I knew you had something to share from your own freelance writer’s journey, when I asked you for your best advice last week.

But the number and quality of responses blew me away. It wasn’t easy to pick the winners!

As promised, below are my 20 favorite tips for freelance writers, contributed by readers here on the blog. They will each be getting a one-month free pass to The Freelance Writers Den, my soon-to-open, comfy hangout for freelance writers who want to grow their income.

These winners are listed in the order their comments were received —  no way I’m trying to rank them. I’ve linked to everyone who listed a website.

1. Develop your craft and have a thick skin. It takes hard work and persistence to be successful. There’s no whining in freelance writing (or at least there shouldn’t be).–Wendy
2. If you usually spend your days in your house, make time to go outside or find some sort of coworking space where you can interact with other people. You can’t network if you never leave your writing cave–Kymlee
3. Learn to write proposals and expect to write them on a regular basis. Whether they are cold proposals to business owners, query letters to publishers, or responses to help wanted ads, well-crafted proposals will land you the more lucrative opportunities.–Tammi Kibler
4. Building relationships with editors can’t be stressed enough. Don’t just reach out to them when you have a pitch. Try shooting an email whenever you hear of an interesting story that might intrigue them or a news tip that would help them at work.–Terri
5. Listen to the client. REALLY listen. People have become interrupters to a startling degree. Real listening is rare. Let the client talk until they’re finished without interrupting.–Mardi Link
6. Someone told me at a conference last  year: “EN — everything’s negotiable.” You can negotiate the rate if you don’t think it will work out to a decent amount on an hourly basis. You can negotiate the deadline if you have too much on your plate already. You can negotiate rights if they ask you to sign a work for hire agreement. And if you’re not happy with what you’re offered after negotiating, you can walk away.–Susan Johnston
7. Build your own support network. As a freelancer, you don’t have an office full of people to keep you accountable, so create your own accountability.–Alissa
8. Build in extra time to let your writing “marinate.” Give yourself at least a day inbetween writing and editing.–Megan
9. Make a writing plan for the week on Sunday and then you have a daily task list to follow for success everyday.–Terri Forehand
10. If you want to become a full-time freelancer…then just do it. There is no greater motivation for success than having no other choice.–Erin Hill
11. Trust yourself. I believe each one knows, deep down, what’s right for them…and how to stretch. So trust yourself and go for it.–Anne Wayman
12. Don’t apply for every single job and pitch every publication out there. You’ll waste your time and energy on opportunities that don’t fit.–Brandi
13. Never stop learning. I set aside time every month to find a new site to subscribe to.–Karen
14. Be brave. You are the only thing you can control. Really. So focus on what you can do, what you need to do, to move yourself forward.–Kar
15. Never never NEVER give up. People will secretly want you to. They will sound concerned for your welfare. Smile politely and carry on.–Cate Morgan
16. Before you begin a project, get it in writing.–Candace Schuler
17. Care for yourself, because if you don’t, no one else will. It’s impossible to be a successful writer without your health.–Judy
18. My favorite tip is hanging over my project board by my desk: It is NOT personal! It is very hard sometimes when an article, idea, proposal or query is turned down. We just need to remember that those are not personal attacks on us.–Melody
19. I’ve learned to focus on writing about topics that I’m passionate about, or at the very least interested in. There’s nothing worse than trying to bang out a story you care nothing about, even though the publication might pay decently.–Sondi
20. Don’t waste time on assignments that pay practically nothing and that strangle the soul. I was sure I couldn’t survive without my income from content mills, but the truth is when I stopped writing for the mills, I had more time to seek out better-paying assignments. My income hasn’t suffered at all, and my confidence in myself as a writer has improved 100%.–Debra Stang

When I talk to successful freelance writers, I find we all have one thing in common.

It’s pretty simple — we have goals. We’re following a game plan for what we want to do with our writing career.

When I take on new writers in my mentoring program, my first questions are:

What is your goal for your freelance writing career? (Or, if you’re a blogger — what’s the goal of your blog?)

I find that lack of goals creates lack of momentum. The big problem with freelance writing is there’s no ‘boss’ standing over you saying, “Get 40 cold calls done this month!”

So you don’t.

Without goals, it’s easy to give in to fears about whether your writing cuts it, and not send that query letter, or make those business calls.

There’s also the chance to dither endlessly about what direction you plan to take. Will you only write for magazines? Write a novel? Target legal businesses? Many writers are overwhelmed by all the options, so they write nothing — or nothing that pays.

The change that happens when you have goals

I find when you start setting goals, there’s a shift in your mentality. You start to view your freelance writing business like a business. Which is what you have to do if you want it to pay your bills.

Setting goals creates deadlines — something freelance writers understand. Start making your own deadlines your top priority, over any current deadlines you have for others. In the long run, they’re even more important.

Setting goals doesn’t mean carving anything in stone. I’m always on the lookout for new opportunities that crop up, that might change my direction. If you’ve been trying one approach a long time and nothing’s happening, it may be time to try a new angle.

Stay flexible — but have a game plan to start.

The most important goals

Here are the three questions I like to ask writers about goals:

Where would you like to see your freelance-writing business five years from now?

One year from now?

Next month?

You need a big picture and a near-term picture. Then it’s time to break it down into a to-do list for this month. What, specifically, do you think you could realistically get accomplished in the next 30 days that would move your writing career forward?

I find the one-month span allows you to avoid overwhelm — after all, it’s only 30 days, so you can only do so much. It frees you to find small steps you can take to try a new marketing angle, get a writing project finished, send a query.

Ultimately, that’s the most important step to take — break down your freelance-writing dream into some actionable, simple steps you can accomplish right away. Then next month, do that again.

Keep doing it until you’re earning what you want.

If you have trouble sticking to it, find a writer’s group, a friend, or a mentor who will hold you accountable for meeting your goals.

You know what’s coming next:

What’s your goal for this month for your freelance writing business? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing. I send subscribers special offers only they can see, and I’m getting ready to do it again.

In recent weeks, I’ve heard a lot of writers confess their fears about taking the plunge into freelance writing. Today, we’re going to talk about something that’s even scarier.

It’s having a job.

Workplace experts have been watching how employers hire workers since the downturn began in 2008. Here’s their conclusion: Roles like writing are going to be done freelance in the future. Many of those jobs aren’t coming back as full-time gigs.

Freelancing is the new normal for writers.

While struggling to survive the downturn, many companies tried outsourcing. They liked it. Websites such as oDesk and Elance have made it easier to connect with freelancers, monitor their work, and pay them reasonable rates (or rock-bottom ones). This accelerated a trend that pretty much began the minute the Internet was invented. The fact is, tools exist now to make working remotely easy — Skype, Basecamp, email, PDFs, videoconferencing…it all makes it easy to plug use freelancers.

I spoke recently with a small-business expert, Steve King at Emergent Research. His firm’s estimate? Currently, 25 percent of design/writing/coding type jobs are being done freelance. By 2020, Emergent expects that figure to rise to 50 percent. That’s right — half of all the writing work will be done freelance, soon. Or, put another way: Twice as much freelance work will be available a decade from now.

If you’re wondering, King considers Emergent’s estimates conservative. Other industry pundits have forecast 75 percent of creative jobs being done freelance in future.

Which is really riskier?

Since 2008, I’ve watched friends of mine lose their jobs, get divorced, go bankrupt, have heart attacks from the stress, and lose their homes. Having all your income tied up to a single employer, we’ve learned, is actually very risky. That gives one company the power to devastate your family and destroy your lifestyle, overnight.

Finding another single, big fat job to replace the one you lost could take years, or may never happen. People who don’t know how to survive without sucking off the teat of Big Momma Corporation are facing radical changes in their quality of life.

By contrast, during the downturn, every editor I worked for either left or was fired from their job. All my gigs shifted around. But not all at the same time. I kept finding new clients to replace the old ones, because I’d learned how to market myself. Result: I lost gigs, but my income kept rising. My family life remained stable. I’m still living in the same house, eating out, sending my kids to camp, and putting away money for retirement.

After 12 years in staff-writing jobs, and now five as a freelancer, I can say I feel far more secure now than I did when I got only one paycheck instead of many smaller ones. I feel secure because I know how to find assignments now, no matter what. Also, my earning potential is unlimited, where at a job it was always capped at my salary. Maybe I could squeeze out a tiny raise each year, but that was it.

Still think freelancing is too scary? Here’s the reality:

Freelancing is the future.

The longer you hang on, fantasizing that things will go back the way they were, the more of a disadvantage you create for yourself in the marketplace. If you’re not freelancing now, you’re not out learning the vital entrepreneurial skills you will need to earn well in the years to come — skills like how to market and manage your freelance writing business.

I believe there’s never been a better time to learn how to be a successful freelancer. By getting started now, you’ll position yourself to gain experience, while many others are still clinging to their day jobs. You’ll be more established when more writers get laid off, and are scrambling to catch up.

How can you get started? Come find out at my upcoming Webinar, How to Break In and Earn Big as a Freelance Writer. Register by Sunday, Jan. 30, and you can enter to win one of four door prizes we’ll be offering, by providing one of the most interesting answers to the question on our registration form.

Prizes include:

• A free half-hour mini-mentoring session with me! ($50 value)

• Free copy of my 200+ page ebook, Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide.

Come learn how to jump into the freelance game — hope to see  you there!

Photo via stock.xchng user brainloc