How To Overcome The Fear Of Pitching For Freelance Writing Jobs

So you’ve been scouring the internet for the perfect opportunity to kick off your freelance writing career, and you’ve finally set your sights on a project that you think might be The One.

You’ve followed my 5-step guide to getting your first freelance writing job, and it’s time to send your first pitch.

But suddenly, you wonder whether you’ve really got what it takes.

You worry about your lack of experience. You wonder who the bloody hell you thought you were, thinking you could make this work. And you’re overwhelmed with fear.

I get it.

One of the reasons why I started freelancing in the first place was that I didn’t particularly want to have to talk to other people on a daily basis, let alone have to force myself to have the audacity to tell them why I’m the right person to help them with their writing project, leaving myself wide open for criticism and rejection.

But if you want to build a freelancing career, then you need to actually get yourself some clients.

And to get yourself some clients, you need to bite the bullet and start putting yourself out there.

Ultimately, I realised that I just had to get on with it, and I created my own little toolkit for making that process altogether easier and much less scary.

Here are the tips that helped me to overcome the fear of pitching for freelance writing jobs…

SET YOUR GOALS AROUND THE PROCESS INSTEAD OF THE OUTCOME

If you decide that your first goal is to land your first freelance writing client by the end of the week, then you’re already setting yourself up for a fall. I’m not saying it’s out of the realms of possibility to achieve that, because it’s not. But it’s not the best kind of goal to have. There are just too many variables to factor into the equation, and too many things that aren’t under your control.

But one thing that you ARE totally in control of is your pitching strategy, the work you put in, and whether you stick with your plan. So instead of setting your objectives around the outcome, set them around the process that you’ll follow to get there.

The best way to approach this is to commit yourself to sending 5 pitches a day, for at least 2 weeks, just as an example. This, you can achieve. You’re taking positive steps each day to maximise your chances of landing that first (or second, or third) writing gig, and you – and you alone – are in charge of whether you do that. Taking the emotion and the outcome out of the picture while you build your foundations is what will keep you on track. Turn it into a numbers game instead of an opportunity to beat yourself up.

UNDERSTAND THAT YOU DEFINITELY WILL FACE REJECTION – AND IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

I’ve got no idea how many pitches I’ve sent over the years that have been rejected by potential clients, because I’m not the kind of sadist that keeps count. But it’ll easily be in the hundreds. You too will be rejected. There’s really no avoiding that. There’s not a single successful writer out there who hasn’t missed out on gigs they really wanted, at some point or another.

It’s also – at the end of the day – really not a big deal. I promise. Despite all these rejections along the way, I’ve landed plenty of amazing clients, and built a generous income and sustainable business around my writing. They don’t mean that you’re a lesser writer, or that you won’t have a wonderful writing career ahead of you, and it definitely doesn’t mean that you’re a terrible person. Which brings us nicely to our next point…

REMEMBER THAT IT’S NOT PERSONAL

Writing is a creative process, and that means that it does feel really personal. You’re pouring your ideas and thoughts and arguments and blood, sweat, and tears into your pieces. They can feel like they’re a reflection of who you are. But here’s the thing… They’re not. Being able to separate yourself from your work is essential to maintaining your sanity.

I’ll say this again for those at the back… YOU ARE NOT YOUR WORK! And you are not your pitches, either. If you don’t get the gig, your prospect is simply rejecting what you happen to be offering them at this point in time, based on what they feel they want and need. They’re not rejecting you on a personal level.

There are hundreds of potential reasons why your pitch may not be successful. We won’t go into those now, because they’re not entirely relevant. But none of them are a reflection on you, or even on your abilities as a writer.

KNOW THAT YOU NEED TO DO IT SCARED

Many, many years ago now, I had to give a big presentation as part of my job. It was in front of a lot of really important people, and I knew that quite a lot was resting on it, professionally. I also had several months to prepare. That made things ten times worse, because what it really meant was that I had a load of time to get myself worked about it. And getting myself well and truly worked up about things was definitely one of my strengths back then.

After some pretty impressive bouts of flapping, I bought the book Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. The lessons from that book have stayed with me until this day, the most powerful being that ‘the only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it’.

If you’re scared of pitching, the answer is NOT to wait until you feel ready. You will never feel ready until you have real-world practice of doing it. That doesn’t include reading about it, or thinking some more about it, or telling yourself that you’ll do it in a few months once you’ve ticked whatever boxes you’re convinced you need to tick. Only when you’ve actually done it – and done it several times, actually – will you feel like you’re ready. Recognise the fear, but know that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take action regardless. You need to do it scared.

REMIND YOURSELF OF THE VALUE THAT YOU CAN OFFER

When you work for someone else, there’s an element of permission around everything you do. You want a promotion? You have to wait until someone else deems you worthy. This doesn’t apply when you’re a freelancer, and that can be both a blessing and a curse. At the end of the day, you need to give YOURSELF permission. Permission to pitch for jobs, permission to build a profitable side hustle or career, permission to go right ahead and land that client who you want to work with.

If you’re waiting for someone else to say that you’re worthy, then you’re going to be waiting an awful long time. So it makes sense to cultivate the kind of habits that make you feel like you are indeed worthy. Now simply isn’t the time to convince yourself that you’re rubbish. It’s time to do the exact opposite and make sure that you’re in the right mindset.

One of the most effective ways to do this is to remind yourself why you’re a great choice for your potential client. Now, if I’m having a wobble of confidence, I’ll go back and look at my previous work. I’ll remind myself of the results that I created for clients. I’ll look at my testimonials. These are things that you’ll want to be doing too, once you’ve got your first few projects under your belt.

But even when it’s your very first pitch, there are still plenty of reasons to build yourself up. You’re proud of your newly created portfolio pieces, right? And you’re serious about delivering a professional service to your clients? And you really want to do your best possible work and make a difference in their business? All of these things aren’t a given in a world like freelance writing where there are so few barriers to entry, and they alone give you a great edge. They also are more than enough in the way of permission to go ahead and send that pitch.

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE FEAR OF PITCHING FOR FREELANCE WRITING JOBS…

I’m not denying that the fear of pitching for freelance writing jobs can be very real. It’s strong, and you’ll definitely feel it the first few times that you pitch.

But I can promise you that it absolutely does get easier. You realise that it’s nowhere near as big of a deal as you first thought.

And remember… If you don’t pitch, then work is going to come flying through your window and fall straight into your lap. A sure-fire way to have no clients is to never get started, and never take action on your dreams. That, surely, is more scary than firing off an email to someone you’ve never even met.

If you’ve been letting fear hold you back, how are you going to turn things around and make pitching your priority?

I am taking part in the Monday Money linky with Lynn from Mrs Mummy Penny, Faith from Much More With Less and Emma from EmmaDrew.Info