Embarking on the journey of becoming a freelance writer opens up a world of creative possibilities and flexible work arrangements. If you're pondering the question of how to be a freelance writeryou're not alone.
This dynamic field offers the freedom to work on diverse projects without the constraints of a traditional office setting. The allure of freelance writing lies not only in its potential for unlimited work opportunities but also in the fact that formal education or a specific degree is not a prerequisite.
Whether you're drawn to creative storytelling or the technical aspects of writing, this guide will shed light on the steps to kickstart your freelance writing career, from building a portfolio to securing your first clients.
What Exactly Is Freelance Writing?
It is essential to be clear about what you want when you're looking for your first independent writing job. What is freelance writing? Freelance writing is the work of a self-employed person who writes articles, white papers, blogs, and other text-based material for one or more clients.
Freelancers often work from their own homes, coffee shops, or shared workspaces. While some jobs may pay by the hour, independent writers usually get paid based on how much work they do for a client. Setting a price for each word written or a certain number of articles per week is sometimes part of this.
Clients hire freelance writers to write about a vast range of subjects. Some freelancers only work on niche topics or areas where they have a lot of experience. This is usually because they can charge more for their work. After all, they are more knowledgeable.
What Does A Freelance Writer Do?
A freelance writer can work with a lot of different clients in a lot of different fields to write different kinds of material. Some independent writers are experts in a particular area, while others may write fiction, nonfiction, and other types of writing.
Freelance writers talk to their clients by phone, email, or videoconferencing because they don't have to work in person very often. As independent workers, most writers work from home on their own. However, some may work with other freelancers and full-time employees.
What Do You Need To Become A Freelance Writer?
It would help if you had patience, persistence, and the ability to stick to a budget to be a successful independent writer. It would help if you also had a portfolio of your work, some great ideas, and a network. If you know the right people, you can get new projects and tasks and help other people in the future. But it can be hard to meet those people.
When you first start as an independent writer, you might need to cold-pitch to get things going. Meet up for coffee with your favorite writers in your area, or join an online group for independent writers where you can freely share editor contacts and valuable information.
A good writer can also do work that is separate from their primary area of expertise. This is an essential skill that you should show in your portfolio. If you are good at something, do more of it, but don't turn down tasks that look like they might be more challenging. 81% of independent writers say they haven't lost a client because of AI writing tools.
16 Freelance Writing Tips
Use Social Media To Get Attention And Clients
Social media is an accessible way for freelancers, especially writers, to build their brands and find clients. You can promote yourself and share links to your articles on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Show off your best work and use relevant words to get more people to see it.
Make sure your personal and businessFacebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages are kept separate so you can interact with clients. If you have a business account, put "for hire" or "accepting new clients" in your bio to get more followers and clients.
Prioritize Time Management And Organization
Freelance writing lets you choose when and how to work. Freelancers don't need to keep track of hours if the word or the job pays them. This is because their work is focused on results. Even though you make the schedule, you have to stick to it if you want to get good reviews and keep clients.
Learn How To Negotiate Your Rate
Setting your writing rate is very important if you're going from working full-time to freelance. You are the owner of your own writing business. Set prices for your services that are fair for both you and your clients. Because your rates change for each job and client, you'll have to work out contracts.
Identify Your Niche
Finding your niche can help you choose which jobs to bid on first. If you have a degree or have worked in a particular field, starting with projects related to that field is a good idea. Please make a list of the types of writing you like and check Upwork for any open jobs that match them.
Network With Other Writers
Networking can help you find other independent professionals who share your interests. This can help your job while you work from home. Other independent writers aren't always your rivals; sometimes, they're just like you and work with you. Get motivated by their wins and learn about all the job options and paths you can take as a freelance writer.
Use Job Boards
You can find new tasks and clients on job boards. Businesses of all sizes, from small start-ups to large multinationals, need material and want to work with freelancers. While you can send article ideas directly to the companies you want to work for, the fastest way to start as an independent writer is to apply for open projects on job boards.
Learn How To Edit Your Writing
Freelance writers who do well know how to fix their work. Please make sure there are no mistakes in the writing you give to your client before you hand it over. Please set up a plan for editing the copy that you follow before sending it to clients.
Take Constructive Criticism And Edits Well
There are many emotional parts of writing, and you might disagree have differing views on where a client wants to go. Try to see feedback as a chance to learn and a gift from a client. Successful freelance writers know they can always do better and enjoy both giving and getting comments.
Develop Strong Research Skills
As an independent writer, you need to know how to do research on a subject and find reliable sources. If you work as a freelancer, you need to learn about a new subject quickly and write with confidence about it. It's essential to be good at researching things.
Familiarize Yourself With Each Client's Style Guide
A client may give you a formal style guide to follow, depending on the size of the business. There should be everything a writer needs in a good style guide to make sure that all of their work is on brand, including how it looks, reads, and feels. Some of the things that it might cover are typesetting, language rules, word choice, and tone.
Ask Your Client Questions
As with any friendship, the key to success is talking to each other. Check again that you understand the brief and agree with the client before you start any job. You can avoid having to make more changes and rewrites if you make sure you know where the piece is going and what the client wants.
Build Relationships With Your Clients
Every new job is a chance to get to know a client better and get regular work from them. If you want to make a steady income as an independent writer, you need to get repeat clients. You can bid on a one-time story, but if the client likes your work, they may give you more work to do.
Learn Fundamental Seo Skills
Because your clients pay you to write things that people will read, you want people to read your work. When you write for the web, search engine optimization is what gets people to read your stuff. You can make content that ranks on the first page of Google's search results (FPSR) by writing with Google's search algorithms in mind. This is a skill that is highly sought after.
Set Up A Website To Showcase Your Portfolio
If you want to get proposals as an independent writer, you need to have excellent writing samples. For people who are new to writing, you can share your work on Medium or make your own blog. A showcase website that you update often is one of the best ways to show off your writing samples.
Never Stop Learning
To stay competitive, you can learn new things. You could get better at what you do by looking for new things to write about or even by entering a new area. Get certified in a whole new set of skills and add them to your Upwork page.
Create Your Brand
Your brand is the professional version of you that you want people to see. It's made up of the stories you tell about yourself and the content you make. You can make a persona to show that you are a master in your field. Your brand should be the same on all of your sites, from your blog to your social media pages.
How To Break Into Freelance Writing Without Experience
Write Samples
When people ask me how to start working as an independent writer, I always tell them to put together a portfolio of their work. You can fill this out with any writing you have on hand, like school reports, but if you have never written professionally before, it's best to write a few samples in the style of the pieces you want to pitch.
Find A Writing Agency To Support You.
Starting to work through an agency was the best thing I did as an independent writer. It helped me skip a lot of the growing pains that new writers usually go through when they first start.
Launch A Blog
Setting up a blog is an easy way to get your work online. This is a great chance to get better at sharing your thoughts and information about a subject you want to write professionally. Plus, if you get enough fans, think about making money from your work by adding ads.
Write For Friends And Family.
It takes practice to get good at writing, and every bit of it is functional. Writing for other people is one of the easier ways to get better at writing.
Network With Other Freelance Writers
Talking to anyone you know who works as a freelance writer is a great way to find new jobs. An experienced writer can point you to helpful resources they've used in the past and give you feedback on your portfolio. If they're too busy, they may even be able to suggest clients for you.
3Tips For Making More Money As A Freelance Writer
It takes time to build a freelance writing job and make the contacts you need to start making money, just like it does with any new business. But once you get it going, it can be a great way to make extra money or even your full-time job if you want it to be.
61.7% of those who answered said they were making the same amount of money or more than the previous year, and almost 20% said they were making a lot more. Here are some ways to improve your independent writing and make more money at the same time.
Avoid Content Mills
Many of the things that content mills hire independent writers to do are write blogs and content marketing materials. They do, however, pay writers very little and keep a lot of the money they make from the work for themselves.
Most of the time, you should stay away from these companies. Instead, make your online profile with a website or blog, connect with businesses in your niche, and look for paid writing jobs directly. It might take a little longer than getting paid quickly by a content mill, but it will pay off much faster.
Develop New Business As You Go
If you want to make money writing, you'll have to keep pitching to new people to get more work. You can do this by giving yourself a set amount of time each week or month to find new leads, build your network, pitch clients, and come up with new business ideas. You should see this as an essential part of your work week so that you always have work coming in.
Grow A Global Client Base
Anywhere in the world, freelance writers can find work. You shouldn't feel limited by where you live; you can find customers abroad. The most accessible place to start looking is in a country where people speak English, like the UK, Australia, Ireland, or New Zealand.
But businesses in Europe and beyond often need blogs, website copy, and other things written in English. That's why it can also pay to reach out to people whose first language isn't English.
Will AI Make Freelance Writers Obsolete?
No is the short answer. There are AI writing tools all over the place. They are great tools that will help you become a better writer and finish more work faster. But only some of the best AI tools can compare to the level of writing done by a person.
We're getting better at some low-level SEOwriting jobs, but we still have a long way to go before we can do something significant and well-paid. If you are a good blogger or independent writer, these tools will help you the most.
You can make material that you can change yourself if you learn how to use a tool like the material at Scale or Jasper well. It will give you a draft, and then you can make it really great by adding your style and features. You can make twice or three times as much stuff in a single session if you use this kind of tool. But will it take your place? No.
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Start As A Freelance Writer?
Begin by creating a portfolio showcasing your writing samples, setting competitive rates, and marketing yourself on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.
Can You Make $1000 A Month Of Freelance Writing?
Yes, earning $1000 a month is achievable through consistent client acquisition, diverse writing projects, and efficient time management.
Can You Be A Freelance Writer With No Experience?
Yes, entry-level freelance writers can start by building a portfolio with personal projects, guest posts, or samples demonstrating their writing skills.
How Much Money Can You Make Freelance Writing?
Earnings vary, but freelance writers can make anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month, depending on expertise, projects, and clients.
Conclusion
The question of "how to be a freelance writer" is met with a myriad of opportunities, challenges, and evolving landscapes. Freelance writers are not bound by traditional office spaces; instead, they weave their narratives from the comfort of homes, coffee shops, or shared workspaces.
The essence of freelance writing lies in the versatility it offers, allowing writers to engage with diverse clients across various fields. From mastering the art of negotiation and navigating social media for self-promotion to embracing continuous learning and staying resilient in the face of AI advancements, the path to becoming a freelance writer is multifaceted.