1. Do Your Research
Look for established freelance writers and read their websites or blogs. Use this as your starting point, soak up as much as possible about having a freelance business.
You can email experienced freelance writers and ask them questions that will reveal what you can expect and what is required to become a freelance writer. You’ll be surprised to see how helpful these writers may be.
Newbie freelance writers may decide to work for content mills. Before you go this route, do your research and consider the pros and cons. Most experienced freelance writers who’ve tried it all will advise you to avoid these companies if you can. The advantage is that you don’t have to go out looking for clients because content agencies will find the clients for you, and you will start making some money quickly. The drawback is that the pay isn’t good at all. Writing a 300-word article is likely to earn you only $10.50, while the content mill makes a tidy sum off your hard work. Try to find out how long it might take you to get started if you pitch potential clients instead of working for content mills and making a careful decision.
2. Equip Yourself with the Right Skills
To be a successful writer, you need an arsenal of a few skills you may not have thought about:
Organizational skills
There’s a lot to manage in freelance writing business, more than you may have imagined. You will have to juggle your work and deliver your projects on time for your various clients. Getting paid is crucial, so you need to set aside time to accurately bill your clients and maintain client notes or a database. You need to keep track of the pitches you’ve sent, and you will likely need to follow up. You also can’t afford to neglect your online presence, so you will need to maintain a content schedule for your blog and social media pages.
Editing skills
Many writers use editing tools like Grammarly or Hemingway, or another editing app. However, these apps may not pick on every error and can never compensate for reading over your work and editing thoroughly.
3. Practice Writing
To become an in-demand writer, you have to be skilled at what you do. You need to know how to string sentences together and convey ideas with clarity.
Copywriting is not like writing an essay or any other type of academic writing. Whether it’s a blog post or copy for a Facebook ad, you need to be hyperfocused on catching the reader’s interest from the headline and persuading them to take action. For longer pieces, you also need to substantiate your claims and with information from credible sources.
If you read widely, you will continuously expand your vocabulary. And we don’t mean just reading emails and interesting blog articles, take some time out to sit with a book and learn from the masters.
The best way to practice your writing is with supervision and feedback. That is where training comes in handy. You don’t need a college degree in writing. There are tons of online writing courses, at a wide range of price points, to choose from. It’s worth it to invest in yourself to become a better writer.
It is equally important to hone your skills consistently. Writers are always advised to write every day, even if you’re not getting paid. Writing pitch letters is a great way to exercise your writing muscles while working on growing your business. If you’re tired of writing pitch letters, journaling allows you to free-write.
4. Choose your niche
If you’re wondering what you should write about, start by thinking of the topics you know well, look at your interests, your passions or your area of expertise. With your niche in mind, it is much easier to go after writing jobs confidently. If you specialize in a particular place, you can also charge more for your expertise.
You may be super-enthusiastic about something, or you may enjoy discussing or reading about certain things. You may have developed specific skills at your full-time job that can form the basis for a niche.
Choosing a niche equips you to write well and capture the interests of readers. You also may reduce the hours you spend on research. Here are some niches to choose from:
- Travel
- Fitness and nutrition
- Health and wellness
- Family, relationships, and parenting
- Yoga and meditation
- Cooking and nutrition
- Finance and budgeting
- Leadership
- Crafting or other creative hobbies
5. Create a Portfolio of Your Work
Practically every prospective client or employer will ask to see samples of your published work. If you’re just starting, you might not have any published work, but publish articles on your blog.
Having chosen a niche, you can reach out to bloggers in that sphere. You may have to publish guest posts for free, depending on the website, but it’s ideal for getting published samples fast, and soon you’ll be getting paid for your guest posts.
You can also create samples, whether you upload them as a Google Doc or publish them on Medium.
Share your work with family and friends to get feedback and so you can consistently improve your writing and showcase only your very best work.
Your website or blog
Those looking to hire a writer will expect to see your samples on your website or blog; this is your online portfolio. WordPress and Wix offer free websites, or you can post on a platform like Medium.
6. Pitching to Get Jobs
Many beginner writers find some measure of success using job boards where new jobs are posted daily. You’ll need to be among the first few to apply, and your pitch will have to stand out from the rest. Your writing samples or testimonials can set you apart.
Staff jobs, such as an editorial position, aren’t easy to come by, but from time to time, you may find websites and publications posting full-time writing vacancies. You’ll learn a lot and get lots more samples.
Pitching publications
The thought of pitching publications may be daunting at first, but you need to just go for it, even if you’re a beginner. Contact the editors with any article ideas you know you can write well on. Even if some projects are not paid, you’ll have an opportunity to build your portfolio and start to make a name for yourself. Some writers recommend pitching publications three or four times a week.
Networking
Keep an eye out for moments to connect with other freelance writers and join freelance writing groups. Often, available jobs are shared in writing communities. On your LinkedIn and other social media pages, include links to your published pieces.
If blogging is your thing, reading and commenting on other blogs in your niche will get you noticed by other writers, and you may discover opportunities to collaborate.
Pitching prospective clients
This strategy can be rewarding as you can make more money per project. To achieve this, it’s best to position yourself as someone with a specialization. Take your pick from areas like landing page copywriting to sales funnel copywriting. Make sure you’ve mastered the domain you select and have relevant writing samples before approaching potential clients.
7. Seriously work on growing your business
When you’re new, you have to put in the work to earn the respect of editors and prospective clients. Keep your social media up-to-date and follow other writers or companies you’d like to do work for. Showcase your portfolio at every opportunity. The idea is to eventually have work coming to you rather than go out and look for it.
Ask your clients for testimonials.
If you plan to approach prospective clients, testimonials from previous clients are essential. Potential clients want to know that you write well, but they will also be curious about how well you have worked with clients in the past. Ask for a few words about your c with you, either by email. After you’ve completed a project, ask them for a short statement about their experience working with you. Highlight these reviews on your website or encourage clients to add a testimonial on LinkedIn.
Frequently set new goals.
You’re running a business, so you need to track your income and set daily, weekly, and monthly income goals. These goals will keep you motivated to take your business seriously and consistently seek to grow it.
