9 Simple Steps To Be A Freelance Writer

The steps I took to launch a successful writing business

When I first started as a freelance writer, I had NO idea what I was doing. I just knew that I wanted to combine my passion for writing with wanting to work from home, so thought well why not?

I read everything about freelance writing I could get my hands on, completed courses and asked plenty of questions. And now, here are 9 easy and effective steps I learnt along the way to launch a successful (and well organised) freelance writing career.

STEP ONE: Is freelance writing for you?

Working from home, the beach, a cafe or even your backyard sounds attractive, but is it really for you?

Can you be dedicated and organised enough to still meet deadlines, market your business and complete bookkeeping?

Are you ready to be your own boss?

As a freelance writer, you are responsible for running the business side of things, not just the writing. YOU must pay the bills, chase invoices, meet tax requirements, find clients and balance the books. Unless you go into business with someone else, all this and more will fall to YOU.

So are you ready for it?

STEP TWO: Define your niche and target audience.

The great thing about Medium (as I have only recently discovered) is that you can write about anything and everything. You do not need a niche, you just need to be writing quality and engaging articles.

However, when it comes to your freelance writing business it is better to narrow your focus. Picking a niche means it will be easier to market your services, create a website and portfolio that targets a specific audience and become a known expert in that field.

How do you pick your niche?

It is so easy! Simply ask yourself:

What am I passionate about?
What am I knowledgeable or skilled in?
What am I most interested in?

You may find that you come up with several niches. That is fine! You want to be writing about something YOU are interested in, something that you will not become bored with. A bored freelancer will end up creating sub-par work, and that is not something you want to be known for!

I write in several different niches — health, wellness and fitness, pregnancy and parenting/family and freelance writing!

STEP THREE: Plan your attack!

Plan, plan and plan some more!

I love planning. I love using paper planners, Asana and spreadsheets. I am a planning geek! Too much, in fact. Sometimes I get bogged down in all that planning and don’t get to the actual doing stage!

So, don’t be like me. Make your plan and follow through with it!

What should you plan?

OMG, so many things!

Before getting your business up and running, you need to plan:

Your branding (what is your business going to look like, colours, fonts, logos).
What is your vision?
What are your business goals?
What are your marketing goals?
Where are you going to find clients?
What website provider will you use?
What will you use for invoicing?
What will your onboarding process look like?

Once you have answered these you will be well on your way to launching your business!

The next stage of planning should be to determine your yearly, quarterly and monthly goals.

What do you want to achieve? And then break it down into task-orientated objectives for each day/week/month. This will create a solid foundation for you to build upon and to give you direction!

Plus there is something magical about ticking off those objectives. It keeps you motivated and focused and feels damn good!

STEP FOUR: Develop your writers’ platform.

A writers’ platform is a valuable tool for freelance writers. It is what you use to promote your business, to showcase your work and to boost visibility.

What does a writers’ platform involve?

Simple.

With a bit of tech-savvy (or outsourcing to someone) know-how, you design yourself a website where you can create a portfolio. Link it up with some social media accounts and you are good to go!

STEP FIVE: Create a portfolio.

Your portfolio can act as a resume of sorts. It is a way to highlight your amazing writing skills, places you have been published and clients you have worked with.

Even if you don’t have any published or client work to show yet, there are ways to develop your portfolio.

create a blog on your website,
guest post on other websites and blogs,
develop sample pieces for your portfolio.

STEP SIX: Set-up your finances.

Let’s be honest, we all love money!

Make life easy on yourself and set up processes for your finances before you start getting paid for your writing.

First off, look into having a separate bank account for your business. It doesn’t have to be a “business” bank account, you can simply have a personal one that is dedicated to your freelance writing. This way you can easily keep track of your income and expenses from writing.

Secondly, make sure you have a good invoicing service set up. I use Rounded, an Australian invoicing program aimed at freelancers and sole traders. I am not an affiliate, I just love their interface and customer service. You can even personalise the invoices to suit your business branding.

Last, but not least, you need to set your rates. How much will you be paid for each service? Will you charge per word, per hour or project.

For me, I tend to charge either per hour or per project. And as a general rule of thumb, I say charge what you believe YOU ARE WORTH! Your time and experience are valuable, so make sure your prices reflect that.

The best advice I can give when setting your prices is to research what others are charging in that niche. Use this number as a base, but build upon it. Work out how much you NEED to make in a month, and how many projects or clients you will need to take on at X amount to earn it.

STEP SEVEN: Research what tools and skills you will need.

There are a gazillion tools and apps out there that can help with your freelance writing. You need to find what works for you, your niche and your clients.

Here’sHeres a few that I use (again, no affiliates I just really love these tools):

Asana for project management,
Gsuite for emails,
Google Drive to keep all my work in one place,
Google docs and sheets for writing, tracking, planning and spreadsheets,
Grammarly to make sure no pesky mistakes are made,
Adobe for PDFs and contracts,
A paper planner because I love to write things down, and I have a notes section where I can jot ideas as inspiration strikes and write a To-Do list.

There are many other options out there, you just need to find the ones that will help you work efficiently.

STEP EIGHT: Find clients!

Right, so you have set everything up. You have your website and social media accounts. You have set your business goals. Your bank account and invoicing service are set up. Now it is time to find clients and start earning the big bucks!

The very first step is knowing where to look for clients!

Who are you writing for? Where are they hanging out? How do you reach them?

Spend some time on Google researching businesses in your chosen niche. You can hunt down their marketing experts, content managers or editors through LinkedIn (or other social media). You can choose to either strike up conversations through commenting on their social media posts or you can “cold pitch”. A cold pitch is simply sending an email or message letting them know who you are and how you can help them.

There are other ways to find paying clients:

Content Mills (think UpWork and Fiverr)
Job Boards (GumTree, InDeed, ProBlogger, LinkedIn)
Pitch to online magazines, websites that advertise for writers etc.
Search Facebook and Twitter for job opportunities (simply type your niche + writer for hire, or something similar).

STEP NINE: What courses should you take for freelance writing?

Many successful freelance writers DO NOT have a uni degree in writing. However, they have done their research and usually completed some online learning.

You can find plenty of free resources out there to help you, such as through HubSpot. Or you can also pay. Udemy has some great courses for a price.

Several very successful freelancers have created their own courses with you in mind. Why not look into Elna Cain, Gina Horkey or Jorden Roper? They have fantastic online courses and present them in a way that is relatable and such easy actionable advice.

IN CONCLUSION

Freelance writing is an amazing way to supplement your income or even produce a full-time income!

Follow these 9 easy steps and you will be well on your way to a successful freelance writing career.

Rachel Maree is a writer, mum and registered nurse. Bringing you the real truth to parenting, nursing and writing (even when it is downright ugly). You can read more articles or hire her to write amazing content for you — Rachel Maree.

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