HOW TO START A CAREER AS A FREELANCE WRITER
Have you noticed how many people talk about freelance writing these days? It’s a very popular topic. If you read any blogs on how to earn income from home, then you’ll notice that freelance writing is almost always brought up. If it’s something that interests you also, then keep reading for tips on starting a career as a freelance writer.
Will starting a career in freelance writing make you money?
Freelance writing truly does give you freedom to work from home, coffee-shop, anywhere really. But, can you earn top dollar with freelance writing? Money that you can live off of? The answer is a definite YES! Whether you’ll make any money from freelance writing, or how much you’ll make, is completely dependent on you and your approach to it.
Freelance writing is a business, and you have to look at it as one. This means setting it up properly. Talking to your lawyer and your accountant to make sure you’re complying with legal requirements. Moreover, open a separate bank account so that your earnings from your freelance writing go there. You will be thankful for this during tax filing, because your accounting will be a lot simpler.
However, as with any business, if you want to earn top dollar with freelance writing, first and foremost, you have to have the skills to do it. You have to be at least an average writer who can become a better writer with proper training experience. Read this guide on how to write a great post that gets read. Aside from the actual writing itself, you have to be familiar with the field itself. How to go about getting clients, how to contact them, where to find them, etc.
how to set yourself up for success?
Planning and organization should be at the top of your priority list. Some aspects of planning and organization I mentioned above. The steps you have to take to make sure that you treat your freelance writing as a business.
Once you do this, your next is to actually figure out what you want to write about. Sure, you can be a generalist. Meaning someone who writes about any topic, and does not have specialty or concentration in any particular topic.
However, you’re not likely to earn much with your writing if you go this route. It can be a starting point for you, if you just want to get things started. However, sooner, rather than later, you have to choose a topic or niche down as bloggers call it.
Having a niche gives you the ability to focus on something particular and learn everything about it.
If you write about a particular topic long enough, you develop expertise in that field. Eventually, you will be considered an authority figure in your field. This is when as a freelance writer you will start getting paid decent amounts of money for your work. The better known you are, the higher rates you can command.
What do you do to prepare yourself for a career in freelance writing? There are really only two options available to you at any time:
- Read anything and everything you can on the topic, do bunch of online searches, find good books on the topic; OR
- Get help from someone who knows what they’re doing.
In this technology and internet era, all the information we need can be available to us within few minutes if not instantaneously. The trick is knowing where to look for that information and whose help to ask. I personally found several great resources and online courses that really dig deep as far as freelance writing is concerned, and deliver a lot of value to you.
One of my top favorite courses for freelance writers is Elna Cain’s Write Your Way to Your First 1K course. In this course she lays the foundation for you. Gives you a huge list of profitable niches, sites where you can find freelance writing jobs, email templates on how to contact your prospective clients, or how to cold pitch. The course is full of useful resources, both free and paid options. I consider this course fundamental to succeeding in freelance writing.
Another very great course, and a free one at that, is offered by Jorden Roper of Creative Revolt. When you sign up to this course, you get instant access to it. For a free course, this is very in depth. It shows that Jorden really just wants to help out other writers. If you haven’t visited her site yet, then do so now because you will be amazed at the way she brands herself. She has a unique, unapologetic style that works for her. Check out the course, and use the vast resources she will send you.
Another one of my favorite resources for freelance writers is Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing. This entire site is full of resources that you can spend days in to explore, and probably still won’t see everything. Carol Tice is a huge advocate for freelance writers to earn decent money. She has courses, posts and case studies showing your exactly how to do that. One of my favorite parts of her services is her Blog Review service. For only $179, she goes through your entire site, finds all the mistakes, tell you what to fix over a video call, how to make it more coherent, and ready to earn money for you. Plus, you will also get two of her essential e-books for niche bloggers. Check out this blog review offer here.
There are many other resources out there. Some are great, others not so much. These three I listed are the resources I trust the most. Comment below and let me know who you’re go to resources is.
what you should do now
Now that you set up your business, know where to look for training and resources, you should think about your potential niche.
Is there anything that you have a lot of experience in? A topic that you know a lot about? Also, consider writing about a topic you’re passionate about. Because even though you’re not an expert in field, your passion and curiosity will drive you to become one.
What jobs did you hold during your life? Are you a professional? What degrees do you have? All of these questions are meant to guide you in a direction of helping your figure our your niche. My personal belief is that you can take any experience you had in life and make into a topic. You just have to package it nicely for it to become profitable.
Freelance writing is an awesome way to earn income and support yourself. It especially is great for people who want to work from home. Whether you’re a parent or someone who’s looking to supplement their income, freelance writing makes sense.
If you liked this post, I would really appreciate it if you liked and shared it. Also, comment below and let me know what you write about if you’re a freelance writer, and who is your go to resource.