A Beginners Guide to Freelance Writing: 5 Important Tips
Freelance writing is an incredible career. You can immerse yourself in a range of jobs that means your day is full of creative freedom and variation.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Not to mention the fact that you are your own boss, and remote work allows for greater flexibility in your life.
So why isn’t everyone becoming a freelance writer?
Because, as you are probably realising yourself right now, it can be hard to work out where to start freelance writing.
In this blog post, I will talk you through becoming a successful freelance writer, for any copywriting beginners to kickstart their careers on the right foot.
Tips for becoming a freelance writer are the perfect starting point to ensure you have a long and lucrative career!
Create A Portfolio
Just by becoming a freelance writer, the work will not come to you. You will need to go out and get your own clients.
When you do that, you will quickly realise that there are plenty of other writers trying to do the exact same thing as you, applying for the same jobs and making it tougher for you to get the gig.
I remember when I first started out, I was overwhelmed by just how many writers there are out there, bidding on the same job boards.
So, how do you make yourself stand out compared to other writers?
Firstly, if you don’t already, you need to create a copywriting portfolio that shows off your skills. You don’t need to have amassed years of experience to have a great copywriting CV, but you do need some content to put on there. This shows potential clients your writing style and shows off your skills.
Not only that, but simply having a portfolio shows a level of professionalism that immediately will put you ahead of 50% of the other writers out there who don’t.
Think about it like this. You know you are an excellent writer, and that you would be perfect for a particular job, but what does the client know about you? Without a portfolio to help you stand out, you are just another name on their screen.
Adapt It For Each Application
Another absolute essential that most freelance writers overlook, is adapting your portfolio for each and every job you apply for.
Yes you read that correctly. Every single application should have a different variant of your portfolio attached to it.
This might sound like quite a lot of work, but again, you need to think about it from a potential client’s perspective.
They have likely left themselves 30 minutes in a day to sift through all of the applications they have received so they will only be skim-reading applications. If the job requires SEO writing skills, you need to make sure that is at the top of your portfolio.
If it is on page two it may get missed completely, and you will miss out on an excellently suited client.
Alternatively, if the role requires you to ghost-write a book, and you have SEO writing at the top of your portfolio, you will experience the same issues.
Having a dynamic portfolio that you amend accordingly for each application is essential to ensure you have the best chance of landing the gig after becoming a freelance writer.
Don’t Take Just Any Job
Man, I wish someone had told me this when I first started out!
When you are becoming a freelance writer, it is very easy to think that your way into the career is to undercut all of the other prices out there or to apply for roles that are paying you next to nothing.
While you think this will help you gain bigger clients in the future, all this really does is leave you putting in far too many hours, working for pay that will barely cover your bills.
Not only that, but you are also lowering the minimum that freelance writers can earn for their work, which will be detrimental to you and your fellow writers in the long term.
The worst part? Other higher-paying clients will not value this work you have put in!
10 Tips on Setting Your Prices as a Freelancer
Think about it this way, would you rather be working 60 hours a week, handling multiple clients, all to earn $1000 a month?
Or would you rather earn that amount from working 20 hours a week, giving you time to seek out more clients and jobs in the meantime, and spend time with family and friends?
The financial incentive is the same, and from experience, I know which one I prefer!
Make sure you don’t undervalue your work when you are becoming a freelance writer. You are a professional writer, if you don’t treat yourself and are highly valuable, then neither will clients.
Set Up A Blog
This tip ties in nicely to some of the other tips on this list, and can tick off a lot of issues you may face becoming a freelance writer.
For starters, you can find yourself caught in a never-ending cycle as a new writer.
Clients require writers with experience, but you struggle to get more experience because clients are only looking for writers with experience.
So how do you get off this hamster wheel?
Create your own work! Set up a blog and start writing about topics that interest you, or ones that you see frequently appearing on job boards.
Not only will you be creating content that you can then add to your portfolio to show off to potential clients, but you will also be practicing your skills and keeping them fine-tuned for the next time you work with a new client.
First impressions are essential after all!
Be Trustworthy, But Not Naïve
I wish this tip didn’t have to be included, but unfortunately, not everyone out there in the big wide world is trustworthy!
Definite red flags that you will want to avoid include things such as clients who have no reviews or that ask you to complete a full project and submit it without any sort of agreement signed or upfront deposit payment.
When I work with my clients, I always ensure that we both sign a contract or “statement of work”. This basically says that I will meet all my ends of the agreement on time and to a high standard and that they will do the same.
If any clients are unwilling to sign such an agreement, be prepared to walk away!
There is no worse feeling than completing a large chunk of work and submitting it, only to suddenly stop receiving replies from clients, or suddenly the email address you contacted for the job is no longer in use.
Don’t Be Disheartened!
If at first, you don’t succeed, try try again!
That’s the famous saying, and it couldn’t be more true than when it comes to freelance writing.
The truth is that you won’t be chosen for every job that you apply for when becoming a freelance writer, otherwise, every copywriter would be rich. You need to make sure you keep this in mind and don’t become disheartened if you go through a lean patch.
Jobs can fall through for all kinds of reasons, most of which are out of your control.
And if a client chooses another writer instead of you, that doesn’t automatically mean you are a bad writer! It may just mean that they feel that the other writer will be a better suit for that particular job.
The best thing to do is try and get feedback on your proposal from the potential client, take that learning into your next project.
Trust the process, keep putting yourself and your work out there, work hard to improve your skills, and you will be a writing success before you know it!
If you liked this blog, check out How to Get Started as a Freelance Writer: 5 Steps, and make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter, for more great content, delivered straight to your inbox!
