Freelance Writing Qualifications
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.
