A freelance writer is a self-employed person who writes articles and other types of content for a living. They also write for news websites, companies, and clients.
Freelance writing can be an interesting side hustle or even a profitable career. One who is good with words might consider trying out freelancing. If you are considering venturing into freelance writing, then you have stumbled on the right information you need.
Below, I will share some steps on how to be a freelance writer
1.) Find Your Niche
As a writer, this step is very important and should be the first step. There are a whole lot of popular niches that you can venture into, but then the ideal thing to do is to choose a niche you are enthusiastic about. When you do this, you will notice that you write with ease and less stress, and your energy will shine through in your work.
Some of the popular niches you can choose are listed below
-Self Development
-Technology
-Relationship
-Leadership
-Travel etc
2.) Create a blog or website
This is another important step because as a freelance writer you need to have an online presence. Owning a website or a blog is a simple way to achieve this, and also gives you a platform to share your work, and get the necessary feed. You can create a free website or blog on WordPress, or you could post your articles on the medium platform.
With your site and blog, you make it easier for readers to read a whole lot of your articles with ease.
3.) Publish Great Work Sample
As an aspiring freelance writer, you will need to publish several of your works. This will become your portfolio where you can refer potential clients whenever they request to see your work. You could share your work with family and friends at this stage, to get feedback and develop your reader base.
Many writers, in other to get their works noticed, publish on blogs, online magazines, and even as guest writers for different platforms.
4.) Pitch Yourself
By pitching Yourself, I mean that you can contact companies that you will love to write for, be it magazines, blogs, websites, or even create sponsored posts about their products on your blog. Also, there are a whole lot of writers groups online. You can decide to join a networking group to build connections among other freelance writers.
You can use your social media to advertise your work to potential clients. Your Facebook, Linked In, and other Social Media pages need to be up to date with your work or links to your work.
5.) Collect Testimonials From Your Clients
Testimonials from your clients can help give a good impression about you which can lead to you landing more jobs. You need to ask for a few summary words about working with you or a service you rendered from your client. This can be done using Email or a testimonial function on LinkedIn. Publish great client reviews on your website so potential clients can see what you do best.
6.) Always Continue Honing Your Writing Craft
Irrespective of whatever feat you have achieved as a writer, there is a need to continue to educate yourself and learn more about writing because there is more. A key way to get continual professional development is to read other writers’ work in the same feed as you, and see how they have achieved certain outcomes.
It is a known fact that the day we stop learning, is the day we die. Learning never stops, don’t get too complacent and feel you have arrived. You need not be carried away by your previous achievements, rather strive to always aim high.
