This the first in a series of articles about my writing career, advise and some how to as well. Every freelancer is different. So, what I do may not work for you.
As you can see from the text to the right, most of my clients, but not all, are from the off line world. One of the first things I ever got paid to write was personal ad for someone. Not kidding. Many writers have blogs they make money from and write web content articles distributed over the internet. The pay comes from ads placed in the web page. Every freelancer should have a web site or a blog as a way of producing income or for marketing. Usually it is a combination of both. Blogs can be easily set up and are easy to monetize if your want to. But should you have one or both?
To Blog Or Not To Blog That Is The Question
It is a personal preference. I chose just one, this blog. I felt that to use both would be too much unnecessary work. Although, I do not choose to monetize this blog at the moment I can in the future so I have some flexibility. I will also be able to update this blog on a regular basis about being a freelancer. I feel, for me, a blog is a better for marketing.
The Brand Is You
I feel an important part of beginning to freelance is deciding how You and your business will look. The reason I set that in bold is this. As a freelancer it is not just you as the person doing the work but it is also you as a brand. If I ask you to name someone who writes horror books. Who come to mind first? Stephen King. So, Stephen King is the worker and the brand. If you think of talk show hosts one of the brands is Jay Leno. If you think of computers one of the brands is HP and so on all the way down to bathroom tissue.
A brand, yours or anything else, is what is presented to the world, the name and identity. A freelance career includes the actual work (what you do as a freelancer), marketing you as a brand, networking, some knowledge of the insurance industry, and some knowledge of intellectual property law.
Whats In a Name
So, what would my brand be called? It should be unique and identify with me. The first and best choice is always your name. My full name is Jan Avery Elkins. I could use something very different like John Smith or a combination. In searching my name (something everyone should do), I found a TV news presenter in Louisiana and another writer who writes Christian children’s books with the same name. Although they are both women, I do not want to be confused with them. So, Jan Elkins was out. How about an initial and the rest of my name like Joanne (J. K) Rowling. So, J. Avery Elkins it is.
There are lots of things someone can do as freelancer but if you choose to freelance as a writer consider what kind of writing. There is a lot to choose from. Everything you see with words there may be a need for a writer. Most people only think books and magazine articles but there are letters, scripts, speeches, the manual that comes with a new car, the pizza ad on your refrigerator the list is endless. But, don’t try to do all of them. Jack-of-all-trades master of none
Starting
I am online at home and I have time as I do not work elsewhere. But, if you can only be a part time freelancer that is OK too. Here is what I have done. This may work now but not later so I need to be flexible. I signed up at Face Book, Linkedin, joined several writers groups and created this blog. I printed business cards and wrote my elevator speech. The 30 second speech you give about your work when asked. Keep in mind this is all marketing.
You may also want to create another email address for your freelancing so personal stuff does not get mixed up with business.
I felt that higher end blogs did not have ads and instead of being like everyone else, I have left the ads off for now. They also get to be a bit much sometimes. Since the blog is new there are no comments so I disable all of them. As I get more and more traffic to this bog that may change in the future.
As I build my off line clients I still need to write so I signed up for Pay Pal. This is how almost every cent transfers online so you will need this. See, there is another brand.
Next I took a look at posting content. I went to Triond and The Yahoo Network . With these I can writing one post and it might be posted to several different sites at once. I looked at elance , examiner, vworker, and Text broker but did not sign up yet. Each has pluses and minuses. I will study each and may sign up later.
Next, I studied about intellectual property rights and copyrights. That is for another post. So, that is where I am now.
Next, I would like to give you some tips on writing content online.
· Quantity over quality
· Include tags (keywords-words your would use to search for the article) and links (it is best to keep it under seven or so per article
· Use a good title and use titles inside the article. Asking a question or a slight exaggeration is always good
· Include images or video
· Write for an uninformed audience but don’t insult peoples intelligence
Just two other tips.
· If you comment on anything other than a Facebook post include a link to your blog.
· Stay away from blog posts of the “latest experience” type. If you feel the need, make the post more of the “educational” variety. Like this one.
Beginning to work as a freelancer can be a bit scary. Where is my next paycheck coming? If my boss finds out what will she do (if you do this part time)? How do I figure out my taxes? I want to encourage you to keep going, to stick with it, and to follow this blog. My email address is at the right if you need anything.
