Work from Home Writing

How to get started as a freelance writer

Work from home writing can be a profitable and rewarding home business idea.

work from home writing

There are many opportunities for good freelance writers including business writing, marketing and sales writing, technical writing, web writing and writing assignments for newspapers, magazines and journals.

As a freelance writer you first need to determine your strengths and what areas of writing you want to focus on. This will help you to target your efforts at finding the right freelance writing opportunities. However before you begin marketing yourself as a freelance writer you need to develop your marketing and promotional material. The most important of these is your portfolio and resume.

These are your interface with potential clients and should present your abilities and strengths in the best possible way. Use these tips on how to build an impressive resume and portfolio to land those work from home writing jobs.

Keep your resume short. Your resume should not be longer than two size A4 pages. Clients do not want to spend time reading large amounts of detailed information especially online. Your resume should highlight your strengths and talents and provide a clear and concise summary of your writing experience. Remember that clients will also have access to "clips" or samples of your work to get a better understanding of your writing skills.
Establish a portfolio of your work. One of the most essential things to do when you start as a freelance writer is to build a portfolio of clips. Clips are extracts of your original writing work that showcase your writing style and skills. You can create a file of clips on your computer and attach relevant samples of your writing when you put forward your resume to a potential client. When you submit your resume for a work from home writing assignment you should attach clips that provide evidence of your ability to do the job you are applying for. Clients will often evaluate your suitability for a freelance writing job just on the basis of your resume and supporting clips. You can also include testimonials from past clients in your portfolio.
What if I don't have any clips? Everyone who is interested in writing will have some clips somewhere! What about the papers your wrote for college or any work-related writing you have done like reports, proposals, letters? The chances are you do have some writing samples that showcase your ability. If need be you can rewrite these and tighten them up. Make copies and start building your writer's portfolio.
Getting clips. You need relevant samples of your writing to show a potential employer. The more clips you can build into a portfolio the better. You cannot begin marketing your writing services without a decent number of clips. Here are some ideas on how to go about getting clips: You can volunteer for writing assignments with a non-proft organization either locally or on the web. Write a cover letter for a friend's resume, offer to write a piece for the local school or church newsletter, write letters to editors of newspapers and magazines, start a blog on a subject you are familiar with or really interested in. You can also write a couple of excellent articles on subjects that interest you and submit them to free online article directories. Explore the magazine racks and buy those that look like you could write for them. Read the magazine carefully, study the writing style and then write an article. Check for submission details both on the magazine's website and in the magazine itself. Send your article to the submissions editor. A number of magazines and papers such as Reader's Digest actively ask for fillers such as jokes, opinion pieces and short interest items. Study what the magazine or paper use for fillers and submit a couple of quality fillers of your own.
Keep reading and writing. Read everything relevant to your areas of writing. If you plan to write promotional material read every piece of direct mail and advertising that lands on your doorstep. Build a reference file of good examples of marketing material. If you are going to be writing web content research successful websites with high traffic volumes and take note of what makes their content work. If you are writing articles search for the most popular articles in the online directories and read them carefully. Keep notes. Keep practicing. Perfect your writing and become the best you can be.

Keeping an online resume and portofolio allows you to find freelance online writing jobs. FreelancePortfolios.com allows you to create a virtual portfolio of your samples and services for free and helps you market your services to clients.You can also contact businesses and editors through e-mail and attach your resume and portfolio. Use the resources to help you at Find Freelance Writing Jobs. Landing profitable work from home writing opportunities can be done. The best advice is to start small and build it up from there, expanding your portfolio of writing and your marketability with each completed freelance writing assignment. As your expertise and knowledge grows you will be able to apply for more and more freelance writing assignments. Use these free guides to help you with your work from home writing business.