Ive been in publishing since 1987, have been a freelancer since 1993 and ran an editorial staffing agency in New York City from 1996 through 2004.

Over the years, Ive noticed that successful freelancers, eg, those who make their living entirely from freelancing (writing, editing, copywriting, web design, etc.), have the following seven traits in common.

1. Write/design every day: Many freelancers are drawn to their particular career because they love it. They love to write, design, draw whatever it is, they would do it for free.

Once they decide to freelance full time, most work at it every day. They write articles, design sites, doodle illustrations, etc. In other words, they dont stop working on their craft just because there is no paying client.

Benefit to their career: These professionals always have a body of work to sell, show, update their portfolio with, etc. Beyond that, it keeps their skills fresh and allows them to work that much faster once they are being paid for a project.

As a personal example, when I first started to write articles to promote my business, it would take upwards of two hours to complete one. Now, I can knock one out in 30 minutes if I have to.

Side Note: I have run across more than a few freelancers who dont exactly love what they do. BUT, because they like the life of freelancing, they discipline themselves to do what it takes, eg, (work at it steadily) to make a living at it.

2. Dont wait for markets to come to them: Building on this first habit, when you are constantly churning out new material, you dont have to wait for clients to come to you, you can pitch to them.

If youve written a great article on the benefits of yoga, why wait for a national exercise magazine to take months to get back to you. Pitch your local newspaper journalist who covers health. Youll usually know within a week or two if they can use your story.

Your neighborhood paper cant use it? Pitch the neighboring countys newspaper, a popular e-zine dedicated to womens health, a new health website that needs fresh content, etc.

Successful freelancers are this proactive. When I was recruiting, I was constantly amazed at the type of assignments successful freelancers were able to ferret out for themselves.

When Id ask, How did you get that assignment, come up with that idea?, the comments ranged from, I couldnt sleep last night so I start doing some digging online because I just wrote this great article and wanted to get it published, to I was just doodling and came upon this great design; I knew it would make a great logo for this niche, so I put it on a t-shirt and pitched a few boutiques in my neighborhood

Successful freelancers are not only creative in their work, theyre creative in how they locate markets to sell their work.

3. Have more than one stream of income: By this, I do not mean that they have second jobs. Most successful freelancers do more than one thing.

For example, a writer may design a line of themed t-shirts with their witticisms on them. Illustrators, in addition to creating logos, may sell paintings or drawings. Web designers may also create online games.

I dont know how many more brain cells creative types use than the rest of the population, but editorial and creative professionals usually dibble and dabble in more than one sector and quite successfully I might add.

4. Have a niche: While this may seem to contradict the previous habit, it doesnt. Most successful freelancers do one thing and do it very well. Eg, they are a medical writer, a direct mail copywriter, a web designer.

This is because successful freelancers usually have a professional background in the discipline in which they freelance. Usually, they have built up a reputation and client list based on their expertise/experience.

Benefit to their career: This works well because once clients are comfortable with you on one level, you can approach them about doing other types of projects. In some cases, they will even approach you.

For example, if you are a web designer, you can approach a client about doing some logo design work. Most web designers are familiar with other tools of the trade like logo design software, that makes it easy for them to offer peripheral services to clients.

In the retail trade, this is known as upselling. BUT, you can only upsell if you have established a level of trust and professionalism in your base (niche) skill.

5. Have a website: Without fail, all successful freelancers have at least a basic website. They realize the need to present a professional image to clients and have invested in an online presence.

Every once in a while, I am still asked by those just starting out if they need a website. Invariably, I ask, Would you do business without a telephone? I think websites have progressed to this point.

Benefit to their career: Websites save freelancers time which is at a premium if you are a successful freelancer. You can direct potential clients there to see samples of your work, get pricing info, your professional credentials, your client list, etc. Many times, this is how clients will find you to begin with.

So, is having a website a must to succeed as a freelancer? In my opinion, absolutely. And, it doesnt have to be fancy and cost a fortune. Most web surfers are seeking information.

A basic site will serve your purposes just fine. Just make sure it is professional looking, is easy to navigate, is free from grammatical errors and has your contact info on every page (or a Contact Us button on every page).

6. Are savvy & consistent marketers: Revisiting habit three, successful freelancers are masters of marketing their services. They have to be.

When you are a freelancer, you have to remain hungry for the next assignment, the next gig. By being proactive and consistent marketers, successful freelancers dont wait for one project to be done before looking for the next one.

To this end, these professionals use many marketing tools (free and paid) to get the word out about their business, eg, search engine optimization, article marketing, press releases, e-book giveaways, speaking engagements, seminars, workshops, etc.

In other words, successful freelancers treat their careers like a start-up business which is what freelancing really is.

7. Put in much more than 40 hours/week: Face it, you may be able to go to the grocery store at 2pm when everyone else is stuck in an office, but you probably didnt log off until 2am, finishing up a project for a client who needed it at the last minute.

Freelancing is not a static career. Sometimes you will have weeks with nothing to do and then you will get slammed with three or four projects at once. Its some type of weird Murphys law at work.

Projects never come when you want or need them too. They invariable come at the most inopportune time (eg, when your kid is sick, when YOURE sick, two days before vacation, on a Friday afternoon and needed by Monday).

So, while you may be able to work in your jammies you may also not be able to go to the beach, hang out with your friends as much, take the afternoon off. Like anything in life, its a trade-off (a worthwhile one in my opinion).

Just know, while your time may be your own, it will be on an unconventional schedule.

Author: Yuwanda Black
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

You should become a manuscript or book author’s ghost writer, copy editor and proof reader. However, if you’re only starting to think about a writing career, I suggest you get a bachelor’s degree in English or whatever language, perhaps in language studies, English literature, creative writing, or English in general. A master’s degree or higher is even better. I myself have a combined degree in journalism, fine arts and creative writing.

Once you have that, you need to get some experience. You could be hired by literary magazines, especially at your school, or you could write articles for newspapers, perhaps starting your own column. You can also acquire writing jobs on the Internet by looking up work. I suggest avoiding the low paying bidding jobs and going for regular posted work at sites like Daylo, or other freelancer’s sites – where writing work is posted for free.

Once you have a few writing credits, you can begin your ghost writing career. I would suggest trying to get hired by a book ghost writers service, as there are many on the Internet. Another possibility is you can start your own service, as I did; mine is called Rainbow Writing, Inc., and we hire people who either have a lot of professional experience, a good educational background, and/or show a lot of writing talent. I have over thirty years of experience at writing, especially as a book ghost writer, copy editor and proof reader.

Once you get on the Internet, you will need to search engine optimize your website, post lots of articles with your credit box attached to them, or hire pay per click or other services to get advertising exposure. Then you can begin to acquire clients. You may start by offering a free five to ten page rewrite of a chapter the client sends you; this is what is generally expected of a book ghost writer and copy editor. You can quote a price, and I would start fairly low early on in your career, unless you have prior writing experience. Ask the client what he or she can afford, but stay reasonable, so you can keep your costs low and pay your bills.

As book ghost writers, copy editors and proof readers, we all need to make sure our clients are satisfied with their results. So while you are in the writing field, make sure you read copiously and on a regular basis, write short stories, poems and articles on a regular basis to refresh your writing skills, and be sure to work on a novel or two of your own. This will keep you handy when it comes to being a book writer for others as well. Another possibility is to keep a daily hardbound journal of your writing or simply comment on your daily activities, thoughts and dreams. This sort of thing can keep you really practices; I kept such a journal for over twenty years.

As to scheduling, it’s a good idea to take on as many clients as you can handle. Don’t overload, but you’d be surprised how much work you can do once you get into the swing of it. Try to get a book ghost writer job done in two to three months. If you charge $5000 per book at first, you can make $20,000-30,000 a year if you keep up on a regular basis. Once you have more experience, you can begin charging more money.

When you are a book author, ghost writer, copy editor and proof reader, you will find you are working a job that really consumes your time, so make sure you take the time to perform your other daily activities of family life, and set aside a one hour period every day to exercise. Book writers are one group of people who have the "sedentary lifestyle pattern" hazard, so in order to avoid getting sick, you must exercise. If you don’t want to go outside and walk, purchase a cheap treadmill. Those work quite well.

Book authors, ghost writers, copy editors and proof readers all need to maintain the standards of our profession. When you are a ghost writer of any kind, chances are you won’t be allowed to take credit for your work. It’s supposed to belong to the works true "author," who is the person paying you to do the ghost writing. Even if you do most or all of the work, your client is the author of it and is the one who receive the credit, unless you make some other arrangement. If the client is willing, you can be coauthors with him or her, or make some other such arrangement, such as you getting credit and a percentage of book sales in lieu of upfront payment.

By the way – the method of payment for a manuscript or book ghost writer is upfront. You get paid in advance, in installments usually as the book is being written. This is the main advantage of being a book or manuscript ghost writer, copy editor and proof reader – upfront payment. You need to sound the client out on his or her budget, set a total price, and then ask for the first installment payment once you have been hired.

You might also sign a contract with a non disclosure clause with the client. The contract might be three way, if you are working for a ghost writing agency, or two way, if it’s just you and the client signing it. A non disclosure clause states that you won’t discuss the book’s contents with anyone not designated by the client as someone with whom you may do so. Also, copyright laws in the USA and several other countries treatied with the USA, such as England, Canada and Australia, state that the author of the ghost written work retains full copyrights. You can check with the US Copyrights Office on the Internet to read the full scope of these laws.

Basically, even if you write the whole work yourself from research and you get nothing but basic ideas for the book from the supposed "author," he or she is still considered the true author of any such ghost written book, and will still hold full copyrights to all original material within it. This is, however, subject to whatever agreements you and the client make.

After the job is proof read, paid for and delivered, ask for a reference, also asking the client if it’s okay to run an installment from the work on your website – with a credit that you are the ghost writer. Also, when the book is published, ask the client to include a reference to your name, perhaps within the Acknowledgments, as the book ghost writer.

You also don’t have to stop as just the manuscript or book ghost writer. You may also be able to help your client set up to get his or her book published. This largely involves contacting literary agents and publishers. I would suggest contacting small publishing houses, and not the larger ones, unless you have a celebrity client with a large scale best seller on your hands. Due to confidentiality issues and ethical issues, you can’t maintain contact with literary agents and publishers on a regular basis, but you can acquire lists of these people in order to contact them. Some more disreputable manuscript and book ghost writers also set up deals with literary agents and publishers where they are sent clients’ work that the agents and publishers were sent, in order to edit it for them. Under the table money is made this way. It’s not considered to be ethical practice.

It’s satisfying to complete a client’s book manuscript and then find him or her an agent and/or publisher. You can get a percentage of book sales this way, or by negotiating a deal with the book’s author while you are being the book ghost writer. Sometimes a client will want you to work "on spec;" instead of paying you in advance, they will ask you to take a percentage of the book’s profits. Unless you’re sure the book is going to sell broadly, it’s not advisable to do this, or you could end up working for free. But once you’ve got a book publisher’s attention, anything is possible.

Lastly, be sure and enjoy your new career. Writing can be a fulfilling line of work, so if you keep at it, you can have tons of fun working for authors, getting the first time one’s books written and published, and in general, having a "blast" as a book author, book writer, ghost writer, copy editor, and proof reader.

Get out there, now – and write!

Author: Karen L Cole
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets