If setting your own hours and having the freedom of working from home is your goal, then writing freelance is what you should aim for. These days, many are foregoing the corporate world for their own freedom.
Many see working full-time for a business, especially in this field, as a non-productive and non-creative environment. As long as the work gets done, you feel there should be no resistance from whoever you are working for to working from home. With some good freelancing sites and cool remote working tools, you can give wings to your dreams. Here are the steps you should take to become a sought-after freelance writer.
Ensure you have money to last
Not many people hit the ground running when they decide a freelance writing job is what they want. So, you must have enough in the bank to see you through the first couple of months while you become established. If you are living at home, it should not be a problem even if you don’t have a stash, as your parents would want to help you on your way.
However, if you are on your own, this will be a matter of survival. If you have rent to pay, as well as groceries to buy, you must have a nest egg to rely on. How do you get this? According to expert freelance writers on assignment writer, it’s best to ask for a loan from your family. Without a working history, few financial institutions are going to come to the party. If you have saved up while working, good for you.
Choose a niche you want to work in
There are many areas of freelance writing that you can specialize in. You may want to choose one and focus on that. However, when you are first starting off, it would be wise to become accustomed to several areas that are open to writers.
Say the niche you are going for is blogging, learn all there is to know about SEO and keywords and how to structure blogs correctly. If you don’t know what these terms are, look them up and get to know them well. In fact, it would be best to get onto sites that really appeal to you and where the writing and structure is excellent, and really take note of how those blogs are presented.
Take your rose-colored glasses off
The reality of freelance writing, especially at first, is not sunshine and roses. You don’t really get to choose what you end up writing.
It may not be your cup of tea at all, but here’s a sound word of advice. Take the rose-colored glasses off and face reality. You take what you can get, and you do it well. Don’t sit around and wait for something you desperately want to do to come up. Chances are it won’t come around soon. It may not come round at all. Be thankful for the work you get.
It’s also very important to get testimonials from clients. Post them on your site and your bid applications.
Become competitive in a fierce world
You are about to enter one of the most fiercely competitive work areas known to man. Everyone thinks they can write, and the reality is most can’t. They think because they can write a good email, they can write articles and stories. It doesn’t quite work like that.
Don’t fool yourself. Have you got what it takes? You will soon come to know if article after article gets rejected. Chances are you may have to consider another line of work.
However, if you do “have it,” keep at it and you will find success. People may encourage you to take up writing courses. For you, whose writing is inbred and part of you, this would be a waste of time and money which you can’t afford.
Make yourself known
One of the most important factors is marketing yourself. Clients are not going to know that you exist if you don’t make yourself known.
You can build and manage your site where you will post your writing that you have created specifically for this. Before you went live, you will have written articles that you made up, following the excellent blogs you have spotted during research. Don’t copy those blogs! Get used to writing in your own style so you won’t fall victim to plagiarism.
Now you must market that site. Get cracking on all social media sites and create clever snippets that could be teasers.
How to get into the bidding war
Most freelancers use several site-specific sources that become their lifelines. There are many of these sites, such as Upwork (the best), Freelancer, People Per Hour, Fiverr, and so on. These sites have become ubiquitous, but you will soon sort out the good from the bad.
Now, you get to bid for projects, which is hard going if you are just starting off. Most clients who post jobs, and there are a zillion of them, need to see samples of what you’ve written. If you don’t have, clients will kill the application and move on.
The problem is when you apply, so do hordes of others, and they probably have work they can show. Don’t despair. You will land something from a client that welcomes beginners, and these people do exist.
The art of the cover letter
The cover letter is something you must fill in when you bid for a project.
This is the most important piece of writing you should master if you want a client to notice you. A lot of people just copy and paste a piece they have written and send it to all clients, regardless of whatever is on offer. Wrong! You could have a client needing some song lyrics and the bidder has just told him she has a Ph.D. in economics. It infuriates the client and hopefully, he has calmed down by the time he gets to your bid.
Make the cover letter a piece of the most amazing writing you will ever compose. It must be exciting, dynamic, and really make the client want to know more. The cover letter is an art. Master it.
Conclusion
The importance of “growing in your writing” cannot be under-estimated. To be a freelance writer, strive to become the best of the best because you will need this ability to produce great copy. You are talented, sure, but you need to know the mechanisms of what clients want and how to produce this so it meets their standards. These are specifics in freelance writing for a business that you will not be aware of but will quickly become accustomed to.