I want to become a required freelance writer - what should I do?
If you want to become a required freelance writer then you must make yourself aware of the situation. You must investigate the world of freelance writing. What sort of jobs are being advertised? What sort of money is being paid for people working in this field? How strong is the competition? And what do you need to know that you don't already know about being a required freelance writer? Here are five steps you can take to improve your position.
- Develop a CV and polish it.
- Create a portfolio and fill it with relevant material
- Join one or more freelance writing agencies.
- Use networking to promote your ability.
- Improve your skills.
If you were going to apply for a particular job in a 9-to-5 situation then you would include your CV. The fact that the freelance writer takes on any number of short and medium-term jobs doesn't make any difference. No employer is going to take on a freelance writer unless they know a little bit about the history of the person concerned. If you're not sure how to create a stylish and acceptable CV, there are plenty of online tutorials which can point you in the right direction.
Having a portfolio is equally as important. When you apply for a job you can always include segments from your portfolio. If you are an unknown freelance writer and you want to become one who is required, you will need to have an impressive portfolio. If your expertise is in writing blog articles or perhaps in creating e-books then you will populate your portfolio with excellent examples of your special field of excellence.
To be required you need to make yourself available and that means joining freelance writing agencies. There are many and some will suit you better than others. This all gets back to the opening paragraph where you need to be aware of what is going on in the world of freelance writing. You need to pick and choose which agency or agencies you will join.
Networking when done properly can bring great rewards. If you can publish a blog or make a contribution to a blog then this will show the online world that you are an interested and interesting freelance writer; people will notice. In order to become required you need to let people know you exist and that you have special skills in certain areas.
And of course you must always aim to improve your skills. This could be the actual writing skills or the research skills or your editing and proofreading skills. You will find that some of the freelance writing agencies offer courses to help their members improve their skills.