Why great freelancers don't fear competition
Success in writing isn't luck. It's persistence, strategy, and quality.
We’ve all seen it on social media.
An editor shares a request for writers of some kind—freelance pitches, a call for copywriters, perhaps a technical or medical writer. And you go to share your ideas, profile or experience, only to see that 100+ people have already replied.And that’s just the ones you can see, not the ones who will have contacted quietly.
It’s not specific to posts, either. LinkedIn will helpfully show you when 100+ people have applied for a specific job. On Twitter, you’ll be able to see when an editor’s pitch call has dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of retweets.
It’s off-putting. We all know that. The thought that it’s virtually pointless to apply, share or promote yourself because you assume they’ve probably already found someone, or that you can’t possibly compete against so many people.
Well, that’s not true. And today I’m explaining why.
Not everyone is competitive
Not everyone is spending the time that is really needed on a job application or an email pitch. As someone who has read lots of these, you can usually disregard at least 50% of applicants for any opportunity immediately. Many will be half-finished, littered with errors or even something as simple as based in the wrong country for a location-specific job.
When we see 100+ applicants for a role, it’s easy to assume that every single one of those people is a genuine candidate. That is really not the case. There might be a lot of them who are, but you’d be surprised by how many are not. And if you fit the bill for what someone is looking for, you should always make the effort to take it further if you are seeking work.
When it comes to pitches, many are rushed, written poorly, not focused enough or, believe it or not, just written with AI. Editors sift through a lot of irrelevant pitches before they find ones that are right for them. And if you apply the right approach to pitching, you might stand out more than you think. But you still have to take the time to do it properly.
