7 Warning Signs You’re Working Too Much and Earning Too Little

Are you making it as a writer?

I made a lot of mistakes when I first started freelancing. From taking bad jobs, to taking cheap jobs, to wasting my time chasing the wrong jobs. But when you’re struggling to make ends meet, it’s easy to fall into the trap of working too hard.

Here’s some of the mistakes I’ve made, and seen plenty other writers make, too.

1 – You Spend More Than You Bring In

Not money, time. Your time is worth money, probably more than you’re giving credit for. If you’re spending two hours researching an article that takes you another hour to write, that’s three hours on one article.

That’s fine if you’re making good money. But I’ve known, hell I’ve been one of the, writers who did such articles for $15. That comes out to $5 an hour – less than minimum wage!

Know how long your work will take and charge appropriately.

2 – You Write Spec Articles

Never write “on spec” articles – articles which you write without a guarantee of payment, in hopes the article (or post) will be accepted and paid for. Many writers get burned in the process. 

Get a contract with a guarantee of payment or a “kill fee” to compensate you in case your article is not published. There are some exceptions – for instance guest writing at a blog which you love or which could open readership doors for you.

You might also want to do it early on if you’re trying to get your work published for your portfolio. However, be careful how much time you spend doing “on spec” stuff and go into it knowing you may not make money on the article.

3 – You Don’t Write Anything You Love

Writing copy on subjects in which you have no interest or knowledge is getting awfully close to manual labor!

Yes, we must sometimes write for the jobs we’re given, not the ones we want. But, try to position yourself to write about topics you love or have a natural interest in.

It cuts down on research time and puts you a bit closer to enjoying your work.

4 – You Feel Like You’re Sitting At Your Desk All Day, Accomplishing Nothing

Working hard is not always the same as working smart. You can work your ass off, outwork everyone you know, and still have little to show for it.

Learn to organize your time efficiently and outsource work that others can do more efficiently – if the cost isn’t too much to absorb.

Also, make sure you have time to do your personal creative projects. Most of us probably didn’t get into writing to write about SEO. We have a book in us, or maybe we want to be a great magazine feature writer.

Whatever your personal creative goal is, make sure you’re working on it each week. Having creative coals on the fire helps keep your spirits afloat during rough times.

5 – You’re Doing It All Alone

If you’re working all alone, you’re missing out on one of the greatest assets you can have – a team. I utilized my team for this post, actually, when I’d run dry after four ideas.

Sure, I would have eventually thought of more ideas given time, I’m a writer, after all! But why bash my head against the wall trying to come up with more ideas when my well was dry? Time is precious. Why not use the Ghostwriter Dad team?

I sent out an email to the team and asked for a few quick ideas. Quick being the operative word. I’m not looking to displace my workload onto someone else. But I asked for the first ideas which came to mind, something to give me a running start.

And you know what? Tracy and Sean came through. Not only did they help me flesh out the rest of this piece, but their ideas displaced one of my first four.

Brainstorming was one of my favorite things to do as a reporter. To be in a room with other creative types is one of the most awesome experiences – it’s like the opposite of those board meetings where a bunch of people sit around complaining about the company. You bring different personalities and experiences into the fold – things you might not have considered otherwise, which makes the overall piece stronger.

Find your own team of trusted writers and utilize them and trim your workload!

6 – You Started Your Business To Spend More Time With Your Family, Now You Never See Them

While I loved the newspaper business, I put in a LOT of hours! I was a stranger to my family. So getting laid off was actually a blessing in disguise. But then when I started working on my own, I was falling into the same trap of working all the time.

Sometimes, there’s not much you can do about it. Other times, you need to find smarter ways to work, outsource the things which take you too long to do, and believe in yourself enough to only take work from clients that pay what you’re worth.

7 – You Aren’t Making Ends Meet

Sometimes, especially when you’re still learning the ropes, writing can be a demanding, soul-sucking endeavor. Between clients from hell and articles you only took because you needed the money, writing for a living can take all the joy out of writing.

Why?

Because writing has become just another job, where you’re punching buttons, but feeling no joy.

To make matters worse, you’re not making enough money to pay the bills.

If you have a day job, DO NOT give it up. It’s far more advantageous to write from a position of STRENGTH than NEED. When you write from need, you take any job you can get, you don’t ask for a fair salary because you’re afraid the client won’t pay it, and the client winds up taking advantage of you. Worst of all, your writing isn’t as good as it can be because you’re miserable about the job.

When you write from a position of strength, as someone who doesn’t NEED the job so desperately, you can be more selective, take only the jobs you want, and get paid what you’re worth.

Simple fact: Most people will not pay you well if you will work cheap.

If you don’t have a day job, and can’t get one, then make the most of what you have – network, use social media well, and find a way to inject joy into everything you write. Even the articles you have no interest in. Because when you enjoy your work, it shows, it gives you a sense of pride, and could attract that dream client who saw how much love you put into that crap article most writers would have did a half-ass job on.

Got any signs I missed? Or better yet, some additional tips that have helped you in your writing career?

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David Wright is a cartoonist and writer who writes about self-publishing at CollectiveInkwell.com. He is also changing his life one habit at a time, one month at a time at Project30Days.com.