When I was in college, I was directionless.
I found myself lost in a sea of people who all seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do with their lives while I jumped from class to class hoping that one of them would be the spark of inspiration.
It finally happened.
I took a writing class just to get an easy A. I had always been good at writing and, even if the class was a dud, I knew it would help my GPA.
I fell in love with writing, a skill that I had always had but yet to refine. I decided that this was going to be what I was going to do with my life. I would be the next great novelist or journalist or whatever, as long as it had to do with writing.
I transferred out of my college, then applied and got into the SUNY Purchase writing program. My days were spent workshopping my and my classmates’ work, while my nights were spent writing short stories, poems, and screenplays.
Now, this is the part where I tell you I graduated and went on to find great success in my chosen field, right? Well, that’s not what happened.
The year I graduated, the economic crash had finally made its way to my neighborhood. Suddenly, there were no jobs for anyone, let alone in something as “nonessential” as writing. My parents, being of a generation that had job security, told me to pound the pavement until I found a writing job.
I’m sure you can figure out how that went.
In any case, I did get a job as an assistant teacher at a private preschool. I unexpectedly found a love for teaching, and I decided to switch career paths again. After years of graduate school, teaching in public and private schools, and working as a contract educator, I was content, at least for a while.
I stopped writing altogether for many years.
Then, the pandemic hit. Everything shut down and we were all stuck inside for what seemed like an eternity. Like so many of us, I felt my mind going numb. I was under stimulated and completely depressed with the state of the world. Again, I was directionless.
Then, out of sheer desperation I went back to writing.
First, it was all for fun. I wrote a poem here, a short story there, and I found myself filled with pride when they were finished.
I then moved onto my novel; one I had started many years ago and never finished. I toiled daily and, while it is still not done, I am moving it closer and closer toward its end with every keystroke of my laptop.
There was some joy again, albeit small; but it was a glimmer of light I could hang onto while we trudged through 2020.
While I was writing for enjoyment, I decided that I could put my skills to a different kind of use. The kind of use that could potentially bring in some money that my family and I desperately needed.
I began to look online for how others before me managed to write part-time or full-time and accrue a client base that would provide consistent work. It was overwhelming, to say the least, but I needed to try.
So, one small step at a time I built my portfolio while connecting with clients. Along the way, I made mistakes (not just the grammatical kind), but I learned from them and pressed on.
Now, many years after my journey first began, I have built up enough of a clientele to keep me busy for as much as I like. I didn’t leave my job as an educator. I still work a job I love while also having the ability to spend time on my craft.
Both bring me joy and both allow me to financially provide for my family.
So, maybe you’re looking for a career change or searching for a path that leads to secondary income. Perhaps you have tried to become a freelance writer and it hasn’t progressed the way you hoped to.
Below I will discuss the steps I took in order to become a freelance writer and some things I wish I didn’t have to learn the hard way.
Write What You Know (and A Little of What You Don’t Know)
When you are first starting out, commit to writing about topics you’re already familiar with. If you can write about sports, or travel, or food with confidence, then go for it!
But, as you hit your stride, don’t become complacent in what feels comfortable. Branch out and research topics you want to write about but maybe are less familiar with.
There is a catch though.
When I first started out, I would agree to write about anything, and I mean anything. I actually agreed, at one point, to write a blog for a law firm. They wanted someone that could make legal lingo accessible to potential clientele.
Sure, I could do that.
I Googled a bit and found myself completely confused, to say the least. How could I begin to understand something that people spend years going to school for and write copy that would make sense when I couldn’t even make sense of it?
The fact of the matter was I couldn’t. That working relationship didn’t last long.
Another client I had at the time wanted several articles about pet care. I’ve had pets my whole life, but I didn’t know all of the nuances he wanted me to cover for my first job with him.
But it was a topic I was familiar enough with that, with some research, I increased my knowledge instead of overwhelming myself. I added to my prior knowledge and gained more information I could use later. I still write for that client today.
The lesson? Know your limits. Embrace what you already know and build on that.
It’s okay to accept that a topic might be beyond your understanding. It’s also okay to push yourself to learn about something if you can understand and interpret the material in a way that is appropriate for your client.
Knowing when to say yes or no to a job will make you a stronger freelance writer.
Get to Know SEO
When I first started freelance writing, I kept coming across the acronym SEO, and I had no idea what it meant and why it mattered so much. Buckle up, because understanding SEO is crucial to freelance writing.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the quantity of user traffic to a website. In layman’s terms, good SEO allows a website to appear higher on the list on a search engine.
Clients will pay more for a writer with proven SEO.
Why? Think about it like this.
You pull up your favorite search engine (I’m a Google loyalist) to find the best hotels in New York City for an upcoming trip. You type in “best hotels in NYC” and you will see a never-ending list of articles with info, ranking systems, pictures, etc. to help you select the hotel that is perfect for you.
How far down are you going to scroll?
Most people don’t look past the first three or four links. I know I don’t.
For businesses to thrive, they need to drive continuous traffic to their site. In order for them to get user traffic reliably, they need to appear as high as possible on the search engine results page, or “SERP” as they say in the biz.
Understanding powerful keywords and user intent aimed directly at your client’s target audience is the key to SEO and, thus, makes your writing more valuable.
Build Your Portfolio
Building your portfolio is going to be key in getting freelance writing jobs.
Clients always ask to see a sample of your writing before they dole out any cash. How you choose to organize your work is up to you but consider having at least two folders: one for blog posts and one that shows off your area(s) of expertise.
If you have your own blog, you can pull from there. If not, create some sample blog posts that show off your skills. The important things to remember about having a strong blog post are:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter
- Maintain a recognizable style and tone
- Edit to make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors
If you have any work that has already been published where you have been given a byline, that is the work you would want to show to a potential client. This is especially true if your work appears high in the list of search results (remember SEO?).
Don’t worry if you haven’t been published yet. Write about something you are confident you can make entertaining and informative to your target audience. Make sure to have multiple writing pieces at your disposal so you can be selective when a potential client asks to see a sample of your writing.
Get Your First Client
Getting your first paying client will be very exciting, but it may seem like a daunting task. Well, the internet is a vast, never-ending space and it is full of places for freelance writers to land a paying gig.
Sites like UpWork, FlexJobs, and LinkedIn are great places to begin your search, but there are tons of sites that you can apply to and begin to build your clientele.
It is up to you which one you prefer and you may have to dabble in a few of them before you settle on your favorites. What is important to keep in mind is that some of the sites you apply to have a subscription fee and/or will take a percentage of your earnings from paid jobs.
Consider that when deciding which sites you want to commit to.
Use the Right Tools
Now that you’re embarking on your freelance writing career, it’s important to have the right tools at your fingertips.
First, you want to have a good, reliable computer to do your work. You don’t want to have multiple tabs open and have the computer drop out on you in the middle of writing. It’s happened to me and, no, it’s not fun.
You’ll then want to familiarize yourself with tools like Google Docs, as many clients want their content to be submitted to them using it. Grammarly is also helpful if you’re like me and make silly typos here and there, but it’s far from perfect, so don’t lean too heavily on it.
Scale to Your Liking
Before you dive deep into your freelance writing career, it’s important to take a step back and think about the amount of time you can realistically put into your craft.
You can start off just doing a few articles in your free time. Will it make you rich? No, but it will be extra cash in your pocket, and that never hurts anyone.
If you maintain a steady pace and start to grow your clientele base, you may find yourself with more freelance work than you can manage. At that point, you need to be comfortable telling clients “no” in order to keep your work/life balance in check or you can decide to move onto the next phase and become a freelance writer full time.
If there comes a point in time where you feel confident that you can replace your current job with being a freelance writer, you can go to work as a full-time marketer or even start your own content marketing agency and hire people to work for you.
There isn’t just one path that everyone has to follow since it just depends on what you’re hoping to get out of freelance writing.
Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to make the jump into writing full time or opening your own agency. Keep honing your skills, learn about the industry, and scale at your own pace.
Final Thoughts
Whether you have always wanted to be a writer or you stumbled into it and fell in love, you may want to be able to make a career out of your passion. You may want to make it a full-time job or just a part-time gig.
There is certainly nothing wrong with using your talents to earn a bit of a profit. The road isn’t easy, but it has been laid out by many writers before you to make your path easier to walk.
Are you ready to take that walk?