How to make money freelance writing 1: Do a SWOT analysis

In this new series, we’ll look at how to make money writing. I hope that you’ll find it useful.

If you’re new to making money freelance writing, you can become overwhelmed with the possibilities. Should you focus on writing for magazines, or the Web? Should you take advantage of the endless opportunities for copywriters?

The best way to decide on your future direction as a writer is to do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.

Doing such an analysis isn’t just useful for new writers. If you’ve been writing for a few years, you can get stuck in a rut, because you’re just not aware of all the options you have: do a SWOT analysis to think about your freelance writing as a business, because that’s exactly what it is.

Create a spreadsheet, and fill in it over a few days. There’s no rush. If this is the first time you’ve thought of your freelance writing business in these terms, you’ll be surprised, and heartened by what you discover. When I’m coaching writers, their SWOT analysis always gives them confidence – they report that this analysis is the best thing they’ve ever done for themselves.

If you’re a very new writer, your first response may be HUH? That’s fine. Do your best at listing your SWOTs. You can’t do this exercise incorrectly. Date the file, and create a reminder in your calendar program to look at the file again in three months.

Your writing strengths

What are your strengths as a writer? Look over your portfolio, and think about the projects you’ve completed. What skills have you built? What do you enjoy writing most? Which writers do you admire?

Your writing weaknesses

Your writing weaknesses are often related to your strengths. For example, if you’re a prolific writer, this is a decided strength. However, it can also be a weakness.

Your writing opportunities

What opportunities do you have? Perhaps you’ve gained some experiences which would make a great book: that’s an opportunity. Make a list of any and every opportunity you can think of.

Your writing threats

Threats can be external, and internal. For example, if you’ve just lost a client because his business collapsed, that’s an external threat. Equally, if you hate marketing your services, that’s an internal threat.

In your SWOT, don’t try to find solutions to your threats as you perceive them. Let them be: solutions often come from the most surprising places, so it’s enough that you’re aware of the threats.