Want to be a freelance writer? Here’s how.

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade freelancing and doing contract work as a content marketing manager. This includes a fair amount of writing but also managing and recruiting freelance writers as well. And let me tell you, there are some freelance writers out there who are, let’s just say, not going about it the right way.

So I thought I would put together a guide to help aspiring freelance writers to know how to show up for a potential client and appear as professional and capable as possible. Ultimately, the better you are at this piece, the more jobs you will land, the more you can charge, and the more successful you will be. Let’s dive in.

First, a little about me. I’m a 15-year marketing professional with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Journalism. I got my start in marketing working as a content manager for a large online retailer. I’ve written website content, newsletter content, blog content, and managed social media platforms. In short, I have done it anything and everything content writing related.

After leaving that company in 2016, I decided to try freelancing and built a solid clientele. So I have experienced both sides of the coin. When I took my most recent long-term contract 2 years ago, it was with the idea that I would also manage, recruit, and develop our freelance writing staff.

With my extensive experience in freelancing and writing, my boss wanted my expertise in this area to support their team. Over the last 2 years of managing writers, I have learned a lot about what to do, and a lot of what NOT to do, as a freelance writer wanting to earn regular work from any company.

If you want to be a freelance writer you need a few things in place first:

• A portfolio of your work, updated recently.

• A strong grasp of the English language.

• Familiarity with at least 1 of the writing style manuals, AP is pretty popular.

• A college degree in a writing-heavy discipline (ex: English, History, Journalism, Communications, etc.)

• Or, a college degree in your niche area (ex. technology, nutrition & health, nursing, etc.) + strong, relevant writing samples.

• A LinkedIn profile is helpful, both for finding work and for potential employers/clients to scope you out.

Once you have these things in place, you can begin looking for work as a freelance writer. I love to look on LinkedIn, Upwork, Social Networking Groups (on Facebook), and Indeed. Once you find a few solid clients, it’s easier and easier to find work. Be sure to add testimonials to your website or portfolio that speak to your abilities.

Now, let’s talk about my observations as a content writing professional who has managed freelancers. What makes you a good person to work with? What are some of the top things you can do to stand out to employers and make yourself indispensable?

Here are my 5 best tips for freelance success:

1) Quick communication is key. If a company is trying to assign to a writer and the writer takes longer than 24 hours to respond to an assignment request, that is a huge red flag to them. Most times there is a deadline involved, and more often than not, you may have a week-10 days to complete an assignment. If a writer isn’t quick to acknowledge and accept or decline the assignment, or generally takes a long time to respond, it leaves the company hanging and delays their process. Companies assume you have a personal life, but if you aren’t responsive within a reasonable amount of time (usually 1 business day), you will lose work, period.

2) Be honest about your experience. I can’t tell you how many writer portfolios I received where many of the pieces submitted for review had different names on the by-line than the applicants with no indication of ghost writing or explanation. Do people really think we don’t check? It was absolutely wild to me how frequently this happened. Additionally, we actually hired someone who wasn’t who she said she was, and when we saw a huge disparity between the quality of her actual work for us and her portfolio we found that she was a fraud. Just be honest. It’s not worth faking your experience.

3) Be open to feedback. One of the biggest ways I can tell if a writer will work out is if they are open to and good at implementing feedback. Usually we would onboard a writer and give them a few trial assignments before adding them to our regular writer pool. A good writer is adaptable and able to make revisions to meet expectations AND implement that feedback into future pieces. If I could see consistent growth in a writer based on the feedback I was giving, I knew they would do well in the long run.

4) If you are a beginner with no writing samples, create your own. If you are serious about wanting to be a freelance writer, then you simply cannot submit a college-level paper as an example of your work and call it at day (true story, this happened.) You will need at least 5-10 actual writing samples to show a potential client. Ideally you want these to be on a broad range of topics in the beginning, until you determine your niche as a writer. If you already have a niche, then they should be in that. If you don’t have published work yet, that’s ok. Start a Medium account or your own blog and publish them yourself. Make sure the copy is clean and easy to read. You can submit your own blog as your portfolio. Continue to add to it as you grow. I highly recommend having your own website if you can. It makes it that much easier to apply to roles.

5) Be easy to work with. I can’t stress this enough. Communication plays a big role in this, and so does being good at implementing feedback. But, there are a few other things worth mentioning here. If you are a new writer with a company (and even if you aren’t) you want to do your best work, every single time. Submit clean copy, even if you know it will be edited. Be responsive to requests for revisions. Ask clarification questions when needed, but don’t require hand-holding. Submit your assignments on time, and if you ever need an extension, ask well in advance. Be reliable, consistent, and professional. This will take you a long way in any business but especially as a freelancer.

If you have a strong background in writing, becoming a freelancer can allow you so much flexibility in your career. It can allow you to work from home, travel full time, or even just have the flexibility in your schedule to be a more present parent. Wherever you are at in life, freelancing can often be the career path that allows you to both work and have balance.

In fact, I want to tell you about a writer I have worked with recently who checks all the boxes for me as a manager.

Meet Angela.

She replied to a writing call I put out on LinkedIn with her professional website/portfolio. She had a few pieces that were really good so I gave her a chance. I sent her a first assignment and her communication was swift and she seemed to have a good grasp on the topic. Her first piece was just ok. I sent feedback, and she implemented it swiftly, and her next piece was even better AND she turned it in EARLY. What?!

So I sent her another piece, not only did she send it in early again, but she seemed to really be getting the hang of how we operated. So then I sent her 2 more assignments. She sent both in on time or early.

And that is how it has gone since day one. Rarely do I need to send a piece back for revision. Rarely is she ever late (almost always on time or early submitting assignments.) Rarely does her work not meet our standards.

Angela is a model freelancer writer. And as a result she gets thousands of $$ worth of work from us every month, and I know for a fact that she is pulling in a 6-figure income as a writer, while traveling the world full time. She’s killing it. Be like Angela and you will go far in this business.

Be sure to use the above tips to keep it professional and give yourself the best chance at finding long-term success in the biz!

You’ve got this friend. Good luck!