The Habit That Will Transform Your Freelance Writing Income

NOTE: Want to know the secret to boosting your freelance writing income? I learned this a long time ago, and it’s still true. Change this one thing, and you’re on your way. Enjoy! —Carol.

Would you like to create a drastic shift in your freelance writing income?

There’s really only one way.

The good news is, this is something you can do no matter where you live, or how the economy is doing.

I was reminded of this when I ran into a mom I know casually — she’s the mother of one of my son’s longtime friends.

I hadn’t seen her in a while, and I about fell over when I ran into her at a local bike race I did with my family recently.

She has lost probably 80 pounds or more, and looks 15 years younger!

Between slimming down and growing her formerly very short hair out to ponytail length, she looked almost like a teenager. Even the shape of her face had changed.

And you know what? Her approach to losing weight was so smart, it can even help you boost your writing income. Here’s how:

Curious minds want to know

Like me, I knew Jenny has a pretty sedentary line of work, so I was fascinated.

I came over to chat and told her she looked amazing.

What had happened to create this transformation? She was like a new person.

The change

It wasn’t a coincidence that I ran into her at a bike race, it turns out. Jenny had always liked bicycling, and finally decided to get serious about it.

She started biking a lot instead of a little. Gradually, she built up her muscles and her stamina, and tackled longer rides.

Instead of watching TV, she’d bike. Instead of sleeping in, she’d get up early and bike before work.

Even in the rain…which we get a lot of around here.

Until today, she bikes roughly 500 miles a month.

She changed her habit of being sedentary and replaced it with a habit of long-distance bike riding.

Simple as that.

She created one new, positive habit that was the catalyst for changing her whole life.

Getting over the hump

You can imagine how grueling this was in the beginning. It probably didn’t look very graceful at first, being a 200+ pound woman atop a bicycle, huffing up a big hill.

Or — oh the shame! — sometimes having to get off and walk the bike up to the top.

I’ve no doubt she had to deal with a lot of snickering.

But that negative feedback didn’t affect her. She had decided to change a habit, and to become a competitive bicyclist. She stayed focused on what she wanted to achieve.

As she got into cycling, she found she wanted to change how she ate to nourish her body better for bicycling.

She cut the junk food. She ate smaller portions.

More and more weight came off, until today she is a svelte woman glowing with health.

Changing one habit started a cycle of change that moved into other parts of her life.

The payoffs were many — more energy and stamina, greater self-confidence, a better health outlook, and the satisfaction of a goal accomplished.

Change one habit to boost writing income

As writers, one habit can change everything for our careers, too.

• What is that one habit? It’s the habit of changing what you do until you get the results you want.

When we keep doing the same thing, we tend to get the same result, right?

So to get a new result — to earn more — requires us to change a habit.

The way we spend our time in our writing business needs rethinking.

There are many factors in the writing world we can’t control, but there’s one we can: ourselves.

There are two main ways writers can change:

1. Marketing

Not marketing your business? Here are some ways to change that:

• Resolve to make 500 cold calls, and see what happens.
• Send out 300 letters of introduction.
• Go to a networking event five nights a week.
• Commit yourself to big marketing numbers, and you know you are going to get clients.

Maybe it’s a bit harder in a tough economy. But work is out there, and if you market, you will find it.

It might be a slog.

You will deal with rejection.

You won’t always do it all perfectly and gracefully — you’ll make mistakes.

But if you are willing to change your habit of not marketing, your writing career will move forward in new directions.

I spoke to one Freelance Writers Den member recently who took her income from zero to $6,000 a month in a year, just by implementing a few new strategies for marketing her business that she picked up in the Den. I was blown away.

We’re talking big differences in writing income that are possible when you resolve to change your habits.

2. Skills

If you feel your writing skills aren’t up to snuff, you can identify where you feel you need to improve. Then, you can:

• Read a book on freelance writing, marketing, productivity, etc.
• Take a class from the Freelance Writers Den, or another experienced writer, to acquire new writing skills.
• Or just commit to doing more writing, on your own. You can learn a lot by doing.

Yes, it’s not always easy admitting you feel ignorant about how to do something.

But if that insecurity is holding you back, the only way forward is to get more knowledge.

You might have to tighten your belt to pay for the training you need. Or it might come free.

Either way, you won’t have to stand out in the rain.

The cumulative effect of habit change for writers

A few months from now, you could be a whole new writer, in terms of writing income. Changing one habit will get the ball rolling, encourage you to cultivate other positive habits, and ultimately bring you new clients and higher earnings.

All from a small beginning. Just changing one habit.

What writing habit would you most like to change? Let’s discuss on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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