Want To Become a Location Independent Freelance Writer? Here’s How It’s Done.

This is a Guest post by Sharon Hurley Hall of Taking Off Travel Blog.

When I started freelancing, I’d never heard of location independence, but as soon as I did, I knew it defined the way I wanted my writing career to progress. I wanted to be able to choose where I lived and to be able to travel and still earn an income – and that’s just what I did. A year after going freelance, we packed our bags and moved to the Caribbean and since then I’ve worked from places as diverse as Bahrain, Mexico, Nottingham and – less exotic but still fun – Florida. What are the practicalities of working this way? Here’s how I do it.

Finding Clients – And Helping Them To Find Me

When I started freelancing I had no client base at all. To help them find me, I set up a website, began blogging on a multi-blog site and started to exchange tips and leads with other writers I met via the group blog site. Within a short time I’d made the contacts that kept me in freelance writing work for the next two years, and helped me to extend my skills in web content writing, ebook writing and blogging.

Once I had done a bit of work, I hit the job boards and job ads to find other writing work, where I could set rates that reflected my expertise (I was a 20 year writing veteran). That took care of the next couple of years and gave me a firm base of repeat clients. Now, those clients send others to me and I get a lot of work by word of mouth. As well as my professional website, I connect with people through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and my blog.  I’ve also got a strong and supportive online network, which is very important.

A Typical Day

Many people get carried away by the romance of location independence, but although it’s a great lifestyle, it can also be hard work. I haven’t achieved the nirvana of the 4 hour work week, and I build work around family time. That means starting early, around 6.15 every morning, so I can do an early morning email check (useful because I have clients in different time zones) and respond to anything urgent. I then do some essential family stuff before returning to my desk at around 8 (unless it’s a gym day in which case it’s about 9.30). I work until around 3.30pm, with 15 minute lunch break half way through. Then there’s some more family time before a half hour email/web mop up at around 7.30. Although I didn’t always, I now try to take most weekends off (which generally means spending a bit of time on my own projects and to-do list).

Challenges and Solutions

One of the challenges of being a location independent professional is dealing with the vagaries of variable internet connections and working with clients in different time zones. I don’t own a Blackberry (part of the beauty of this lifestyle is being able to set your own working hours rather than being at the beck and call of a phone). However, I have a responsibility to my clients so I’ve evolved some strategies for making sure they are always happy.

1. Communication is important. If I’m going to be offline for a while, I work ahead to get their work completed or scheduled (for blogging clients) and let them know when they will be able to reach me again.

2. I always set my personal deadline 1-2 days ahead of the client’s deadline. That means if there’s a problem with utilities or internet access, I still have time to catch up. And if I successfully meet my deadline, the client gets work early, which is great.

3. I use the combo of an online calendar (30boxes) and my Todoist to do list to plan my work so I don’t get too overburdened.

4. Outsourcing is important. I have a small network of trusted writer friends who will help out if something goes wrong – and they know I’d do the same for them.

Tools of the Trade

A key aspect of managing my business is using the right tools. Although I have a desktop computer at my main location, I have a laptop for travel and I always check out the web access facilities in the places I travel to. Here’s my grab bag of essential tools:

• Google Chrome – this is my browser of choice, and it include extensions that allow me to read feeds (Feedly), check my web stats (Clicky), keep an eye on my professional network (LinkedIn), manage my to-do list (Todoist), take screenshots (Awesome Screenshot), manage passwords (LastPass), send and schedule tweets (Tweetdeck for Chrome and  Buffer) and much more. I run Chrome on my main computer, and sync extensions and bookmarks with the portable version I keep on my travel laptop.
• Microsoft Word/Google Docs – I like free and open source programs, but MS Word remains my preferred word processing software. Sure, there are things I don’t like about it, but it beats the heck out of Open Office because I can easily switch between different varieties of English and it has great reviewing tools. I also work with Word documents in Google Docs, which is another great tool for freelancers on the move.  I also use Windows Live Writer for writing posts, and Dragon Naturally Speaking for dictating articles.
• MS Excel/Google Docs – At the start of each year, I create a client and income tracking spreadsheet and upload it to Google Docs. This includes current and expected income (with job numbers), current client list, annual income forecasts and more. It’s not pretty, but it has worked for me for the last 6 years.
• Google Apps Mail – I couldn’t survive without Google Apps Mail (Gmail). I access all my business email (including email for the client accounts I manage) through one account. I have a widget for my to-do list, a list of most used Google Docs and the Rapportive extension so I can see social media information for my email contacts. This is great if a contact has tweeted something you want to respond to – and it’s another way I keep in touch with clients. On the web, I also use Gist for a similar function.
• Skype - you just can’t beat this for connecting with clients worldwide. With phone, video and IM it has gradually replaced my other IM tools, and with the addition of Pamela Call Recorder, I’ve got the perfect tool for recording interviews.
• Paypal - while I hate giving away a percentage of my earnings, Paypal works easily and it’s a great way to get paid quickly. I bill my clients in different ways depending on their location, but Paypal or wire transfer are my preferred methods.

Summing Up

While I’m not as mobile as I used to be (mainly because I don’t choose to homeschool), I have the freedom of working from anywhere. I’ve used that freedom to take business trips for one client while continuing my work for others, to attend family events such as weddings, or to take mini-vacations – while still maintaining contact with clients as needed. It’s a balancing act of combining professionalism and self-discipline with fun and adventure – and I wouldn’t change my location independent lifestyle for the world!

Sharon Hurley Hall is a location independent web content writer and blogger. She blogs about travel on Park Ride Fly USA’s Taking Off Travel Blog.

Featured image by Domenic Scaturchio