What is a freelance blogger?

by Dawn Ouedraogo | 6 min read
Thinking about a career in writing and wondering just exactly what is a freelance blogger? This helpful guide will give you a basic idea of the role and provide further information to help you start up your new business.

What is a blog?

You probably already know what a weblog (blog) is and appreciate that blogs are quite different to websites. Most businesses set up websites to promote their organisation and the products or services they offer. Very often, a blog is incorporated into the website design, to encourage higher levels of site visits and reader engagement. On the whole, a website consists of static content, which rarely needs amending or updating. Blogs, on the other hand, require regular posts in order to remain fresh and attract visitors.

Many people set up their own blog to provide information on topics of interest, like politics or business, or to diarise their travels and exploits. So, not all blogs are money-making ventures or devised to attract consumers to business sites. On the whole, freelance bloggers would not be involved in writing blogs of this nature. Where private blogs are monetised with ads, guest blog posts may be required, so writers are generally likely to receive payment for these.

So, what is a freelance blogger?

A variety of different organisations seek bloggers for paid roles. When it comes to business blogging, writers generally compose blog posts in topics that are pertinent to the business. For example, a company selling window frames and doors may well require blog posts detailing the types of materials used to make their products, the different sorts of windows and doors on the market, information about building regulations and requirements and tips for fitting your own doors.

Freelance bloggers may specialise in just one or two topics, or they could write about anything and everything. If you are an expert in one particular niche area, it’s likely that you can demand higher rates of pay for the blog posts you produce. But newbie freelancers may find it difficult to source enough regular work to maintain focus in their area of expertise, so would need to be comfortable writing blogs in a variety of different subjects.

Very often, blog posts are written around a topic, but will usually include a call to action (CTA) somewhere. This is the motivation for your content – it encourages the reader to take an action, whether it’s to sign up, buy or enquire. This makes it important to ensure your writing is geared towards promoting the organisation or its products through insightful content and savvy keyword usage.

Finding work as a freelance blogger

You don’t need to have a degree to work as a freelance blogger, although it can prove helpful when you are approaching clients. English, journalism, media and marketing graduates could well consider this line of work, as it complements their areas of study. There are a few ways you can source freelance blogging jobs, these include:

• Marketing your writing services directly to business clients
• Setting up your own blogs in areas of interest and monetising them by way of ads from Google and other providers
• Applying for freelance blogging jobs through job sites
• Becoming a guest blogger for a variety of popular blog sites
• Applying directly to organisations to write their business blogs on a contractual basis
• Writing blog posts for copywriting agencies, such as Copify

You’ll probably need to juggle a few of these work sources when you first start freelancing, in order to make a good income. Once, you’ve established your niche and garnered some direct clients, though, you can be more picky about the jobs you take on.

You will, of course, need to have a good command of the English language and grammar in order to succeed in your role as a blogger. Although, you’ll discover that when you write regularly your prose will become more polished and flow more easily. Additionally, using an online thesaurus and grammar checker can help with the quality of the texts you write.

Working as a freelance blogger

Working as a freelance blogger can be an enjoyable career; however, it’s important to have sufficient motivation, as working from home can be difficult at times. Setting regular times for writing and working does help create a structure to the day, but freelance blogging can also be a lucrative sideline job for stay-at-home mums, part-time workers and even those with full-time jobs. When you’ve sourced regular work, it’s up to you to organise your working time to suit your daily routine.

Writing your first blog posts can be quite scary, but there are lots of useful tips online to help you structure the text so it’s interesting and engaging for readers.

As already stated, you’ll probably want to juggle a few different jobs and clients when you first start off as a freelance blogger. This way, you’ll learn more about the job and build a solid portfolio of work to highlight your business. Ideally, you’ll want to set up your own blog as a marketing tool for your business and this can be used to publicise selected snippets of your work and attract new clients.

It’s important to register your business with the relevant tax authority. In the UK, that’s HMRC and they’ll give you a unique business reference which should be quoted on all ensuing correspondence. As a self-employed blogger, you will be liable to pay income tax and national insurance contributions on the profits of your business, so keep detailed financial records from the very outset to make filing tax returns easier at year end.

The beauty of working as a freelance blogger is that you can choose your times of work to suit yourself and work from any place in the world. If you’ve always yearned to travel, this is a perfect career choice. It’s easy to work from internet cafes in any area of the globe and paid blogging jobs combine well with personal blogging about your adventures.

Good luck with your blogging career!

Main image credit: Kaboompics.com

Image credits: Pixabayrawpixel.com, Pixabay

Dawn Ouedraogo

Dawn Ouedraogo

A qualified journalist and former features writer, Dawn works full time as a freelance writer. With a background in history and journalism, she joined Copify in 2017 and has written on a number of topics including marketing, health, travel, business and finance, and home and garden.