By Marie Thibault

As old media jobs disappear, more journalists and writers are turning to freelance work. There’s ample evidence of this: nearly every day, there is at least one notice in the Gorkana Alerts, an email sent to business writers, announcing a former traditional reporter or editor going freelance.

With this inflow of talent into the freelance market, long-time freelancers say they are noticing more competition. To make things worse, editors are farming out fewer assignments, instead choosing to use just their staff.

“Almost every freelance writer I know has been affected by the economy,” says Esther Stein, who has written for The Boston Globe, CFO Magazine and Computerworld. She adds that it is taking longer to get paid after each assignment — “Whereas many publications used to pay within 30 days, the norm has now become 45 to 60 days.” So how are these veteran freelancers coping? They are diversifying, focusing on building their brands and staying flexible.

Gina DeMillo Wagner, who has written for Runner’s World, US Airways Magazine and Skiing, points out that magazine editors have hit the freelance circuit recently after being cut from mastheads, so she is having a more difficult time finding work with new clients. On the upside, her current clients haven’t made adjustments to her assignments, either.

The “key to survival…is to have a diverse client base,” she says. Transcending medium and profit models by writing for nonprofits, businesses, websites and magazines enables her to deal with a slowdown in print assignments or fewer business clients. Echoing that sentiment, Michelle Margetts, who recently completed work for brand and etailer Be the Light, Be the One, says that she doesn’t rely on one job or income source.

These pros preach flexibility, both in the types of assignments they’ll take and how much they’ll charge. Scott Kramer, who has written for PGA Magazine and Travel & Leisure Golf, wrote and published an eBook titled “How to Buy the Right Golf Equipment” earlier this year, “just to see how it would sell and to make some extra cash.” Darrell Delamaide, who has written for MarketWatch and Institutional Investor, says that rates charged should be very flexible, too. In addition, a successful freelancer should have multiple skills, allowing more flexibility in the type of services he or she can provide, says Margetts. In a recent interview for a technical writing assignment, she sensed that the firm’s officers were unhappy with the company’s marketing efforts. She was able to grab their attention by discussing how to improve the firm’s website and marketing information. “So even though I was there for tech writing, I generated a lot of interest from them to make the marketing my first deliverable,” she says.

Concentrating on the bigger picture – your brand – is a good idea. Margetts work in the San Francisco Bay Area where, she says, “there is a glut of talent…compounded, of course, by the amount of bloggers willing to write ‘for free’ for the exposure or to leverage other opportunities. I fought this for awhile but have capitulated and while writing for free sucks, the blog is helping me immensely to network and land good interviews.”

Maybe most importantly, these freelancers are staying optimistic. Margetts says that in addition to her current projects, she’s expecting work for the second phase of Be the Light, Be the One and searching for new projects. The new year seems like it will be more promising than the last she says, adding, “hope that’s not the Kool-Aid talkin’.”

Kramer sums up his experience during the recession this way: “Absolutely, I’ve taken on some jobs I wouldn’t normally. But hey, it’s a nice way to meet new people and you never know how it might pay off when the economy rebounds.”

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