20 Questions with Jennifer Mattern of ProBusinessWriter.com

Jennifer Mattern is a busy woman. In addition to running the hugely popular writing websites ProBusinessWriter.com and AllFreelanceWriting.com, she also runs a successful writing business where she creates web content and press releases and provides other copywriting and copyediting services for clients in many different industries. Jennifer was gracious enough to take some time out of her hectic schedule to give us a peek into her life and work.

1. Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a freelance business writer. I work exclusively online, handling various corporate and marketing communications and Web writing projects such as blogging and Web copywriting. I focus on working with small business owners and independent professionals, but also take on larger clients occasionally and do subcontracted work for marketing firms.

2. What do you do to unwind?

When I need to unwind, I prefer staying in. I’ll light some candles, curl up on the couch, and watch a good movie. If I need a change of scenery, I go to a park for a hike in the woods.

3. How long have you been a freelancer and what made you make the switch?

I first started freelancing back in 1999 while I was in college. While I “officially” didn’t start freelance writing full-time until 2008, I was technically earning a full-time living writing for several years prior to that (I ran an online PR firm in addition to taking on other business writing part-time, and the majority of my PR work involved writing press releases, press room content, pitch letters, features, etc. for clients). I never really “made the switch.” I just always wrote in addition to whatever else I was doing, and when it was the majority of my PR work I simply decided to cut out the consulting aspect.

4. Did you go to college? If so, where and what degree(s) did you obtain?

I have a degree in public relations.

5. If you weren’t a writer, what career would you have?

I would probably go back to full-service PR.

6. If you could write only one thing for the rest of your life what would it be and why?

If I had to choose, I’d stick with blogging. It’s a good income source and allows a lot of freedom and interaction, which I enjoy.

7. Describe your worst client experience.

I haven’t had any truly awful client experiences actually. I’ve only had issues with two clients in the past, both involving nonpayment. In one case, after the work was contracted, finished, approved, and accepted by the client, they decided that they didn’t want to pursue that project after all and thought that meant they shouldn’t have to pay for the completed work. The other situation was a bit worse, but still nothing like what some of my colleagues have dealt with. In that case, I was hired by a client overseas to write marketing copy for their website. I’d actually done quite a bit of copywriting in the past for them. There were language barriers. With one particular page, much of it didn’t translate literally for them (they were targeting an English-speaking audience). Because of those issues, they actually came out and accused me of hiring a bunch of Indian writers to do my work for me (their ethnic choice of words – not mine). That was the end of that. I wished them luck in finding a new writer to replace me, and went on my way to better things.  (And for the record, I never outsource my projects – on showing the copy to several colleagues who are native English speakers, they couldn’t even begin to understand the accusation). It’s a risk of working with international clients I suppose, but since most of them have been absolutely wonderful to work with, I wouldn’t trade that for the world. In the end it was a good thing for that relationship to end. There’s never a good excuse to work with someone who disrespects you.

8. Describe your best client experience.

That’s really a tough one. I’m not sure if I have a “best” client experience. The vast majority of my client experiences are entirely pleasant. That’s a perk of working with clients who appreciate professional work though (as opposed to the dirt cheap clients who treat writers as replaceable article mills). When there’s a sense of mutual respect and you’re being fairly compensated for your time, what more can you really ask for?

9. What are a few of your biggest writing pet peeves?

I can’t stand the lies that freelance writers are told. It drives me crazy to see people telling new writers that they have to work for low rates because of the so-called global market for freelance writing. Anyone claiming that doesn’t know what a “market” is. They lump all writers into one collective group, and they act as though language is an equivalent of manufacturing jobs (which can be done equally well anywhere by anyone with equal equipment available).
What upsets me more than that though are the freelance writers who try to justify accepting dirt cheap rates. I get tired of seeing writers complain that they can’t earn more, but then seeing those same writers go on and one about how cheap Web content gigs, residual pay sites, etc. are actually worthwhile. They’re not. Anyone who’s taken that approach as well as charging more professional rates knows that. The problem is that many of these writers never do try. They want things to be easy – to be handed to them. They expect good gigs to be advertised publicly so they can just apply. It doesn’t work that way, and acting like it should is nothing short of lazy. Yes, there are some writers who simply don’t know any better early in their careers, and that’s why I continue to try to help them find better ways to earn a sustainable living through forums, my blogs, and e-books. But it’s not nearly as difficult as people like to think it is. It just involves a lot of hard work that unfortunately not enough writers are willing to do (or maybe it’s fortunate after all – there are plenty of us happy to take those higher-paying gigs while others keep taking the easy way out).

10. What was your biggest “newbie” mistake?

I didn’t honestly make many traditional “newbie” mistakes in freelancing (like thinking I had to start with extremely low pay, not being able to choose a proper target market, etc.). I came from a marketing and PR background, so I knew to get busy on building visibility and a platform early (the biggest mistake a new writer can make is fail to set themselves apart from others). If I made a serious mistake, it was actually before I ever began writing for others. I was never considering writing to be my future. I mean, when I was in high school I certainly dreamed of being a writer. But I wouldn’t have pursued it if my PR work hadn’t led me into it – the writing I did during college wasn’t something I considered a future career. I loved my PR work though (and actually my highest earning blog is a result of that work), so in the end it all worked out well for me.

11. If you could do anything over again in regards to your career, what would it be?

If I could do anything differently, I never would have touched content networks (I was a writer and / or editor with three of them at various points). That was always side work, while running my PR firm, so it never had the chance to hold me back as much as it could have if I made it an even bigger emphasis. It does upset me to think how much time I wasted there though. Yes, it’s easy to get sucked in when you think you’ll keep earning residually, a little bit at a time each month. But when I left my last network gig, it only took me about 3 months before I was earning four times as much from a single blog of my own than I was as an editor there (low $xxxx). Had I started that much earlier, I probably would have already moved to writing for myself fulltime by now. A tip for new writers – if you want residual income, get it by writing for yourself and not for others. If you have any marketing ability whatsoever, that’s the way to come out ahead (and since content networks generally expect you to promote your content if you want to earn more anyway, there’s really no way to avoid marketing ).

12. What is one piece of advice that you wish someone told you before taking the plunge into the world of freelance writing?

Here’s the same advice I often give myself in life. Ignore what everyone else is doing. You cannot be exceptional at what you do if you only follow everyone around you. That couldn’t be more true than in freelancing. When everyone else I knew in PR took a “be nice and kiss ass” approach, I opted for blunt honesty. It suited me. It suited more clients than you’d think. And it helped me build a presence and name for myself. The same is true in writing. Something has to set you apart. For me it’s that up front, no nonsense approach. For others, it will be something else. The key is to avoid being fake. If you’re not comfortable doing what you’re doing, then get out and do something else.

13. In your opinion, what is one trait that people looking to start a writing career MUST HAVE in order to be successful?

If you cannot market yourself effectively, you will not succeed. There’s no way around that.

14. Where do you see yourself professionally in 10 years?

Can I say “in early retirement, off touring Europe?” No, seriously, I don’t know if I’ll still be taking on client writing at that point. I’m already cutting it down to part-time work next year (making my own blogs, e-books, and hopefully future books my income priority). I do hope, and expect, that some of those sources will still be bringing in residual income for me that far down the line. But really, the only concrete 10-year goal I can give you is that I’d like to have a bare minimum of two books published by that time.

15. Do you have any new projects in the works that you want to give FYW readers a sneak peek into?

I have a lot of projects in the works. The biggest and newest project right now is QueryFreeFreelancer.com which I launched last month. This is my secondary blog for freelance writers. More importantly, it’s a platform piece to help build a targeted audience for a nonfiction book I’m working on – The Query-Free Freelancer. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to pursue traditional publishing or self-publish that book, but I do know I won’t be participating in the usual pitching routines (in good old query-free style).

16. You run a ton of websites! Can you offer any time management tips?

I run quite a few that I never mention publicly on top of my known blogs. I’m a big believer in diversifying your income streams. I have blogs, directories, static content sites, my business site, product sites, etc. In some cases, it’s a “set it and forget it” approach where the initial content earns residual income indefinitely. The real time drains are the blogs, e-books, and (now) the book. There’s no way you can do everything. I’m always putting good ideas on hold (I have multiple composition books filled with nothing business and site ideas). Ones I’m really passionate about get launched (I can build and launch most of my blogs and sites in just a few hours if I don’t have to wait on a coder or something). I put them up, see how they do, and compare them to my larger projects. If they prove to be profitable (and more so than other efforts), then older projects get dropped so I can make more time for the new ones (why I recently merged several of my other writing blogs with AllFreelanceWriting.com – to make time for the Query-Free Freelancer project). You have to be able to pick and choose, and be willing to let go of your “baby” sometimes. That ability to let go is probably the best thing you can do when it comes to better managing your time.
And to-do lists. I can’t get through a day without to-do lists! (I like using various-size index cards depending on how much I need to get done).

17. I find your downloads section very interesting and helpful! What has been your reader’s reaction to that feature?

Honestly, there has been very little reaction to the free downloads. I don’t promote them well enough. Heck, I forget they’re there most of the time. Terrible of me, I know.

18. Where do you get your content ideas from?

Not sure if I’m allowed to say this, but to be frank, my best ideas come when I’m pissed off (speaking of my own blogs – not client work of course). What I’m known for through my PR blog specifically are my rants – I’ll say what others won’t. I’m not looking to impress people with niceties there, and the style works for me (and a lot ticks me off when it comes to PR and social media being misused or misunderstood). Even at All Freelance Writing, some of the highest-traffic and most commented posts are rants. I’m not afraid to give people a piece of my mind. I just keep my eyes open and share my thoughts on what I see, no matter what others might think of it. My policy is pretty simple – don’t shy away from anything. If it brings about some kind of emotion in me, whether positive or negative, it’s worth sharing. If it bores me to tears, then I move on.

19. Are there any writing related blogs that you read regularly and would recommend to our readers?

This may sound awful, but I can’t think of a single blog I read “regularly” (as in daily). There just isn’t time. You have to step away from the blogosphere and get busy writing if you want to be a writer. That said, I do read every day – I just limit my time and don’t visit the same blogs every day. I have a few that I’ll periodically pull up just to see what’s going on conversation-wise, like ChrisBlogging.com and FreelanceWritingGigs.com. Some days I want to read up on PR issues, so I read blogs in that niche. Other days I want to read about freelancing. Others I want to read blogs on blogging. I can’t do everything and still be productive in my actual work. I read enough to stay connected and to know what’s going on in the niches, but that’s about it. In addition to those blogs mentioned, I’d suggest writers check out Anne Wayman’s blog - AboutFreelanceWriting.com. FreelanceSwitch.com is also often a good bet.

20. What direction do you see web and business writing going in the future?

It’s absolutely on an up-swing, and not just the low paying content writing gigs you often see advertised. More corporate clients are out there wanting to get into blogging for example. Business blogging requires someone who understand both Web writing and business writing, since those blogs are often PR or marketing tools representing the company. Even in basic SEO Web content, people are increasingly paying professional rates. They don’t want keyword-stuffed drivel. They want authoritative content that just happens to naturally attract readers, links, and subscribers because that kind of content helps them get (and stay) at the top of the search engine rankings in the long haul. As small businesses move to the Web, they need Web marketing copy. They’re both great areas to be in right now, with a lot of growth still to come.