As a freelance writer, you obviously need to know how to write well and with efficiency, so you can meet deadlines. However, there’s a whole other aspect to the career of being a freelance writer and that entails actually finding work. This is more than just putting together a resume—it’s a whole other aspect to a writer’s career and is, fortunately or unfortunately, something that every successful writer must engage in. Below is some advice on how to best advertise your own writing services as a freelance writer, so that you can keep the work coming in.
Create a Portfolio
Create a book of samples of your work. If the work is published, even better. This will act as your portfolio which will show prospective clients and employers what you have written and that you can write. If your work has already been published it will also show them that other people believe in your talents enough to publish your work and even pay you for it. The samples that you include shouldn’t be everything you have had published or written, just the very best pieces that give those you would be sending it to the best sense of your writing capabilities.
Provide Any Stats Available
Since most things that are written when it comes to content and journalism is published online these days, it’s important to keep track of who is reading your work, how many likes, shares or retweets your work receives by the general public. For example, if you had an articles that received thousands of likes or shares after it was published, this shows you can write something that will get a reader’s attention—making a publication or client really drawn to your work. This will quite literally pay off if you can compile a portfolio of work which really gets people to respond to it.
Contact Clients and Employers Directly and Tirelessly
There are a lot of writing job opportunities out there but also a lot of writers, making the market very saturated and competitive. Therefore, when you advertise your talents as a writer for hire, you need to really give prospective clients and publications a sense of who you are and what you can write about. Talk about where you were educated, where you grew up, where you have traveled and do so in an entertaining way, making the client or editor want to work with you. Also, don’t just write someone once and get discouraged when they don’t respond. Keep reaching out to them, tirelessly, without being annoying of course. Sooner or later, they will write you back with some kind of response and many times, it will be one you want to hear which will lead to future employment or a place for your writing talents.
Eli K has been a full time freelance writer making a living for more than a decade. His rate varies per assignment.
