Hey everyone! Today I have a post from a good blog friend of mine. She recently quit her job too! Enjoy!
Like Michelle, I have recently gone full-time with my freelance writing career. It’s a scary and exciting transition to say the least. As far as my self-employment income, a good portion is coming from freelance writing.
As a newbie who is seeing some serious progress in the area of freelance writing, I can attest to the fact that there are several practical tips you can implement to launch your freelance writing career. It took me awhile to get to where I am at today but there’s no doubt in my mind that if I can do it, you can do it, too.
Here are three steps you should take to get started.
# 1 – Build a Portfolio
The most important thing you can do to get freelance jobs and to be successful with your freelance writing career is prove that 1) you’re a decent writer (not great, just decent) 2) you can work well with others.
The quickest way to prove this is by guest posting. There are a lot of advantages to guest posting if you want to be a freelance writer. By guest posting you get your name out there, establish a reputation for yourself, and prove that you can adapt your writing tone to that of other blogs.
You should try to guest post on blogs/websites that are in a similar niche that you want to write for. You can then build an online portfolio (Google it. There are several free writer portfolio websites.) or list your portfolio on your current blog if you have one.
Now you’ll have a place to send potential clients.
# 2 – Start With What You Know
When I first started my freelance writing career I was applying to jobs in just about every niche. If it paid what I wanted, I applied. This was a huge waste of time.
I got rejected just about every single time. Clients do not want generalists to write for them – they want specialists. I quickly realized this and began applying to all the jobs I saw that were related to insurance. (My job at that time was a personal lines insurance agent and I was, indeed, a specialist in personal lines insurance.)
Through my blog I began finding jobs relating to personal finance, which is what I prefer to write about. At this point my clients are about 60 percent personal finance related and 40 percent insurance related.
Even if writing what you know isn’t fun it’s the best way for you to find jobs when you’re just getting started.
# 3 – Find Jobs
Once you have your portfolio up and running and have decided on your niche, it’s time to start hunting down those jobs.
I have found that there are two ways to doing this that bring the best results. The first is emailing blog owners who you want to write for, introducing yourself, and offering your service. The second best method for me has been applying to job boards. I personalize an email template that I have saved for easy access for both of these methods.
Neither one of these methods are fool-proof. The reality is you will be told no far more than you will be told yes. That’s okay, though. That’s how this whole freelance writing thing works.
Stick With It
You aren’t going to become an instant freelance writing success overnight. It’s just not going to happen. Even those super successful writers you see all over the internet started from the bottom. It’s going to take you time to build up your client base just like it took them. That’s why freelance writing is the perfect side hustle that you can eventually grow into a full-time job.
If you’re ready to launch your freelance writing career there’s no time like today to get started.
If you’ve been wanting to get started freelance writing what’s holding you back?
Alexa Mason is a blogger, personal finance freelance writer, and wanna be internet entrepreneur. She chronicles her journey as a single mother trying to make it big at Single Moms Income.
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