8 Tips On How To Find A Promising Freelance Writing Market
Finding success as a freelance writer is difficult goal if you don’t have the right plan to start out with. Projects and paydays aren’t just going to fall on your lap the moment you decide to follow this career path. But if you take the time to create a great plan you will have a greater chance of finding a promising career. Here are 8 tips you should consider:
- 1. Build a Profile on a Freelance Website
- 2. Research Competitive Writers
- 3. Build a Portfolio, Update Frequently
- 4. Work Broadly, Then Narrowly
- 5. Market Your Skills with a Personal Website
- 6. Network on Professional Sites
- 7. Balance Your Workload
- 8. Stay Connected with Your Clients
The first step is building a profile in one of the many sites designed to connect clients with freelance providers. A profile should contain a summary of the services you offer, your experience and training, and your rates for different jobs.
Knowing what other service providers are doing is a great way for you to position accurately within certain niches, talent levels, and price ranges. Reading through reviews will allow you to make a lead-list of potential clients you can market to in the future.
Clients will want to see what you can do. This makes building a portfolio with your best work an absolute must. Be sure to update this frequently in order to keep your profile page ranking high in searches.
Projects may be scarce when you start, so you will likely have to write on a wide spectrum of topics and formats. However, as soon as you get enough of a portfolio within a certain market you should narrow your focus so that you only pick up projects within that niche.
When you have enough of a professional foundation, you should seriously look into focusing your efforts on a personal site that markets your professional services. You can keep your freelance site going, but a professional site will allow you to reach more customers for a fraction of the cost.
Several professional networking sites allow you to make connections with past and potentially future clients. Don’t hesitate to add a link to your personal site in any correspondence you send. Doing so will keep you in mind when services are needed.
One of the greatest pieces of advice for freelance writers is that they balance their work with both small and large projects. Larger projects will take longer to complete but will bring in higher payments. Smaller projects, however, are excellent ways to fill out a paycheck when your schedule opens up for a few hours.
Your clients are the lifeblood of your freelance writing career. Satisfied clients will likely look to you first when they have another project. And they can always be an excellent source to connect with potential new clients. Keep in touch and stay on top of their minds. Just don’t overdo it, since you don’t want them to cut off response by receiving too many follow-up emails.
