Basically the how to of freelance writing.
Positioning Yourself as a Freelance Writer
Freelance writing is highly competitive, difficult work, requiring a great deal of insight both into the psychology of the clients you will have, but also into the way to prospect for and handle these clients. But before you handle any clients, you need to be able to present yourself properly- from the very beginning.
The first thing you should realize is that, in some fashion, each freelance writer has a kind of specialty or set of specialties. Perhaps you specialize in resumes or the development of press releases. Perhaps you write screenplays or novels. In some cases, like myself, you cross over into many types of media- and this ability can be a plus, if you know what you are doing. Still, you have to develop an approach, a “pitch,” if you like- to attract people. This “pitch” needs to be backed up by the samples in your portfolio and whatever testimonials or feedback you have to have.
Once you have defined your skill set- and are prepared to take it to the public, you need to create a portfolio. Part of this portfolio will consist of your profile. This profile- in a sense- can be compared to profiles used in social or business networking systems, but it needs to be focused on your writing ability. Often you will be asked to create a ‘user name’ or ‘handle’ for your position. Some peoples handle might contain the word, ‘resume,’ or ‘presskit’ like ResumeSuperstar or PressKitKate. I wanted mind to be simply, Screenwriter- but that was taken, so I settled at first on Moviewriter. This turned out to be a kind of mistake because there were not that many opportunities to write films in my price range- so I eventually fell back on my own name.
Changing my name from 'moviewriter' to 'johnnybluestar' in my main freelance writing programs was probably the best idea I ever had in regards to presenting myself. Although I had been ‘moviewriter’ for several years, I had done a tremendous variety of projects. These projects were consistent with my experience as a reporter/editor, owner of a resume bureau and job search agency, copywriter, ezine publisher, etc.- as well as my experience as a creative writer, specializing in screenplays. But by repositioning myself and my profile, I found it easier to explain who I was and what I was capable of. No one would say, “He writes movies- but he doesn’t probably really know how to write resumes.” It was much clearer to present myself as I am- a content developer for a wide variety of different types of projects.
Now that you have presented yourself, it is necessary to present samples of your work in the neatest, most presentable and cogent way. You do not have to send up forty pages of a novel or a folder of thirty resumes to make your point. You need to have a portfolio samples to your freelance writing site or through email to your prospects that are well-organized, fit the needs of your client’s project and are grammatically and structurally correct. With these types of considerations, you are off to a good start.
For more information on becoming a freelance writer, please call Johnny Blue Star 760-323-0193, contact him through Skype at johnny.blue.star or email him at cvnewz@aol.com. Visit his website at johnnybluestar.com.
