I started working as a freelance copy editor in February of 2022 and have enjoyed great success — until last month. Freelancers of AskMe, I'd love your tips or advice for how I might improve and diversify my client/job leads, my income stream, and my marketability.
Some background: During the pandemic, I was forced to quit my job of twelve years. After an extended period of unemployment, I decided to put my copy editing skills to use and created a profile on a popular and well-established freelancer website. For the sake of semi-anonymity, I'll be coy and say that the freelancer website starts with the letter "U." So, no need to recommend that particular site to me since I'm already using it.
The type of editing work I do: I provide proofreading, copy editing, line editing, and developmental editing services. Most of the work is business/non-fiction, but I've worked on fiction and creative non-fic, too. I started out by taking as many editing jobs — and as many types of editing jobs — as possible. I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity, as well as determine if I enjoy and have more talent for some editing jobs versus others. In general, here's what I've edited (items in bold = I do this type of editing often):
SEO articles for a content strategy firm, romance novels (developmental as well as copy editing), trade magazines, a one-off specialty magazine for a major arts organization, program booklets for a major speaker forum, a memoir, a novel (literary fiction), a fantasy novel, a book-length guide to interviewing for a job in the UX industry, a book-length guide to getting a job in film production, website content, blog posts, knowledge bases, patient education materials for a public health non-profit.
Supplemental skills this is something I want to work on]: I do a lot of fact checking and research, especially for content strategy/SEO; I've also done some light eBook formatting (Kindle) and brochure/PDF layouts and designs in both Canva and Adobe InDesign.
As far as what I actually enjoy, I've found that I prefer working with businesses, non-profits, and industry professionals. That's because the written content, and the clients, tend to be much more dispassionate (and straightforward) than fiction authors. I'm a competent fiction editor but it doesn't pay as well, and I prefer to avoid the increased risk for conflict that can result from creative differences.
What I currently do to find work: Between March and the beginning of August this year, I had anywhere from 35-50 hours of work every week. As a result, I think I got a little comfortable and fell out of the habit of searching for work. Several of my client's projects either concluded or went on an indefinite pause in August. Some of this I could have anticipated. I'm usually good about asking "What's next?" but I think I started to take the work for granted, and need to find a better strategy for gauging how much work my clients may, or may not, have for me in the future.
August and September have been hit or miss. It went dead for a while, then several clients dumped work on me for about a week, and then it went dead again. I have maybe 5-10 hours of guaranteed work each week but I'm scraping by. This is extra stressful because I'd already planned a trip the first week of October and, as we all know, freelancers don't get paid vacation. I do have some guaranteed projects in October but I need something to keep me afloat for the next three weeks.
I've been applying for jobs on the freelancer site I use, where I'm a top-rated freelancer with a perfect rating, but 1) most of the current jobs available are low quality, 2) the few jobs that are high quality are now more competitive than ever, and I'm not seeing the same success rate that I used to enjoy. I used to secure about 1 out of every 10 jobs I applied for (trust me when I tell you that a 10% success rate is good on this website), so I'm really worried.
I know I'm technically a "baby freelancer" (not even two years in the role!) and I'm still learning the ropes. This experience has definitely been a lesson.
My spouse even pointed out that this time last year, the same thing happened: mid-summer was busy, and then work disappeared in August and September. So, I recognize that some of this may be seasonal, but that doesn't change the fact that I could use a new strategy.
A little more about how I run my operation: I always connect with clients on LinkedIn; I message my established clients to let them know when I have an opening in my schedule and I'm available to take on any extra work they may have; I follow up on any past leads that were left unresolved (one of my former clients referred me to a friend, and I've got a consultation with them for later today).
What I'm thinking about doing so far: Finding other freelancer websites where I can create a profile (which ones are worth it?); building up new skills that make me more attractive to potential clients. I have some ideas for the skills I could work on (getting better with Adobe InDesign and InCopy; learning how to code eBooks from scratch; learning how to edit resumes; learning how to write grant applications; learning more about the strategy side of content strategy; etc.) but would love any ideas for other skills that pair well with copy editing.
In addition to gathering ideas for skills I could develop, I'd also like any ideas for how I can make myself more marketable, how to source more client leads, and how to better track/anticipate the ebbs and flows of my work so that I can get ahead of any dry spells. |
Video
Web
Image
Music
BlogU
