How do I Start Freelancing As a Content Writer?

 How do I Start Freelancing As a Content Writer

3 Essential Guidelines for Becoming a Freelance Content Writer

Start Freelancing As a Content Writer: First and foremost, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to my freelance writing site. I've been a freelancer for quite some time and would like to assist others in making the change as painless as possible.

As a result, here are some helpful hints for starting out as a freelance content writer. My mantra is that no set of guides or tips are set in stone because every writer has to follow his or her own path. That said, I want to provide these tips so that you can pick and choose the building blocks you need to make a success out of your own journey into the world of Freelancing As a Content Writer.

 

Put in the Time

The most important thing I want to stress in regards to becoming a freelance content writer is that you have to put in the time to make it happen. You can't expect to write for 3 hours a day and take your business anywhere important. As a freelancer, you will have to write a lot, and a lot of times it will be about subjects about which you couldn't care less.

Despite everything, you have to make a commitment to push through the hard assignments, because you never know when a satisfied client is going to bring along that referral that will change your life. This has happened to me on several occasions, and I still have to remind myself some days that it's all going towards one final destination, no matter how muddy it gets in the middle.

Market Yourself

If you're not writing, your time should be devoted to getting your name out there to be found. I'm not saying that you have to work at this 24/7, but you should expect your social life to take a slight dive, at least for a little while.

Promotion is how you are going to get clients, and your clients are the people who pay you. It always goes in that order, so if you want the clients to come in you have to market yourself and your skills. Facebook and Twitter are the obvious places to start, but they shouldn't end there.

A freelance writing blog is an excellent way to bring a lot of traffic to your business, but you should always have a main website that will serve as the central hub for all of your promotion efforts.

Improve Your Writing Skills

Writing is like any craft; the more you do it, the better you get. There are a lot of different levels that Freelancing content writers typically have to cross in order to make it to the "big time," but you can be assured that you won't cross to the next level unless your writing improves enough to take you there.

Think of your writing as a vehicle that will carry you across the country. Each new area you go into has increasingly rugged terrain, and you have to upgrade your vehicle to get across each section and move on to the next.

Don't Do These 4 Mistakes In Order to Become Successful Freelance Content Writer

She wants to reach her full earning potential quickly. Each of these mistakes can be avoided very easily if you happen to be able to recognize them before an issue arises.

1. Not Planning Ahead

Your first step towards independence is accepting that first gig as a web content writer, and it can be the start of a great financial future so long as you go about it the right way. No one in their right mind would build a skyscraper without first planning it out and no Freelancing content writers should go about building a career without one, either. This plan does not need to be a traditional business plan per se. Instead, your plan can be as simple as plotting where you plan to work for the first few months, how much you need to earn, and how you plan to do it. Then you can move on to how you will get your own private clients and so on.

2. Getting Stuck in Content Mills

This can go hand in hand with the point of having a plan. One of the biggest dangers for any Freelancing content writer is the possibility of getting stuck in content mills. Content mills are really a great way to start, and you may even want to have one or two as a backup or for a quick buck, but you really don't want to base your whole career on this type of work. If you are interested in only writing articles, great, but you should be aware that most content mills will hold you back from getting paid the most for your work.

3. Diminishing the Role of a Web Content Writer

Almost every day I hear or see freelance writers referring to their role as "just web content writers." Then I hear dozens of complaints almost every day from those same writers about family and/or friends not taking their "jobs" seriously. Sorry to tell you, but you can't call yourself "just Freelancing content writers and expect others to respect your role as a real career. Instead, recognize and accept how important content actually is to anyone who uses the Internet, and proudly announces that you make your living by contributing to it!

4. Being Too Laid Back About Pricing

It is expected that a new(ish) writer will be clueless about what to charge the very first clients. Most writers are even confused on how much to charge the clients obtained through freelance services like Elance. This generally means that they inevitably will charge too little, or agree to do much more work than they're being paid to do. Don't fall into the trap of simply agreeing to everything in order to get or keep a client!

There is no way to simply avoid all mistakes as a freelance writer, but recognizing and avoiding these 4 common ones will help you quickly climb to the top of that ladder. Becoming a web content writer is a lot like all other entrepreneurship ventures. You need to have a plan and you should manage pitfalls before they begin to threaten your entire livelihood!