as premiums—gift books to corporate executives which they then gave their employees or rewards for contests that you run on your Web site and Facebook. Naturally, you’ll want to sign each copy.

5. Create or improve your Web site. And speaking of Web sites and social media, if you don’t have a good Web site yet, create one. Today, more and more people look to the Web to find professionals, including writers. But don’t just focus on selling, give visitors to your site something in return—information on writing, itself, or the subjects you write about. Both will draw them to your site.

6. Publish pieces on Kindle. The longer you’ve been freelancing, the more material and information you’ve acquired. Use some of it to create articles or short stories and perhaps short ebooks that you can sell on Kindle. While this may not bring in lots of cash, it helps you use materials that lie fallow in your files.

7. Promote a book through articles. If you have a book about to be published, you might want to try to write several short articles on a related subject and get them posted at key Web sites online. They’ll give you greater visibility and subtle promotion for both yourself and your book.

8. Apply for grants or enter contests. Lastly, consider applying for grants or entering contests from time to time. Nothing boosts a career like an award. But don’t concentrate on either of these. It’s actually easier and less time-consuming to just write and publish your work than it is to seek out a chancy result like either of these.

Augmenting Your Freelance Income

Basically there are three avenues to pursue to keep your freelance financial picture sunny: diligence in negotiating the best freelance deals, scouting for sources of augmenting that income from time to time, and adding secondary sources of income to the overall financial setup.

The prime ingredient in the discovery of funds to supplement income is your own ingenuity. People in other businesses have advantages you don't. They can, like the publisher of the magazine you write for, apply to numerous people to raise capital: customers, suppliers, insurance companies, banks, employees, other companies, venture-capital firms, investment bankers, and governments. If your business is a sole proprietorship, as is that of most freelancers, you don't have those options. The ability to get credit depends on your personal reputation. Third parties cannot invest in the business without incurring responsibilities for business debts as well. That usually means you have to rely on relatives or very close, good friends, which often isn’t a good idea.

If you’re thinking of getting a loan from your bank to tide you over, think again. In most cases, banks do loan small businesses money for operating capital or improvements, but freelance writing isn’t generally one of them. In fact, most banks don’t really consider you a small business. Plus, the loans they make to small businesses usually start at $50,000 or more.

An alternative to borrowing the money is applying for a grant. The pros and cons of public funding of writers are as numerous as the writers who do or do not get the grants. Living from grant to grant is much like living from paycheck to paycheck. The truth is that once you get on the grant merry-go-round, it’s hard to get off. Some writers actually write less and less the more they skipped from one grant to another since   it's easier to get a second and a third grant after you've got that first one. But getting that first grant can be a real challenge.

While there certainly are lots of grants out there, matching up their requirements to your situation is difficult. Let’s face it, if you want someone to give you money, you’ll need to fulfill their requirements. Also, one mistake on a grant application and you’re out. In fact, you may find writing a grant application harder than the writing you normally do. Grantors look for many things, least of which is good writing. For many writers, the chore of getting the grant in the first place may be more than it's worth. Searching for “writing grants” online will yield many sources.

Trying for prizes, on the other hand, may not be such a bad idea. If you have a novel on the back burner or if you write in a specialized field—travel, science, business, etc.), you may qualify for annual prizes given by a variety of organizations, some of which come with a cash award, no strings attached. Many prizes, even if they don't carry a cash award, will eventually help line your pockets, since the prestige of winning can be a feather in your cap and portfolio. If you do win a prize or receive an honor, milk it for all it’s worth. If you think you have a chance, take the time to fill out the forms and send in the required material.

Get creative when thinking up ways to bring in additional income. Perhaps you have an extra room in your house that you can rent out to a college student, or if times are especially tough, consider taking in a roommate or housemate to help meet your bills. You could also rent out equipment you have that you use only once in a while. Post notices everywhere, locally and online.

Lastly, consider selling items on eBay. While selling one or two items won’t bring in much, you could set up a sideline business selling items in a particular category such as collectibles. To do this successfully, you’ll have to set aside time to purchase inventory and pack and ship the things you sell. This will eat into your writing time, but money is money, no matter how you earn it.

If you look around you may find you have that other sources of income, no matter how small, that would help relieve the strain on your business budget.

10 Ways to Keep Your Bank Balance in Check

Thanksgiving Weekend always seems to be the time when people look for bargains, especially on Black Friday. But as a freelance writer you need to look for bargains all year long. The best way to stay ahead of your bank account is to follow these easy steps.

1. Try to keep a cash reserve in your account to cover the slow months. Use it only for this purpose and replenish it as soon as possible. An easy way not to overdraft your account is to make this cash reserve invisible. In other words, set your ending balance without taking it into account. So when you’re at zero, you’ll actually still have money in the bank. This allows you to not only keep some money aside but also to avoid those high overdraft fees.

2. Another way to keep your income safe is to open a special savings account and deposit all your income in it. Then transfer funds to your checking account as you need them to pay bills. This method works especially well with a sporadic income flow.

3. To make bill paying more efficient, create a Bill Pay Sheet. At the top list all the months in two rows. Under them, list your regular monthly bills set up in categories—mortgage or rent, utilities, credit cards, insurance, etc. Next to each bill listing put the date due in parentheses, followed by the amount you need to pay that month. You can then add up all your bills to see how much you’ll need that month. Cross out each bill as you pay it to keep yourself on track.

4. Synchronize your accounts receivable with accounts payable as much as you can by your early planning method. Know when you’re supposed to be paid, and if you don’t receive payment within a day or two of that date, let your editor know.

5. Apply for credit with your suppliers. If you’re on friendly terms, ask to pay on a periodic basis, if need be, especially if you have established a good credit rating. Explain that your income arrives in spurts instead of on a regular weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis if this is the case. Some suppliers may be willing to bill you on a two-,three-, or four-month basis—allowing you a discount if you pay early. Talk this over with them, explaining it saves them billing and postage costs. Another possibility is to open credit accounts that allow you to pay in three-month or six-month installments with no interest if paid within the allotted time. This works well with car and dental care.

6. Slash expenses to the bone. You can only cut corners so far. But a close analysis of your budget may uncover frills that you can do without briefly without hurting your professional stance. You’ll be amazed how much you can cut your budget and still live a healthy and happy life. Doing this will not only make you more efficient, but will make you the envy of your friends.

7. You might be able to apply for a short-term bank loan for your business, but chances are no bank will loan you the money. Banks are in business to make money, so unless you’re borrowing $50,000 or more, the usual minimum for a small business loan, you’re out of luck. You might want to check credit unions you, your spouse, or other family members may belong to. A last ditch effort may be to borrow some money to hold you over from a family member or friend—this normally isn’t a good idea, however.

8. Join forces and share some of your expenses.  Get together with other local writers or even friends to share services.

9. Take a temporary part-time job. If you do work part-time, try to work at a job that is somewhat related to your writing or the subject matter that you write about. This way, you won’t be wasting your creative energies.

10. You might try applying for a grant. This, like a bank loan, is a slim possibility. Remember, while there are loads of grants out there, unless you can meet their requirements, they might as well not exist. And if you do apply for a grant, be sure to follow the instructions to the letter. If you don’t, you’ll surely be rejected.