How To Land Your First Freelance Client (And Build Your Writing Business)
There hasn’t been an easier time to start freelance writing than now. There are endless opportunities online, traditional businesses are shifting to a freelance model, and many businesses are forgoing full time employees altogether.
This means if you want to work for yourself, at home, there is no better time than right now.
However, just because there is no better time doesn’t make it easy. If you are struggling to land your first freelance client, don't worry we have ALL been there. It’s one of the first, and biggest steps to find success online. That’s why below I go through exactly how I landed my first client and how you can land yours too!
HOW LANDING MY FIRST FREELANCE CLIENT BEGAN
I'm pretty sure that everyone who heard about my "dreams" of becoming a full-time freelance writer thought I was out of my mind.
I've learned that the idea of making money online is mystical to people. Which is odd, considering nearly everything we do in modern times is related to some remote process or another. Having everything "in-house" is expensive for most businesses. Office space (think extra room, electric, office supplies, etc..), advertising, and in house processes are soo expensive, that switching to a digital model can both save and make businesses a lot of money.
That's why freelancing is an incredible option for both the individual and the business. True freelancing allows both the business and individual incredible flexibility.
In fact, for employees, it’s a preferred model:
It allows you to work with more than one business
It allows you to set your own schedule
It allows you to work from anywhere (including home and on the road)
Essentially, it allows the average person to have greater control over their career and their time. As more companies transition to remote work, hiring freelance workers on contract is becoming a popular option. It very well could be the option for you!
According to a report cited in Entrepreneur, the freelance business grew by over 500% between 2010 and 2014. Three years later, it's STILL growing.
This means that over 53 million Americans are freelancing.
This means that THIS MODEL IS WORKING.
HOW I BEGAN FREELANCE WRITING
Starting a blog was my entrance to the freelance world, to the business world.
I actually have had three of them (blogs that is). I failed at two of the three (like miserably failed). Even the third (this one) has almost entirely changed from its original design to the one that is successful now.
This successful blog has helped land me almost all of my clients, and my new blog (that you can find here) has helped me bolster my outdoor presence too.
So tip number one is to start a focused, content packed blog.
You wont’ get it perfect right away, but creating a website and then creating content is going to be the core feature at growing an online freelance business.
CREATING AN ONLINE PORTFOLIO
To gain freelance work, I started by putting more effort into my blogging content and less into my blog's appearance, design, and purpose. I started writing.
Funny how new bloggers get so caught up in the the end result that they forget that they have to write to get there (trust me, I was that person - and still kinda am to a degree). Content is king, and you can never forget that.
So I ended up treating my blog more like a resume instead of a project. I would spend an hour every night improving my existing content, and then spend an hour writing new content.
No new designs. No new ideas. Just incredibly high quality content.
So the next tip for you is create an online resume - in the form of a blog - that you are proud of.
Spend each day you can writing content that provides value to people. Make sure this content is long form, quality content that helps solve problems for people.
Then make sure you make it appealing. Online quality content tends to have the following features:
Solves a problem or answers a question
Is well written, clean of most grammatical mistakes. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be good.
Has high quality images, headings, and properly spaced paragraph
Has an informative or catchy title
Is content that you are proud of sharing (because you will need to share it with each potential client you find).
Tools I recommend for this include:
Grammarly: Helps clean up your grammar for you. This is a MUST HAVE.
Deposit Photos: High quality, copyright free photos that you can use on your blog, client work, social media and Pinterest.
CoSchedule Headline Analyzer: A free title headline analyzer to help you pick the right headlines for your articles
Remember, this is your resume!
HOW TO LAND YOUR FIRST CLIENT
After I felt that my website had drastically improved, I knew I had to market it. One of the best ways to do this out of the gate (before you have a large social media presence, etc…) is to find a contributor site.
Ideally these first few sites need to be "authoritative". This means they are large, reputable sites that nearly anyone on the online space can identify with.
I knew right away that I needed to hunt down some of these sites and start applying. I would be writing for free; however, it would be to a large audience that would only help grow my exposures, resume, and experience that much more.
These websites generate HUGE traffic. Examples include the Huffington Post, Forbes, or Lifehacker.
You want to write for these companies for a few reasons:
1) Exposure for your blog
2) Add a reputable site to your resume (this is a huge MUST)
2) To gain "follow" back links (or leads for follow links) - which are a huge benefit for SEO
3) To gain clients straight from the platform
I ended up getting my first opportunity at Lifehack (they did allow backlinks), writing on psychology and personal development topics. This was a big plus in my online journey.
Although it did provide a little bit of traffic to my blog, it looked incredible on my resume.
My blog helped me land my first freelance contribution to LifeHack.
Lifehack helped me land my first paid client.
My first paid client helped me land more clients… etc.
Do you see the benefit?
Finding Authoritative Writing Sites
A quick Google search will find you plenty of options, however, a few places to start include:
Lifehack
Forbes
Entrepreneur
Social Media Today
A quick search with those sites will find applications you can use to grow your business.
HOW TO FIND FREELANCE OPPORTUNITY
After developing a portfolio, it was time to finally get paid.
Now there are a few ways you can find paid work. Common options include:
Cold Pitching
Job Mills (Upwork for example)
Word of Mouth
Social Media/Linked In
Job Boards
However, the one that worked the best for me, out of the gate - is job boards.
Not as good as cold-pitching companies, but not as bad as low paying content mills.
There are plenty of job boards you can apply to and I looked through ALL OF THEM. I applied to as many as possible in hopes of finding at least one or two jobs that can help me out get my foot in the door.
I have entire list of all of the job board sites I used that you can find right here.
GETTING MY FIRST FREELANCE JOB (& HOW YOU CAN GET YOURS TOO)
So at this point:
I had a portfolio (website filled with content)
I had an actual resume
I was writing on an authoritative site
I was searching through tons of job boards
I was applying to as many freelance jobs as I could
However, I still wasn’t getting anywhere. Opportunities that came my way weren’t going to pay. So what’s next?
Improving my pitch. I spent so much extra time refining my pitch (for the application process). It made all of the difference.
Just like that, I landed my first job.
Let me tell you, it was the BEST feeling in the world (in fact, you can read about how it led to me leaving my job here).
Here is how I landed it:
I sent an intro email explaining why I was qualified. I included 3 links. These links included:
a blog post
an authority site
published work from my full-time career
My intro/pitch was short, sweet and down to the point.
I then attached a link to my email and offered to write a test article.
Before long, I knocked out the test article and signed my first W-9 (taxes to get paid).
Keep in mind, it was a lot of work to get hired but once I had my first job, I had others.
The Process You Should Follow
Create a website/blog/portfolio to showcase your work
Make sure your site (but especially the content) is polished
Apply to contribute to different authoritative sites (like I did with Lifehack)
Update a resume with the sites you’ve written for (and the work you have done)
Develop a short and sweet pitch OFFERING a FREE TEST ARTICLE (very important)
Visit multiple job boards (list found here) and start applying
After you land your first client - add it to your resume and grab a testimonial!
CELEBRATE!!!
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES OF FREELANCE WRITING
Part of being an entrepreneur (whether it be owning a multimillion dollar company OR a single person freelance business) is overcoming problems and finding answers. This part of your business will never stop.
Working hard to learn new skills, improve existing skills, and constantly problem solving will be at the core of your everyday life.
Not to mention the bigger you get, the bigger your challenges will be. Some clients will try to rip you off, some will never be happy, and some will simply make you want to cry. You are going to need to get thick skin.
However, there are a few things you can learn from me.
After I developed a portfolio, landed some clients, and became somewhat profitable I also:
Wrote far to much for free (you need to know your value!!)
I didn't ask for testimonials (this is a must with every person you work with)
I was way, way, way to shy (if you are going to run your own business then BE A BOSS. Be confident. Be assertive. Know your stuff.
If you want to make writing work - then make it work. Write on your blog, apply to a million jobs, take chances, reach out to people, and be ready to be rejected. Just remember, it helps you grow.
Remember, I was rejected 100 times before I started becoming profitable. It hurts at first, but will only make you better.
