From Good to Great: 5 Tips for Becoming an Exceptional Freelance Writer
Start using them today and be grateful you did
Freelance writing is no doubt challenging but can be a rewarding career when you do it well, as it offers you an opportunity of working from anywhere and develop more in your writing journey.
However, to become successful in freelancing, it is beyond skills; it requires a combination of talent, dedication, and business acumen to stand out in the very competitive industry.
Are you just hearing the word “freelance writing” or you have been a freelance writer who has been struggling to get a writing gig, in this post I will share some strategies and tips that have landed me and some of my associates several writing gigs. I will share the strategies for improving your writing skills (even though you don’t have to be so skilled), building your brand, finding clients, and lastly growing your business.
Who is a Freelance Writer?
A freelance writer is a self-employed professional who writes content for various clients on a project-by-project basis, rather than being an employee of a single company or organization.
Freelance writers typically work from home or their own workspace and use their writing skills to create content for a wide range of media, including blogs, websites, magazines, newspapers, and marketing materials.
Freelance writers can specialize in a particular type of writing, such as content marketing, copywriting, technical writing, or creative writing. They may work with clients in a specific industry, such as arts, entertainment, healthcare, finance, or technology, or write for a broad range of topics.
As a self-employed professional, freelance writer is responsible for finding their clients, negotiating rates and contracts, managing their workload, and delivering high-quality work on time.
Here are some common types of freelance writing opportunities and their requirements:
- Blogging: Writing blog posts for personal or business websites on a regular basis.
- Copywriting: Writing copy for advertisements, sales letters, product descriptions, and other promotional materials.
- Content writing: Creating informative, engaging, and shareable content for websites, social media, and other online platforms.
- Technical writing: Writing technical manuals, user guides, and other documentation for products or services.
- Ghostwriting: Writing content for clients who will publish the work under their own name.
- Academic writing: Writing academic papers, essays, and research articles for clients in need of academic assistance.
- Journalism: Writing articles for newspapers, magazines, and online news sites.
- Creative writing: Writing fiction, poetry, and other creative works for publication or personal enjoyment.
- Grant writing: Writing grant proposals for non-profit organizations and other entities seeking funding.
- Scriptwriting: Writing scripts for movies, television shows, and other visual media.
These are just a few of the many types of freelance writing. It’s important to find your niche and focus on the type of writing you enjoy and excel at.
With some of the freelance writing types noted, let me then share with you some of the strategies I’ve used to secure some of my freelance writing jobs.
Develop a Strong Writing Skillset
You don’t want to be hired as a freelance writer, then deliver shabby and unprofessional work. It will be worse than not getting any clients at all.
The way to grow in this is through constant practice. Set your writing schedule on how you wish to write for whatever niche you choose to focus on.
Learn grammar rules and expand your vocabulary.
Choose a Niche
The best practice for choosing a niche starts with selecting the type of writing which interests you. Once you choose a niche it is best to become an expert on that.
Discover your voice and how best you communicate. Most importantly, it will be nice to research the audience in the selected niche to find out what best resonates with them, and also the strategy to reach out to them.
Branding
Branding begins in the way you wish your potential clients to perceive your writing business and how they think about you. It starts with selecting your niche of service and documenting your work portfolios.
If you are looking forward to connecting with international clients, the first thing you should do is build your portfolio website. Design a good-looking cooperate website (if you do not have the skills to build a website you can hire a private web designer or a freelancer on Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer).
As much as you have a professional-looking website, also brand your social media especially your Facebook page to look professional.
But more than building your reputation, branding also has to do with how fast you deliver on your projects and your project quality.
Invest in Writing Tools
Writing tools make you concise and effective. So a little investment will make your work look more professional and help you deliver your writing on time.
Invest in tools like ProWriting, Hemingway, Evernote, and Grammarly to check your writing organization, sentence, and grammar structure. Some of these tools have their free versions, likewise the pro versions. There are also ai tools such as ChatGPT and creator.ai to help you with more effective writing.
Writing tools will make your writing job a lot easier and it is worth investing in.
Network and Market Yourself
Networking and marketing your skills are crucial steps toward achieving your writing goals. Networking is the process of building relationships and connections with other professionals in freelance writing, and doing so will give you opportunities of showcasing your skills through your contributions and suggestions.
One of the ways of networking as a freelance writer is to join online freelance writing communities. Reach out to potential clients with what you can and do well to utilize social media through consistent postings, engagements, and the use of appropriate keywords and hashtags in your posts.
More writing tips when you click here.
