Over 59% of companies in the United States have an elastic workforce to a large degree, whether that is remote workers or freelancers. These statistics bode well for content writers interested in beginning freelance or remote work. As the popularity of freelance work increases, you may be wondering how to succeed as a freelance writer. In this article, we review essential tips to succeed as a freelance writer.
3 Simple Reasons Why Freelancers that Blog Earn More Money
If you were to just glance at some of the latest numbers coming out of the freelance industry, you would see that more people are looking to work from home, and more companies are hiring freelancers at amazing rates. And with more websites and businesses online than ever before, this is just fueling more work and money pouring in the freelance writing, design and marketing space.
This is a win-win for both sides, but it’s also bringing in a world of competition for freelancers in a wide range of markets. Even with freelance marketplaces delivering the bulk of the work, there simply isn’t enough work to go around.
The increase in work is nice, but if you are just another freelancer in a flood of other freelancers, that isn’t good at all. This means more time and effort needs to be spent on building your expertise, brand and portfolio of completed work.
For these reasons and many more, every freelancer should have an online portfolio and site of their own. If you are still on the fence and not sure if right now is the best time to start your own blog, by the end of this article you will likely have a much better idea.
1 – It’s Way Too Easy and Affordable to Have a Site
First off, creating a website or blog is so much easier, faster and more affordable today than it ever was in previous years. With more than a billion active websites and blogs on the internet today, pretty much everyone and their dog has a site! This is mainly due to there no longer being a requirement of knowing how to program or be a graphic designer.
Now it’s simply a matter of coming up with an idea for your site, picking a reliable hosting solution and site builder, and then going live with your site. With most platforms now having simple drag and drop editors, it’s super fast and easy to get a site live.
And from the perspective of being a freelancer, it would be a huge disservice to offer services online and not have a platform and site of your own. To stress that point even further, if a freelancer doesn’t have a site of their own and a client asks to see some of their previous work, testimonials or an online portfolio… that could definitely come back and hurt your earnings and work potential.
2 – A Site of Your Own Looks Amazing and Professional
Having mentioned that starting a site and going live with one of your own is extremely easy and cost effective, it’s also a great way to start building a brand and portfolio of your own.
In the world of freelancing, first impressions mean the world, and if you have something to showcase to your potential clients, even better! Throw in a free expert guide (a PDF download) or an industry case study or report, and you can turn that first impression into much more, with new sales and leads being generated all the time.
And when it comes to writing a professional bio, here are some quick tips to follow:
- Always write in the third person.
- List provable facts.
- Include pertinent education and experience.
- Keep the writing tight.
- Hook, grab and hold.
And it’s also important to try and not always just be a middle-man freelancer that is relying on other marketplaces and platforms for all of your work. With a site of your own, this is the next step in the process — plus you could start taking orders right from your site and earn even more per client.
3 – Secure Your Brand By Ranking in the Search Results
No matter what someone is searching for online, they are likely going to start that search on Google. Whatever Google ranks at the top of the search results for that individual keyword or phrase, that is what’s going to be clicked and read.
With a site of your own, you can heavily increase the chances for ranking at the top of Google for your personal name or freelance brand. Then, after your site, you can work on ranking your other marketplace profiles as well.
This is all part of the content creation and SEO process, and if you have a nice collection of sites and profiles ranking for your name on Google, this could be the difference between securing a new client or losing them.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Freelance Writing Efforts
Having read through each of the recommendations and notes listed above, you are probably thinking about your options for how to get started with a website or blog of your own. The good news is, it’s extremely cheap, fast and easy to get started.
The truth is, when running a freelancing business of your own, you are the boss and responsible for all of your own success and failures. This means you will want to set yourself up for as much success as possible, and having a site of your own is a huge step in the right direction.
The first things you will want to do is register a domain (or spend some time thinking about one), pick a reliable site builder and hosting solution, and then go live with your site.
Don’t wait around for it to look 100% perfect, just get it live. As you continue to add more resources and content to the site, it will turn out great!
5 Reasons Why Every Freelancer Needs to Have a Blog
The world of freelance and micro-jobs is growing at a massive rate, and with “work at home” efforts now in place globally, these numbers just continue to increase month over month. While a lot of money continues to pour into this space, it’s also leading to more competition for freelancers and content creations across the globe.
With micro-job and freelance job sites leading the way in terms of business being passed off to freelancers, there are some great ways to stand out from the crowd while also increasing your earnings and long term business in the process.
In order to survive in the extremely competitive world of freelancing and internet marketing in general, you need to be willing to do more than your competitors, while also building a solid brand and reputable business in the process. Today we are going to highlight how a blog can help with all of these factors.
1) Starting a Blog is Extremely Easy and has Minimal Costs
First and foremost, the most obvious reason for starting a blog to improve your freelance expertise and brand, is because it’s so easy and affordable. Another huge benefit to having a blog of your own, is that there are little to no programming and design skills required.
If you already have a blog, excellent! If not, I highly recommend you read through this guide to starting a blog, as it’s loaded with all of the necessary details and breaks the process down into just a few simple steps.
In short, if you don’t already have a blog and have been sitting on the fence because you aren’t sure what to do next, that excuse is no longer valid.
2) It’s a Great Way to Get More Traffic through Google and SEO
As we all know, Google is one of the most important driving forces for traffic and information in the world today.
Without a website or blog, how are individuals and companies supposed to find the services you are offering? In short… they won’t.
With a site of your own (and some extra promotional work), your blog could start ranking for various terms and keywords that could result in more traffic and business from your freelancing efforts. Best of all, you won’t even need to process or handle orders, you can simple pass them off to wherever you might be doing all of your own freelance work already — such as Fiverr or Freelancer.
3) Allows You to Build Your Own Brand and Portfolio
If you were to buy a new product or service online, would you be as likely to purchase from a no name site that you’ve never heard of, and just has the product and a check out form? Probably not… you would ultimately be looking for a brand that you can learn more about, gains your trust and has a proven track record.
This is exactly what is accomplished when a freelancer has a blog of their own.
Through the use of a blog, there are many ways freelancers and content creations can provide more value and gain trust through the use of their blog. Such methods include:
- Showcasing your content and services in a site portfolio
- Ranking in Google for your brand name and services
- Displaying that you know how to build a brand online
- Having a contact form and phone number for support
- Offering different services and up-sells
- and much more…
As you can imagine, a blog can really make yourself stand out amongst a crowd of freelancers that don’t have one.
4) Your Content is Always Being Shared on Social Media
In addition to the end goal of having a site that is growing in content and traffic all the time, it’s important to add social media into the mix as well.
As mentioned, Google is great for search engine traffic, but it’s also very competitive. With social media, there is still a lot of clutter out there, but it’s also great for tagging companies and individuals, while also making use of trending hashtags and talking points as well.
A perfect example of this would be if you just wrote an article on how to improve your site reach with SEO and social media. That would be a great post to continually promote and share through social media, while also tagging any references or experts that might have been mentioned within your area.
Through the use of social media scheduling tools, it’s a great way to keep sending new audiences and traffic to your top posts and evergreen content.
5) A Blog Opens Up a Whole New World of Opportunity
As someone who has been blogging since 2007, I can tell you that blogging can do wonders for your brand and business when done right.
For the most part, blogging is just an excellent way to build a spot for yourself on the internet, while giving you the opportunity to create valuable content for other people around the world. And the coolest thing is… you never know who might be reading your blog or getting inspired by your content.
Some of the most popular entrepreneurs, influencers and businesses in the world today have started out as simple blogs and went on to become much more. Just a few examples of this can be seen with Perez Hilton, Tech Crunch, Pat Flynn and many more.
The biggest risk you have, is simply not creating a blog. It’s just way too simple, fast and cheap not to.
How to Grow Your Freelance Business with a Blog
After reading through the five tips and recommendations above, you should have a much better idea on how to grow your freelancing business through the use of a blog. However, don’t just read the working methods above and then leave it at that. You must take action!
With more than a billion websites and blogs in the world today, there is a lot of work to do after your site goes live. Be sure to invest the necessary time into learning about how to make the most out of your content creation and marketing efforts once your site is live.
Grammar Tips and Proper Vocabulary Usage for Freelance Writers
With the rise of remote work and the freelance economy, many people make good livings and successful careers off of freelance writing. The internet is vast, and real, substantive opportunities exist for those willing to hustle and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit.
To consistently get work as a freelance writer, your product (i.e. your written content) has to speak for itself, which means a strong grasp of grammar and a vocabulary that is wide-ranging enough to communicate accurately and articulately. Below are some grammar and vocabulary tips for current and hopeful freelance writers.
Use a Grammar, Vocabulary and Spell Checker
If you speak to established writers, most will acknowledge, begrudgingly, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to catch all of your own errors. It is very rare, even for talented and prolific writers, to turn out flawless prose, on their first try, every single time.
While you work largely alone as a freelance writer, which means it is not usually possible or feasible to have someone look over your work before you turn it in, there are surprisingly sophisticated applications out there that do a good job of pointing out grammar, spelling and vocabulary errors. Many freelance writers swear by Grammarly, one of the most popular applications.
Use Simple, Direct Words Whenever Possible
A common mistake even good writers make is to confuse complexity with quality. They believe that flowery language, whether because it involves the use of obscure words or intricate sentences, will automatically impress readers. Writing that distracts from the message or point with too much ornate language is often referred to by readers, editors and writers as “purple prose.” You don’t want to be known for writing purple prose.
One of George Orwell’s rules for writers was that anytime a simple word could be substituted for a complex one, it should be. Write to the point and only rely on technical language, jargon and less common words when absolutely necessary. You can write eloquently and intelligently with simple, direct language.
Master Grammar Basics But Don’t Get Lost in Them
There is a long list of common errors that even experienced writers continue to make, and many of them can be quite glaring. Sentence fragments, subject-verb agreement, misplaced and dangling modifiers, vague pronoun references and run-on sentences are hard to ignore. Depending on your audience and how often such mistakes appear, you can discredit your writing right out of the gate.
But there are plenty of great writers who urge caution when it comes to obsessing over every single alleged “rule.” Acclaimed linguist and author Steven Pinker, for instance, believes that, while a firm grasp of grammar is necessary for a writer, style, clarity and audience consideration should not be sacrificed to overly rigid grammatical rules. As a freelance writer, you should know the rules, try not to flout them too outrageously, but understand that there are many different opinions on when and how they apply.
Get Your Prepositions Right
Another important grammatical tip for freelance writers is to make sure your prepositions–words such as like, of, for, in, with–are correct. Do you have high expectations “of” or “for” someone or something? Did she run “in” the room crying, or run “into” the room crying? Good readers and writers will pick up on these missteps and they can make you seem like an amateur.
They are also one of the most common grammar mistakes made by writers because there are few hard and fast rules dictating which prepositions to use with which nouns. When in doubt, a good tip is to search for the exact combination of preposition and noun in Google. The chances are very high that many people have searched precisely the same thing.
Look Up Words You Don’t Recognize
If you want to be a freelance writer, looking up words you don’t recognize or understand, wherever you encounter them, is a necessary habit to get into. If it is not something you already do, it may seem tedious at first, but after a while, opening a new tab and typing “(word) definition” into the search bar becomes second nature.
This is a great way to build your vocabulary and simultaneously make yourself a more proficient reader. The wider your vocabulary and your understanding of syntax, the more varied your sentence structure and more precise your writing will be. This will help you stand out among the competition, get work, build your portfolio and make a success of freelance writing.
Build Your Vocabulary With Word Games and Puzzles
Building a more extensive vocabulary can also be done by playing games focused on language development and recognition. Popular games such as Scrabble, for instance, which can be made even more fun and entertaining using word unscramblers like UnscrambleX, help add new words to your lexicon.
There are plenty of paid and free-to-play mobile language games which also operate on the same principles and can have unscramblers applied to them as well. The more you play these games, the more you train your brain to store and recognize language.
Conclusion
Whether you are looking to freelance writing as a potential full-time career, as a way to supplement your income from other employment, or simply as an enjoyable hobby, a superior understanding of grammar and language is a prerequisite. Keep the above tips in mind, never stop building your portfolio and you will find clients that are eager to work with you.
How to Pay Taxes as a Freelancer (A Guide for 2020)
Freelancing is becoming a major industry as more and more people work from home. In recent times, due to the pandemic, there’s been a spike in workers who’ve had to become their own boss and market their business services as independent contractors.
However, we saw a spike in freelancers in the years before coronavirus hit due, in part, to the attractive, alternative lifestyle it offers. You have total control over your schedule, with flexible hours that you can work from home, set on your terms. To many, the opportunity to be your own boss and set your own price rate is far more enticing than a standard 9-5 job.
But, with more control comes more responsibility. As a freelancer, you’re tasked with handing your own employment taxes since you’ll no longer have an employer to file on your behalf. If you fail to keep up with your taxes, you could find yourself owing a large sum of money to the government without sufficient savings to settle your debt. And unfortunately, this happens all too often for individuals that are just getting started with their own freelancing or side business the first time around.
Whether you’re just launching your freelance career or trying to make up for lost time, here’s the run down on how to pay taxes so your business can stay afloat.
Understand Tax Basics
As a freelancer, you may have many skills—copywriting, video editing, web development, and so on—but you may not know about how taxation works. The most important thing to note, is that if you work as an independent contractor in the United States and earn at least $400 or more in a given year, you are required to file taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
The tax bracket you fall into will depend on how much you make. If you made money last year freelancing, you’ll need to submit estimated quarterly tax payments based on your previous earnings. And don’t take this responsibility lightly, as the estimated tax penalty can cost you hundreds of dollars if you fail to do so.
Keep Track of Tax Expense on Daily Basis
Here’s another crucial tip: save every invoice, but more importantly, every business-related receipt. Need a new laptop? Had to purchase a specific software program? Write it all down and add it all up. When it comes to filing your income tax return, you’ll be able to deduct the total amount from your earnings, which may in turn drop you into a lower tax bracket.
Keep in mind, however, only qualified business expenses count, so you might have a hard time justifying how that Xbox relates to work. And, should the IRS ever issue an audit out of suspicion, you’ll need proof to back up each claim—not only for this year, but up to seven years ago. If you have a hard time keeping track of paperwork, consider investing in a document scanner that can save all your information over the cloud.
Research Tax Deductions and Credits
Business expenses (including travel costs, vehicle use, and internet bills) are just one example of a deduction that you can claim to lower your taxable income. There are many more ways you may be able to find tax relief, including payments health insurance and student loan interest.
Tax credits are different in that they reduce your final tax bill dollar for dollar. You might be able to qualify for these too, so do your research to save all the money you can.
Don’t Hide Your Income
You might be tempted to conceal your earnings from the IRS, but it’s against your interest to do so. The people who hire you might record your payments for their own tax purposes by filing Form 1099. That means the government will know what you made, and if you report a number that doesn’t add up with their calculations, you could face serious consequences from tax evasion or fraud.
In the end, even if you personally aren’t reporting all of your income and costs, the business or brand on the oppposite side of the transacation probably is. So in short, don’t cut corners and be sure to pay all of your owed taxes and don’t try to cheat the system.
Hire a Tax Accountant
If all of this sounds like a lot, you’re not alone. It can be quite a headache to stay on top of your freelance taxes, which is why many people turn to professional help. There are many online platforms you can use to stay organized, but you can also hire an accountant to file on your behalf.
Another thing to consider is that you don’t need to hire a local accountant. Thanks to the power of the internet, you can hire an accounting company or financial advisor anywhere in the world, while still running your freelancing business from home.
The Business of Working for Yourself as a Freelancer and Managing Finances
As with most entrepreneurs and individuals working with side jobs to make some extra money, the process of managing your finances may soon become a big part of your job as well. However, it sure beats having to work for someone else!
The good news is, there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you along the way. Whether it’s invoicing software, making payments and paying yourself online, or even paying your taxes early or on a quarterly basis, it’s now all easier and more accessible than ever before.
Keep these points in mind to stay out of hot water with the IRS and your odds of running a successful freelance career will be much greater!
4 of the Fastest Growing Industries for Freelancers in 2020
If you’re a freelancer looking to make some extra money in your spare time or even hoping to make a full-blown career out of your passions, congratulations! Taking that first step takes a lot of courage. However, it’s also to remember that this is an extremely competitive and saturated market to be in.
With this in mind, it’s time to find the ideal industry for you to spread your entrepreneurial wings. By focusing your efforts on hot markets that are looking for new and engaging content, this allows for less competition and possibly higher rates at the same time.
The only problem with this process, is knowing where to start. The good news is, we’ve already started that process for you and are highlighting four hot sectors that are not only making big money for freelancers, but they also look like they are going to thriving for the next several years as well.
If you’ve already rifled through the other five industries for freelancers we’ve highlighted, this guide will walk through another four amazing fields where you can let your freelance flag fly.
Let’s get started!
#1 New Age—Astrology and More!
These days, plenty of people have embraced alternative lifestyles and ways of thinking, attempting to step outside of traditional American or Western ideals.
People enjoy the amazing aesthetic and cultural values surrounding:
- Astrology
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Crystals (reiki, etc.)
- Eastern medicine
And it’s not just personal—there are tons of businesses seeking to cater to this growing market, which means there are business opportunities out there for any of the following freelance types:
- Writers
- Graphic Designers
- Videographers
- Life Coaches
- Artisans
- And more!
With goods like astrology-themed crystal sets bridging the gap between several new-age favorites, there’s no limit to what you can do with your unique talents and skills. Even if it’s not your cup of tea (or kombucha), why not consider tapping into this revolutionary industry?
And with most ecommerce and product sites already having hundreds of products to sell through their sites, one of the most common tasks for such sites to hire freelancers for, is to write the actual product description and sales copy for their audiences. Sure, it’s one thing to sell online, but it’s another to be able to write winning content that actually sells. This is where a huge opportunitity for freelancers lie.
Not only could such new jobs and opporrtunities prove lucrative, that could also be quite enlightening as well.
#2 Legal Cannabis and CBD
Another somewhat unorthodox (but promising) trend that’s blooming into a booming industry?
To put things bluntly: Cannabis, baby (and CBD).
While marijuana is not fully legalized in every location in the US, it has become an incredibly lucrative industry in the areas where it’s legit.
CBD enjoys an even further reach, as it is legal in more parts of the country. Whether you’re a writer, business consultant, or a CBD connoisseur yourself, what better industry than that of delicious and relaxing CBD vape juice and other magical concoctions?
Outside of just traditional article writing, many freelancers are finding work in writing product descriptions, reviews, tutorials and FAQs for content on such sites as well. You can see a perfect example of this in the screenshot below.
Cannabis, CBD, and other related products are all part of a broader trend toward natural alternatives for healthy living. If you’ve already worked with wellness or lifestyle clients, it might be worth considering how much you can pack those experiences into this funky new joint.
#3 Personal and Business Management
With the rising trend of entrepreneurship shifting the tides of the working world, freelance opportunities in business management—for both individuals and large corporations—are rapidly bubbling to the surface. If you have a skill, talent, or passion that you have yet to capitalize on, this industry could be just the place for your own business to blossom.
Here are some ideas for making money with management gigs:
- Writers can apply their talents to legal writing, insurance contracts, email marketing campaigns, and web copy.
- Graphic designers can make a pretty penny revamping an influencer’s or business’s logo, website, or communications materials.
- Organizational experts can capitalize on Mari Kondo’s worldwide takeover and have a field day tidying up a busy parent’s cluttered office space.
- Freelance computer programmers can find excellent opportunities optimizing a business’s website back-end, customer service app, or online store.
- Business consultants can assist burgeoning startups with finding the right business insurance, drawing up contracts, and optimizing their workflow.
And as highlighted in this legal writing tips article on FWG, you will soon realize that the opportunities within the world of legal, business and attorney work expands way beyond just technical writing. Such benefits and writing areas include.
#4 Technology and Cybersecurity
Whether you’re a Luddite or a total computer nerd, you know full well that the technology train is coming through, and it isn’t stopping anytime soon (chugga chugga, CHOO CHOO).
With this rapid explosion in technological progress comes an equally impactful boom in cyber-related problems, like national and personal security, privacy, and data storage.
The demand for cybersecurity, data management, and information technology experts grows with every passing year—and that’s where you come in.
Here are some ways to take your freelancing skills into the virtual realm:
- Use your hardware and computer programming skills to reinforce a company’s network and streamline their data storage systems.
- Use your finance skills to implement new bookkeeping and supply chain software into a startup’s dashboard.
- Use your legal and business skills to ensure regulatory compliance on the part of an older corporation trying to catch up to the times.
- Use your consulting skills to teach a local business how to better train, manage, and empower their small team.
When it comes to writing about anything in the technology and cybersecurity space, it’s not just the traditional concepts and methods that you might be thinking of. For businesses, security and tech is completely different than what it might mean for average internet users or site owners. Below you can see some of the most interesting and hot topics in the world of regulatory compliance, which are often getting passed along to high-end and well-trained freelancers that have experience in this space.
Improve Your Expertise and Writing to Secure More Freelance Gigs
Any one of these industries could be a great place to start or expand your business as a freelance writer, programmer, artist, consultant, or whatever else makes your heart sing.
To narrow down your options, dust off your student hat and do some research. Read a handful of articles about each industry, and see what seems to stick. When you’ve found an industry that really speaks to you, reach out to smaller companies in that field and see what work you can find. We promise they won’t bite (unless they’re a Venus flytrap company—in that case, we can’t make any promises).
Before long, you’ll have more work on your hands than you know what to do with.
5 Tools to Improve Freelancer Writing Skills and Earnings
Freelance writers are quickly changing the way content is created and read on the internet today. With several hundreds of millions of WordPress sites now live and over a billion active sites collectively online, content is now in demand more than ever before.
However, content is only as great and the time, work and effort put into it.
With this in mind, businesses and brands of all sizes are now focusing on freelance writers for their content creation efforts. This means more content demand and more money flowing into the freelance market. [Read more…]
Amazing Tips for Freelancers to Create Videos with iMovie Software
By 2022, video content will account for over 80% of all web traffic in the world. By adding video content to your website or freelance services portfolio, you can attract more visitors and boost your potential for higher end clients by moving beyond just traditional text writing services. With more businesses and brands looking to attract new audiences and customers through interactive video and using web content and social media marketing to get there, this could just be what every freelancer needs to bring their earnings to that next level. [Read more…]
How to Find a Great Image for Every Article You Publish
Did you know that 6.7 million people blog on blogging sites? Are you looking for how to stand out from the crowd by having beautiful images?
Blogging isn’t just about creating original and new content for the internet and ranking in the search results, it’s also about providing value to your audience and giving them a nice experience while on your site as well.
As a freelancer writer, the option to just focus on writing text and articles is often key, but images also play an importance role in this overall process as well. Images provide better finalized work, engagement and reading for site visitors, and of course better value and content for the site owners and brands that are buying it.
In this article, discover the secrets to finding a great image for your blog articles every time. Read on to discover these secrets so you’ll ensure you can have a successful blog and not a flop.
3 Reasons Why Freelance Writers Should Always Include Article Images
When is the last time you read an article online that was just straight text and no images in it? It probably wasn’t any time recently. Nearly all articles have some type of visuals and the best ones are using them to break apart content, use visuals as examples and even to create original infographics to bring data to life.
With all of this in mind, as a freelancer, you should always consider adding images to the content you are writing for your clients. Here are a few reasons why.
1 – It’s Extremely Fast, Easy and Free to Find Images
For the most part, the writing process is what’s going to take the most time. When looking for images for your content, there are so many free resources and royalty free images available, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look and spending a few minutes to get the job done.
2 – Added Value to the End Client and Better Content
When an article is sent to the client for review, a doc full of words and content is always great. However, what’s even better is having a document full of content and visuals as well. This way the client can post everything right to the site, while making it easier to read and visually appealing for all site visitors.
There are also plenty of images that you can use with royalty free rights to help you create better content for your own or client sites. Be sure to check out a site like Stock Photo Secrets to not only find some of the best sites out there for images, but also how you can start using free image editing software to create and modify your own images.
3 – Ability to Upsell and Earn More Per Article
As simple as it is to find and add a few images to your article content, this little addition can go a long way–and not just in the form of better engagement and content being easier to read. It’s also a service that freelancers can offer to upsell their services and earn more per completed article as well.
Now that you have a better understanding on why images should always be a requirement when creating content online, now let’s walk through a few tips and resources to make the image finding process even easier.
Article Images Searching Tips
When you’re searching for high-quality images, don’t use a super long search and don’t use a one-word search either. Instead, use a 2-3 word phrase to find an image. Consider related images as well when using your search term. Avoid pictures that seem like they’re from a stock photo site, and ensure they go with your brand.
Plan out what you want your images to convey to your audience. Visit the top websites in your niche to see what images they choose and that are successful.
Ensure the image you choose will look good no matter if your audience is on their computer, phone, or tablet. When you save your images, experiment with the different types to see what works best. PNG is great for illustration and color, GIF is great for animation, and JPEG loses quality even though it’s good for images.
1. Take Your Own Photos
In order to find an image and think, I really really really like this image, it’s best to take your own photos. You’ll firstly have your own unique images that can be SEO friendly. Not only can you save money, but you don’t have to worry about copyright infringement.
You can even create color palette on images to make it more fun and colorful.
2. Pixabay
Pixabay has free images for blogging you can find. Whether you’re looking for serious or crazy images, Pixabay has you covered. You just click on any image to see a pop-up box with several image sizes available. You can then download and save images, plus it’s easy to use.
3. Bigstock
You can either search on Bigstock through their on-site search box or use their home page footer. You can also use autocomplete for quick searches. You can easily find images that are popular or aren’t popular yet. If you create an account, you can choose a free image every week.
It has a subscription model where you can receive a certain amount of downloads for a monthly fee. You can try out their 7-day free trial to see how you like their image choices.
If you are going to be doing any type of infographic creation, you will likely find a great selection of vectors and images that can be used within your artwork. The important thing to remember during the image selection and infographic process, is to make sure you are using high-quality content visuals, while also focusing your effort on bullet-points and key words and phrases — meaning, you shouldn’t have a lot of text.
4. iStockPhoto
iStockPhoto has credit packs and subscription plans available. It has a large range of filters you can choose to find the right managed stock photography. You can also find flash and audio animations, as well as video. When you click on an image thumbnail, a large photo will pop out.
5. Flickr
Flickr is great for high-quality nice images of real-life such as nature or landscape. You can also choose graphic works for abstract concepts.
Tips for Finding a Great Image
Now that you read this guide, you can find a great image for your blogging needs while also potentially increasing your profits and revenue in the process.
Would you like to learn more about bringing your business to life? Check out our other articles on Freelance Writing Gigs.
The Complete Guide to Creating a Writing Portfolio: Everything to Know
It is predicted that by 2027, the majority of the US workforce will be freelancers.
Just let that sink in for a second. In less than ten years’ time, more people will be in freelance than in traditional employment.
If you’re a freelance writer, it will become increasingly important to ensure you remain visible in a crowded market. That’s why creating a writing portfolio is vital. With more money pouring into this space, there will also be a lot more freelancers and competitors to fight against. However, for those who are willing to put in the time, work and effort… the potential for higher earnings and revenue is also there.
Read on as take a look at how to put together a writing portfolio that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Know Your Niches
With so much competition out there, one of the best ways to get ahead is to get a strong track record for writing in specific niches.
That way you can market yourself to people needing content in that niche. Your portfolio should give examples of how well you can write on that specific topic.
A perfect example of this would be social media marketing vs. ecommerce and online shops. They are both focused towards promotion and end users converting to buyers, but they are also two completely different styles of writing. Social media marketing is more about engagment and interest, while ecommerce is more product focused and informational.
You don’t need to limit yourself to just one niche, but don’t go overboard. The more niches you offer, the more diluted your expertise can appear.
Less Is More
By the same token, don’t fill your portfolio with every piece you’ve ever written. It’s all about quality, not quantity.
There are two things you need to keep in mind when selecting the pieces you’ll include. Firstly, choose those pieces that show off your writing skills the most, and are solidly within the niche that you’re targeting.
Secondly, select those pieces that you’ve done for well-known clients. If you’ve had work published by big names, this is going to make you stand out from the crowd, so make sure you put that work front and center. Try not to include work that is too out of date.
Write a Strong Bio
If a client finds two portfolios that both have great writing in the desired niche, then how do they choose?
One deciding factor might be your bio. Clients will want to know a little about the writer that will be working for them. This is your chance to sell yourself although you shouldn’t go over the top.
Explain what you do and how you do it, and remember that this is a chance to show off your writing skills. Include your experience, especially in the niches that you’re targeting. If you’ve worked for any big-name clients, be sure to drop their names in.
In addition to comparing two portfolios or resumes side by side, there is also an advantage for any freelancer that has a strong social media profile as well. Not only does social media bring legitimacy to individuals over those who don’t have it, it also shows another enhanced skill that might be sought after by the client.
The better your personal bio, brand and social media presense looks online, the more likely you are to stand out from the crowd.
Make Sure It Looks Good
You can have the best writing in the world, but if your portfolio looks a mess, no one is going to read it.
Make sure it looks clean and easy to read. Don’t include full articles on the page; instead, use snippets with links to the full articles.
There are plenty of online portfolio templates you can use to make sure that it looks as smart as possible. It’s worth making the effort to create a portfolio page that people want to visit.
And again, focusing on the social media aspect — make sure you are linking out to your portfolio and resume through your social profiles. Not only will this share your expertise and work with different audiences, it will also help potential clients find your work if they are looking your name up through Google or on different platforms.
Are You Creating a Writing Portfolio?
If you’re creating a writing portfolio or doing any type of freelance writing, you should definitely be implementing these recommendations and tips into your daily efforts. As more people enter into this space, it will be harder to find new work, while also keeping consistant buyers month after month.
To learn more about this process and how to become a better writer, be sure to check out the various writing resources throughout this site. There are hundreds of articles that cover a wide range of other topics related to creative writing, starting a freelance business and also a job board to help you find more work.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »
