Are you someone who loves writing and would like to make it a side hustle? Or are you an aspiring content writer who wishes to start a full-time content writing business?
Irrespective of your background, you can become a content writer and not just any content writer, a successful content writer who easily gets clients on board and earns decent income to further expand your freelancing side hustle into a full-time business in these 8 steps.
Follow these 8 steps mentioned below and it won’t take a lot of time to get your first and fifteenth client on board.
Understand What Content Writing Is
Before starting as a content writer you need to understand what content writing actually is. It is not creative writing as a lot of people assume. And it doesn’t necessarily mean writing a book. Content writing is basically writing any and every sort of content that is available online. From ad copy to blogs, guides, video and podcast scripts, landing pages, and social media captions, everything is content.
Your first step is to learn the difference between different writing forms and shortlist that seems intriguing or your cup of tea.
Different forms of content writing have different pay scales. For instance, you will get INR 1000 to INR 5000 for writing a 1000-word blog whereas you can earn the same or even more amount by writing a 100-250 word ad copy. This is a difference between content writing and copywriting, but we will discuss this some other day.
Learn and Develop Content Writing Skills
Now that you know which content form you wish to pick, it’s time to learn and develop the skills required for writing a perfect piece of content that attracts an audience and sells, whatever the aim of your content is.
Skills as basic as writing content free from grammatical errors to SEO, keyword search, research for content, understanding google and social media algorithm, target audience, and storytelling are prerequisites for writing any kind of content that is supposed to be published online.
Also Read: 10 Free Online Courses You Need To Pursue
Create a Portfolio
Your third step, after learning the basics of content writing will be to practice writing. Pick up a few trending topics within a niche that intrigues you the most and you would primarily want to focus on and start writing the type of content you want to write. You can write long-form or short-form content depending on which you would like to pursue in the long run.
These pieces of your writing can serve as your samples. Pick 3-4 pieces that you believe are your best work and add them to your portfolio.
Your portfolio does not have to be a fancy website that you have paid thousands for. It can be as simple as a google doc with all your samples linked, neatly.
Cold Pitch
You have your portfolio, it’s time to share it with your potential clients so that they know you exist and why they should care. Send cold emails to the brands, entrepreneurs, organizations, and magazines you wish to work with, explaining to them how and why they should consider working with you.
Cold pitching is one of the most effective ways of getting clients. And once you learn the art of writing an effective email, it is significantly easier as well.
A lot of people struggle initially with deciding who their potential clients can be. Especially when you are just starting out, knowing who is there in the market and who needs your work can be a little difficult.
What you can do here is apply for freelancing opportunities on LinkedIn and reach out to existing, famous writers. A lot of times these well-known writers hire writers under them because of the workload they have and that can be your break. Eventually, you will get familiar with the industry, and finding clients will not be an issue for you.
PROTIP: Google top websites and magazines under your niche and reach out to them for work.
Write as a Guest blogger
This is more important than one thinks. Writing as a guest blogger for websites that already have a decent audience may not get you money but it can offer you much more than that.
Your published article can serve as a sample and it can help you establish yourself as a published writer in front of your potential clients. It can help you attract new clients as well. A lot of times readers of the website you get your article published for can offer you work and this happens more frequently than you think.
Writing as a guest blogger when you are just starting and once every now and then can help you grow your freelance content writing business and reach out to a bigger, better audience that can help you build your personal brand as well.
PROTIP: Google top websites and magazines under your niche and reach out to them for work.
Charge in Advance and Send the Invoice
With all the cold pitching and writing as a guest blogger, you will end up getting your first client in no time. Once you have your client on board, it is time to tell them how much you are going to charge them.
In order to be professional right from the beginning, make a rule of sending everything in a professional manner and that means sending a contract, minutes of the meeting, and an invoice in which it will be clearly mentioned that you charge in advance.
Everything should be perfectly documented so that your client believes you have been doing this for quite some time and you know how things are done.
Master the Art of Time Management
Okay, this is one step that you absolutely need to conquer. A lot of freelancers fail at expanding or sticking to the freelancing lifestyle because they are not good at managing their time.
Managing time is not as easy as we think it is. You can write the perfect schedule for yourself and fail at following or sticking to it at all times. It is normal.
When you start working as a content writer, be it part-time or full-time, you need to master the art of time management. Because if you don’t, you are going to find it difficult to complete tasks on time, take more clients on board, and even maintain your physical and mental health.
Time management is a skill that is extremely important for a freelancer, no matter what services they are offering but for a content writer, its importance intensifies.
Recognize the Importance of Proofreading
You have done everything. You made yourself a portfolio, found a client, got paid, and wrote the piece of content without sabotaging your health and work-life balance, now it’s time to send the piece to your client.
HEY WAIT!
Before sending the piece to the client did you proofread it?
Even if you are dead sure you have written the best you can with no errors whatsoever, you need to go through your content one more time before sharing it with your client.
And do not start reading right after you have finished writing. Take a break, leave your desk, have water, and then come back and start from the very beginning.
Proofread to check if there are any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors and if the flow of your writing is okay. There’s a lot that matters in content writing and sending a piece that “might” contain errors can make your client lose a little trust in you. So always make sure you proofread your content before hitting send.
Parting Words
Getting a client as a content writer is not as difficult as one perceives. What makes it difficult is the lack of knowledge and guidance in the initial stages. Carving a path with no prior knowledge or blueprint of steps is what makes the freelancing journey confusing and exhausting. It is highly recommended to stay in touch with someone who has been in your shoes once and was able to make the best out of the situation.
Hustlepost Academy’s founder shares her own experience as a freelance writer and has curated a content writing course that can help you get everything that you need to start your freelance writing journey on the right foot. Not just that, this course even connects you with other aspiring and established writers who hire new writers from within the academy.
So, what you get through this course is a blueprint for your freelance writing journey, a mentor, a community that is there to help you wherever you feel stuck, and potential clients. What else do you need?
