If you want to make a living as a freelance writer, there are a few key things you should be doing online to make it easy for prospective editors to find and connect with you.
As an editor for the Red Tricycle Spoke Contributor Network — a large national parenting site — I am constantly searching for new writers to recruit and articles to publish. What I’ve discovered is so many writers are not making it easy for an editor to work with them.
If you want a freelance writing career – and want an editor to recruit your work — make sure you’re not missing an opportunity. Here are five things you should do to market yourself as a writer.
1. Use Your About Page and a First Name
Here’s an all-too-common scenario: I find a great writer who publishes awesome content on her blog. I love what I’m reading, so I decide to learn more about the writer.
But come to find out, there is no About page on your blog, so I have no idea who you are. Or you have an About page, but don’t use your real name and refer to yourself only as “mom” or another term.
Every writer or blogger should have an About page on their site. It doesn’t need to be fancy; just a few paragraphs about who you are, what you write about, and what part of the country you live.
And you MUST have at least your first name. Start out with a sentence that reads, “My name is Leah …” or “Leah Singer writes about …”
If you’re really nervous about using your name, start writing under a pseudonym because editors (and readers) want to identify with a person!
2. Make Your Email Address Easy to Find
I cannot tell you how frustrating it is as an editor to find a great writer or piece of work, yet there is absolutely no way of contacting the writer on his website or blog.
If you’re trying to avoid spam, use an email convention such as leashthoughts {at} gmail {dot} com rather than a hyperlinked email address. Even a contact form is better than nothing (although many of us avoid forms because we’re unsure the message ever makes it through).
Most editors do not have time to scour the Internet searching for your contact information. If I can’t easily find your email address or contact form on a blog, I will give up and find another writer.
3. Make Your Personal Facebook “About” Section Work for You
Most of us don’t want our personal Facebook profiles public. But you are missing a big opportunity to market yourself if you’ve set your Facebook “About” section completely private.
I highly encourage you to at least make your website/blog address public so prospective editors can easily click over to see your work. You may also consider displaying a short bio, and possibly your email address. Again, think about making it as easy as possible for an editor to contact you.
4. Make Sure You’re Using LinkedIn to Market Yourself
So many freelance writers – especially those just starting out – think LinkedIn is only useful if you’re on a job hunt. Well guess what? As a freelance writer, you are on constant job hunt!
You don’t need a fancy profile with tons of accolades and endorsements. You do need a bio in the summary section (that uses the word “writer”) and make sure to list your experience. Don’t worry if you think you lack experience. Have you been writing a blog? List that in the Experience section.
Bonus Tip: Take advantage LinkedIn’s SEO power. When someone does an online search of your name, your LinkedIn profile will more than likely show up as one of the top three returns on the search results page. This is critical because if you’re trying to make a living as a writer, you want to be found by editors and paying clients!
5. Create an Online Portfolio
An editor wants to see where you’ve published elsewhere. An online portfolio is a great tool to have on your website. There are several ways to do build a portfolio. For example, you can create a simple page on your blog/website with a list of your publications that are linked to the articles.
You can also use one of the many online portfolio websites such as Contently or Clippings.me that provides the template to showcase your work. These sites are often free, too.
Remember, editors like me want to connect with you and get you publishing on our sites. Make sure you’re taking advantage of every opportunity to market yourself online.