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Home > Writing > Freelancing > Manage Other Writers and Make Money
Manage Other Writers and Make Money
Submitted by: Lynda Forman
Writing can be a successful business, but you might already know this. If you are making money, that's great, but what if you could make more? By learning how to manage other writers and to help them achieve their freelancing dreams, you can expand your money making potential. There are hundreds of writers out there right now wondering how they can make money doing what they you – you used to one of them. By offering them this experience as well, you can make money for yourself while also helping others break into the writing business. Everyone wins.
Why Managing Makes Money
Just as in any management position, there is a sort of hierarchy in terms of what people make. When you're running a writing business, you basically will set things up like this. You might be the one who seeks out the work and who spends time dealing with emails and issues with assignments. From there, you will delegate the work projects to the writers on your team, taking a portion of the project fee for yourself. This makes sense as you will be the one directly handling the clients in many cases – which is often more exhausting than writing is. Of course, it then makes sense that if you have more writers, you will make more money from them. On the other hand, if you have too many writers, you may not have time for your own projects, so you will need to balance your team's needs with your needs as well.
How to Find Good Writers
In order for this system to work, you need a team of good writers. Since there are so many writers out there, it's a matter of finding those who are genuinely skilled as well as reliable. You need writers who are able to work consistently and who can deliver the projects when they are due. It might help to start out by posting a project online that you want writers to apply to. From there, the writers might do a sample for you, you can review it, and then either offer them a place on your team or pay them for the sample and tell them you're not interested in them long term. You can also find a number of writers through everyday classified listings. Just post an advertisement for what you mean and what you are looking for in a writer and then you can start assembling your team. Be sure to get samples first and then to check their availabilities before you accept them on your team.
Making Sure the Work Gets Done
The first thing you will want to do with a writing team is to get them to sign a contract with you. This can be something simple, just something that talks about the payment process as well as well as any penalties they might incur if they don't turn their projects in on time. You might also include rules about formatting as well as any other items that might be pertinent to a good performance. Once this is signed, it's time to set up that first assignment for your new writers. Make sure they understand fully what is being ask of them and check in on their progress in the days leading up to the deadline. It will also be helpful if you give them a quicker deadline than the actual client requires as this will help you have plenty of time to check things over to make sure changes aren't necessary. When you do receive work, realize that the client is expecting the very best from you. In order to deliver this, you need to make sure you are checking the spelling, grammar, and content to make sure it's up to par. If it's not, you need to have the writer redo it until you are ready to turn it in. Much of managing writers is from trial and error, so don't feel badly if you begin to feel overwhelmed at times. Just learn from your mistakes and carry on.
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Lynda Forman is a freelance writer living in California. She writes for national and international clients. Her website, Lynda Forman, is up and running, though constantly evolving.
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