1. Branding

Your name is your brand. People will like or hate your writing, trust or distrust your opinions. Your job is to build editors' and readers' trust in your writing and the brand of you.

2. Business

Every reputable business has a website that showcases its products and services. You should too. Show off your writing skills. Include a resume, references, services (types of writing) and samples of work.

3. Efficiency

Think of your website as an online writing portfolio. Instead of lugging around a case full of writing samples, you can upload examples to your site and link to other places where your work has been published.

4. Skills development

The discipline of editing your writing for your website will be invaluable in showing off your talents. You can also upload any unsold material - articles, short stories, poetry, novel chapters and so on - so that visitors to your website can see the full range of your creativity. You never know when someone might get in touch to find out about publishing something you've written.

A lot of freelance writers complain about writing for free or for peanuts. Most of the time I agree with them. Writing is a skill and freelance writers should earn a fair rate. But there are times when writing for free is useful.

writing for free isn't writing for free if you get something out of it. As a new writer, writing for free can give you clips that are published all over the web. It's a chance to hone your writing skills and build up some expertise. If you have a good selection of clips then you will make a better impression on editors and others who might want you to write for them.

As an established writer, writing for free is a chance to get some exposure and show off your expertise in particular areas. It's also a chance to have some fun writing about subjects that are not part of your core area. Whichever category you fit into, it's about promoting yourself as a writer. Do enough promotion, and that can lead to writing jobs that you WILL get paid for.

1. Use your blog as an example of your writing. Point editors towards it and they'll be able to see your writing and people's responses to it. That will give them an idea of how popular you might be with their readers.

2. Turn some blog posts into articles, sign up with EzineArticles and upload them. The next time a job comes around, you will have clips you can show. Also, find a few places in your genre that are looking for free content and offer it to them, provided they link to your blog or site. This is a short term strategy (I don't advocate writing for free long term) designed to get you some clips. This worked extremely well for me, and it's great for promotion too.

3. If you know the publication you are approaching for a job or writing commission, write a short piece of the type they publish and send it as an example of what you can do. If you haven't got a lot of publication credits, this at least shows you've read the mag and thought about what they might want to publish.

4. Practice, practice, practice. While I was doing the EzineArticles thing, I also wrote reviews for three sites. I didn't get paid directly, but I learned a lot about what people found useful and what type of writing they responded to best. It's a good way to start to find your writing voice.

If you want editors and publishers to hire you so you can get paid to write, there are three main things you need to do.

1. Meet the deadline

This is crucial. If you submit work late, you mess up the editor's schedule. Most editors only let you do that once before marking you down as a waste of time. If you're particularly well known in your field, you just might get away with it, but don't be complacent. The editor will be looking around for someone equally good who is reliable. Obviously, there are circumstances in which editors might be prepared to be lenient. If you're interviewing a major figure who has suddenly left the country on business, then there's not much you can do about it. Severe illness or bereavement will also count. If this happens, tell the editor in plenty of time so s/he can fill the gap you've left. The editor will appreciate your thoughtfulness and your understanding of the production process.

2. Meet the brief

If an editor commissions you to write a particular article or type of article, don't submit something completely different. S/he may have built a whole magazine or section of magazine around your article and s/he won't be pleased if you mess up her arrangements. So, if you've been asked to do something specific, do it - and you're likely to be asked to do more in the future. Now, we all know that writing evolves, so it is perfectly acceptable to ring or email the editor (well before your deadline) to explain that the article is turning out slightly differently than expected and to discuss ways of proceeding. Once you've agreed on on revised parameters, then turn in what you've agreed (on time).

3. Get in style

Make sure that the style and tone of your article is appropriate for your audience. The closer you come to getting this right, the more likely an editor is to think of you the next time there's a commission available. Remember to spell check your work - and remember to double check on the spell-check. Spell-check programmes do NOT catch all errors ('form' for 'from' is an example) so proofreading is essential. Keep your work error-free and you're likely to get hired again.

What Do I Want To Earn?

Some writers write in their spare time and have full time jobs elsewhere. These writers may not need to earn as much as those who rely on writing for their income. Whatever their situation, writers should consider how much money they need to earn to eat, pay the bills and maybe have a little fun from time to time. It's nice to think that you can catch a movie or go to a gig once in a while.

Writers also need to think about the taxman. Depending on where writers live, any where from 22% to 35% or more (if you're really successful) will be gobbled up by the government. For example, in the UK, tax and National Insurance takes over 30% of your income (after allowances). So writers need to add this figure to the amount they want to earn.

How Much Writing Will I Do?

Full-time writers will spend the equivalent of a working week on writing. That's more than 2,000 hours a year. However, take out all the time you spend making cups of coffee, filing, blogging as well as sick days and holidays and there will probably be about 1800 hours left.

Writers also need to think about the cost of consumables. Pens, paper and print cartridges all cost money and this should be added to what writers want to earn.

So What's My Hourly Rate?

Once writers have calculated the number of hours they will work and the full amount they need to earn, working out an hourly rate is simple. Just divide the amount you need to earn by the number of hours you plan to work, and you've got a your hourly rate. Once writers have worked out what they need to earn, they have a figure to aim for.

These were my answers to five questions on freelance success:

1. If you had to start again, what would you do different?

I would have started freelancing earlier. Although the time I spent teaching was not wasted, I would have been happier and further along in my freelance career.

2. What one obstacle kept you from making money?

Deciding what to focus on. Just because you can write about anything doesn't mean you should. Once I learned to focus on areas of strength, I was able to use those to branch out to other areas and build my knowledge base gradually.

3. What helped you make money?

Blogging was something I fell into by accident, but it turned out to be really good for my writing career. It gave me the discipline of writing every day, which improved my writing speed and style. My writing was also noticed by editors and publishers, which led to more freelance writing work.

4. What mistake did you make?

Thinking people would pay for my years of writing experience. Some people will, but many won't. I learned to work out what I could do the job for and use that as a basis for a bid.

5. What advice would you give others?

Set a schedule for working at home which matches the schedule you would have in an office job. If you give the same time to working for yourself as you give to working for others, you'll find it easier to be successful. During working time, don't do housework, laundry or catch up on your favourite soap. Be disciplined. Learn to recognise opportunity. Sometimes working for free actually helps boost your career.