How do you pay the bills?

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  • #16
    Re: How do you pay the bills?

    I used to be a full time freelance writer, but found the endless need to hustle for new work so time consuming and stressful, that I was better of just getting a mindless service industry gig with good tips. I've found the simple fact that I could go to my job, make enough money to pay my bills and never have to think about work once I get home, incredibly helpful in allowing me to just focus on the writing I care about. I still do a little freelance work on the side, but in no way is it as time consuming as it was before. Plus, I've found that in no longer being a full time freelance writer, my vitality for writing has increased ten-fold. After all, if you're writing all day, how on earth can you find the energy to write?
    "Someone shot me!" --Anonymous

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    • #17
      Re: How do you pay the bills?

      I work as a contractor on a studio lot. Pays way better than most of the studio gigs AND I get to network.
      writertypepeople.tumblr.com
      twitter.com/susanlbridges
      pendantaudio.com

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      • #18
        Re: How do you pay the bills?

        I am a single parent raising a 12 year old fab daughter. I work for the largest ethnic distributors in the country that focuses on ethnic hair care, skin care and beauty care.

        It's always amazing to me when I tell people what I do, because invariably the first question is, "are you the only white person?" Which is silly of course, because unfortunately, it's a real world reflection-- white males are the executives and upper management while the women are the support staff that does the bulk of the workload. The warehouse workers are a wonderful eclectic blend of people of color from around the world.

        It's a well paying job, better than average, I would guess, but was a significant step down when I became a single parent. It pays my mortgage, allows me to live (albeit not at the same level as my neighbors) in a really great town with an exceptional school system (puts LA public schools to shame) and the flexibility of a lower stress environment that doesn't require travel except twice a year. I do have to fight a lot of 'afluenza,' though trying to keep my daughter grounded.

        We all make sacrifices for the right reasons.

        It's flexible, and I'm grateful for that.

        Would I rather be writing for a living? Absolutely.

        One day soon.

        Keep a weather-eye.

        FA4
        "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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        • #19
          Re: How do you pay the bills?

          Originally posted by Mariah_N_P View Post
          And how do you get something like that started?
          Well, I went freelance after working at different ad agencies so I have that on my resume plus the portfolio of work from those staff jobs. However, I know several writers who built up their freelance work and never worked on staff anywhere.

          Clients looking for freelancers are really interested in writing samples. So, if you know friends, family, with their own business websites, you could offer to revise their "About Us" page for free then use those as samples and the people as references. Three samples are really enough.

          Then, as lawn59 said above, you have to go prospecting for leads. Prospecting can be a pain until you get the hang of it and learn when to cut a lead loose because they're wasting your time and/or too cheap to pay your rates. I use a couple of "funnels" to find potential clients. The trick is to find clients who will have a flow of work to give you. One-shot gigs are fine and can be lucrative but if all your clients are "one and gone forever" clients you'll always be prospecting.

          I have one ongoing client I found on Craiglist four years ago. I responded to them because their ad was written in a way that signaled a professional had written it. I avoid ads that sound like Joe Blow started a little biz from his garage. I've found other lucrative gigs on Craigs over the years but, since I'm very selective, I only respond to one out of every 100 ads I read.

          Another funnel is cold calls, cold emails, and even sending hard copy letters in response to ads, believe it or not. If you rely on the net for all your leads you're limiting your options and, at the same time, competing with writers all over the world.

          Cold call example: I was looking in the white pages (yes, the phone book) for the street address of a local biz for a service I needed. My eyes caught the name of a catalog company for educational products. They were 15 minutes away but, since they're a B2B company that sold to retail stores, I'd never heard of them. I jotted down the number and when I had time, I just cold called. The woman and her partner invited me to stop by. We chatted. I found out they had an in-house designer but the copy was written by their account managers (and it showed). So they were happy to outsource it to me. And for the next five years I worked on their quarterly catalogs and their website. They eventually sold the company to a larger competitor who had their own in-house writing/design team but it was a nice run of steady work while it lasted.

          Cold email example: I was bouncing around the net looking for a specific scented candle I had received as a gift. I found a woman who makes her own beauty products plus candles etc. She had really cool names for her products but the 75-word descriptions were sort of flat. So I sent her an email, complemented her on her site, introduced myself, and included a few lines of copy that I felt would enhance the description of one item. She liked the sample I wrote and hired me to rewrite all her product descriptions.

          Hard copy letter: I saw an online ad for a major national company with headquarters about 30 minutes from me. They were seeking a freelancer to develop an ad campaign. They requested emailed resumes and links or PDFs of samples sent to HR. I knew their inbox would be flooded with respondents then filtered through HR people before forwarded to the marketing dept. So, I went to their site, got the name of their marketing director, and sent a packet with a cover letter, resume, and hard copies of ad campaigns I'd done, and snail-mailed it to his attention. He was so intrigued that I took the initiative to do this, he called me in for a face-to-face and I walked out with the gig contract in hand.

          When you freelance you don't want too many one-shot clients. You want a short list of clients with whom you build ongoing relationships with a flow of work. These are the people who will then refer you to other people.

          Also, look for independent graphic designers and send them an "if you ever need a writer" email. Graphic designers will often subcontract their clients' writing needs to you. You don't have contact with the client unless the designer wants you to. The client will be billed for the entire job by the designer. Then the designer pays you. And you will have to drop your rate a bit so the designer gets his/her markup. But I think it's well worth it because I'm not spending time holding a client's hand. I also get subcontract gigs from other writers who, when they're too busy to take on new work, outsource to me at my subcontract rate. Their client has no idea the writer has actually used another writer for the job.

          And so ends this tutorial on how to freelance for fun and profit.
          Last edited by sc111; 08-01-2014, 08:33 AM.
          Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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          • #20
            Re: How do you pay the bills?

            You're so generous with your time, sc. Good karma for you. I wish you every success.
            "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
            Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

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            • #21
              Re: How do you pay the bills?

              I worked in sales for years. Mostly commissioned work in the wholesale furniture business. Set my own hours and was able to write and act when I wanted to. When I got a recurring part, even though it was very small, in a network TV series, I quit. I supplemented the income by getting a radio DJ job (through a series of miracles) and then got fortunate and optioned for a LOT of money, the first script I ever wrote... it never got made, but that's another story.

              TV show lasted 6 season and during that time I networked my ass off and made contacts that I still have today.... and now I don't act much anymore, did one film last year, and make a pretty damn good living writing.

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              • #22
                Re: How do you pay the bills?

                Originally posted by WaitForIt View Post
                You're so generous with your time, sc. Good karma for you. I wish you every success.
                Thanks. To paraphrase Blanche in Streetcar, I've benefited from the kindness of strangers and make a point to pass it on.

                The way I see it, why not use our writing skills to be paid for something we do for nothing most of the time. Another bennie -- when you start getting paid to write -- even though it's not for a feature film script -- you gain more confidence in your skills and you understand the value you bring to the table.
                Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                • #23
                  Re: How do you pay the bills?

                  Like SC, I write for a living. I'm a news editor for a website and also do some freelance writing on the side. I do a ton of writing/editing seven days a week. It can be exhausting and does lead to occasional burnout, which is why I always take care of my TV writing early in the morning (like 4:30) before I do anything else. My thinking is if I'm going to hit a brick wall, might as well do it on something I don't care as much about.

                  I don't know if writing for a living boosts my confidence. Maybe at one point it did. Now it's just something I do. Really more of a grind than anything. What does boost confidence is taking steps in the industry and having good things happen with my scripts, which lately has been the case for me.

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                  • #24
                    Re: How do you pay the bills?

                    Mike Judge said it best in this scene from Office Space http://youtu.be/ArVEXmzX5I8

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                    • #25
                      Re: How do you pay the bills?

                      Graphic design and animation...everything from websites to mobile apps and anything in between. I do contract mostly for B2B companies. In my experience the bigger they are the more time you have to do your own thing like write when nobody is paying attention (assuming you're ahead on your work and deadlines are met). Majority of the time they aren't cheap either on the hourly rate. It allows me to make enough money to have a social life and travel as well as write.

                      I've done ad agencies in the past and in my experience they've been so fast paced with unrealistic deadlines due to sales guys who say whatever they have to say to close a deal that I often had to take work home which would cut into my writing time in order to finish their s$#@. Most ad agencies I've worked for no matter how big tend to be cheap or if you do have a decent salary you will work well beyond 40 hours per week because if you are getting paid well you most likely are really good at what you do or have a unique skillset which means you will be on all the high priority projects with the more important clients which equals more stress and less time doing your writing, etc.

                      I've been doing it for 15 years now so I can do it pretty much with my eyes closed. If you have an eye for detail and art and you are computer savvy with software like Adobe then it could be a good side hustle for you even if you're just doing posters for indie short filmmakers or whatever. The real money comes into play when you deal with companies or people who aren't paying out of pocket or have a budget. Mom and pop shop operations normally want a Ferrari with beer money. You'd be surprised at how much money big companies blow on things that could be done for hundreds of thousands of dollars less. They tend to have the attitude of "well it's not my money" and the "we have to use it or lose it by the end of the fiscal year" mentality.

                      The trick is to get a day-job that pays enough for you to maintain a normal life but also has the flexibility for you to take off when needed and doesn't over work you. Sometimes you can end up in a job that is too demanding that pays well and before you know it you don't have time to write and pursue your screenwriting goals so you most likely end up still feeling unfulfilled -- at least for those of us who aren't satisfied with just a big paycheck in an area you couldn't care less about and have no passion for.
                      Last edited by Juno Styles; 08-10-2014, 03:39 PM.
                      One must be fearless and tenacious when pursuing their dreams. If you don't, regret will be your reward.

                      The Fiction Story Room

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                      • #26
                        Re: How do you pay the bills?

                        I also do writing/editing for a living and have done so since graduating college, approximately 500 years ago. Started off in newspaper journalism, then switched to online business writing, medical writing, and feature writing. My current writing/editing job -- for a large, healthcare-related nonprofit -- I've had for four years. It pays more than enough to take care of the bills and live in San Francisco while still giving me time to write scripts and pursue freelance work.

                        I think Juno said it best --

                        "The trick is to get a day-job that pays enough for you to maintain a normal life but also has the flexibility for you to take off when needed and doesn't over work you."

                        That's they key. And that's what I have -- besides also doing what I love and the only trade I feel truly competent at for a living. I really can't complain!

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                        • #27
                          Re: How do you pay the bills?

                          This thread is interesting because I'm starting a new job on wednesday after being jobless for 6 months. It's a desk-job from 8-5 so hopefully I'll have enough energy to come home and write for a couple of hours. (Maybe even crank out pages at work once I'm settled.) When I worked in retail the irregular hours plus standing on my feet for 12 hours a day was way too exhausting for me to write.

                          I'd hate to have finally found a decent job only to find out I don't have time to write anymore. So, wish me luck.

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                          • #28
                            Re: How do you pay the bills?

                            Newspaper copy editor and page designer, originally a reporter but that was quite a while ago. The nice thing about copy desk jobs on a morning paper is the shifts are mostly all somewhere between 2 p.m.-11 p.m., which, while not so great for a social life, means I can get up and write for several hours before work rather than trying to squeeze out pages after 8 hours on the job.
                            Patrick Sweeney

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                            • #29
                              Re: How do you pay the bills?

                              I'm incredibly lucky; my wife supports me. But that's after being together for 18 years, during which there have been times I've carried her so it all evens out. Plus we made the decision that one of us would stay at home to care for our children - when the time came it made more sense that I did it.

                              The pros are obvious - from 9am-3pm during school days I get to do what I want - in theory. The cons are that looking after children is more tiring than you'd think, school holidays always seem to come when a project is taking off and I must admit I've gotten lazy. When I used to do a 9-5 and write at home, I had more discipline - my brain was conditioned to know that sitting at a computer meant working, not looking at 23 Ways 'Friends' Can Improve Your Sex-Life on Buzzfeed. And working in offices was a great way of tuning in to people's voices, stories, mannerisms - all good fodder for writing.

                              Having said that, I wouldn't change things. One weird, unexpected pro of spending all day looking after children is it's made me more optimistic. My writing used to be very cynical, bordering on misanthropic. Listening to children all day reintroduces the concept of 'fun' into your life, which is never a bad thing.
                              My stuff

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                              • #30
                                Re: How do you pay the bills?

                                Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                                Thanks. To paraphrase Blanche in Streetcar, I've benefited from the kindness of strangers and make a point to pass it on.

                                The way I see it, why not use our writing skills to be paid for something we do for nothing most of the time. Another bennie -- when you start getting paid to write -- even though it's not for a feature film script -- you gain more confidence in your skills and you understand the value you bring to the table.
                                Thank you SO much for your thorough advice. Jeez, I'm having enough trouble trying to find a regular job through two different temp agencies. I'm so at the end of my tether. Thank God I have my family to support me.

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