If you want to get hired as a freelance writer, you need to offer something that a company wants. In other words, what sets you apart from the other freelance writers who are undoubtedly attempting to land the same jobs as you? There are many details that you can tout as unique selling features, and you should definitely know what works in your advantage before you speak with a client for the first time.
Industry Experience
Industry experience is perhaps the best selling feature that you can have. Personally, if I have experience in an industry I always make sure that the potential client is well aware of this fact. Of course, if I do not have experience I do whatever I can to mask this downfall so that it does not sink my chances.
When I first started working as a freelance writer it was difficult to find industries in which I was experienced. But as my career moved forward, this became much easier. Now, I have written a wide variety of articles in many industries which allows me to confidently apply for more positions.
Money
Unfortunately, some clients will base their decision based primarily on money. While these clients may look at what else you bring to the party, they want to make sure that your rates line up with their budget. To increase your chances of winning more jobs, consider setting your rates a bit below the industry average. Yes, this means that you will make less on each job, but at the same time it should allow you to find more work. Of course, this is just a suggestion. You may not have any problems charging a premium for your freelance writing services, and finding clients who are perfectly fine with this.
Professionalism and Customer Service
Make sure that you are professional and customer oriented at all times. When a potential client gets in touch with you, answer their questions as soon as possible. By showing that you are interested in their success, you will have a better chance at winning them over from day one. Nobody wants to work with a freelance writer, or anybody for that matter, who is only interested in their own success. Be professional and show that you care from day one.
All in all, you need to give a company a reason to hire you as a freelance writer. The three unique selling features above are a great place to start.
What qualifications do you need to become a freelance writer? When compared to other careers, the answer to this question is left wide open. In other words, there is no concrete set of qualifications that you must meet in order to become a freelance writer. I know writers who hold a masters degree, as well as some who never graduated from college. Additionally, I spent two years in sales before becoming a freelance writer and many others have done the same in other industries.
Of course, there are some qualifications that will work to your advantage when starting a freelance writing career:
1. A good command of the English language is very important if you want to become a freelance writer. Clients are not going to pay for broken English, or content that does not make any sense. Sentence structure, grammar, and spelling are all very important. Luckily, these are the basics that most aspiring writers learn at a young age.
2. Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? If so, you will have a much better chance of achieving freelance writing success. Remember, being a freelance writer means that you are going to join the ranks of the self-employed. When it comes down to it, many people are not cut out for this; they need the stability of a corporate environment and regular paycheck. Will you feel comfortable working for yourself and relying on your skills to get paid?
3. The willingness to work hard may be the most important qualification. You can be the best writer in the world, but if you do not work hard to find clients and give them what they want, you are going to fail. The freelance writers who have the most success are not always the ones with the college degree and loads of experience. But often times they are the ones who will not take no for an answer, and will go above and beyond to satisfy clients.
4. Speaking of satisfying clients, you need to make sure that your customer service skills are up to par. Remember, your clients are the ones who will be paying you. On top of that, you are their single point of contact. When you treat customers with respect and give them what they want, you will find that they are more than willing to form long term relationships.
5. Do you have any samples that you can use when getting your freelance writing career up and running? There are two ways that you can get what you need. First off, search far and wide for anything that you can use as a sample. Some new freelance writers use articles that they wrote for a college newspaper, or a sales letter that they put together at a past job. If you cannot find any samples from your past, create a few today. This takes nothing more than choosing a topic, and then putting together a killer article.
As you can see, you do not need a lot of qualifications to become a freelance writer. There are some things that will help, such as the five areas listed above, and luckily each one of the points is easily attainable.
When I was getting started as a freelance writer, I spent countless hours browsing bidding sites such as GetAFreelancer. In fact, I found so much work on GAF that I never took the time to sign up with similar sites. Although I do not bid on as many jobs as before, this is still a market that I keep an eye on.
Feedback from readers on bidding sites has not been good as of late. It seems that there are two major issues that many of you guys and gals are running into time after time:
1. Every job on these bidding sites is low paying. And low paying means just a couple of dollars for 500 words or so. While I am all about working for less to get started, you have to draw the line somewhere.
2. They are outbid by writers who are willing to work for pennies, but do not produce high quality work. This is difficult to overcome because the buyer has the final say on who they want to work with. And in many cases, it is the person who will save them the most money.
While looking through some emails this morning, I came across this job on GetAFreelancer. From the get-go I could see quite a few issues:
Hi,
I am looking for efficient and affordable teams for ongoing projects
I need original articles, blogs, website content and re-writes. I need only dedicated teams who can deliver timely work on daily basis without making excuses. Mention in your bid what amount of work you can handle comfortably.There will be no payment if the projects are delayed or quality is compromised. We want you to follow the guidelines exactly. Guidelines will be well explained and in detail.
1. First off, you can see that the buyer forgot to insert a period after the first sentence. Additionally, there are other grammatical and structural issues that are quite obvious. This shows from the start that the buyer is not serious or professional. Everybody makes mistakes, but these are simple errors that should never be published.
2. “There will be no payment if the projects are delayed or quality is compromised.†This is a red flag to be aware of. When a buyer says this, it gives them an “out.†In other words, they can keep your work and not pay you by blaming it on a missed deadline or poor quality. The problem is, who is to say what is poor quality?
Rates will be (no negotiations, you should bid only if you are comfortablewith rates)
Original 250 words article – $1
Original 500 words article – $2.5
Original tech 500 words article – $3
Original 350 words article – $1.5
Re-write 500 words – $1
rewrite 250 words – $0.5
1. These rates are quite low, to say the least. Although you may be able to earn a good bit if you work in bulk, you are going to waste a lot of time to make this money. Getting paid $1 for 250 words of original content or $.50 for a 250 word rewrite is not good; even if you do need to break into the industry. Things have changed a lot over the past few years, and you should be able to find jobs that are higher paying; even if only by a couple dollars.
The projects will be ongoing so need only reliable teams
Attach a sample article of 150 words on “my attitude towards life” or “Role of ecommerce today”
1. As I have said before, beware of any potential client who asks for samples upfront. In many cases they will take one sample from a group of writers and in turn end up with enough free unique content that they never have to pay. This is the oldest game in the book, and one that you want to avoid at all costs. This does not mean that you should never supply samples, but you should definitely expect to get paid if you have to write a unique article.
At this point, there are only two bids on this job. Even though the terms are not that great, you can be rest assured that somebody will accept this position.Â
When you come across a quality job at a bidding site you will know it. Simply put, the job outlined above has too many holes to consider it worth your time.Â
