New Leads - A Step Forward

I have been puzzling over how exactly to find the amount of freelance work necessary to generate the sort of income I need. After several months of trying yet failing to achieve anything but a limited success, I knew I needed some help. Using some contacts of mine I got in touch with Mary Johnson of MJohnson Communications. She is an experienced freelance technical writer and editor living in the Portland, OR area who has worked with many local businesses and presses including Timber Press who publish horticultural books, and Intel. She agreed to meet with me at the local coffee joint for an informational interview, we spent a fruitful hour in conversation. The result? Besides a great conversation, Mary provided me with a list of leads where she finds much of her work, and where she believes I will be able to find some projects. Among these leads are:

• The Northwest Independent Editor’s Guild (Portland-based professional organization. $30/yr. membership; $15 after July 1)
• Editorial Freelance Association (National; $180/yr. membership; membership includes job list)
• Freelance Writing Gigs (http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/ which is free)
• Writer’s Weekly (www.writersweekly.com which posts new jobs once a week)
• Freelance Daily (www.freelancedaily.net which you can try free for a week)

Other places she suggested I look include the bidding site www.guru.com, and www.simplyhired.com. Of course, she also suggested the only place I knew to look in the first place, www.craigslist.com.

With all these new options, I wasn't sure where to start, so I just started attacking the free sites first, making the assumption that if I don't find what I need from the free sites I can shell out some cash for the ones that charge fees. However, if I start finding jobs on the free websites I won't have to spend any of my hard earned cash on registration fees.

So, thanks to Mary Johnson, I now have an extensive list of leads, and am that much closer to breaking through into the freelance market.

If you have questions or comments, send me an email at howells.nathan@gmail.com subject line "NWFA blog - New Leads". I'd be happy to answer, and more than happy to point fellow freelancers in the right direction.

-Nathan Howells, Freelance Writer and Founder/Editor of NWFA