You’re almost there;
You searched for freelance writing jobs, found a great ad and you’re ready to send that pitch.
But, wait.
Suddenly, you can’t. The thoughts of not being perfect, of not having a journalism degree and feeling like an imposter floods over you.
There’s no way your pitch will get a response and there’s no way that company will hire you for their content. Now, you’re not sure if you’re cut out for all of this.
Having anxiety over sending out that first pitch is real. For a lot of writers, the online business marketing world is new. Selling yourself is foreign.
So, how do you make that first step easier? Here are four ways you can overcome anxiety if you are sending out your first pitch!
1. Honor the First Pitch
Congratulations! You spent hours creating samples and searching for a freelance writing job and now you are ready to draft up that pitch.
Instead of hyperventilating, give yourself a high-five! Cross that off your to-do list and count that as a success. Sending it shouldn’t be the biggest thing to remember; remember the journey of getting to that point in your business.
Honor it.
2. It’s Not Personal
Look, writing is a creative process and it’s personal. You pour your thoughts, passion, time into your writing and fear comes to play. You worry that all that effort and love you put into your writing isn’t seen that way from a potential client.
You fear that they take one look at your writing and will say to you that you can never be a freelance writer ever again!
Of course, this will never happen. Most likely, you’ll never hear from a prospect, but the fear is there.
Just know that your pitch is not personal. This is a business and prospects are getting pitched to daily. As a freelance writer, you may not write on topics you enjoy.
But, you get paid and that’s all that counts if you want to make a living as a freelance writer. Within this business, you can get paid right away, every week and consistently.
As a fiction author, it’s not that consistent, right? Even as a magazine writer, it might be months (or years) before you get paid for an article you wrote months or years before.
So, remember that your writing isn’t personal. The pitch you send isn’t personal (but it is personalized!).
3. Build a Metric Around Pitching
Do you know the #1 thing I tell brand new freelance writers? If you want to get paid to write, make it your job to find your first freelance writing client.
As the saying goes, if you don’t have a job, it’s your job to find a job.
To make it easier for you, start building a metric around pitching. In reality, pitching is a numbers
game. The more your pitch, the greater chances you have at landing your first gig.
Give yourself goals or metrics to hit every day as a way to take action and not really think about what you are doing.
I like to tell new writers to pitch 10 times a day for 2 weeks. That’s the metric you hit every day for 14 days. Whether you cold pitch, warm pitch, use job boards or not, your metric is pitching 10 times a day.
So, instead of wallowing on that ONE pitch, just get a template ready, personalize it and send it off. Boom. You’re done. Move on.
4. Always Be Hustling
This is what happens to new writers:
You scour the net for a potential freelance writing job and then spend hours drafting your pitch. After two days of analyzing, editing and changing your pitch, you finally send it.
But, wait! You just wasted two days on one pitch. By then you should have pitched 20 times! So, don’t dive into one potential job. You should always be hustling and looking for more jobs to pitch to.
I’m sure you’re thinking, but what if I land all those gigs I apply to? The likelihood of that happening isn’t very high (even for professional writers!), but if it does, now you have the power and position to set your rate and pick the jobs you want!
If you need to get clients, then you need to set your week as a hustler! Write down all the marketing things you need to do in a week so that you can land gig after gig.
Don’t Let Yourself Be In The Way of Your Success
We are always our worst enemy, right? And it’s no different when you want to pursue freelance writing. You will always find doubt in your abilities.
But you know what? That doubt goes away or at least quiets for a long time. I’m in a position now to pick and choose my writing clients. I pick my rate and sometimes my deadlines too! I have no doubt in my ability to deliver top-notch content for my clients.
You will get to that point. With hard work and networking, you will achieve success as a freelance writer.
Over to you – what’s the one thing holding you back from sending that pitch?
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