Career Trends: July 6, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Content Credit:
- Article published on opportunitydesk.org. Original article link.
Freelance writing is the career of a professional writer who works as a contractor as opposed to a full-time staff writer at a company. Freelancers offer their writing services across a variety of genres, writing about any topic a client assigns. They often work for different clients and services, including creative writing journals, magazines, established copywriters or content writers, businesses, etc. For corporates, they can write business articles or even e-mail content.
You don’t need a degree or certificate under your belt to get started. Sure, having strong writing skills helps, but you can (and should) continue to improve those as you go along.
High-quality freelance writers and brand journalists are currently in high demand and stand to be for years to come. Although content marketing and freelance writing markets were already growing, the pandemic accelerated their growth, opening a sea of opportunities for freelancers.
Here are some tips to help you get started as an independent writer:
1. Be on the constant lookout for freelance writing positions.
- You need to be on the lookout for freelance writing jobs to avoid any downtime.
- Look online for job boards.
- Send an email to potential clients introducing yourself as a content director.
- You can network with other writers that are able to pass on work when they have more.
2. Share your stories with the portals and papers you admire.
- You are likely to have your own ideas as a writer.
- Consider the newspapers and journals you would like to write for.
- Next. think about relevant story ideas and begin pitching.
- After you have your first approved story and your first byline, it will be easier to pitch ideas to other publications.
3. Don’t quit your day job.
- You can start your freelance writing career by working part-time until you have established your own business.
- You may need to wait a while before you land your first client, but once you do, you can start making a lot of progress.
- After you have a steady stream of writing clients and freelance jobs, you can switch to it full time.
4. Submit clean copies.
- You must submit your writing with a clear copy.
- This includes proofreading as well as self editing.
- Your sentences should be clear, concise and understandable.
- Go through your work line by line and word by word, look for errors in punctuation and grammar.
5. Start blogging.
- You can blog about your passions, such as cooking, gardening, or skiing.
- Your blog can be a creative outlet, a way to improve your writing style and express yourself.
- You can also incorporate SEO strategies to help potential clients find you.
6. Learn fundamental SEO skills.
- Companies need more content to drive their customers.
- Content marketing specialists are needed to understand the basics of SEO, and how to rank their website high in search results.
- A freelance writer should have an understanding of search engine optimisation(SEO) and know where keywords can be strategically placed to drive traffic to the company’s website.
7. You should take on different assignments for more experience.
- As a freelance writer, you should take on and work with different clients.
- A client may ask you to write social media posts on behalf of their company, or you might be asked to do copywriting.
- Both gigs can be very different from each other but they both offer valuable writing experience.
8. Find your writing niche
- Some assignments will require you to start from scratch and write on a topic that you don’t know much about.
- You might discover a style of writing that you like and are good at as you work harder.
- You might discover that you enjoy technical writing or medical writing.
- You’ll be sought after by companies that specialise in your chosen genre.
9. Make sure you have your marketing materials ready.
- Good writers will always be available to answer any inquiries about their work.
- A lot of potential clients will want to see samples of your writing before they reach out to you.
- Keep all these ready in one place so that you don’t waste your time looking for past work.
- Client testimonials are also an excellent idea.
10. Welcome constructive criticism and keep growing.
- You will get feedback from your clients about the quality of your work.
- Sometimes you will deliver a flawless piece, while other times you might have a lot of editing to do.
- When writing for clients, it is important to match their brand voice and tone.
- Writing success requires that you can take in constructive criticism and make the necessary changes.
…
Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
Read Fiction to Enhance Your Personality and Skills
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
Like this post? For more such helpful articles, click on the button below and subscribe FREE to our blog.
Download our mobile app, ICS Career GPS, a one-stop career guidance platform.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
Like this post? For more such helpful articles, click on the button below and subscribe FREE to our blog.
Download our mobile app, ICS Career GPS, a one-stop career guidance platform.
One Reply to “Want to start a freelance writing career? Here are some tips.”