Are freelance writers expected to do too much?

Well, I think what it happening is that there are writers out there who provide other services such as the ones you wrote about. And that is a smart thing to do for this reason: companies would rather pay one person rather than several to perform those tasks. Not all writers do this by any means. Some writers tend to stick to just writing and only one form of it. And others choose to add others skills to their resume other than writing such as editing, marketing (myspace,twitter, etc) and/or translation services. Still other writers teach, coach and mentor other writers. Really, this kind of thing depends on who you are as a writer. If you feel you can do that (provide services other than writing) and have the experience to back you up, AND you wish you grow your business to extend beyond writing, I say create a business plan and go for it. Sorry for the run-on sentence. lol And as far as clients who as for non-writing related services - you can deal with this two ways. 1) Don't apply for jobs that require more than writing if it's not what you want to do or 2) refer them to fellow writers who DO provide those services. Or you could choose option 3) get the training/experience. Your writing career all depends on you. What you can handle and what you cannot is all up to you.

Hi Caroline - I agree with Sky. I think because many freelancers don't make enough money through writing alone, they develop other talents associated with writing. It's a good idea, if you have the interest and inclination. Personally, my interest is solely in writing, so those are the kind of jobs I go for. Maybe someday this will change, but for now it works for me.

Heiddi, very well said! And I agree.

Another option is to create a network/team of web designers, graphic people, PR professionals and social media experts. Then apply for the job and subcontract out the non-writing parts to other professionals. The client gets the benefit of one point of contact and the best people for every job.
Dawn

I think that, thanks to the Internet, writers are picking up other skills. For example, social media, blog design, html, community moderation and more. Newer clients don't know how it was "back in the day" nor do they have any clue of what being a freelancer writer does and doesn't entail nowadays.

Personally, I find it in a writer's best interest to pick up a variety of skills in order to add a boutique of services. I offer writing, blogging and social media consulting services. I know, however, this isn't for everyone.

My advice is to charge accordingly. You'll have to charge more to clients looking for a variety of services over simple writing. Also, if you are outsourcing, make sure your client knows and agrees. Some aren't keen to work being outsourced to people they didn't approve of.

I think you can go one of two ways...

A narrow specialty that is in demand
or...
Cultivate a variety of skills to net as much work as possible

I started out as the first and wound up the latter.
Both work well!

As technology changes and the media becomes more and more digital I see being a complete multimedia freelancer as a necessary evolution. It may have been sufficient to be just a writer 30 years ago, and for the time being it is still a viable option. However, information technology is changing at the speed of light. It's becoming more interactive, more visual, more sensory, more interconnected and more invasive. Someday, just being a writer won't be enough. Text and multimedia will become so intertwined that editors will be looking for individuals who can pull off a feature story with all the digital elements. Today these elements are just bells and whistles, but in the future they will be as intrinsic to a story as a period.

So to answer the question... no, I don't think we're expected to do too much. Times are changing. We either have to adapt or fall behind.

Caroline, just as you wouldn't take every writing job out there (some may be beyond your interest or scope), so would you simply not apply for jobs that require skill in web design.

I am a freelance writer, editor, web designer, photographer, photo editor, and a few totally unrelated things. If I can make more money packaging my work, I will. I also associate with other professionals, and used to partner with them to bid on jobs that required both of our skill sets (for example, I program in basic HTML, so if a client wanted Flash or Java, I would contact my buddy John and ask if he wanted to bid with me).

Actually, learning how to create a web site really is pretty simple. No, seriously. If you're seeing a lot of jobs that ask you to write and create a web site, you might want to learn it. As others have mentioned, the more skills you have, the more you're worth.

Of course, if you find some that you really want and just need someone to slap together a few web pages or a site for you, drop me a line, I can do that.

Sometimes.

I come from a journalism background and my original writing was very newsy and not "people friendly"... many clients worked with me on it and now that I'm "friendly" I'm working more on marketing writing.

I have a very special client who pays for me to take the time to learn the stuff (marketing, or about whatever I'm writing on).

With regards to writing/building websites, the clients I do write websites for seem to already have "web guys" who can't write their content for them.