Choosing to become a freelance writer marks an exciting turn in anyone’s career and there are certainly plenty of opportunities on offer. You get the chance to write about things you love, work with new and exciting clients and, best of all, you get to be location independent. It’s also worth noting that you don’t necessarily need to be the best writer around, but will instead need to continually focus on your skills and get better over time.
However, with ample opportunity and plenty on offer, this begs the question: “why isn’t everyone doing it?”
Well, the reason is that it’s not necessarily easy and there are plenty who have sought to become a full-time freelance writer but have failed along the way. So, to best prepare you for the road ahead and to give you the best chances of success, here are 8 things you need to know when starting as a freelance writer.
As with any profession, it will take time for you to build up a sizeable portfolio of high-quality work and to find clients who like you and how you write.
What this means is that you can’t, from the outset, expect to start earning lots of money like some of the more successful writers do. Instead, you need to put in the work and build up a reputation that then qualifies you to be able to earn the more lucrative writing jobs.
As mentioned, starting out as a freelance writer is an exciting career path that many have chosen to take and, as such, you are not alone in your journey. Instead of viewing all these other writers as competition, you need to instead view them as a community from which you can interact and prosper.
There are plenty of groups on social media, as well as blogs that offer advice on freelance writing and how to get ahead. It is recommended you become active in those groups and contribute to them. You will be surprised at what you learn and potential clients you can pick up along the way.
Though you don’t necessarily have to write exclusively about one topic, it does help to have certain key industries in which you specialise in.
Saying you can write on anything and everything doesn’t really appeal to potential clients who would rather pay more to know they are hiring someone who is focused on and passionate about a few subject fields.
This means making your portfolio relevant and focused to certain niches and then targeting clients who fall within those categories. Keep up to date on those topics by reading regularly on them and engaging with like-minded individuals.
