Tips for Starting a Freelance Writing Career
http://www.articleorange.com/articles/65/1/Tips-for-Starting-a-Freelance-Writing-Career/Page1.html
Shannon Kietzman
I am a teacher and an author who has written hundreds of articles for the Internet, as well as ad copy, standardized test questions, ebooks, and "real" books. Learn more at http://www.shannonkietzman.com. By Shannon Kietzman
Published on 08/26/2006
A few simple tips for getting a successful freelance writing career started so you can work from home doing a job you love!
Tips for Starting a Freelance Writing Career
Starting a freelance writing business is not as difficult as it might seem at first. By following these few simple tips, you will be making money from home in no time.
Build a Reputation
The most important step in building a successful freelance writing career is to build a reputation. Sometimes, this means taking on a few jobs for less than you are really worth. While this may sound undesirable, the pay off will be well worth it.
In order to start building your reputation as a writer, it can be beneficial to visit sites that allow you to bid on available jobs, such as GetaFreelancer.com and RentaCoder.com. When you first visit these sites, you will need to place bids that are competitive in order to land your first few jobs. After you complete these jobs, the person who hired you will leave feedback for you. If the feedback is positive, you can start raising your prices slowly until you are getting paid closer to what you know you are worth.
Create a Website
A website is a great way to establish yourself as a professional writer. Aside from making you look professional, it is also a great way to share writing samples with prospective clients. Rather than emailing samples and a list of your writing credits, you can direct clients to your site. You can also add a guestbook on your website and ask your clients to leave feedback for you. This will further help build your reputation.
Learn the Lingo
As you start to build your freelance writing career, it is important to start learning the lingo and to be versatile in your writing. In order to earn the most with your business, you need to be able to be able to write for a variety of purposes. One of the most common purposes is for search engine optimization on the Internet.
In order to write for search engine optimization purposes, you will need to learn how to creatively use certain keywords in the articles you write for your clients. For example, a client may need content for his candle website. As such, he will request articles with words such as “soy candle” and “Christmas candle” to be used a specific number of times in the article. This is done to make the search engines more likely to find their website when a person searches the Internet for these keywords.
Build a Reputation
The most important step in building a successful freelance writing career is to build a reputation. Sometimes, this means taking on a few jobs for less than you are really worth. While this may sound undesirable, the pay off will be well worth it.
In order to start building your reputation as a writer, it can be beneficial to visit sites that allow you to bid on available jobs, such as GetaFreelancer.com and RentaCoder.com. When you first visit these sites, you will need to place bids that are competitive in order to land your first few jobs. After you complete these jobs, the person who hired you will leave feedback for you. If the feedback is positive, you can start raising your prices slowly until you are getting paid closer to what you know you are worth.
Create a Website
A website is a great way to establish yourself as a professional writer. Aside from making you look professional, it is also a great way to share writing samples with prospective clients. Rather than emailing samples and a list of your writing credits, you can direct clients to your site. You can also add a guestbook on your website and ask your clients to leave feedback for you. This will further help build your reputation.
Learn the Lingo
As you start to build your freelance writing career, it is important to start learning the lingo and to be versatile in your writing. In order to earn the most with your business, you need to be able to be able to write for a variety of purposes. One of the most common purposes is for search engine optimization on the Internet.
In order to write for search engine optimization purposes, you will need to learn how to creatively use certain keywords in the articles you write for your clients. For example, a client may need content for his candle website. As such, he will request articles with words such as “soy candle” and “Christmas candle” to be used a specific number of times in the article. This is done to make the search engines more likely to find their website when a person searches the Internet for these keywords.