Top 5 Qualities Clients Look for in a Freelance Writer

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Being a freelance writer can be an incredibly fulfilling job, especially if you enjoy what you do. Yet it means more than just writing, so it can often be overly demanding too.

You will be expected to also take on a little bit of everything, from being your own agent and developing a marketing strategy, to knowing your accounting basics and keeping up to speed with new software. But above all, you will be asked to manage your clients’ expectations on a daily basis. Here are some qualities clients always look for in freelance writers.

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Top 5 Ingenious Ways to Increase Your Freelance Writing Income

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When you’re a freelance writer, you need to make the leap from starving artist to gainfully employed. There are countless ways to build your freelance writing income so that you can not only pay your bills but thrive. This is something I’m quite familiar with, as I’ve built up my own internet marketing from scratch and now have a flourishing business today. This is quite similar to the path of a freelance writer in that it will be tough in the beginning, but if you are willing to put in the time, work and effort — you can end up with something pretty amazing a few months or years down the road.

With more than a billion active sites on the internet today, there are opportunities available but you also need to become savvier. Every website and blogs need to have new content, and if they aren’t creating it themselves, they are using freelance writers or premium content platforms to get the job done. This also means that there are millions of dollars being spent and paid out to those who can provide quality writing services.

To this end, read on so that you can become a better freelance writer, and allow your earnings to reflect that.

Set Up Your Own Blog to Display Your Work

Having your own blog is great for a few different reasons. For one, it’s a great way for you to get better at writing by penning entries a few times per week. This keeps your skills sharp so that you can keep providing for your customers.

It will also act as a portfolio so that you’re able to show the public what you’re capable of. Since they’re able to stop by your blog and check out your posts, it acts as a calling card for your brand.

Today, people are building blogs that pay, and this gives even more leverage to sell products, ad space or guest posts.

Of course, owning a blog is also great for search engine optimization, making your brand more recognizable and easy to find. This opens you up to more freelance writing income and helps you find gigs that pay well.

Write Gigs That Pay Residuals

Your first thought might be to get paid by the hour or per project. However, with Amazon and other outlets, you can write ebooks that sell like hotcakes and pay you every month. The same is true for other freelance writing platforms like iWriter, TextBroker and FreelanceMyWay. While each of these is great to picking up new writing jobs, it’s also important for freelance writers to communicate with whoever might be buying content writing from them as well. This back and forth engagement can dramatically increase the likelihood of more articles to be ordered, while also building a long-term relationship as well.

It’s not just about engagement, it’s also about making sure your client is happy and that they are getting their money worth. Whether you’re writing about topics that you are passionate about or ghostwriting content for other people, you’ll be in a great position to expand your income by leaps and bounds.

Charge What You’re Worth

You’re already a great writer, now it’s time to start thinking like a businessperson.

Many writers undercut themselves and end up robbing themselves of valuable income. Instead of setting your rates to get quick gigs that pay the bills, have the patience to only work with clients that pay you what you are worth.

Check the going rate for freelance writing gigs so that you can set your rates and build a nice client base. This way, you won’t have to do as much work to get the same rate.

Also, be sure to start with a higher premium rate so that you can also go lower if the client would like a discount with any bulk orders. This is something I always look for when working with a premium writer that continually produces great content.

Continuously Hone Your Craft and Build Your Credentials

No matter what, you have to keep getting better at your craft. This way, you’re better able to bring in new clients and keep those that you have.

This can be as simple as creating a website or blog to show off your best work, history within the industry, and also any certification or rewards that you might have received. Testimonials from previous paying clients can also go a long way as well.

Travel to networking seminars and do all that you can to build your credentials, and the work will begin taking care of itself.

Build Your Visibility To Improve Your Freelance Writing Income

Finally, do all you can to build your brand and connect with the public. People need to be able to find you whenever they’re looking for a credible writer. At the same time, it’s a huge benefit for your pricing and value to clients if you have a good understanding of how SEO and social media works.

Being able to throw in some extra SEO research, on-site and off-site SEO tips, and social media shares within your content writing services is also a great bonus. You can learn more about this by reading through this link building and social media strategy guide. As you can imagine, with so much competition in the world of content writing and freelance services, if you can offer any type of bonus material or promotion in reference to SEO, social media, and improved branding for your clients, that could really seal the deal when being compared with other freelancers bidding on the same work.

While all of this is happening, you can also build your band through photos and videos and learning more about marketing. Build your presence on social media as well so that you are always connecting with customers.

Always Strive to Get Better While Increasing Earnings Monthly

When you run a business on the internet, there are many way to further optimize and scale your business. The same holds true for anyone looking to make money with freelance writing services. Following these tips helps you build your freelance writing income by leaps and bounds. You are now on a neverending journey of learning and becoming the best professional you can be.

To get the most out of your career, keep learning the tips that will help you out. Be sure to check out my other articles on Freelance Writing Gigs to learn more about how to make more money as a freelancer, while also branding yourself as a premium writer and expert in the process.

4 Working Methods to Earn Extra Money with Freelance Writing

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You love your day job, but you sometimes wish that it paid more.

You’re in the process of saving up a little extra cash to go on a dream vacation, plan your wedding, or even finally make it out of debt.

So, what’s the perfect side gig?

Taking on high paying freelance writing jobs is a great opportunity for anyone willing to put in the time, work and effort. But how do you make it happen, and how can you improve your writing skills when it comes to commercial writing.

In this post, we’ll tell you all about how to find writing jobs that aren’t only fun, but lucrative.

Read on to learn how to find out about opportunities before anyone else does, and how to establish your own web presence as a writer for hire.

We’ll even tell you how to write the perfect pitch, which often comes down to finding the right idea and purpose for your content, coming up with a reporting plan to document it all, and also knowing how much time to spend on the project.

Once you have a better understanding of how to focus your time and effort, and also where to look for new writing jobs, you may soon find that the world of freelance writing is a lot more lucrative than you originally thought.

1. Follow Social Media Writing Groups

If you’re looking for freelance writing jobs, social media is one of the best places to begin.

Make a list of magazines, blogs, online journals, and even businesses that you love. Also, do a search on social media for accounts related to the writing lifestyle, freelancing, and even commercial writing.

You might be surprised by just how many people post about high paying writing jobs — before these opportunities hit the rest of the market.

At the same time, also don’t discount the power of knowing how different websites, brands, and companies are putting their content to work for them on social media. Take a look at any effective social media strategy, and you will find that it starts with content. Once you start to notice what brands are continually pushing out new content, you may want to approach them directly to see if they are looking for new writers to add to their outsource team.

The great thing about working with big brands that need a lot of content is that they are likely to keep ordering more written work from you for the next several weeks, months, and even years to come.

2. Create a Writing Website

Especially if you’re ready to get into freelance writing for beginners, you’ll need to work to establish your web presence.

Companies are always looking for bloggers — and you want to make sure you show up in their search results. You also want to establish yourself as an experienced professional in the commercial writing world.

Start by including clips to your past published pieces — beginning with the most recently published first. Include your CV with information about your education, any scholarships or fellowships you’ve received, and other accomplishments within the writing world.

Don’t forget to set up a blog on your website dedicated to showing off your writing.

You can also see an example below of how an author bio with a real photo and detailed description can bring your content to life, while also putting a real face and person behind the writing.

Make sure that you include a brief author bio and headshot on your website so that people can get to know the person behind the words you’re writing. For tips on what to include in (and what to leave out of!) your author bio, check out this post. You can see a preview of each of their ten recommended tips below for improving your reach, authority, and success as an online freelance writing or author.

  1. You will need up to three versions of your bio.
  2. Go ahead — brag!
  3. Leave your demographics for the end and keep it brief.
  4. When listing book publications, should you have any, italicize the title and do not put in quotation marks.
  5. Refer to yourself in the third person.
  6. The credibility an award gives a book can change the life of it!
  7. BS? BA? BIS? MBA? Ph.D.?
  8. Your bio will change dramatically as your career advances.
  9. If you can, have a professional (or at least a really good) photographer take a quality author photo of you.
  10. Browse the Internet and look in the books on your bookshelves for ideas.

Also, include links to your social media profiles — in short, give companies that want to hire you to write for them as many ways to contact you as possible.

3. Check out Writing Job Boards

Knowing where to find writing jobs online is the bread and butter of a successful freelance career or even side hustle.

When you’re just starting out, companies aren’t exactly going to be approaching you with writing opportunities (but hopefully they will in the future!) Luckily for you, there are several well-known and reputable writing job boards that you can scroll through.

In addition to the awesome job board on Freelance Writing Gigs, you will also come across other great ones at ProBlogger Job Board, Dice, MediaBistro and Craigslist.

This makes it much easier for you to find the types of writing gigs that are the best fit for your skill set. Many of these job boards also have an email list. Make sure that you sign up for it so that you’ll get alerts the moment a potential job posting goes up.

Writing job boards will break down the opportunities by category, so it’s easy to find what you’re interested in.

For example, you can choose from copywriting jobs, editing jobs, blogging jobs, and even broader content writing gigs.

While some of these opportunities will be a “one and done” situation? In other cases, you’ll be able to build lasting relationships with these clients. That’s an awesome way to build up your client book for the future!

4. When in Doubt, Just Pitch

So, you’ve followed all of the above tips on how to find writing jobs — but you’re just not getting any results.

In addition to feeling the pain of rejection, you’re also concerned that all of your writing efforts might be in vain. However, just like any profession or opportunity in the world today, it all comes down to those who are willing to put in more work and stand above the crowd.

A perfect example of how to best accomplish this can be seen in finance writing articles. Let’s specifically take a look at the loans with bad credit article and how it breaks down different data points throughout the article.

With the title being “Loans for Bad Credit”, it’s important to actually provide the end user with value, and not just a lot of written text in large paragraphs. We can see this article is actually very well written and laid out nicely as it has bold headlines (the red arrows) through the content, while also further breaking down each point into sub-paragraphs and will bullet points (the green arrows).

This is not brain surgery here, but it makes the world of a difference to the end user, the site owner, and the freelance writer. Way too many freelance writers just want to create 500 or 1000 word articles and move onto the next job. This is great for them, but not so much for the end user and brand publishing the content.

To see more examples like these, be sure to read through some of the top personal websites you want to write for, and see if their content is laid out in this same way. This will allow you to get to know their overall writing style better, and understand the kinds of topics they’re interested in publishing. And again, put in the time to not only write the best content possible but to also provide the right outreach and opportunity for each site as well.

Send out a cold pitch email to a bunch of sites, but make sure they are somewhat personalized and offer real value. Explain the article you’d like to write for them, and discuss why you’re qualified to write it. Include a potential length, as well as the date you’ll provide the first draft for them to edit.

Make sure you include your contact information and a short “author bio” so they can get to know your work.

Above all, don’t forget to include the amount that you’re looking to be paid for this gig. If you don’t bring up payment in your first pitch email, many blogs will try to get you to work for free.

Aim higher than you’re OK with making. This will give the company a bit of room for negotiating with you.

How to Find Writing Jobs: Wrapping Up

We hope this post has helped you to understand how to find writing jobs that connect with your interests, skill set, and your creative side.

As long as you’re willing to stay persistent and to follow up with leads, you’ll be able to build a nice client book in no time.

Looking for the latest writing gigs in blogging, content writing, and even editing? Want to get more advice about how to live the writing lifestyle to the fullest?

As mentioned earlier, if you are still looking for freelance work, be sure to check out the FreelanceWritingGigs job board to see which opportunities might e right for you. Be sure to bookmark this blog for more tips on how to make life as a writer work for you.

Win an Annual Subscription to Hurdlr and Track Your Finances & Taxes Easily

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It’s trick or treat time for most, but we’re all about treats here. We’re giving away an annual subscription to finance software Hurdlr to one FWJ reader.

What’s Hurdlr, anyway? Why would you want to win an annual subscription to it? [Read more…]

6 Tips To Avoid Plagiarism In Freelance Writing

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Freelance writing has been around for quite a while but writers – and clients – have always faced the same problem over the years: plagiarism, one of the unforgivable sins of creating content, freelance or otherwise.

The thing about ideas is that they are not conceived effortlessly. More often than not, you really need to work those brain cells to come up with something novel and fresh. It’s easier said than done in some cases, and certain tips to avoid plagiarism might be in order. [Read more…]

Being Happy at Work – Freelance Edition

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Freelancing is a siren song to many office workers. It symbolizes freedom and happiness. It symbolizes more time for relaxation and enjoying life.

Many in the corporate world will leave stressful jobs in the corporate world precisely because they’re chasing that dream. They want that promise of well-being, fulfillment, and happiness. [Read more…]

Freelance Writing 101: Starting with No Experience

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So you discovered freelance writing and you want in because it will help you earn extra money. You did what any curious person would do so you typed various keywords online to learn more about the tools of the trade and what websites offer work that will help you hit that target income because really, that’s what it’s about come day’s end. The fact of the matter is, you barely earn anything when you write for freelance websites because aside from the fact that the rates are low, the numbers decrease further once the fees are deducted. Not too encouraging for newbie freelance writers, right? [Read more…]

How to Create a Freelance Contract

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If you’ve recently landed a new writing gig, your first thought may be “when do I get started?” Before you ever write that first word, however, you need to ensure that your future as a freelancer is secure with a legally-binding freelance contract that protects you and the income you’ve planned on receiving.

Contracts don’t need to be complicated or even very long. They do, however, need to be clear. Here are the basic steps to making a contract that your clients will be comfortable signing and that covers your interests. [Read more…]

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