Freelance writing is hard when you first start. It’s hard for businesses to find you, it’s hard to get your name out there, and it’s even harder to get freelance writing jobs.
You are new to the game, but you have the writing chops. Now what?
To help you be successful as a small business you need content writer marketing tips. Essentially, you have be a better content writer so you can get in front of your ideal client.
I can already hear the grumbles and the curses under your breath.
But I’m not a content marketing writer or digital marketer. I’m a freelance writer.
Don’t worry, my freelance marketing tips are so foolproof that any new freelance writer or someone interested in becoming a freelance writer can use them and not fail.
They are creative ways to market your business and that’s good for us since we are creatives!
I’ve assembled the best ways on how to do freelance marketing tips for your business that you can start using today. You don’t have to be tech-savy or a social media maven to use these marketing tips either.
All you need is the desire, confidence and motivation to become a better freelance writer.
So let’s take a look at how you can brand yourself and market yourself even if you hate talking about yourself!
What is Content Writer Marketing Tips?
As a new freelance writer, to land writing jobs like content writing jobs, eCommerce writing jobs and other online writing jobs, you need to be adept in freelance marketing.
This is marketing your freelance business as a writer.
How will companies find you and hire you for your writing services? How will they know you exist?
By freelance digital marketing strategies!
Do I Have to Be a Freelance Marketing Writer?
No, you don’t. While I’m a digital marketing freelance writer, you can decide any freelance writing niche.
Like cyrptocurrency? You can write in that niche.
Like gardening? You can write in that niche.
Like beauty? You get the idea.
So, let’s get into some marketing tips as a freelancer!
6 Strong Freelance Content Marketing Tips
1. Collect Clips
For those of you who don’t know what a “clip” is, it’s a published article of yours that’s on someone else’s blog. They’re also called guest posts.
Guest posting is by far the easiest way to gather writing samples and at the same time promote your brand and your services.
You ultimately choose the topic you want to write about and pick the website you want your article published on. Sometimes you have to pitch your idea to the editor of the website of interest, but oftentimes, you can submit your whole article for review.
One of the incentives of guest posting is having an author byline on your article. This short byline is usually 2-3 sentences with a link back to your website or blog.
You’re probably thinking,
Why would I give away my writing for free?
How do I make a living being a freelance writer if I keep giving my work away for free?
Because guest posting can help your business grow by accessing a wider audience.
Yes, this is how to market your business for free!
How does a guest post do this?
It Provides a Link Back to Your Website
Your author byline will have a link back to your website. This is a great content marketing tip to alert new readers that you are a freelance writer for hire. When this happens, you drive new readers and potential clients back to your content, which can mean a new gig and a chance for your business to grow.
You Can Create Original and Quality Content
I don’t know about you, but as a digital marketer writer, I only choose websites to guest post if:
- They are in my niche
- The sites are well respected and highly regarded within their niche
- They are well established
When I have a guest post featured on a website within my niche, it brands me as an expert. You can write for more than one niche to show potential clients that you are adept at writing on a variety of topics.
I write on a variety of niches including, but not limited to, parenting, career advice, health, education and lifestyle.
You’ll Impress Potential Clients
When you include your best content in your guest posts, it brands yourself as someone who creates quality content that’s engaging and informative.
This is a great marketing strategy for you to use!
Having published articles from different websites in your portfolio is much more attractive to small businesses interested in your services, than having your blog as proof of your writing ability.
Other ways to brand yourself is to make sure you have a freelance writer title in your email signature, on social media and on your writer website. As well, a good tagline is always nice to let prospects know what you are all about.
It Elevates Your Writing Pitch
While new freelance writers are providing samples from their blog, you have to think as a freelance marketer and provide external links to your guest posts. And if your links are to high authority websites, then it shows potential clients your credibility as a freelance writer.
It Reaches a Larger Readership Through Social Media Sharing
When a guest post of yours is approved by a high authority website, you can guarantee that more people will see it and more people will share it. I recently had Social Media Today and Psych Central, two high authority sites, publish my articles, and each of my articles already have more than 300 social shares.
When your writing reaches a wider audience, there’s a great chance a potential client will see it and consider your services for their business.
2. Keep on Blogging
Okay, so I know I just mentioned that writing for others is a great way to market yourself as a new freelance content writer. But now I want to switch focus and talk about writing for yourself.
Now if you’re in the process of building your writing portfolio, updating your blog can also help create more business and is actually another great way to brand yourself.
Blogging is one of the best digital marketing tips your business when you’re completely new to finding freelance writing jobs.
But I know what you’re thinking,
I’m wasting time writing for myself and not getting paid for it.
I’m here to tell you that even though you aren’t directly getting paid for blogging, you will benefit in other ways.
Remember, be your own marketing consultant here!
When you provide fresh new content on your blog, search engines will index your post and start to rank you for long-tail phrases. When you rank in Google, it’s much easier for potential clients to find you.
I have to constantly update my blog even when I don’t have time.
As long as you provide original and engaging content to your readers, they won’t mind if you take a month off or longer because of pending work or personal issues. Stay up-to-date on social media, at least, and use that to connect to your readers.
No one has viewed it anyways, so what’s the point?
Trust me, people will start to read your posts and eventually comment. It just requires a bit of direct marketing tactics like sharing it across all your social media channels.
And you never know, your blog could land you clients. A prospective client might land on your blog and if you have a current and updated blog, they will be more inclined to contact you for your writing services.
So how can I use blogging to market myself? By making sure your blog has these 4 elements:
- Strong headlines to hook your readers in
- An engaging voice
- An easy to read and easy to scan structure
- A “hire me” tab or a byline on your posts alerting your readers that you’re a freelance writer for hire.
If you haven’t started a blog for your freelance writing business, make sure to check out my tech-free and super easy video tutorial and blog post on how to start a blog for your business!
3. Create an Email Newsletter for Your Readers
If you don’t already know, email is one of the best content marketing tips out there to market your small business. Who doesn’t have an email, right?
And I can bet you that you had that same email account for many years, and will continue to use that same email for many more years to come.
That’s why email marketing is a huge market – not many people close email accounts or stop using their email.
So, creating a newsletter for your readers can help with branding yourself as a freelance writer. How?
- It shows you are an expert in your field
- It can reach more people other than those who read your blog
- It can help you develop a relationship with your subscribers, which in turn creates loyalty.
- It demonstrates your values and knowledge, while showing your personality.
Having a newsletter for my blog gives me an opportunity to practice on improving my writing and provide useful information that wouldn’t necessarily be on my blog.
You might be wondering how often you should provide a newsletter.
That’s up to you. For me, I opted to do monthly newsletters so that I can focus on a core theme and provide relevant and useful information.
If you are interested in setting up an email subscription form and newsletter, The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Newsletter and Email List, is comprehensive and useful.
Your email list is gold because you have actual people wanting your service and with every email you can market your business easily.
4. Provide a Freebie
Who doesn’t like something free? I certainty like anything that’s free, even if I don’t need it (I can always give it to someone who does need it).
One of the ways to market your business out there for bloggers and freelance writers is to create a freebie for new subscribers. It follows the reciprocity principle: if you give me your email, I will give you this free guide in return.
Providing a freebie for your new subscribers is a great way to marketing tip and helps you become a better freelance writer by:
- Sharpening your marketing and writing skills.
- Branding yourself as a freelance writer with expertise in a particular area (SEO, cold emails, quality content tips, marketing strategies, copywriting)
- Growing your business. Once you have subscribers, you can create a connection with them and, for some, eventually market your services to them.
What sort of free incentive should you give your loyal subscribers? Something that peaks their interest, solves their problem or tempts them.
And for a potential client, this looks good. It makes you immediately a marketing professional and a successful freelancer.
5. Build Followers on Social Media
Do you think social media is a big waste of time?
Do you have better things to do with your time like write and pay the bills?
Well, I’m going to tell you social media – like Twitter – is a goldmine for building your business and is also a great way to have a personal brand to help you brand yourself.
Yes, you can learn how to market your business on Facebook and other social platforms.
And if that doesn’t convince you, social media skills might make the difference between a freelance writing business and a freelance writing hobby.
Businesses today know they must provide better content and push social media marketing if they want to rank in Google. And they are going to look to freelance writers that have a social media presence to help them with their content needs.
So, how can you use social media to expand your business?
The key is to become a savvy social media marketer.
Not sure how do to this? In my complete course, Write Your Way to Your First $1k, I show you how you can use social media to land high-paying clients.
Although becoming adept at marketing tips through social media can take time to master, you can do 6 things to get started:
- Learn how to navigate the big social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
- Regularly update all your social media accounts
- Share and tweet other people’s blog posts
- Share and tweet your latest blog posts and guest posts
- Re-tweet useful information
- @Mention other writers or businesses
When you take 15 minutes a day to update your social media accounts, not only will you gain a following, but you can source future blog posts and find potential clients by learning how to market your business.
Tweeting a short and causal introduction to editors on Twitter may give you the upper edge of the standard letter of introduction other freelance writers use, and potentially land a gig.
6. Create a Website That Sells “You”
If you’re new to freelance writing and you have a website and blog, I challenge you to take a hard look at your landing page and About page.
Most new freelance writers knock out a website without thinking about taking advantage of this strong sales tool.
Let me ask you this, does your landing page have:
- A contact number?
- Information on how you can help businesses?
- A picture of you?
Think of your landing page as your business card. You want to provide the best sales copy you can to convince a person who clicked on your link, why they need you to help them.
And this is what will help you learn how to market your business.
Use this approach for your About page as well.
Many freelance writers don’t realize that the About page is another opportunity to tell people why they should hire you.
Of course, you mention a little about yourself and how you stand out amongst other freelance writers. If you like tattoos and cats, then mention this. Or if you’re a mom of twin toddlers, use this information or any other unique qualities as a springboard as to why they should hire you.
And yes, this type of copy is what a freelance copywriter excels at. But, don’t let that stop you! You can write optimized content for sure!
Discover How to Brand Your Business and Yourself
Some easy ways you can quickly create a personal brand for yourself as a new freelance writer is to think of your unique selling point.
Having this one thing can help you land writing jobs in a sea of competition.
A strong USP is personal, has some personality and showcases your best attributes as a freelance writer.
For me, my USP will talk about my long-form writing and how I write easy to read content for my clients. I will also mention that I’m a mom to twins and that I enjoy listening to Latin music.
But, Elna I hate talking about myself!
Yes, I was like this also! What worked for me was to ask my friends to tell me what they liked about me (personality-wise). I also asked my family.
This helped me open up a conversation in my head about what I offer to others.
Try that out!
Another easy way to learn how to brand yourself is in how you write.
Your writing voice is a powerful personal brand feature that helps prospective clients see if you are the writer for them.
If you’re writing is cheeky or humorous, this can attract certain clients that want that type of content on their blog.
Easy Content Marketing Tips for You!
So are you ready to tackle the marketing side of freelance writing and learn how to market your business?
If you find these ways to market your business and brand yourself to be too much, then start using 3 core soft marketing tactics like:
- Guest posting regularly
- Blogging as much as you can
- Produce stellar work
What ways do you market your business in your freelance writing business?
Share with me in the comments!
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