27 Jun 10 Freelance Writing and Writing Experience

Do you need to have some writing experience before you start your freelance writing career? The answer is yes and no. Yes because you cannot get any client – at least not the serious ones – if you do not have any prior experience, and no because you cannot have experience without getting to work for some clients. It indeed is a hen and an egg problem, but there is a way out of this situation.

How to gain writing experience before even getting a client

Do you really think you do not have any writing experience? You are wrong in thinking so; what about your term papers and assignments that you submitted in your school and college? Yes, those were writings as well – though not professional, may be not even grammatically correct, nevertheless they gave you some experience.

But, when starting as a freelance writer we are not concerned about just any writing. We are, in fact, concerned about proper experience, which one can get only when one writes professionally, which brings us to the original question of how to get writing experience as professional without having any client. The following points will help you answer that.

Start your own blog and post articles on it. Make sure each article is at least 500 words long.
Write articles for social communities and motivate your friends to read and give feedback to you. This will be a valuable asset which you can use to show your clients to get work.
Write articles for free. This will help you build portfolio — this may be an option, but I will not suggest putting this into effect unless you have exhausted all the available options.
Write for charity website. They like contributors.

There are many ways to build your portfolio and have some writing experience. The question is are you will to find an avenue and pursue it to the end?

Tags: blog, Charity Website, Egg Problem, Feedback, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing Career, Friends, Portfolio, Proper Experience, Social Communities, Term papers

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06 Jan 10 Why Should You Write a Cover Letter?

A little over 3 years back I walked this line. I designed my CV, filled in the vital details, buttoned my shirt, and knotted my necktie for my job interview. But, I missed one thing, which HR head of the business school I studied did not tell me. I did not create a cover letter. My friends who were more into jobs suggested me to write one, but I didn’t.

What happened?

They had their job and I didn’t, for long time, and that is how I realized the importance of a cover letter in job search. Do you wish to travel the same path, and have the same experience before you realize the importance of having a nicely written cover letter?

I hope not!

Benefit of having a cover letter

Why do we need a cover letter? What difference does it make to our skills?

None. A cover letter does not make any difference to your skills. But, it helps you present your skills in the friendliest manner using the least possible words. You need a cover letter because:

You have to compete with hundreds (if not thousands or tens of thousands) of applicants who have exactly same qualification as you do.
You have to make your claim of being the most suitable candidate for the job stand out among the claims made by other applicants through their résumé.
You do not want your CV to remain unopened and get thrown in the trash bin.
You want to give an idea about who you are, what your qualification is, and what you can do even before your employer reads your résumé.

Let me tell you a HR secret. HR people do not go over all the résumés that they get. They read the cover letter typed in the mail body or sent with the CV and make their mind based on the information they get in the cover letter.

If you are not convinced with what I have said above then reread the entire post and do it until you start believing it because this is important. I am leaving you with this thought, and tomorrow I will tell you about the structure of a cover letter.

Tags: 3 Years, Business School, Cover Letter, Cover Search, Cv, Friends, Job Interview, Job Search, Jobs, Long Time, Mail Body, Necktie, Search Travel, Suitable Candidate, Tens Of Thousands, Trash Bin, Vital Details

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03 Jan 10 How to Use Twitter to Get Clients

Twitter is an amazing tool. It can be put to any number of uses. People use it to make friends, to know about the topics they care, to get job alerts, to stay on top of any topic, to get recommendation, to read funny jokes, and to get influenced by memorable quotations, etc. This 140-character wonder can even be used to get clients for your business, regardless of your size, be it for your one-person startup, or for a 1000-people big company.

In this article, we will see what you need to do to get clients from twitter.

Step 1: Use real name

Will you like to do business with sexykitten, or hotrode? I am sure you won’t, regardless of how smart hotrode or sexykitten is. This is the power of name. A good name creates a positive image, whereas, a bad name ruins the party. Use your real name or business name for the twitter profile. If your name or business name is already taken then use something close to that, but spare yourself the horror of bad names.

Step 2: Use real picture

Like a real name, a real picture helps create a positive image in the mind of onlookers. Do not go for cool looking cartoons, or any other thing. Let your prospect know that you are a real person behind the twitter profile by giving a real picture.

Step 3: Brand your background

If you do not know this then let me break the good news that you can brand your twitter profile the way you want. I will suggest you customize the background of your twitter profile with your corporate brand identity.

Step 4: Use compelling bio

Your one-line twitter bio says a lot about you. People get influenced reading that, so it better be good. Make your twitter bio forceful and SEO-friendly.

Step 5: Add URL

Many people leave URL field empty. Do not commit this mistake. Use a proper working URL in your profile. This will work as a door to your website.

Step 6: Create a list

Create a list of the tweets from your industry and make it publicly available. This will give your prospect an idea about how closely you follow the changes in your industry. He may regard you as a leader of the pack, which will mean more business for you.

Tags: Background, Brand Identity, Business Name, Friends, Funny Jokes, Horror, Hotrode, Many People, Memorable Quotations, Mistake, Names, Onlookers, Positive Image, Real Person, Sexykitten, Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 6, Tweets

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