A major part of running a successful writing and editing business is constantly searching for new clients. This is a lesson I learned the hard way when a major client of mine hit a slow patch. Since this company had little-to-no work, so did I. Sure, I did have some other regular work, but I was dependent on just one company to pay the bulk of my bills. This was a huge mistake, as I was left scrambling to make up the money I’d become used to over the years.

I started advertising over the Internet at places like Craigslist.org, and I signed up for an account at Elance.com. Within about a week, I had a new client who was able to provide me with a tidy sum each week, but not enough to make up for what I was missing. So I kept at it. I continued to advertise online and told anyone who would listen about my business. I didn’t stop there, however. I created an introduction letter and had some postcards printed up online at Vista Print. I even designed my own full-color brochure. I then proceeded to send out introductory packages to businesses within about 50 miles of my home.

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Now, I send out a mailing each month. Without fail, I get several bites and I usually pick up a client or two. Sometimes, new clients need just one-time work. Other times, they come to depend on me for occasional or regular assignments. Either way, I continue to send mailings each month not only to ensure that I’m never left with a drastically reduced income again, but also to grow my business.

To build your writing and editing business, you should always keep an eye on daily marketing, even when things are going well. Use all the means available to you, including networking, direct mail, websites, and (gasp!) cold calling, to succeed.

As a freelancer, I don’t have a boss looking over my shoulder, cracking a whip, and making sure I get my work done. It’s all up to me to make sure my family is fed and kept sheltered from the elements. As such, it’s crucial that my friends and family members are not allowed to interrupt my workday constantly.

While I do believe my loved ones try, I think they really struggle with thinking of my business as work. Though surely they are aware that money doesn’t just fall from the sky, they seem to have difficulty understanding that “at home” doesn’t always equal “available.” I’ve dealt with this over the years by simply ignoring the phone and the doorbell when I’m busy with work. Caller ID works like a charm, allowing me to pick up the phone if a client is on the line and let Cousin Charlotte wait for later.

Now, I seem to be dealing with a new problem: hurt feelings. Aunt Margie feels slighted because she came by with cookies and saw my car, but I ignored the doorbell. Cathy is upset that I can’t take just 10 minutes to order a party platter for her (she’s too busy at work after all), and a new friend feels disliked when I take too long to return her calls. This tells me that it’s time for my yearly announcement. It goes something like this:

• I work from home.
• This is my real job.
• I will not answer personal calls when I’m working.
• If you have an emergency, dial my cell phone and page me with 911. For anything short of this, I won’t answer.
• I don’t expect you to know when I’m working. Yes, I know you’re not a mind reader. It’s safe to say you shouldn’t call during normal business hours.
• I love you, really I do, but I have a business to run. Call me tonight.

For most people, the above speech works like a charm, but some need a little more help understanding. For those people, only role-playing works. For this, I call the person at around 10 in the morning while he’s at work (and I’m taking a break) and lazily state, “So whatcha doing?” If I get past that question, I head in with, “Guess what happened on Grey’s Anatomy last night?” Then, I follow up with,” Would you stop by the cleaners and pick up my blue dress? I’m busy with work today.” Usually, the person gets the point.

This doesn’t work with my at-home-all-day loved ones. With them, I tell them I can knock off work for a bit if they don’t mind covering my electric bill this month. This may seem harsh, but remember, I did offer up my speech first.

If you’re facing the same issues, try gently reminding your friends and family members of what you do. If gentle doesn’t work, however, you may have to dispense with being nice. Just picture yourself with collection notices, and you should have no problem.

Since so many freelance writers and editors work from home, the issues of when and how to answer the phone come into play. Should you pick up the phone with music in the background? What about kids chattering or the dog barking? In a perfect world, all such noise would come to a halt when a client called, but there is no such place. There will be times when you simply cannot answer the phone in a professional manner if you work from home, and there will be times when you can’t or don’t want to pick up at all.

Here are some solutions:

Have a separate phone line for your business and equip it with an answering machine or voice mail. Craft a message that gives the details of what you do and encourages callers to leave a message. Let potential clients know that you will return calls within X amount of time on business days. If you’ll return calls on weekends, make that clear too.

Designate phone hours. If you can set aside a chunk of time, say an hour or two each day, you can let your clients know they can always reach you by phone at that time. Of course, you’ll still return messages as usual, but it’s helpful to set aside dedicated contact periods.

Encourage the use of email and instant messaging. Let your clients know that you are always prompt in responding to emails, and keep your instant messaging program at the ready whenever you are online. Some clients actually prefer to communicate this way. You just have to let them know it’s a reliable option.

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I recently heard about some truly shocking comments that were sent from a professional editor to a freelance writer. In her notes, the editor debased the writer, stopping just short of calling her work stupid and unreadable. How could this happen? Certainly editors are called on to correct and instruct but never to ridicule. I have definitely had some frustrating edits, but I always remember that everyone makes mistakes, and without writers, I would be out of a big part of my income. Human decency aside, these two points make my editing clients worthy of my respect.

If you work in proofreading and editing, you’re bound to come across work that makes you say “hmmm” or “huh?” or even “uggh!” Regardless, it is critical that you maintain your professionalism in writing comments. No matter how many years you’ve spent editing or how many degrees you’ve earned, you won’t succeed in this line of work if you think part of your job is taking out your frustrations on your clients.

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No matter how good you are as a writer, a second pair of eyes is always necessary for error-proofing your work. On the editing side of my business, I’ve had the privilege of working with writers who really have the Wow! factor. Sometimes, I even work with writers whose copy is nearly error-free. However, it is rare to receive copy that is totally error-free, and that’s why an editor or proofreader is absolutely necessary. No writer wants to deliver work with embarrassing mistakes; it damages credibility and turns clients off.

Why is it that you may know all the grammar and punctuation rules yet still need an editor’s help? Basically, you are too close to what you write to reliably catch every mistake. When you review your work, you may actually see what you meant to write because the words are still floating around in your head. This weird brain effect is responsible for quite a few strange errors from excellent writers. Besides, what writer can be expected to remember every grammar and style rule? That’s why editors and proofreaders are born!

Look at it this way: if you’re not busy proofreading your work 50 times, you can get busy with your next project and earning more money.

If you’re anything like me, you have widely varied projects to juggle, whether they are for clients or your own websites. On any given day, I have editing to do, both online and hard copy, various writing projects, and my own websites to build and promote. This doesn’t even consider the marketing, bookkeeping, and organizational tasks that must be tackled each day. In the past, I got right to work each day, jumping right into editing projects, as they are the easiest for me to tackle. Recently, however, I’ve decided that such a schedule really isn’t the best use of my talents. Instead, I’ve decided to use my energy cycles to work on each project at the time my brain is most ready for it.

What does this mean? Although I can put my talents to good use at any time of the day, it is more productive for me to use the creative part of my brain as soon as I get up in the morning. At that time, the ideas are jumping and my creativity flows best. What better time to write for my clients and my websites? So when I get out of bed at 5 a.m., writing is the first task on my list.

What’s next? Marketing. Once the rest of the world is up, it’s time to make phone calls, send e-mails and attend to my marketing tasks. While I CAN do these things much later in the day, I’ll miss out if I don’t handle them when the rest of the world is doing business.

Next in line is editing. Honestly, I can do this at any time of the day, but after a good run of writing, it’s refreshing to pull up my editing projects.

I save my bookkeeping and organizational tasks for the last part of my day. If I’m winding down in the evening hours, these are the things I can handle without worrying about being creative or incredibly alert.

You may think my system is very simple, and it is. Still, it took me a long time to realize that organizing my day in this way is necessary in order to make my job not only profitable, but also productive and happy. Since I’m not fighting against my own energy cycles and struggling to be creative at my most sluggish part of the day, I’m able to be 100-percent productive for my clients.

Welcome to the Madison Copywriting blog. This is the maiden post of my new venture. Though I’ve written blog posts for others, this is my very first blog that will be dedicated to things that interest me. It’s been a long time coming because I simply couldn’t decide what to write about. I have so many ideas, and it was painful to choose just one. Finally, I’ve decided to write about operating a freelance writing and editing business. After all, why not stick to what I know best?