How to Kick Off Your Career As A Freelance Writer

You want to be a fearless and the most demanding freelance writer, right?

GREAT.

Freelancers have a great future ahead.

According to a study, by 2020, 40% of the workforce – that’s approximately 60 million people – will be working as freelancers.

In today’s post, you will learn how to start your career as a freelance writer.

Let’s dive in.

Do you have to have a degree to be a freelance writer?

This is the question people often ask who wants to be a freelance writer.

Well, you don’t need any FANCY English degree to be a freelance writer.

You can become a freelance writer without a degree.

All you need these writing tips, guidance, and hard work to be the most demanding copywriter ever.

Stay with me to know my secret freelancing tips…

Research about Freelance Writing

When I first started writing I did a lot of research.

I checked out other freelance writers and their websites to understand this freelance writing business.

I even emailed some freelance writers to know how they pick their clients and set writing rates.

However, many of them never replied but some did. And that was enough for me to understand about freelancing.

I even had no idea how to write a blog post.

These are some writing websites to learn more about freelance writing:

Learn About Writing Skills and Tools

I know, I know… I promised you that you’ll learn how to be a freelance writer from scratch.

But…

If you want to stand out from other freelancer writers, it’s better to learn some skills and tools.

Must-Have Important Skills for Freelance Writers

Management Skills

In order to be a successful freelance writer, it’s important that you manage all your writing jobs smoothly including billing information, client information, pitches sent and content schedule.

You’ll need to learn the following skills:

• How to write fast?
• How to research for your article?
• How to outline your blog post?

Having a project plan will keep you on track as well as grow your freelance writing career.

For me, I use content discovery tools to find blog post ideas and a content editorial calendar to keep track on my writing project.

Blogging Skills

I mainly write about digital marketing, content marketing, SEO, etc.

When I first started I didn’t know how to blog that actually attract readers.

Therefore, I started reading other PRO bloggers’ blogs like Jon Morrow, Neil Patel, Brian Dean, and Sue Ann.

I read their article line by line to know how they are writing articles without boring readers.

You probably don’t know but…

Writing for an online user is different than writing on papers for a professor or a friend.

You need to know how to glue your readers with your eye-catching titles, opening paragraphs and find the resources of the facts that you claim in your post.

You’ll also need to learn how to write perfectly on page optimized blog posts.

Build Confidence

It always looks tough unless it’s done. Getting your first writing gig wouldn’t always be easy.

You might get rejected several times but you don’t need to doubt yourself.

Have faith in yourself and your skills and try to identify your weak points, therefore, you can eliminate them to win the writing projects.

Besides writing skills you’ll learn how to negotiate with clients.

Learn Using Editing App

Your client wants error-free writing from you. That’s why it is always better you check your work on Grammarly and Hemingway before sending to the client.

You can also hire a proofreader if you have a budget but if not then editing apps are good to start.

Practice Writing

You don’t have to the best writer in the world – but you need to be the writer who makes his readers to read every sentence he writes.

Starting a blog is always a good place for practice writing.

You will never know what mistakes you are making unless someone tells you about them.

Who could be better than friends and colleagues?

You write articles on your blog and ask your friends and experts for their honest opinions.

By practicing you will improve your writing speed as well as the quality of your articles.

Furthermore, you can get clients from your blog. I have myself found many freelance writing jobs from my blog.

Build A Portfolio

Most freelance writing jobs you will apply ask you to show your previous work.

The reason they ask for samples is they want to see the quality of your work.

You probably won’t have any published work when you are new – in that case, you can show them your blog if you have one.

And this is where people run into trouble…

What if you don’t a have blog?

How would you show your writing samples to your wanna be clients?

Here’s how you solve this…

Write articles and upload them to Google Doc or publish them on free blog sites like Medium, Blogspot, or WordPress.com.

However, this is not a good approach but it works most times.

You can also write GUEST POSTS on other popular websites to show your clients.

Start Pitching to Job

You are all set. Now it’s to search for freelance writing jobs.

There are plenty of job boards where you can search for freelance writing projects.

I wouldn’t recommend you to go for bigger sites like Freelancer, Upwork, etc.

The reason there is a hell lot of competition on those sites and the quality isn’t good.

Instead, I would recommend you to check out freelance writing websites where writing jobs regularly updated.

Whenever a new writing job posted on these job boards make sure you are the first to apply.

Build an outstanding pitch with your writing sample before you apply for freelance writing jobs.

Final Thoughts!

Starting career as a freelance writer is a great choice and isn’t difficult – all you need to learn some writing skills and hustle.

Don’t be afraid to showcase your work on social media or other platforms where your clients hanging out.

Tell the world that a new writer in the house and he is going to take care of their writing jobs.

Best tips I can give you for your freelance writing career is continuously learn new skills and improve your writing quality.

Let us know your freelance writing experience and what challenges you faced as a freelance writer?