Veteran freelancers offer tips on how to succeed at business

Veteran freelancers shared their insight on how to maintain a roster of clients that provides a steady stream of income and gave other tips to fellow freelancers and those considering that career path at a May 8 National Press Club event.

“The word of the day is ‘anchor client,’” said Scott Sowers, who writes about architecture, design and energy.

That was just one tip panelists offered to a sell-out crowd at the Spring Freelance Workshop.

Making the move from a structured 9-to-5 office job to self employment often is not planned and not trouble-free, Sowers said. He acknowledged that “the transition was disorienting for a while.”

Another piece of advice from Katherine Reynolds Lewis, a veteran self-employed writer who specializes in work, parenting and education: “You can never rest on your laurels.”

Tam Harbert, who moderated the workshop’s panel on transitioning into freelancing, told the audience that to succeed in the long run: “You have to love the roller coaster ride. You have to have the sense of the thrill. We love this lifestyle.”

The workshop was co-sponsored by the National Press Club's Freelance Committee and the Washington chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. Harbert is chair of the Club's Freelance Committee and a full-time freelancer specializing in business and technology.

When deciding which assignments to accept, Lewis considers the three P’s: -- pay, prestige, and personal satisfaction.

“Know the reason you are really accepting the project,” she said. Learn to say no to ones that don’t meet at least part of the criteria.

It takes time to build a client base, said Emily Paulsen, who specializes in health and medical. But “if you don’t have clients, if you don’t have money coming in, it’s a hobby” not a business.

The second panel focused on ways experienced freelancers can keep the work flowing in.

It was moderated by Stephenie Overman, a member of the Club's Freelance Committee and co-coordinator of SPJ’s Washington freelance group. Overman covers workplace and health issues.

Arnesa A. Howell keeps the pipeline full through a variety of roles. She is a magazine writer, a newsletter editor, a communications consultant and a university professor.

She urged freelancers to network and to develop long-term relationships with editors.

“You don’t want to talk to editors just when you want something,” Howell said.

Many freelancers know what they should be doing to market themselves, but they simply don’t do it, and so they don’t have a steady flow of work, said Pete Smith, a business development coach.

Freelancers should focus on marketing systematically, Smith said, rather than getting distracted by too many possibilities, which he called “shiny-object syndrome.” Smith has designed a marketing system to help service providers increase their client base.

Whitney Pipkin, who covers food, farms and the environment, said she keeps notebooks with lists of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals.

In the beginning those goals may be small and “you’re not going to say ‘no’ too much,” Pipkin said. But as the client base grows, it’s important to carve out time “for the stories that you want to write.”

“If you don’t have yearly goals, you’re never going to write for The New York Times,” she added.