Freelance Writing Advice: 5 Factors to Consider When Setting Turnaround Times That Will Help You Land More Clients & Meet (or Beat) Deadlines Easily

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August 24, 2010

When you market for freelance writing jobs, one of the things that can make or break whether or not a client hires you is the turnaround time you give them. This is particularly true in SEO writing.

I decided to write this post after receiving an email from a fellow SEO writer last week. She wrote:

Hi Yuwanda,

First let me say thanks for answering my question(s) in your previous blog posts.   I am writing to let you know, that I had my first $200 day after following the steps you outline in your e-book.  . . .  I am writing 5 articles on a travel destination, and they are a local company. They said if they like my work, they will have much more in store, and are willing to pay higher fees.    

For some reason, I thought your advice would only work for you.  I know, call me naive, but I guess it seemed too good to be true.  Luckily, I discovered you and liked what you had to say.  If it wasn’t for you, I think I would still be trying to break into magazine writing.   (Is it okay if I say thank you now, for all the blog post you respond to.  I know that I will have more questions along the way).   Speaking of,  I don’t know if this is an issue for many writers, but my issue is  giving a turn around time (emphasis added).   I know you have a team of writers, and I am not at that point yet.   So, I don’t feel comfortable giving a 24 hr turn around time. The reason being is because I like to:

  • Research
  • Write down notes (short hand)
  • let the research marinate in my brain
  • ( think  of possible angles)
  • write the first draft short hand( if I am not writing with a paper & pen, I feel like I’m not writing)
  • Read the first draft ( make changes if necessary)
  • Type the final draft
  • Re-read the final draft( make changes if necessary)

As you can see this process takes a while.  For these particular articles, they paid me on Monday and I let them know that I will have the project to them by Friday.  They were totally okay with it, because they said they have a 2 week deadline.   I would like my deadline to be 48-72 hrs because I refuse to churn out “crap” (as you stated in your previous blog post).  And, I want my creative process to flow.  Is there anything wrong with that?

MY ANSWER

freelance-writing-tips-on-setting-turnaround-timesThere’s an art to establishing freelance writing deadlines and turnaround times. As I’ve been at this for almost 20 years, I’m pretty good at looking over a project and determining how long it’s going to take.

If you’re not quite there yet in terms of experience, following are 5 guidelines you can use to set realistic deadlines that clients will be happy with – and that won’t stress you out.

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Week in and week out here, you get first-hand “freelance writing stories from the trenches.” I routinely relay my freelance writing experiences — everything from setting rates, to how to market, to knowing when to say no to a project. Also, I answer questions – in great detail (no fluff here!) — from other freelancers writers (new and experienced).

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Why I Turned Down a $2,000 – $3,000 Freelance Writing Job That Could Have Led to Even More Work and

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Yuwanda
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One Response to “Freelance Writing Advice: 5 Factors to Consider When Setting Turnaround Times That Will Help You Land More Clients & Meet (or Beat) Deadlines Easily”

  1. 5 Questions Freelance Writers Should Ask Clients to Clarify Projects (and Keep them as Long-Time Clients)‏ : Inkwell Editorial says:
    September 7, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    [...] post [in response to Freelance Writing Advice: 5 Factors to Consider When Setting Turnaround Times That Will Help You Lan... [http://bit.ly/cGFZ9E]].  Thank you!   I don’t know why I thought I had to return an [...]

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