With more and more people choosing to freelance, particularly in the field of writing, it is crucial to have a well-crafted personal brand. Even if you possess exceptional writing skills, your lack of brand-building efforts could curb your success in obtaining freelance jobs.
Being a freelancer, your personal brand is everything. When a prospective client searches for you online, you are in control of what they find — so make sure they are only finding things that sell you in a good light.
Building your personal brand is the foundation of having a long and successful freelancing career. However, building your brand can be a challenge if you aren’t sure how to present yourself.
Fret not, because media update’s Saads Abrahams has five stellar tips to help you build your personal brand as a freelance writer.
1. Focus on Social Media
Your first pitstop as a freelance writer is going to be social media because that’s where you’ll find your prospective clients. You can interact with their posts, observing their favoured writing style and content.
For those who aren’t particularly fond of social media, you’ll need to embrace it as your new best friend. Many of your clients will discover you there, and it’s the platform where you’ll begin crafting your personal brand image.
But which platform is the right platform for you to use?
- LinkedIn is a great platform for networking and showing off your skills.
- Facebook provides the ability to create a professional page where you can share your expertise and skills while building a community around your personal brand.
- X is great for sharing your written content — however, your content should be valuable and interesting.
- Instagram allows you to share your skills, values and personality with a wide audience.
- TikTok will also allow you to share your skills, personality and values with an incredibly vast audience.
However, keep in mind that you can’t just go posting anywhere and everything. So, find out what platform your audience is busy scrolling on and that’s where you should be posting.
2. Networking Is Key
To build a successful freelance writing career, networking is key. You need to mingle with potential clients as well as other writers — as tricky as this may be at first, it will help build your confidence. That confidence will trickle into your work.
Additionally, connecting with fellow writers can benefit you professionally and provide mental support by engaging with like-minded individuals.
Here are a few places you can start networking:
- writing conferences and events
- online forums such as Reddit, and
- following other industry professionals on social media and their personal websites.
3. Create a Portfolio
Your portfolio is either going to boost your freelance writing career or be the end of it — so it’s vital to focus on this. Your portfolio is most likely going to be your potential clients’ first impression of you as a professional, so make sure they like what they see.
Some things you can do to ensure you are creating a stellar portfolio include:
- showing off your writing skills
- highlighting your experience
- illustrating your creativity
- sharing any client testimonials, and
- keeping your portfolio updated.
4. Create a Blog
As a freelance writer, you need a space where you can showcase your talents — and what better way than starting a blog. Creating a blog allows you to write on anything you are passionate about in whichever format you like.
This is a great way to get your work out there without having to pay for it while adding to your current portfolio of work.
5. Write Guest Posts
In freelancing, having more people recognise you is crucial for the long-term success of your career. Writing and publishing posts on other websites is a brilliant method to demonstrate your expertise and grow your audience.
The possible perks of guest writing include:
- getting paid for your posts
- getting exposure for your work, and
- adding backlinks in your articles to your own website / blog.
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Freelancers, are you struggling with setting your prices? Then take a look at The South African Freelancer Conundrum: How Much Do I Charge? — A 2024 Update.
*Image courtesy of Canva
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Source: Five Tips For Building Your Personal Brand as a Freelance Writer
