Become a Freelance Writer Without Experience
Each one of us begin our career in any field without experience in the same. This is how we begin our career in freelance writing as well. No writing experience, no published work to add to a resume, no achievements to showcase in a portfolio, and many such dilemmas will hit you hard in the beginning. But the good news is that it is not the end, it is indeed the 'rise of a freelance writer'. Whether you aim for print media or online, you gotta do these! Here is how you can rise and succeed to earn your living through your freelance career without having any experience.
Steps
- Stop thinking, start writing:Just one simple rule that goes well with the explanation- if you don't write, you don't get the job. Here we are trying to solve the basic problem of not having experience, so go gain some. This does not mean you should sip coffee and wait for work to come your way. That might never happen. Just open your word processor and start typing anything that will make a write up.
- Start writing for yourself first: If you want to succeed in freelance writing then you ought to be a prolific writer. Start writing without expecting monetary returns for your work. What I mean here is write free for yourself but not for others (you will read more about this in later points). Start your own blog. If you do not want to invest in a custom domain the least you can do is register a blog for free. There are number of free blog platforms like Typepad, Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. Do not forget to add an 'about me' page introducing yourself as a freelance writer, and also a 'hire me' page so that a potential employer who comes across your blog will know you are open for services. Your blog will act as a sample of your active writing habits and skills proving to be of some help to your resume.
- Spread the word about your presence in the writing world: Marketing yourself is a necessary evil in any freelancing profession. You are lucky to have been starting your writing career in the era of social media. If you have not already registered with social sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Stumble upon, Tumblr, etc then you need to register right away. It might take sometime to get rooted with the aesthetics of social media but you never can underestimate its potential.
- Build a strong network: Make friends online! Use your social media accounts appropriately and make some personal connections with your key followers in the field of writing and hiring. Make comments on other freelance writing blogs and also write free articles for big blogs/sites to develop a rapport with the owner. Writing and freelance communities including forums are the best place to be in. Socialize and participate in these places to find opportunities and meet people while you also learn new things.
- Your first job matters a lot: Money matters and also does not! Don't be surprised. I am just trying to make one thing clear about choosing your first client and that there are many factors to consider before saying yes for less (money) and no for less (money). Things you need to evaluate before making a decision with your first offer are:
- How is it going to help build your experience and writing profile?
- Should you really care for money if the company name or the client offer gives a big deal of lift to your career?
- Is the client trying to exploit you by offering too little money without you getting added benefits to your career?
- You are only worth what you think you are: Do not fall for some famous lines of clients like-
- The pay is less but work is in bulk or have long term work. (They might simply mean to hire good freelance writers for less pay. The long term work lies unpredictable!)
- You are required to submit two or three samples before we hire you. (It means, they might just collect two samples per applicant for free and vanish off the scene without even notifying you about your selection)
- Be clever and cautious. Only you can allow people to value or exploit you through your developed content. Know your worth and stay off the temptation of bagging some work only for the sake of it. Even doing something for free should have its value. Set a minimum price for which you would like to write and do not take anything that is below the mark. Do not overrate your work and end up losing all the potential jobs. Know your worth for less or more. A self conducted writing skills assessment will help a great deal with this.
- Study the market: Search for the kind of writing jobs available in abundant. Prepare yourself and update your skills to grab the opportunities as they come your way rather than wondering. Stay with time if not a head of it. Educate yourself about the new developments in the freelancing communities. One important work that needs to be done is research on the rates for different kind of writing jobs. You will know what to quote for the kind of job better.
- Take risks, be bold! Being an aspiring freelance writer, you need to be versatile and flexible while choosing your writing assignments. You may be expert in a particular niche but building your experience profile is what you need to concentrate at the moment. This will help you build your network, spread the word about your work, gain experience, allow you to study the market and rates. You will also be able to gain knowledge about the subject and different level of writing skills. The matter of fact is that you need to keep writing no matter what (in a positive sense). Some times it's a good idea to take risk in the subject matter you choose to build your reputation and gain handsome knowledge. With time the level of difficulty will just turn to become your second nature.
- Build your own profile, write free! Remember, what matters ultimately is your work and not the experience in this writing field. There are many small companies online who recruit freelance writers. Bring your work to light and offer to write a free sample so they know your worth. Make guest posting on different blogs who give author's name and bio. This will not only help you gain traffic to your blog (include your blog's link in bio) but also interested clients will find you rather than you trying to find clients. This will also help you to add some published work on your portfolio. Also do not forget that you are in the making of a freelance writer and in the process of building your resume. If people value your writing skills they will never even bother to ask your resume leave alone your experience.
- Do not hesitate to ask if they need you: Finally get proactive and approach people for work. It is secondary whether they have or offer the job but why lose any opportunities. Who knows they might turn to you in future if not at present!
