Photo by Proverbs 31:10.

It is no secret that human beings are pretty self-absorbed creatures, and while that sounds negative, a smart freelancer should actually think of it as a positive — because in the end people choose to hire you because of what you can do for them.

That’s right, “ask not what your clients can do for you, but what you can do for your clients”. Apologies to John F. Kennedy.

Despite the ubiquity of buzzwords like personal branding and other popular forms of self-promotion, in the end it stills comes to down to what a potential client gains from working with you or using your services: in other words, what is in it for them. You can use this natural self-interest to your advantage when crafting pitches and proposals by focusing on exactly that. Continue Reading

Photo by kevindooley.

One of the constant struggles of freelance writing is finding work, and gigs in the print world (and, increasingly, online) require writers to pitch their stories to editors.

As a freelance writer, your pitch is your greeting card, your foot in the door, and, hopefully, your meal ticket. Because editors don’t usually have time to review full articles, those queries will likely affect the bottom line more than your writing itself.

That said, it pays to know how to sell yourself and your ideas: in other words, how to quickly craft compelling pitches.

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