Blogging is a multi-faceted tool that comes with unmatched advantages for a freelance writer. Whether your blog is serious, creative, a public journal, or a personal blog, it is the best way to put your credibility out there and get high-paying freelance writing clients.
Here are some ways in which running your own blog can help you in your career as a freelance writer and beyond.
Keeps you in practice
You can’t be great at something without practice. You need to write regularly to get better at it. Having a natural talent for putting words together is one thing, but actively working toward improving that skill is what gets you better clients that charge at better rates. A blog enables you to do so. As you have complete control over your blog, you can decide on the direction of the content, length, and how often you post.
Keeps you creative
When you write for a living it is easy to fall into a habit of writing a certain way, that is not certainly creative. Having your own blog gives you hands-on experience in writing creatively, with the opportunity to play with story narrative and structure. It’s a necessary outlet that you are unlikely to find while writing in a pattern. It helps you explore and refine your ‘voice’ through your experiences, making you a better writer overall.
Positions you as an expert
While self-confidence is important, clients won’t just pay you big bucks for being confident. They pay you because you are confident about your work and what you know. You can tell them all there is that you know, but they won’t believe it until you present it to them. Doing this through your own blog is the best way to showcase your skills and abilities to the world. This is the difference between someone paying you Rs. 1000 for an article or Rs. 5000 for the same article, is whether they perceive you as an expert or not. Instead of focusing your energy on getting the same job that 10 other people are interested in, why not focus that same energy on building your blog to attract quality clients.
Serves as your portfolio
Having your own blog means that you will always have a linkable public work that’s available to view by any potential clients. It serves as your published work samples.
Write content that attracts the kind of people you want to work with. This gives your potential clients a taste of what they’re signing up for and usually eliminates that extra step of sending and reviewing writing samples if they do want to work with you. A blog helps to show off your work.
Get experience with WordPress
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) around in the web world. It is an actual skill that a writer should own, regardless of whether it’s working full-time or freelance. Running your own blog will make you much more familiar with WordPress that will give you an upper hand when you pitch yourself to your clients. You will earn about all the essentials that go into blogging and content publishing.
Takes away the competition
In the competitive content market, clients are usually looking for people who have something to offer, and compare them against people who have little or nothing to offer. Blogging strips away this competition and lets you communicate directly with your clients. You put out your authority and experience with your blog for them to know that you’re worthy of the job and rate that you are charging.
Bring in unexpected business opportunities
Your blog brings in quality business opportunities as you set yourself up as a business. The blog helps you self-publish your work that can be marketed through social media in order to get more audience, and even attract potential clients. You never know where the next blog post might lead.
Your blog is the one-stop-shop for your freelance writing career. It sets up your credibility by serving as your portfolio, showcasing your expertise, communicating your skills and interests, while helping you refine and grow yourself.
