How did you feel the last time someone sent you a personalized thank you note out of the blue? It made your day, right?

But here’s the kicker. The next time you were in a position to help the person who made you feel great, you did so willingly. That’s the funny thing about a thank you. It has a habit of bringing good things back to the few people who still send them out.

Thank you notes are the simplest, cheapest, yet most powerful tool freelancers have at their disposal. Here are a few reasons to start sending more of them.

Send a thank you; win a client

When an editor rejected one of my ideas last year, I did what I always do—I sent my potential sources an email thanking them for the interesting quotes but unfortunately, the editor had rejected the story. One person responded. She told me how much she appreciated being kept in the loop because no other reporter ever did. By the way, she worked for a mid-sized, PR company looking for a part time freelancer. She’d checked out my website samples and wondered if I’d be interested in writing some press releases for her?

Um, yes?

By the end of 2011, that simple thank you note earned me $2,300. If her final project hadn’t clashed with my other year end deadlines I would have grossed even more.

Send a thank you; build a bridge

Thank you notes are also terrific bridge builders and I ought to know since I demolished quite a few in my callow youth. Here’s one every freelancer should build.

Who’s your least favorite person in your freelancing world? How about the surly clerk in Big Company X responsible for cutting your 1099 checks? Yup, definitely someone in desperate need of a few bridges and let me tell you why.

No one ever thanks the payroll clerk.

Payroll clerks are grunt workers. They are paid crappy salaries to run reports, open and close the monthly books, process company payroll and research all sorts of mind-numbing things like that one missing invoice from 2003 that’s somewhere in a haystack of dusty filing cabinets. The unluckier ones cannot take vacation at month end, quarter end or year-end, let alone between January 1 and April 15. Toss in a bunch of whiny freelancers to this thankless pressure cooker and even saint would snap.

So here’s what you do. The next time you (finally) get your check from Company X, give that clerk a call. Let her know how much you appreciate her help when she’s so busy. Make that personal connection even if it’s just a voice mail. Then follow up with a real, honest-to-God thank you note (like the old timers used to write back in the early 1990s)–card, envelope, stamps–the whole works. Not only will you make her day (maybe even her month) but chances are you’ll start getting those 1099 checks a lot faster.

Send a thank you; exit gracefully

A thank note also provides a graceful exit strategy—especially with tough clients. I know, I know, but when firing a particularly difficult client do not give in to the temptation to say how you really feel.

Instead, take the high road with a thank you note. Let the client know that while you are sorry that perhaps things didn’t quite work out the way you’d both hoped, you appreciated the opportunity to work together and wish him the best for his future endeavors.

There are three very good reasons to do this.

1. It’s a small world (three cheers for LinkedIn!) and you never know who this client is talking to.
2. Do you really want someone’s last memory of you to be a wild-eyed rant?

Perhaps all those brusque, 10:30pm-on-a-Friday-night emails were how your client cleared her desk for the weekend. Perhaps you could’ve done a better job clarifying certain project discrepancies but didn’t and are still fuming.

Blowing off steam certainly makes us feel better but what if the misperception was all in your head? Growl about it to your friends, kick the wall if you must, but do not blow your top when you fire a bad client. It’s simply not worth it.

The third reason why is simple. Saying thank you shows others that you are a professional. Regardless of what reality TV claims, class trumps crass every day of the week. You’ll be surprised at the number of good things that come from sending a thank you. At the very least, your mother would be proud. At the most, you will become someone everyone else wants to work with.

Gwynneth Anderson has small business in her bones. After watching her father build a thriving contracting company from scratch, she applied his lessons to her own business venture to help pay for college. After almost fifteen years of corporate ladder climbing, she decided to take her hard-won analytical skills and return to her entrepreneurial roots. Now her business is writing about business.

1. Saying No to NaNoWriMo

Marla Beck of The Relaxed Writer turns the tables on NaNoWriMo with 3 Reasons NOT to NaNoWriMo. Marla does more than give reasons to skip the event — she also offers a couple of alternatives, including doing it in the summer instead of November.

2. The Most Important Piece of Paper in Your Career

On the Make a Living Writing blog, Carol Tice discusses the importance of contracts with Why Freelance Writers Earn more with This Simple Piece of Paper. (You do work with a contract, right?) A side note: Carol is offering a 4-week Boot Camp on how to make good money writing online that starts November 8 — it’s free to Den members and $97 for non-members. I’ll be speaking on November 15 about query letters!

3. I Like This Post Because I’m 12

My almost-3-year-old boy loves it that fart jokes crack me up. PS Jones has a great post called Confident Freelancing on her blog Diary of a Mad Freelancer. You can’t beat a post that has a subhed “I’d never fart on a client.” Hilarious and on point.

4. Don’t Interview Without It

Over at The Urban Muse, Susan Johnston posts The Freelance Writer’s Interview Checklist. I’ve been hearing from some of my Write for Magazines e-course students that they’re afraid to do interviews, and this handy checklist should help every new writer feel more confident that they’re not forgetting anything important — like testing their recorder or asking the source for photos.

5. Reader Hint: Not Smooshing Bananas = Getting Your Writing Done

At one of my favorite blogs, Path of Possibility, Sage Cohen presents the amusingly-titled but very serious post It’s Never Too Late to Stop Smooshing Bananas. Read it to understand what smooshing bananas has to do with writing when you’re floundering. One great tip: “I was reminded that when you can’t act, planning can be both a satisfying and productive substitute. Can’t write for 2 hours? Spend 2 minutes imagining and outlining what the next 2-hour session will accomplish.”

6. Switching Niches

As someone who is starting (partly) over with my new career as a wellness coach and personal trainer, I enjoyed Steph Auteri’s post How to Start From Scratch with a New Niche on the Freelancedom blog. Quote of the day: “At this point, all the ‘how to boost your libido’ blog posts and mythology-based erotica essays are coming to you. But you know what’s not coming to you? Anything that’s not about your vagina.”

7. Got Clips? Use ‘Em

You’ve got clips — how can you parlay the into more work? Though Ruth Zive talks about copywriting in her post 6 Crucial Ways to Leverage Copywriting Samples to Your Best Business Advantage on the Freelance Writing Blog, journalists can glean some great ideas on how to make the most of their magazine and online writing clips. [lf]

One of the questions I get most often by part-time freelancers is “How do I know when the time is right to jump into full-time freelancing?” There’s no one easy answer, because it’s a pretty big decision to make.

Having been on multiple sides of the freelance writing equation, I have some unique perspective on the matter. Most people start out freelancing part-time, then make the switch to full-time when they feel the time is right. I kind of did the opposite.

See, I had always wanted to start a part-time freelancing career when I was working in the corporate world several years ago. But when I lost my job, it was time to sink or swim. I started freelancing full time, learned how to kick the content mills, nabbed a few long-term clients and life was good.

Then a freelancing client of mine, a local community hospital, asked me to come on full time and start their social media program from scratch. All things considered, the package they offered me, along with my freelance income on the side, was too much to turn down.

Through this whole process, I learned a thing or two about what it takes to be “ready” for a full-time career in freelance writing, and how it feels when you’re not ready.

Reason #1: You Love Your Job

I’m a firm believer that you have to love what you do to lead a truly fulfilled life. I’ve been in jobs where I felt like my soul was slowly being crushed away to nothing. And I’ve been in jobs where I felt almost guilty for collecting a paycheck because I was having so much fun and making a difference in the world.

If your situation is the latter, take a step back and ask yourself if you’re really willing to walk away from that, because those jobs can be hard to come by. Especially in today’s economy.

Reason #2: Benefits

Let’s face it. We live in a day where healthcare and other costs are through the roof. One of the biggest complaints I often hear from full-time freelancers is how much of their fees get eaten up by their healthcare premiums. It’s not unusual these days to see costs of $1,000 or more per month, and that doesn’t even factor in huge deductibles. The bottom line is that healthcare and other costs are outpacing earnings. By a lot.

Health care was one of the primary reasons I decided to go back into the “workforce.” I work for a local community hospital. My monthly premium is just over $250 for a family of four. The hospital covers one individual deductible, and there’s almost no expenses for anyone on my plan after deductible, meaning if only one person in my family has major medical issues within the year, I pay virtually nothing out of pocket. Hard to turn down coverage like that.

If you’re in a similar situation, factor in just how much private healthcare and other benefits will cost you if you make the jump to full-time. You might be surprised.

Reason #3: No Established Client List

When you transition to full-time freelancing, you’re going out on a limb. Make sure that limb is strong and steady before you leave behind a regular paycheck. That means having an established base of clients from which you can draw a reliable monthly income.

You never know when one of your clients is going to want to move in a different direction, not like your pitches for that month or even suddenly close for business. Yes, it happens. Having a full pipeline of clients will help you sleep better at night.

Reason #4: Your Life is in Flux

Life is never going to be perfect, but if you have major events going on, take a step back and think about whether now really is the right time to step out into the world of self-employment.

Do you have a baby on the way? Are you becoming caregivers to your elderly parents? Moving to a new home? Sending a kid to college? Anything that may mean major changes in the way you do your finances is especially a sign you may need to delay your plans, at least for a few months while you get things in order.

Reason #5: You’re Not Committed to Marketing Yourself

It’s pretty standard to have some level of uneasiness or nervousness about getting out there and marketing yourself. I went through a period of self-doubt before just getting on the phone and finding new clients through cold calling.

But if you’re not fully committed to doing whatever it takes to keep your pipeline of potential clients full, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to be the best at marketing. But if you’re not committed to putting your name out there and doing whatever it takes to market your business before you start, it will be an incredibly tough road ahead.

None of this is meant as discouragement. I’m a firm believer in you deciding what you want to happen in your life and making it happen. But when it comes to major life decisions, it helps to be fully informed and have a packed parachute before you jump out of the plane.

*****

When he’s not crafting hospital social media strategy in his day job, James freelances part-time for clients like the National Institutes of Health, the President’s Cancer Panel and the U.S. Department of Education. He helps other part-time freelancers learn how to maintain their sanity at his blog, The Part Time Freelancer.

Andrew McMillen: Things I’ve learned about freelance journalism

The best way to be a freelance journalist is to wake up every day and be a freelance journalist. This means you’ll spend your day researching story ideas, pitching stories to editors, requesting interviews with people you wish to speak to, transcribing interviews, shaping stories until they’re as good as they can be, and then filing them to your editor. I’ve just summed up the entire job in a sentence. That’s what freelance journalism involves. You’ll think of an interesting thing to write about, pitch this interesting thing to an editor, get permission from the editor to write about this interesting thing in exchange for money, and then go out and do just that. Over and over.

In a way, it’s not glamorous at all, but it depends how you look at it. I choose to look at freelance journalism as: getting paid to learn things, and sharing that knowledge with readers. In many cases I know very little about a particular topic when I pitch a story, but through curiosity and initiative in approaching an editor to write about it, I get paid to familiarise myself with an industry, or a culture, or an issue that affects a lot of people. I’m not saying that I become an expert on something after researching it for only a week or two, but I’ll generally know more about it than the average person. And then when the average person reads my story, they too become informed. It’s a beautiful cycle, and it’s a wonderful way to make a living, as long as you have an interest in learning things. If not, freelance journalism probably isn’t for you. But you should still try it anyway, because you never know.

Ideas. You need to have absolute faith and conviction in your ideas, because ideas are your lifeblood as a freelance journalist. Without them, you fail. Without them, you’re nothing to nobody. But to have an idea is not enough: you need to conceptualise an idea in a full enough manner that an editor will read your idea and be willing to part with a few hundred or thousand dollars from their budget in order for you to bring that idea to fruition. When I started freelance journalism, my ideas were terrible. I look back on them now and I’m embarrassed by how lame and elementary they seem in comparison to what I’m pitching now. Like anything though, freelance journalism is a learning experience, and you get better over time. But at the heart of this game is the quality of your ideas, which you need to hone and sharpen and polish on a daily basis if you have any hope of getting anywhere.

Curiosity. Curiosity is currency. As I mentioned earlier, I see this job as being paid to learn, and to teach. Curiosity is key, though, because 95% of my ideas come from reading or watching something and wondering, “why is that?” Or, “how does that work?” Or “why did that person or company make that decision?” Generally, the question is “why.” The “why” should be a question that you ask yourself constantly. Not out loud, because you’ll probably sound like a lunatic, but as you move through the world, be curious. Story ideas should come easily if you keep listening to the “Why” in the back of your head.

Mentors. This might be the most important thing I’m going to say today. You need to find a mentor. You need to find someone knowledgeable, who believes in you, who you can report to on a weekly basis and whose input you greatly value. I’m not saying it’s impossible to succeed without one, but I’d guess that it would be much harder. I’ve had a mentor for two years and I wouldn’t have achieved anywhere near as much as I have without their help. I don’t quite know how to explain it, or even how it works, but being accountable to someone other than yourself is a massive productivity boost. You need someone who’ll give you a kick up the arse if you have a slack week, or gently pick you up if you’re feeling deflated for whatever reason. This person doesn’t necessarily have to be a writer or a journalist. As long as they understand the freelance lifestyle and have a background in anything creative, they should be a good fit. But you won’t know if they’re a good fit until you try a mentor relationship. So start thinking about mentors, if you’re serious about pursuing freelance journalism.

Always look up. Always keep moving forward. Try to have a couple of projects on the go at any one time. Even if you’ve got a few commissions in hand, always be researching new ideas and thinking of new angles that could work for particular publications. The image I like to think of is Tarzan, swinging from tree to tree, only you’re swinging from idea to idea, and from publication to publication. While you’re a freelancer, you shouldn’t settle, even if you find one or two consistent, well-paying gigs. Always be looking up, for your next opportunity, your next big break. Try not to stand still for too long.

Set goals, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Not every day will bring you closer to your goals. You’ll have days where the thought of pitching and writing stories makes you want to crack your skull open against the wall. This is fine, as long as most days aren’t like that. Try to maintain a generally productive mindset, but pay attention to your mental state. Don’t force yourself to work if your mind is screaming out against the concept. If you do take a break, whether for an hour or a day, try not to feel guilty about it.

Self-motivation. It goes without saying that you have to be self-motivated to have any kind of success in this game. Most of the time, you’ll probably be working alone. If you’ve never worked this way before, it can be a shock to the system. It was for me. It took me over a year to find a rhythm where I could sit at my desk all day and work alone without craving some kind of distraction or human interaction. But I found it, eventually, and it’s a nice place to be. Even if I do mess it up occasionally.

Self-talk. In a similar vein to the last point, self-talk is hugely important in this line of work. You are directly responsible for your income. You can’t just show up at your desk and get paid. You have to research, think, send emails, and maintain relationships with people who might know you only as words on a screen. It is a pretty ludicrous situation to be in, if you sit down and really think about it. So try not to think about it. But you need to believe that you can do this, if you want to have anything resembling a career in freelance journalism. You need to believe in yourself, most days of the week. There isn’t a whole lot of room for self-doubt in this game. I think the best way to avoid self-doubt is to always be busy, so that you don’t have time to doubt yourself.

A to-do list to keep track of your daily tasks is a must. Being a freelancer means you’ll be doing lots of follow-ups with people; chasing invoices, chasing interviews, chasing stories you’ve pitched and never heard back from the editor on. These things are tiny and easy to forget, which is why you need to keep track of them. I use a to-do list called teuxdeux.com, spelt the French way. It’s very simple but clean, and lets you see five days ahead at a time. It also has an iPhone app which allows me to refer to it and cross things off when I’m out of office. There are probably many other sites and apps with the same functions but this one works very well for me.

Set up a blog. This is simple and non-negotiable. Set up a blog to act as your portfolio of published work. It doesn’t have to be flashy, it just has to show your work and be regularly updated. If you can, register yourname.com and set up the blog there. Doing this was one of the best decisions I’ve made as a freelance journalist.

Set boundaries. Since you’re not constricted by a traditional workplace or business hours, it’s quite easy to find yourself working from the moment you wake up, until the moment you go to sleep. I’ve been there. It’s not healthy; it’s how you become burnt-out. It’s important to set boundaries around your workplace as a freelancer, and in this case, your workplace is wherever your PC is. For around nine months I’ve kept Saturday as a ‘PC free day’, where I don’t turn the computer on or do any work-related tasks. I also keep Sunday as a day for catching up on RSS feeds, updating my blog, replying to emails; pretty non-intensive tasks. And Monday to Friday is for work. Structuring your workweek is important. You need to respect boundaries, both for yourself and for those closest to you.

Finally: enjoy yourself. Freelance journalism can be a huge amount of fun if you approach it with the right attitude. It’s a great alternative to the traditional path of cadetships and applying for reporter jobs, and you can start doing it today. With persistence, self-belief and talent, there’s no reason why you can’t make a living from freelance journalism. I highly recommend it.

Andrew McMillen (@NiteShok) is a freelance journalist based in Brisbane, Australia. http://andrewmcmillen.com/

As you probably know — because I never stop talking about it — I’m now a wellness coach. I offered 50 lucky people a free wellness coaching phone session to help me towards my certification (I’m full up, by the way!), and many of those people happened to be writers because they responded to a post about the offer on the Renegade Writer Blog.

As I coached these writers on their wellness, I started to see an amazing trend: These writers’ health woes were directly related to the state of their writing careers. For example, one client was an emotional eater who reached for sweets whenever she felt she wasn’t making enough headway on a writing project. Another blamed problems ranging from allergies to liver issues on the fact that she deferred her dream to be a writer due to a lack of time. And there are more examples.

It’s no secret that stress and emotional disturbance can lead to health problems. I’m not sure whether everyone’s job is so closely linked to their health, but I’d wager that the connection is stronger in creative professions where we consider our careers our passions — our very lifeblood.

So how can you improve your writing career — and your health?

The biggest obstacle getting in the way of most would-be professional writers is that between their regular jobs, their families, and their other obligations, they can never find the time to build their writing careers — time to brainstorm ideas, time to write, time to market.

The trick is to make the time — don’t find it. Many writers moan that they can’t find the time for their writing — and their frustration leads to health issues ranging from anxiety to emotional eating. The trick is, you can’t just find unused time lying around waiting for you to come along and use it for writing — you have to make time.

Ask yourself this super-secret coaching question: If your doctor told you that you had to work on your writing career right away or you would die, how would you do it?

I’ll bet if this happened, you would manage to carve some time out of your schedule. Maybe you would cut an obligation or two out of your schedule. Or ask your spouse for one kid-free hour a day. Or start ordering more take-out meals (healthy ones!) so you don’t have to cook and clean every night — or even take advantage of the many meal-prep places that are popping up. Or get up an hour early (or stay up an hour later).

See? There’s no shortage of ways to make time if you really, really had to. And trust me — you have to. If you’re a writer, your health depends on it. [lf]