5 Steps You Should Take as a Brand-New Freelance Writer
It can be really overwhelming when you’re just getting started as a brand-new freelancer. There’s an abundance of information available, which is helpful in theory.
But you’re going to get slightly different advice depending on who you listen to. And I’m guessing that the more information you consume, the more confused you feel.
So how do you actually know what to focus on in the beginning?
In my opinion, your only goal as a new freelancer should be to find those initial clients and earn some money.
The website can wait. The custom domain can wait. Your Facebook business page can wait.
It’s not that those things aren’t important. But in the beginning, you need to focus on getting those first few wins.
That’s what’s going to motivate you to keep going and growing your business. To help you get started, here are the five initial steps I recommend new freelance writers take:
1. Create Your Upwork Account
There are a lot of different ways you can go about landing your first few clients.
But during my first year as a freelancer, I found 95% of my clients on Upwork.
In my opinion, it’s the easiest way for most people to get started.
No other job platform is going to have the same variety of job postings on a daily basis.
And best of all, everyone on Upwork is actively looking to hire a freelancer. Whereas if you cold pitch, you’ll end up contacting a lot of people who aren’t interested.
My recommendation is to set up your Upwork profile and fill it out until it’s 100% complete. If you’re having trouble getting your profile approved, this blog post will help.
Read More: How to Get Your Profile Approved on Upwork
2. Identify What Skills You Have to Offer
Once you’ve set up your Upwork profile, you need to identify what skills you have to offer clients. And I promise you that you have skills to offer, even if you don’t realize it!
I want to point out that skills are not the same as education. I see a lot of new freelancers spend a lot of time talking about their degree or what they majored in. I hate to break it to you, but most clients won’t care about that.
Skills are things that you know how to do. For instance, if you’re proficient in Microsoft Word or know how to use WordPress, those are skills.
And please don’t think you need to be an expert to list something as a skill. For instance, once I had some basic knowledge of SEO, I started listing that as one of my skills.
3. Start Sending Proposals
Now that your Upwork profile is set up and you know what you have to offer clients, it’s time to start sending those proposals! And I want to encourage you to start doing this as soon as possible.
Often, when I talk to new freelancers I notice that they seem to be doing everything BUT sending proposals. They tell me about their domain name, the website they’re setting up, their Twitter profile, etc.
The only reason you’re doing these things is because they are easier than actually contacting potential clients and asking them to hire you. And you probably think that spending more time thinking about a niche or figuring out your ideal customer will give you clarity.
But I’m here to tell you it won’t. You will not gain clarity until you start working with actual clients.
Most people think they need to have everything figured out before they contact potential clients.
Here’s the thing - if you wait until you have it all figured out, you’ll be waiting forever. It’s just that simple. I’ve been freelancing for almost four years and I still don’t have it all figured out!
4. Create Your Writing Samples
I know you’re probably thinking, “Shouldn’t I create writing samples first? Why is this number four on the list?”
Because once again, I don’t want this to turn into a distraction that derails you from looking for work.
Start sending your proposals right away, and then start working on creating a few samples as you’re able.
Guys, I had zero writing samples when I got started as a freelancer. So I promise you it’s not a crucial step to finding work.
And the truth is, you don’t really know what kinds of work clients are looking for until you actually start sending proposals and talking to them.
The easiest way to create a few samples is to write 2-3 different articles in a Google doc and then save them as PDFs. If you’re looking for more ideas, you can check out this blog post.
5. Set Up Your Portfolio
Once you find a few clients and start gathering some paid writing samples, you’re going to want to set up your portfolio. In my opinion, having a strong portfolio is actually more important than having a writer’s website.
That’s because good clients don’t really give a crap about your “about me” page or why you love writing. They want to see samples of your writing, and an online portfolio is the best way to show them this.
I recommend using Contently or ClearVoice to set up your portfolio. Both of these sites are easy to navigate and will help you create a professional looking portfolio.
Bottom Line
And finally, I just want to encourage you that whenever overwhelm or frustration starts to creep in -- and I promise you they will -- to always keep the main thing the main thing.
Send more proposals. Keep looking for clients.
Adopt the mantra: “Find clients and make money.”
Repeat it whenever overwhelm starts to creep in! By doing this, I promise you that you will make money and your business will continue to grow.
If you need more tips on freelance writing, feel free to sign up for the Freelance Writer’s Starter Guide. This 35-page in-depth guide will give you everything you need to launch your freelance writing business.