Things Your Freelance Writing Coach Won’t Tell You
There are a lot of things that most freelance writing courses will never attempt to teach. They will only really work for a very small percentage of writers who are already prepared to do the work and could probably do it without having spent the money on the course. After working with several beginners lately, I have come to the conclusion that these courses are useless, because they refuse to face the cold hard facts.
- Most people paying for a freelance writing course are either underemployed, or unemployed and are looking to get paid, like today!
- Most “writers” who think they will try their hand at professional copy writing have no real experience in anything remotely related to the industry. –no, your high school English comp class did not prepare you.
- Most course takers will not accurately assess their own skills. Because they can understand what they think the course is teaching, they will continue thinking of themselves as prepared, when the are, in fact, not.
- Most beginners cannot skip the opening steps to learning how to be an online copywriter with any success at all. But, most courses will continue to teach that you can, because the people who write them were not beginners when they came to this industry, although they make out like they were.
- Most people who attempt to make money as writers online, after following the faulty advice given –not to entry level writers- will give up and assume that A: the industry is ridiculous and no one can break in, or B: they are not skilled enough to become a writer. Neither of these is true.
So, what’s a beginner to do when faced with the fact that they need to eat and they are being told the work is out there, but following the tips and tricks is not working for them? I hope they will come here and read my real world advice. If you are reading this and already know the things I am sharing, please share it with someone who is not.
Here are three things I think can revolutionize most beginners experience in online writing!
- You have to start somewhere: It is all well and good to talk about how bad content mills and agencies can be, but the reality is, most of us needed to start there to learn how to do this business.
- You need to assess your current skills honestly! Your mom is not a good judge of your writing and winning that high school essay contest doesn’t mean anything in this world. If you want to learn the necessary skills, the first step is admitting you ain’t got ‘em.
- It is neither as hard as you think, or as easy as they make it sound! The good news is, you can learn this business in a relatively short amount of time. The better news is, you can get paid –maybe not much to start- to learn it!
It’s a good job. I really do pay my bills from the comfort of my couch, week in/ week out, based on things I write for companies across the web. I like what I do. But, there are weeks when it’s tough. If you want to do this, follow my advice here and I guarantee you can get paid, but ignore me at your own peril.
If you’d like to read the rest, come visit me at my website, MarkRMorrisJr.com
