The Three Primary Ingredients of a Successful Freelance Content Writer

A guide to pulling out of ‘mediocrity’ and stepping into ‘professionalism’.

“Isn’t the freelance market saturated for content writers?”

I can’t think of a question that I have answered more times in my life than this one.

I got into freelance content writing in 2011 after graduating from high school. If my memory serves me well, which it does, I’m only 27, please.

Even nine years ago, the internet was filled with warnings and red flags that I’d be better off investing my time and energy into a skill like graphic designing or application development.

Why?

You guessed it. Because the freelance market was saturated for content writers!

Fast forward to today, I have been in freelance content writing for almost nine years and am still not out of business. Technically, that tells you everything you need to know about the big fat lie.

I’ll be honest with you, though. The competition in content writing is certainly more fierce than it was a decade ago. But branding it as “saturation” is a bit of a stretch. The freelance market is crowded with content writers, sure. But saturated? I’m not buying that.

For the sake of argument, even if I accept the conjecture that the market is indeed saturated — the way I see it, is that saturation always lies on average. The outliers are the least bothered by warnings of saturation or what some may call a shrinking scope.

In other words, once you are a few steps ahead of the average, debates on market saturation turn irrelevant for you. Then you are no longer in competition with the unprofessional slackers that are only there to try and cheat the system.

Pardon the aggressive terminology, but this bunch of “incompetent writers” is what crowds the market and creates a delusion of saturation for the incoming writers — a lot of whom, may genuinely know their way around words.

So, one thing’s clear. Saturation or not, you are bound to find success as a content writer in the freelance market as long as you are committed to surpassing mediocrity.

Naturally, that leaves you with a question, HOW?

How do you get past mediocrity and earn that designation of a “Professional” content writer?

The good news for aspiring writers is that it doesn’t involve any rocket science. Based on my personal experience, here are the simplest tricks that can push you beyond mediocrity and into the realm of professionalism as a content writer.

1. Reading Goes Hand in Hand With Writing

Writing is all about knowledge. The more you know, the more you can talk about. It’s as simple as that.

As a freelance content writer, more often than not, you’d want to be open to assignments in several niches. Nonetheless, all of us have an area of expertise.

For example, I am well-accustomed to handling tasks on healthcare and technology. But I see business, money-making, freelancing, personal finance, etc. as my area of expertise.

As an aspiring writer, I would recommend starting with identifying your area of expertise. Once you have clarity on that front, I want you to research. Not because there is an assignment that requires you to. But purely for your personal growth.

Think of it like this. My potential clients are in search of a business writer. There is one in the market who is waiting to land a job before he starts to make the research from scratch.

On the other hand, there is me — a business writer who takes pride in staying up to date with the business world, and reads dozens of business articles and news on a daily basis.

Who do you think is better equipped to cater to the client?

But Wait, It Gets Better

Just because I am an avid reader who loves to keep up with what’s hot in the market, it is easier for me to land a job in the first place.

I don’t usually wait for clients to approach with a predefined task and do things in a boring fashion. I like to spice things up a notch and contact them instead, with a professional pitch.

A simple email that highlights what’s selling in the market right now, and how about I cover it for your website or blog? This has landed me more jobs than I care to gloat.

On the contrary, an average content writer would wait to land a job, make a google search, open a page or two, and focus all of his time and energy into paraphrasing the content on some other page in a way that it looks like fresh content and is not caught in plagiarism.

This is the mediocrity that you need to avoid. Your words will automatically start to ooze value if you religiously follow your niche and keep up to date.

2. Take Your Time and Craft Your Style

When I started reading self-help books back in 2017, my go-to author was Robin Sharma. After reading a few of his books, I switched to Mark Manson. A few months later, I was enjoying Stephen Covey. And then I switched again in another couple of months. And again, and so forth.

Why do you think I kept changing authors? At the end of the day, almost all life-coaching books talk about the same tips and tricks. So, it sure wasn’t the content that was making me switch.

And yet, every time I shifted to a new author, my interest revitalized in the self-help niche.

Why?

Because each of these authors had a unique personality being reflected in their words. Experiencing a new tone, a different narrative, a novel style of writing, was absolutely worth the change. It kept me engaged despite knowing that the content will more or less be the same.

Such is the power of finding your own voice.

Now a lot of the internet gurus would emphasize on learning from the experts. And I am a staunch supporter of the same. I can personally vouch to have learned a lot more about writing from other, more experienced and successful authors than I have from a couple of dozen courses.

But There Is a Problem

A lot of new writers misconstrue learning as an attempt to imitate their favorite writers.

For example, say that you are writing a motivational piece that talks about setting a long-term goal in life. What you need to remember is that one of the writers that you look up to may use a formal, educational tone in such writings. But it, by no means, confines you to do the same.

There is no one to stop you from using a humorous tone instead. Maybe a conversational narrative. Throw in storytelling in there if you want. The possibilities are truly endless.

As an aspiring content writer, I would recommend taking your time and experimenting around with multiple writing styles. For each of us, there is one that flows naturally.

If you are merely trying to copy someone else’s style, it will make the job that much harder. In the grand scheme of things, it’ll bore you out of your wits every time you sit down to write.

Finding your tone, using your own narrative, and simply adding your unique personality to your writing, on the other hand, goes a long way in pulling you out of “wanna-be” status in the world of freelance content writing.

3. Build a Reliable System for Consistent Feedbacks

Back in the day, when I was new to content writing, I would write a blog for the client and read it aloud to myself. More often than not, at the end of this practice, I’d be filled with this confidence that a blog on this topic could not be any better.

And then I would send it over to the client or the editor. To my surprise, they’d immediately point out a bunch of things that could have been improved. For the most part, all of their recommendations made perfect sense as well.

Such experiences made me think. More often than not, your clients leave a very brief feedback on your content. A lot of times they wouldn’t even bother giving you one. But what if there’s a whole lot more that you could improve about your written content?

Since I had already read the content to myself and thought it was flawless, it was a clear indication that I needed a fresh pair of eyes on my work.

To top the saturation zone that lies on average, a content writer must focus on building a robust system for consistent feedback. Your clients or editors that accept or reject your work are your secondary source of feedbacks.

Your primary source can include a few of your close friends. Not the ones who would compliment your writing as a show of support. The ones that you can rely on for honest opinions.

I would also recommend exploring social networks for groups and communities where you can cultivate professional relations with other writers and editors.

The internet is filled with forums and various other platforms to interact with other players in freelance content writing and receive their brutally honest feedback on your work.

But don’t limit yourself to writers and editors for feedback. Go ahead and see if you can find a reviewer who can help improve your content’s authenticity. For instance, if you are writing about dieting, wouldn’t it be a great idea to have a dietician review your work?

Point being, the more you open to constructive criticism, the faster you pass through mediocrity and get to your destination where market saturation no longer bothers you.

Find the Work-Life Balance

So, there you go. These are the three fundamental pillars that push you a step closer to success as a freelance content writer. Nothing too complicated, right?

Finally, focus on creating a work-life balance. Finding success does not require you to spend days and nights in your writing cave and focus entirely on quantity. Learn to read the signs of exhaustion and take a break when it’s there.

It is only in preserving your mental and physical health that you can continue to hustle until you find success as a freelance content writer.

So, always make time for yourself. Hang out with your friends, explore new places, meet new people, make memories, have experiences. Because you never know, when, who, or what could contribute to improving your future writings.