These days, the allure of flexible work hours and choosing what jobs to work on, as well as being able to set your wages, have made it difficult for many people to pass up freelancing. There is a growing number of people who would consider themselves freelance writers – but the job is not as easy as it looks from the outside.
Freelancer writers create articles or content on whatever subject they specialise in, at the request of a client. This is not to be misconstrued with freelance blogging. Freelance blogging is more like an activity one does in his or her spare time, whereas freelance writing is a content writing service that has delivery deadlines and projections. A freelance writer is required to conduct themselves professionally and turn in quality write-ups for a client, much like any other job.
Before you can kick off your career in freelance blogging, you need to have the basics: a computer and reliable internet. Once you have both locked down, you are ready to use the guidelines listed below in your quest to become a freelance blogger. Keep reading!
-
Build your online profile
The freelance blogging journey begins with taking a step in the right direction. The currency of freelance blogging is followership, so you need to grow your influence to profit from freelance blogging. You start with choosing your domain name and registering it. We recommend registering a “.com” domain and creating a profile on major social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and so on, if you have not already done so. Feel free to read up on freelance writing from as many blogs as you can find to get informed about the subject.
You need to understand that your blog is the first interface you have with any potential clients. You need to make it attractive to anyone who visits. It is an inventory of all your copywriting work and you need to create a posting schedule for your content so your readers can predict with some form of certainty when to expect to find new content.
-
Send out proposals to clients
If you do not send proposals out, not many people will know that you are a freelance writer or even be able to determine how good you are. You can start with doing guest posts so you can build a portfolio of copywriting examples you have done for bigger websites. Sign up to any of the freelance websites to get started making pitches to your prospects. You are not limited to companies that need writers when deciding where to send your proposals to. When choosing clients to pitch to, go for reputable websites which will improve your profile as a copywriting service.
-
Choose your writing specialisation
Everyone who starts as a newbie in freelance blogging finds that some topics just have you drawing blanks when you want to write. In time you will find a niche you prefer to write about, even if you still take jobs outside this area of speciality from time to time.
The key to finding your niche is simple: what do you enjoy writing about? What topics spark your interest? What field do you want to learn more about? The answer to these questions will lead you to discover what aspect of copywriting you want to specialise in. You will find it easier to be creative when you write on topics you are interested in.
If you narrow your focus to a particular area, you are more likely to get noticed as an expert.
-
Build networks
Referrals are still one of the fastest ways to grow in a new industry. Many freelance bloggers get jobs from referrals at one time or the other. Build your networks by sending messages to people in the same field as you. You will find them on freelance blogging websites online. Examples of such sites are: Be a freelance blogger, The Write Life, and many others.
Connecting with other freelance bloggers helps, especially on days when you need someone who understands what you are going through and can offer advice for dealing with difficult situations. Sometimes trying to find new clients and agreeing on fees can require you to seek advice from your network of freelancers.
You can also find freelance bloggers on social media. Build relationships by offering useful suggestions or feedback, and making comments on their blog posts.
-
Be fast at writing quality articles
In the freelancing business, your ability to quickly finish writing your blog posts will determine how much you can earn. If you can type faster, you will be done with your articles much faster. The faster you are and the fewer errors you make, the more quickly you will be done with creating blog posts.
You will become faster and better as you write more articles, so keep practising. Some people are faster in visualising their ideas than they are at transforming them into words. You need continuous practice on every aspect of your copywriting to become quicker at turning your thoughts and ideas into words.
You can always go through your article later to edit and make sure it is free of spelling and syntactic errors. You can use Grammarly to edit your articles for spelling and score yourself for engagement, delivery, and many other important parameters. To assess your work for originality, you can use an SEO plagiarism checker or Copyscape.
-
Create objectives to keep you focused
If you do not set your mind on your reasons for writing, a few rejections here and there can throw you off. You need to keep your mind on your “why”, or rejection can feel personal. Why do you write? What do you want freelance blogging to work for you? How much closer are you to achieving your aims? These will help you stay the course even if a few doors are closed in your face.
Create your action plan and keep your eyes on them. Even if you are turned down, you must keep moving until the next person says yes. A couple of rejections can make you doubtful of your ability, but there is hardly anyone who has not felt that way in the early days.
You must keep your content fresh and of the highest quality possible. Sometimes you will need to create content without any monetary reward, but as long as you do a splendid job, you will land more clients in the long run, and you can push for better pay.
-
Grow your business
Even if you have barely found your footing in freelance blogging, it helps to set your sights on becoming bigger and mapping a path to being a full-fledged copywriting agency. You might be the one handling client correspondence and other aspects of content writing today, but you will grow with time.
Yes, it might be a hobby today, something you do part-time for now, but a day is coming when you will have so many clients that you will have to delegate some responsibility to other people. You will find yourself with the opportunity to help other bloggers that are in the same position as you are now.
Some aspects of copywriting you can outsource are proofreading, fact-checking and even editing of your work. Stay focused and you can achieve it!
To sum up
Freelance blogging will give you freedom over what time you want to work, and flexible workspace arrangements. You can monetise your writing abilities and create a career out of it if you have the passion and grit that it takes.