Become a Freelance Writer in Three Easy Steps

Do you love to write? If so, have you considered trying to earn money with your writing as a freelancer? If you’ve never considered it, now may be the best time in history to get involved. Be advised that there is a huge market for good writing, and it consists of not only the writing portion, but also editing and proofreading. That huge market I’m referring to is the Internet.

Most websites require copy. Someone has to create that. Nearly every blog needs new topics and new writing every day. And someone has to write that material, too. As previously stated, that’s a HUGE market. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous other product areas that require professional writing and editing talents. And they’re looking for writers every day.

The purpose of this article is to explore the ways and means of marketing your services in the most effective and efficient manner. Many writers start freelancing and attempt to market their services using yesterday’s methods. In the old days, you would print business cards and start making phone calls to likely prospects. The business cards are still a great idea (contact Vistaprint) but the cold-calling telephone procedure is no longer a viable and productive method.

As the title of this article promises, we’re going to look at how to go about marketing your services and getting some income flowing in by following three easy steps. And as the subtitle indicates, it’s al about becoming. So let us begin:


STEP ONE: BECOME VISIBLE

Marketing on the Internet is all about visibility. If you don’t have a blog, you’re missing the boat. So you need to get one set up. It’s actually quite simple to do, and it’s free if you do it correctly. Blogger is one of the most popular sites on the web for setting up free blogs. You can select from numerous templates and start writing your first post within five minutes or less. It’s quick and it’s easy, and once you do it, you’re immediately visible.

Your blog is where you will provide great content for your readers. It will give them an idea of your writing style. You can also mention that you’re offering editing or proofreading to clients and other writers who need your help. You can also exchange links with other bloggers so that you can potentially gain additional traffic from the other person’s blog. It’s a win-win situation, and it’s free. There isn’t space in this article to get into SEO, but that’s an area you need to become familiar with when you start writing your blog posts. Google it.

The second area you need to get involved in is the new and increasingly popular social media network. The two largest of these are Twitter and Facebook. These are “feeders” that you can use to post messages and “link” those messages to your blog. This will help increase your blog traffic and get you more readers, which can equate to more clients. If you already have a Facebook page, you can add a fan page that’s devoted to your freelance writing. It’s easy to do. When you’re ready, check out the FAN PAGE article’s step-by-step guide.

One other area you need to get involved with is LinkedIn. This is another professional social media site that will allow you to get another group of clients and potential contacts. It’s definitely worth your time to become a member of this one, too. And, again, it’s a freebie.

So, with those achievements accomplished, you’ve just become a member of the in-crowd. You’re connected, and you’re letting people know what you do. That’s the first step, so put a check mark by that box and read on.


STEP TWO: BECOME AVAILABLE

There are two specific websites that can be income-producing venues for you immediately. One is oDesk and the other is Elance. These are basically connection services that allow “customers” to post their projects, and give “contractors” (that’s you) the opportunity to bid on them. Customers are required to escrow the funds so there’s usually no danger of getting taken to the cleaners and not being paid for your work.

The projects on these sites range from long-term hourly arrangements to fixed-cost single deliverables. There is a wide range of project types including writing product descriptions, exam questions, ghostwriting children’s books and how-to eBooks, business documents, whitepapers, scripts, lyrics, and just about any type of writing and/or editing services you could imagine.

There is a cost for this service, but it’s minimal and easily recouped with one project award. You can post examples of your work in your own “portfolio” on the sites and give customers an opportunity to review your writing talent and style. You can also include your blog address in your proposal to add a little more clout to your experience level.

In addition to the two sites mentioned above, there are others you can investigate. Another area where you can start writing and publishing your work immediately is Yahoo Associated Content. You can write about anything you wish and if the editors like it, they will publish your work and pay you an upfront payment as well as a performance payment based on the number of “views” your article receives. And there’s no limit to the number of articles you can submit. This could provide residual income and the amount would only be dependent upon how prolific a writer you are and how well you market those articles on your blog and your social media. (See how it’s all connected?)

Besides Yahoo, you can also check out Hubpages and Textbroker. And there are others you can find if you do some Googling.

STEP THREE: BECOME PUBLISHED

After a few months of freelancing, you may decide you’ve learned enough to write your own book on the subject, or on another subject. That’s exactly what I did when I wrote my book entitled eBook Publishing – How to Cash in on the 21st Century Gold Rush. It cost nothing to create, so any income I derive from the effort is profit. The point is, you can always publish yourself (referred to as self-publishing) and have your books available on the Internet almost instantly.

KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon’s eBook marketing branch. Barnes & Nobel has one at Pubit. And there’s also a site called Smashwords that will provide you with another marketing channel, although Smashwords does not use DRM (digital rights management) so your work can be copied by anyone who wishes to do so.

If you want to expand from the digital book and provide your readers with something tangible, CreateSpace is one way to go. This is Amazon’s POD (print-on-demand) division, and it’s also very easy to navigate. There are other options including Lulu and Xlibris if you’d like to check them out.

So there you have it-three easy steps to get you started in the freelance writing business. Keep in mind, these steps are nothing you can’t do, and they’re going to cost you very little money. And who knows, within thirty days, you may have so much work lined up that you’ll need to hire an assistant.


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