You ask, we answer: What should I spend my money on?
Chris writes: “As a beginning freelancer, I would love to know how best to spend my limited money. It seems as though there is a whole industry out trying to drain the aspiring writer of every penny. There are so many how-to books and articles and consultants out there. Other than buying your books (which are packed with useful information), what are the best strategic purchases that a beginning freelancer can make to drum up leads, and market themselves? An AvantGuild membership at Mediabistro? An Elance account? A JustMarkets subscription? A membership to the National Writers Union?”
Great question! There are so many people and businesses out there trying to squeeze bucks out of writers: magazine directories, query-sending services, software vendors, job boards, forums, writers of books about breaking rules…
When I was getting started, I spent my money on just a few things: a good computer and modem, office supplies like paperclips and stamps, business cards, writing books, and a copy of Writer’s Market.
Now that I’ve been writing professionally for more than nine years, I still invest in a good computer and (cable) modem, office supplies like paperclips and stamps, business cards, writing books, and a copy of (online) Writer’s Market, just as I did when I was starting out. But I also paid for a subscription to a professional writer’s forum (which has paid for itself many times over), hired a virtual assistant to help me with research and transcription and book marketing, had a website professionally designed, bought TextExpander software, invested in an online backup service for my computer documents, and ordered an Olympus digital voice recorder to record interviews (welcome to the 21st century, Linda!). On the other hand, I don’t belong to any writing organizations, I don’t use fancy accounting software, and I don’t subscribe to any job boards.
When you’re determining whether to shell out your hard-earned cash for something, ask yourself these questions:
- What is the Return On Investment? For example, hiring a virtual assistant gives me more time to do what I’m good at — querying — so I can get more work and make more money. A new book that gives me an edge on marketing myself will help me sell more books and articles and earn more money. My inkjet copier has earned back its price by letting me make cheap color copies instead of ponying up a buck a page at Staples. On the other hand, many of the paid job boards post “opportunities” that offer like $2 per article, so I would never earn back the cost. (Some job boards are winners, and some are big, money-sucking losers. Often you can join job boards on a monthly basis so you can pull the plug if you don’t earn back your money in a certain amount of time.)
- Can I get it cheaper/for free? Why subscribe to all of your target market magazines if you can get them free from the library? Do you want to hire someone to create a website for you, or would you rather invest the time in learning how to create one yourself? Mastheads.org is a great service, and it’s cheap, but if you’re at the bookstore every day anyway (like me), then you can check the mastheads yourself gratis. If you send/receive one fax per month, you might be able to get by with a cheap/free online fax service like eFax instead of investing in a fax machine and a separate phone line.
- Can I trade for it? Several years ago I traded writing services for professional website design. Recently, I bartered writing consulting for life coaching services. If you have something other people want — writing skills (duh), graphic design skills, handmade soaps, the ability to give a really good massage — you may be able to barter for products or services instead of paying cash.
- Will it help me project a more professional image? The women’s magazines always tell us that “If you feel sexy, you are sexy.” Well, if you look successful and feel successful, you’re more likely to be successful. If you think that professionally-designed business cards will help you look like a winner, and you can afford them, go for it. Or maybe it’s a nice website, your own URL so you can be yourname@yourname.com instead of writergod647@aol.com, or voicemail instead of an answering machine so your editors never get a busy signal.
- Is it a scam? Query writing software, services that promise to send out your queries for you, job boards that charge you $15 per month but post only $2 “keyword article” opportunities — scam, scam, scam. Save your money.
- Is it well-respected by other writers? Before signing on the dotted line, do a Google search and ask on writing boards like AbsoluteWrite to get other writers’ opinions of the item or service. I hired the virtual assistant on the recommendation of a writer friend I trust, and asked other writers for their evaluations of the digital recorder I had my eye on.
That’s how I make my spending decisions…how do you decide whether a product or service is worth the money? Please let us know in the Comments. Also, if you have a question you’d like us to answer on the blog, e-mail us at questions [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com.
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Nov 1, 2006 Advice, You Ask, We Answer
Good post, and good questions/answers (yeah, I need to break down and get that digital recorder, too!)
Other than the basics, meaning a small desk with lamp, good laptop, business cards, accounting software (I use Quickbooks,) separate business checking account/credit card and paying for a Web site with email, I’d recommend mediabistro.com for their “How to Pitch/Pitches That Worked” series. It’s a great supplement to the info in “Writer’s Market.”
I also use Wooden Horse Publishing for detailed magazine info and announcements of new publications. Another source that’s free is your local Craigslist; they have both “Writing/Editing Jobs” and “Writing Gigs” listings.
Thanks for this thread, and thanks for the “Renegade Writer;” that book has been invaluable to me in getting a freelance writing career off of the ground this year.
Sheila
I’m in my first year of freelancing, and here’s what I’ve spent my money on:
* A subscription to a writer’s board
* A professional design for my website and a professional domain name (www.heatherboerner.com)
* Two classes: one on writing queries and one on planning my writing business
* Business cards (which I got for cheap on vistaprints’ web site)
* Coffee with other freelancers and lunch with editor friends
* Office supplies (file folders, paper, printer ink, a bulletin board, a wall calendar on which to write assignment due dates and pay)
* More cell phone minutes. My cell phone is my work phone.
* A good earpiece for my cell so I can type without holding the phone.
I’m also saving for a new computer to be even more efficient. All of these things have paid for themselves already, I feel, or are on their way towards it.
Luckily, you can set up a freelance business without much money. I didn’t buy many books (with a few notable exceptions). I feel like the classes and the web site were the best things I did for my business. I know I’ve gotten work because of my web site.
This is a great topic. Thanks for bringing it up!
Heather
GREAT post. Thanks Linda, Diana. My addition: I splurged on a pricey ergonomic chair last year, after forking over a sizable chunk of my hard-earned freelance savings to my chiropractor. I also buy a lot of steak dinners/pizzas for my tech-support friend; it’s the least I can do for all the freebies he gives me. I now have my eye on:
$ New business cards and postcards to reflect my newish web URL
$ A new laptop computer (the one I’m using is on its last, er, megs)
$ A whiteboard, so I can keep track of this week’s (ever-changing) deadlines more easily (yes, I work with corp clients; hence the jumping deadlines)
$ A foot rest, for the ultimate ergo experience
$ A monthly massage (!)