Choose your own hours as a freelance writer

The OLD Way

As a University Graduate in Communications wanting to start a career in writing or journalism you had to work for an established media company who will fit you into their systems and processes. You’d start writing “copy” about all sorts of topics relating to current affairs, news, fashion, business and anything else that publication was focused on.

After your apprenticeship you would gradually become known as a good writer for certain topics and work your way up until you could influence what is written and published.

This process takes years of travelling into the office every day and writing, editing and re-writing. The media industry has changed and more businesses have become publishers themselves so there are many more potential employers who need writers but they don’t need writers as full time staff members.

The industry has changed and freelance writers are now able to work for lots of clients from anywhere around the world.

The MODERN Way

The changing media market means writing opportunities in major publishing companies are scarce and there are better, more creative ways to earn money and gain experience as a writer.

WordPress is a powerful “Content Management System” that many websites are built on and a significant advantage of this software is the ability to have a regular blog.

If you’re confused by the word Blog just think of it as the new way of writing news articles or press releases and updates.

Where most articles previously came from Publishing and Media companies they are coming from small and large businesses everywhere in the form of blog posts.

They are no longer being pushed out by these media companies but being “indexed” by Google and other Search Engines and are “discovered” by people searching and browsing the Internet.

BLOGS get discovered because of SEO

You don’t need to be a University graduate to become a freelance writer. You just need to understand the connection between what a business offers and what customers are looking for.

Google has changed the nature of writing and what businesses write about in their blogs and it’s all based around keywords and keyphrases. When you learn how customers use these keywords you’ll be able to write articles for a business with the customers needs in mind.

Our Business and Blog Writing “Content Marketing Training Course” will teach you about these important skills and Industry Connect will connect you with a business, publisher and editor to manage your first projects and provide guidance on how to improve.

Following are tips on finding writing opportunities, building your portfolio and experience and choosing a niche to help you get discovered.

Write about something you’re interested in

Every writer has their own writing style and becoming a freelance writer is one way to find the right match for your writing style and playing an important role as writing goes through digital disruption and content marketing becomes an important marketing medium.

The nature of freelancing work enables writers to work from home and in their own time, rather than being stuck in a 9-5 job, but this comes with a certain level of responsibility – to be disciplined and focused to earn money.

If you have good writing capabilities and a pricing method that is attractive to businesses you may find being a freelance writer as rewarding as you’d like it to be – particularly in an age where it is now important to have good spelling and grammar and a good grasp of the English language.

Pricing your writing by the hour or by the word count

Many freelance writers start out either bidding for work at freelance websites or submitting work to potential clients as a trial so that they can see your writing style, but it is important to test and measure quickly to understand what works.

You could look at hourly rates but most businesses want to pay for a more clearly defined outcome.

For example, they want

a 500 word blog, which contains
a keyphrase,
a relevant image,
a link to another blog article, and
a link to a landing page at their website.

Efficient blog writers develop a system that enables them to complete these tasks within a define time so it can be related back to a good hourly rate. The beauty of working this way is you to write in your own time.

We teach you how to work this way in our Business Blogging and Content Marketing Training Course Package.

Industry Connect

When you enrol into the WordPress and Content Marketing Training Course Package which includes Industry Connect you’ll be connected with a writing team that will

help guide how you package your writing services.
guide your writing and SEO skills during your Internship.
manage the work during your Earnings Guarantee*

* If you are Pre Approved for the Earnings Guarantee when you sign up to an Online Business Training and Marketing Package.

Business writing and Search Engines

how to become a freelance writer and journalist

If you want to write for magazines and newspapers, keep your pitches short and interesting and never let rejection affect your writing tone or the way you speak with prospective clients.

If your writing and ideas are interesting and relevant, the right person will choose you and if you master the skill of writing content for search engines (SEO) while still sounding natural you’ll be sort after.

The result of successful content marketing is being discovered by customer who search for and find your articles. When your articles are linked to the products and services of a business your writing becomes value to that business.

This is where good quality writing becomes a marketing asset for businesses and means that they are willing to spend money on it.

Persistence and reputation

The-Workface-Career-Academy-CTO-Find-Remote-Work-from-home-in-Customer-Service-Online-Sales-Digital-Marketing-Virtual-Assistant-Accounting

Persistence is an important factor to succeed and often that persistence helps you improvise, brainstorm and come up with new and innovative ways of both writing and doing your own marketing to find new clients .

You may get knocked backs when you first get started but as you start to get regular clients you’ll build a reputation as a good quality writer and be able to choose which clients to take on.

Do a great job and the cost of your writing will be an investment for your clients rather than an expense!

Building contacts and maintaining good relationships is important in any profession and when you’re a freelance writer you are solely responsible for finding your own work which makes it even more important.

Join our Talent Pool for remote work (WE’RE HIRING)

Steps to starting out as a freelance writer

Here’s a quick guide to help you on your journey in starting your own content marketing business:

Choose a business name and domain name and REGISTER them (you can use your own name to start with)
Choose a business structure (sole trader, company etc) and REGISTER it
Set yourself up with the ATO for ABN and GST (if you need it)
Open up a separate bank account and PayPal account
Decide what you want to offer and how much you want to charge
Create a website to promote your services and rates (we’ll create one with you – selected packages)
Create business cards so you can network and get new clients
Setup your own bookkeeping software so you can start invoicing and keep track of payments (we have courses in MYOB and Xero)
Join a industry organisation to improve credibility
Make cold calls, send samples of your work, get feedback about your pricing
Provide great Customer Service and build your business
Pay your bills on time, save some money and enjoy yourself too!

Subscribe to our blog to get tips and tricks to help you build your virtual “remote contractor” business.

Job Description

You’ll be given information about the main goals and topics to be covered in each blog. Often this will be based an a press release, media release, news article or other content. Other times it may be based on a corporate video, website landing page or information document.

You’ll need to explore the topic and perform online research to understand more about the topic covered and this can include information that you will need to “quote” and provide source link as a reference.

One you’ve written your article (between 400-900 words) you’ll need to explore the clients existing website and blog to see where else it can link to. It is important for you to source at least 2 images that you are able to use royalty free for the article – often it is available in the writing brief provided.

The blog must be linked to a corporate call to action or website goal.

Start your own business course

Start-a-micro-business-working-remotely-from-home-in-accounting-freelance-writing-social-media-marketing-virtual-assistant-Career-Academy-Training-Short-Courses-25-per-week

If you are a qualified or experienced writer and want to start your own business the Business StartUp Course takes you through most aspects of running your own business from

start up legals and business structure, to
pricing and packaging your services,
understand the market, and
how to approach your own marketing and reporting to keep track of your progress.

The end result is a business plan and a blue print you can use to keep you focused on the big picture when you go through the daily up and downs.