9 Tips for Freelance Writers

9 Tips for Freelance Writers

I’ve worked with at least a few hundred freelance writers over the past few years, so I wanted to share some tips from the webmaster point of view on how to get more business and more clients for freelancers.  These are based solely on my own experiences.

• Always use Proper English.

  A fairly simple thing to do that many beginning writers doesn’t pay much attention to. If a writer I’m planning to hire uses stuff like “u, ur, coz, im”  it doesn’t matter how good his reviews are, or who recommended him, there is just no way he’s getting the job. Even if it was through an  IM conversation. I wouldn’t want any of that in my articles and I definitely expect a writer to be professional enough to use perfect English in his messages.

• Adhere to Timelines

  It’s widely known that freelancer projects are rarely completed on time, so if you want to differentiate yourself from the other writers be reliable! if you say you’ll deliver within a week, but complete the work in 3 weeks instead we won’t be working again. Plan ahead, if you know it’ll take you 3 weeks to complete say so upfront. Delivering on time or before is a great way to make sure you’ll get more projects.

• Quality, not Quantity

  It’s a very competitive market! Probably hundreds of thousands of English writers around from all over the world. But while others are lowering their prices to get more clients to do the opposite – raise yours and improve the quality. Market yourself to the higher end clients who pay more per article and deliver higher quality content for it.

• Know Your Niches

  Don’t write about everything under the sun, pick certain niches, areas to focus on. Study them, publish articles in popular publications on them, and be an expert. Nothing gives you more credibility in the eyes of the client than having your articles published in large publications. Doesn’t have to the NY Times though, a Wikipedia page, or a big article in any established site is no less credible to convince a client.

• Give the Clients What They Want

  More professional writers always ask for more info on what the client expects. Does the review need to be positive, balanced, recommending? Should the style be more personal or general and heavy on facts? Should be there be subheadings?

• Always Spell check

  Always go through the article after it’s complete to fix any grammar mistakes and strive to have perfect grammar in all your writing. Don’t deliver half-done work.

• Research

  Make sure you know what you’re writing about, do your research, cross-reference several sources, get your information from a credible source. Don’t take up heavy articles on complicated niches you don’t know much about unless you plan to spend the time to research it.

• Get Published!

  Most writers, even the more experienced and professional ones never seem to know where their articles are. A potential client will always want to see your work and it looks much better and more credible if it’s published on a popular site on the topic, than if you just copy-paste the article. Anyone can set up EzineArticles profile and add a few articles – get your articles published on more credible sources, like Associated Content, Helium, eHow, Wikipedia, etc.

• Have a Portfolio to Show

  Set up a simple portfolio site. Google your previous articles, or get the links from the clients to add to your portfolio. Most clients wouldn’t mind and will even appreciate a link to their page from your portfolio site. And this would be a great testimony to your professionalism for all future clients, seeing your articles live on popular sites in the niche.

Got more tips? Post them below in the comments.