Freelance Writing: The Ultimate Freedom In Writing

Freelance Writing: The Ultimate Freedom In Writing

Today’s world has almost no limits no matter what your interest. For writing, freelance writing can provide endless possibilities if your dream is to make writing your career. This article will explain exactly what a freelance writer is and what steps are necessary to make it a reality.

Freelance Writing, and What Is It

If your passion is writing, then imagine a world where you can be self-employed and work on your own time while choosing your own clients. Luckily, there is a title for just that in the world of writing. It’s called “Freelance Writing” and with a little patience and hard work, becoming a freelance writer could become a reality.

Simply put, a freelance writer is someone who writes for income but not employed by a company but instead are contracted by that company or companies. Most freelance writers work remotely from the comfort of their own homes. Every day in the life of a freelance writer could be different depending on their client’s needs. One hour they could write about dogs and what their bark may indicate and the next hour may write an article on basket weaving.

Although you would have to provide your own medical insurance and the other benefits that come along with a traditional “company” such as holiday pay, sick pay, and a steady income. The personal satisfaction that comes with being your own boss, choosing your own hours, and avoiding that depressing daily commute greatly outweighs those so-called perks.

Being a freelance writer though may not be for everyone. Freelance writing will not yield the income that you need overnight so you may have to stay at that company for a bit longer until your new career takes off. However, if you are still interested in this style of writing I’m sure your next question is… how do I make that happen?

How To Become a Freelance Writer

Sell yourself! Promote yourself! Don’t give up! The key to becoming a successful freelance writer is to promote yourself, sell yourself and don’t give up. As with any other aspect of a business, you must first prove that you can do the job. In this line of work that means to create your portfolio. Put on display what you have done, your writing samples is your money so the first step is to create your brand for potential clients to see.

The next factor is to make sure you have time to deliver what your client needs in the timeframe provided. It is important to keep in mind that based on your skill level, you may have more than one client at a time so being able to schedule your projects effectively is key along with efficient record keeping.

Remember, your on your own now, so keeping your clientele up will be a must. Especially if you’re just starting out and do not have a lengthy client list yet. As a freelance writer, your ability to seek out and gain new business will determine your place in this field. Freelance writing is on the rise, especially due to the demand of SEO content writing.

Companies are seeking talented writers every day to write content promoting their business and products, and talented writers are seeking clients to write for, so competition is a reality. Therefore; confidence is necessary for yourself and your work, so for someone to believe in both of those, you must believe in them both first and foremost. Confidence also comes with having structure as well as a plan.

Freelance Success Plan

Now that we know what freelance writing is and how to become a freelance writer, let’s look at a plan to take your new career to the next level. There are some key factors that must not be ignored to be successful and stay successful in this business.

Practice Makes Perfect

No matter how many years you have under your belt, practice makes perfect and there is always something new to learn. Continue to network, you can never learn from enough or be around too many like-minded individuals. Especially the ones that have become successful. Continue to gain knowledge when it comes to writing and business tips. After all, this is your business.

Hustle

Hustle! Especially in the beginning! Use every tool that is available to market and promote yourself! This is a necessity, not an option if you want to be the best freelance writer that you can be. Sign up for a Twitter account if you have not already. The same goes for LinkedIn, follow writers, authors, and freelance writers. Sign up on freelance writing boards, surround yourself with people that do what you do and then ask questions. Start ads on Facebook and set your target audience accordingly. Get your portfolio together and get it out there in front of potential clients. Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!

Organization

Bookkeeping and organizational skills may be one of the most important aspects when it comes to being a freelance writer. Being organized gives a sense of calmness, and when you have fifty clients that you are writing for, you want to stay calm. Being able to keep an order with important information such as your client list, your projects, and billing to name a few is your bread and butter. There must be a process in place to keep a great record of your business assets. Even the scheduling of your client’s blogs, as well as your own needs to have a strategic plan in place to make sure every post is done and delivered in a timely manner.

Your Pitch

Ideally, all you ever want to hear is “yes” when it comes to getting work. To do this, your pitch has to be on point. Once everything else is in place, now you have to be prepared to sell yourself through words that will matter the most. Words that describe you and your value. A pitch is simply your story to a potential client or even another blogger if you want to be considered as a guest blogger.

Doing your research is essential and for this sale… but you also want to keep it short and to the point. What is your mission? Add that. What can you bring to the table? Add that. What have you done? Add that. Even if you get a no… you are still getting practice. As with anything in sales, you have to get through the nos to get to the yesses.

How Do Freelance Writers Make Money

So let’s get down to the real question. How do freelance writers make their income and how much do they make. Honestly, the answer is up to you. Simply put, the effort you put out will yield the same in return. The possibilities are endless as far as income as a freelance writer.

If your plan is to start on a freelance platform such as TextBroker for example, you will first be rated based on an initial writing sample that is required at sign up, at least with this platform. Based on your star level, five being the highest, will determine your writing category as well as your pay per word payout which is usually about 3 to 4 cents per word at the highest level.

This route may not yield much money, but it will get you in the door and get you familiarized with the process of writing for clients based on their needs. This is also a great way to build your portfolio with writing samples.

With more experience and a more matured portfolio, better clients willing to spend more money will come once they know your capabilities. This is why it is important to market yourself well because just like any business if your product and services are good… your customers will be loyal to you and keep coming back. This is your ultimate goal as a freelance writer, to have your clients to keep coming back.

Your clients will replace your regular 9-5 and become your steady stream of income, which is the ultimate goal. Based on your skill level, and your time with them, some clients will pay substantial amounts of money per article written. These payments will be negotiated between the writer and the client and the payments could be paid in many ways. Paypal has now become a very popular way consumers do business, but there are still the traditional ways of checks, and direct deposits depending on the business.

Conclusion

Simply put, as a freelance writer, your income is solely determinate upon yourself. Your day to day will consist of you writing content based on your client’s needs. Each client will have a different subject matter as well as a different amount of words that they need their articles or post to be. It is not necessary that you are well-educated in each subject, but thorough research of each subject is key and is a job requirement.

Your goal is to build your brand and get yourself noticed, so you must make time if you want to be successful. You don’t have to graduate from an ivy league school of journalism to be successful as a freelance writer but you do need to have some knowledge of how to write and of basic English grammar.

You also must have patience, be dedicated, and be thick-skinned to make this happen. Don’t be afraid of rejection and/or to fail once or twice, that is what is going to make you great. Remember, practice makes perfect.