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05 Mar 11 How to Begin Your Freelance Writing Career

The growth of the Internet has translated into increase in demand for content producer, which means a lot of demand for writers. If you are a writer than you are born in the right time, as there is no dearth of writing assignment and you do not need to write a book or a play to live off your writing talent. And if you have not started yet then this article will help you start out, so start your journey.

Master the art of writing for web

Writing for web is remarkably different than writing for print, as the attention span of people on the web is pretty short. You need to write using bullet points, headings, subheadings, images, etc.

Master the art of writing headline

A headline is very important in increasing the open rate of your content. You may get the best ranking for all the keywords, but if you do not have an attractive headline, your article will not get read. You should know how to write killer headlines.

Learn a bit about keywords and SEO

A little knowledge of SEO and keywords is required for all online writers, as keywords are the basis on which the entire web is organized. You should educate yourself on these two.

Prepare a portfolio

Writing is an art, and you are an artist. And an artist who does not have anything to show cannot support his claim of producing a fantastic piece of art. You should, therefore, prepare a portfolio keeping everything that I talked above. This will be your asset that you will need to show your clients.

Write a cover letter

A cover letter is like a direct sales letter. It either persuades your prospective clients to see your portfolio, or it can bore them to death. Many a freelancing assignments are made or broken at this level only. So spend good deal of time in creating a killer cover letter that can literally pull your clients with hands and make them read your sample articles.

You should follow the above given suggestions to start a freelance career. You can add some more items to your preparation, but you should not remove any. Each one of them is important. Very important!

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12 Dec 09 What Lie Are You Telling Yourself to Avoid Freelance Writing?

Many people cherish this desire to take freelancing as profession, but not all of them end up taking this as a career. Not because they did not have writing ability, but because they are sold to self-beguiling lies.

Lie Number 1: Do not have time

This is the most common lie people tell themselves. I often hear people say that after a work it is hard to take time out for writing. This lie is preceded and supported by the fact that they cannot leave their job because the family needs food on the table. Indeed, your family needs your support, so you should not quit your day job, but it has nothing to do with the lie of “not having enough time” that you fool yourself in believing.

Dare to ask people and you will be amazed to find how many people are taking 2 hours each day from their life for part-time freelance writing. This is worth the effort. If you cannot do it daily or on alternate days than stick to weekend-only routine, but do it. Start now and soon you will see the difference.

Lie Number 2: Words, empty words

Well words are important for we freelancers, but words not backed by action ends up being empty words. And empty words do no good to anyone. I know many people who speak volume, but when it comes to taking action, they are just not there. Start writing, do not just speak about starting to write.

Lie Number 3: Excuses, colorful excuses

From not having time, to not having money to not having enough space at home to make it a workstation, there are many lies that people tell themselves. These lies are colorful, and at times have vivid details, nevertheless, it’s a lie.

The time to start freelance writing is now. There will not be any other good time, nor will you ever have more money than you have today to start freelancing, nor will you have enough space to do that. For those who sell themselves lie, there will not be any opportunity.

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12 Nov 09 What a Freelance Writer Worries About?

Freelance writing is an exciting career. It gives you an opportunity to break free from the shackles of regular 9-5 job. A freelance writer, for all practical purpose, is a knowledge entrepreneur. You noticed, I didn’t use the word “information”, instead, I chose “knowledge,” because that is what a freelance writer is: a knowledge entrepreneur. And like any other entrepreneurial journey, it also has its own hiccups which keep a freelance writer worried.

In this short post, I will provide a list of common cause of concern for freelance writers, especially when one is starting out on the freelance writing journey.

Investment

If you thought it is just the number crunchers who worry about investments then you couldn’t have been more wrong. Investment woes keeps freelance writer worried as well, but most of the time it is not the investment in stocks, bonds, and funds that worries a freelance writer, but it is the investment in equipments and stationeries.

Do I need to have that new Mac? Or will windows do? Should I buy a printer, scanner and fax combo, or will the faxing part be dealt with installing fax modem software? These and similar questions pops in the minds of freelance writers quite often, and answer to these depends upon the requirement one has, and the stage of career a freelance writer is.

Working too much

Some people have left their day jobs for freelancing in a belief that he will have to work a lot lesser than they do while in a regular 9-5 job. Well, if the work timing is your concern then leaving your job is not advised because a freelance writer may have to work long hours. If this seems like a problem then revisit your decision. I took this job because working more was never a problem for me because I love what I do. Having said that, I must say that in time, everything will settle down, and work hours will become more regulated, but not initially.

No clients

Not getting enough clients to keep one occupied is another common worry that most of the freelance writers have. If you are in the initial stage of your career then this worry is legitimate. Indeed, getting a new client is difficult, and that is why we stress on retaining existing clients. If you stick long enough to freelance writing, you will see that this worry also subsides in time, as you start getting more and more clients through referrals.

No Money

This concerns all of us. We all get paranoid when it comes to money. After all, this is what we get (along with experience, learning, excitement, and fun) from freelance writing. When starting out, a freelance writer often commit a mistake of grabbing low-paying jobs. This indeed gives you something but not what you deserve for the time you spent. Hence, a freelance writer gets frustrated. Do not fall prey to the clients that wish to take you for a ride by paying you less and making you work more. I once travelled down that road. It was fatiguing. Wait for some time, you will get well-paying clients.

Tags: Belief That, Buy Scanner, Day Jobs, , Entrepreneurial Journey, Fax Modem Software, , , , , Hiccups, , , New Mac, Number Crunchers, Printer Scanner, Shackles, Stocks Bonds, Woes, Worries

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