Once of the big bonuses of freelance work is the flexibility that it offers and for Diana Kelly Levey, who lives in Long Island, NY, with her husband, two young sons and the family dog, freelancing is a great way to juggle a career you love with family life.
Diana first showed her creative side as a toddler when she scribbled on the walls instead of paper in the family home in Philadelphia. At school she soon developed a love for reading, writing, and spelling. She remembers seeing her name in print for the first time when she wrote an article for the second-grade newspaper.
‘Ooh, I liked seeing that! I guess writing was always my strong suit, I was good at spelling, and I was always reading and things like that. When I was 13 or so, I submitted an essay to a Philadelphia contest about the MLB baseball strike that was going on in the 90s and I won $100 for my age group. ‘It was a great feeling that I had earned money from my writing.’
What career path to take?
Interestingly, although she loved to write, Diana was drawn to a career as a forensic scientist when she was a teen, before the Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) shows were on TV and popularised the career. When she was 15, the family moved to New Jersey and the following summer, Diana had the opportunity to join the boot camp run by The New Jersey State Police which was a weeklong training on how to become a police officer or a New Jersey State Trooper –
‘I did not like it at all. I realised that for the first few years, like all newbies, for the early part of my career I would be just driving on highways in a patrol car as a state trooper. I thought I would have to do that first in order to move into crime scene forensics and it didn’t excite me.’
She studied at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, but didn’t know what she wanted to major in. Having taken a couple of journalism courses and now writing a regular advice column for The Daily Targum (the college newspaper) it seemed ideal to study for a major in journalism. She did this with a view to working in magazines which seemed to be a fun job.
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I’m correcting these to US English but if your magazine’s style is UK English then just leave them all as is – as long as it’s consistent.
Diana decided that it would be prudent to relocate to New York City after college where all the magazines were based and while she was still in school, she began an editorial internship with Redbook magazine. Diana has now been working for a variety of media magazines and brands for nearly 20 years and looks back on those early days proudly. She admits that for a 21-year-old there was a steep learning curve and one article when she was working for Redbook was particularly challenging –
‘I was helping to do the background research for a story about moms who had kids with cancer. I had to get on the telephone and speak to hospitals to find out who would be willing to speak to me and then talk to those mothers. I was new to journalism and soon found out that a balance had to be struck between featuring children who were well on the road to recovery and those who were very sick indeed. I found it really hard listening to moms telling me the stories about their kids’ illnesses. They shared their struggles and worst fears with me over the ‘phone – and I was a stranger. The whole experience has stuck with me’.
In 2006, after working for CHILD magazine as a sales assistant, Diana began writing for WeightWatchers.com which felt strange as it was working for a website rather than a printed magazine. At that time, she did not know many other people in the editorial industry working on websites.
‘I am so grateful for that experience as it catapulted my career as a digital editor for magazines which as we know now is the way a lot of things have gone’
It was at this time that she decided to start freelance writing on the side. She read a couple of books, took some courses on Mediabistro and learned about freelancing mainly on her own. She did look on Craigslist.org when she started looking for freelance writing jobs.
Since then, Diana has gained huge experience working as a freelance writer, digital editor, and magazine editor with Reader’s Digest, Bloomberg Businessweek and Men’s Health publications amongst others. She has also worked as a content marketer for Kellogg’s, Fitbit, Aveeno, Beachbody and more.
How to be a successful freelancer
Diana has worked for a range of publications and feels that it is important to contact as many as possible to find freelance work. She knows that this can be difficult especially in the early days, when you apply for jobs only to never to hear from the magazines again. Interesting, in a recent poll she conducted on LinkedIn, Diana discovered that 70% of freelancers get their work through referrals –
‘I think it is good to contact warm leads – people you have worked for before- to see if they know someone who could do with some help. Now, with 20 years experience, I can approach a potential client with a cold email and have a better chance that they’ll respond to me. because they recognise some of my client names and brands. This definitely makes life easier’.
As you establish yourself as a freelancer, Diana believes that it is advantageous to specialise in certain fields as she has done with health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness. She has written a great deal about weight loss and is still regularly asked to write articles on this subject. Diana has appeared on both the ‘Dr. Steve Show’ and Fox 5 News in New York discussing weight loss and fitness topics.
Having said this, Diana successfully covers many lifestyle topics. She feels that one of the advantages of being a freelancer is that you are given the opportunity to write about so many different topics that require good research so you get to learn a tremendous amount, too. Diana stresses that once you have regular freelance work coming in, there is no need to take every job you are offered and if you feel a job is going to be a difficult one that doesn’t interest you, it is best to politely decline it.
In the early days, Diana was offered a writing job by the Foundation for the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY). She admits that she didn’t know much when she first started work with them, but has since written three books and numerous feature-length B2B articles over the eight years she worked with the department!
Always decline work politely
Freelance work is often a case of ‘feast or famine’ with either too much or too little work. Diana believes that it is very important to be honest with clients about the deadline you will need to complete their work if you’re too busy to take on the assignment right now-
‘Explain that maybe they will have to wait a few weeks. Be kind and courteous in client relationships because publishing and media is a very small and connected community. If you’re rude when you turn someone down who offered freelance work, it could come back to bite you in the butt later if you want to work with that company in the future’.
Diana emphasises that it is important to keep yourself current and explains –
‘At present I am doing more e-commerce writing as magazines want product round-ups from freelancers. That’s because the brands can link the products mentioned to places like Amazon and get affiliate commissions. It’s a way that publishing companies are earning money so everyone from Health, The Wall Street Journal, Prevention, and other brands are participating in this trend’.
Freelancing works well around other commitments.
With two young children, Diana knows that she has to set to work as soon as they have gone to daycare – which they do three days a week. This is the time she dedicates to writing and finding new jobs each week. She does check on emails and social media every day, but when her children are at home, she spends her time just with them and taking them to local parks, museums and libraries.
Diana can help new freelancers
In recent years, Diana has started writing about how to become a freelancer – either as a profession or side hustle. She’s been quoted as an expert in otherpublications, like How to Earn an Extra $1000 a Month (U.S. News & World Report) and Here’s How to Have a Successful Conversation with Prospective Clients (Adobe). She has also been interviewed in several podcasts including How to start freelance Writing, Setting yourself up for a successful freelance career and Earning six figures as a freelancer.
Diana admits that the biggest hurdle for many new freelancers she speaks with is having the confidence to submit their first pitch. She smiles as she says her advice is always ‘just do it!’ It is likely that you will have to submit many pitches before you are successful. Diana has briefly used several freelance platforms, but feels that it is far better to contact magazines and companies directly. If you are successful with one writing job, word-of-mouth is very powerful and you could well receive more work as the word spreads. Diana also feels that it is important to contact your clients a week or so after you have finished their work as a ‘follow up’ to see if they are happy and whether they have any other work they need help with.
How to learn from Diana’s expertise
Diana is a published author of the eBook, 100+ Tips for Beginner Freelance Writers in August 2019. Diana is also a freelance writing online course instructor and offers coaching to people wanting to become freelance writers, although she says that recently she had helped several established freelancers who were struggling to find work. Diana’s PDFs also offer guidance about freelancing and many new freelancers find her regular blog inspirational and full of good information.
And why does Diana love freelancing?
What I really love about freelancing is the ability to work with different clients and to learn different things. If someone comes to me with a cool project that excites me and it is going to be good for the planet or help communities or help people live happier, healthier lives-and I want to have time to work on it- I appreciate that I have the career where I can can say ‘yes’ to that opportunity’…
If you would like to know more about the courses Diana Kelly Levey offers, log onto https://www.dianakelly.com
