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CAREER and PRODUCTIVITY Career Plan How To Guide

Becoming a Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines

Friday, March 18, 2016

 Freelance content writing is a good example of a work-at-home job anyone can easily start. If you have good grammar and research skills then all you have to do is practice how you write. As a Freelance Writer your goal is to deliver quality content to your clients. The online community is filled with freelance writing jobs for beginners that all you need is apply, send a proposal and wait for your interview. Freelance Content Writers must be able to do any type of written documents. From a simple letter, a product description to SEO contents and eBooks, freelance writers can just select any job they want to do. 


The Job 

Freelance content writing is a popular job for those finding means to earn extra income even at home. Businesses and even private individuals hire a freelance content writer to deliver the content that can make them rank higher in Google. Remember that freelance content writing falls in different expertise (technical writing, service page writing, SEO article writing etc.) which I will soon disclose to you. 

The Skills You Need

You need to be well-rounded as a content writer so remember to develop your skills more often. The skills you have will separate you from the rest of aspiring freelance content writers. Below are the top skills a writer should possess:
  • Writing Skills
  • Research Skills 
  • Computer Skills
  • Content Management Skills
  • Negotiation Skills
  • Time Management Skills
  • Ability to Work Under Tight Deadline

 How It All Began for Me


 Even at a young age I knew that writing is what I want to do in life. I became a campus journalist during elementary and high school then decided to take up BS Journalism for college. There is something about writing content that gives me happiness and inspiration in life.


So I transition it as a career after college. I was hired as a Marketing Staff in a milk tea company in Pasay City wherein my main job is to create posts on social media and words for marketing materials such as brochures, fliers and even website. READ: My Life, My Job, My Career and 6 Success Tips That Helped Me


Then an offer as a SEO Content Writer came to me. I wrote contents for the web such as About Page, Guarantee Page, Service Page and more. I have also written keyword based articles that aims to encourage online readers to turn as potential customers.


Fast forward to today, content writing has been my career. I blog and I do freelance work though my main job has been writing technical stuffs for an IT Company already. It was tough. Content writing is tough... But the everyday practice made me better.

 READ: Becoming a Technical Writer in the Philippines
 
7 Steps to Start Your Freelance Content Writing Career

Becoming a freelance writer requires commitment. It is necessary that you know exactly what you are getting into. You may suffer from lack of sleep, you may encounter random writer's block and you may undergo a series of rejection before a client finally entrust you with  more projects.

But freelance content writing as a career is worth it. You have the ability to earn more with the freedom of working in your 

Below are the seven easy steps that will help you get started in freelance content writing. 

1. Assess Your Writing Specialization. 

As mentioned earlier content writing comes in different forms. Choosing the perfect niche that matches your skills as a writer is highly important. If you are fond of blogging then it is best to offer your services as a ghost blogger or blog contributor. 

2. Create a List of Your Service Offering. 

The best thing about freelance content writing is the fact that you can easily offer different services. Soon I will disclose a whole list of writing services you can do as a freelance content writer. 

My freelance content writing story started by offering my SEO writing service. I got clients who will pitch me topic and keyword that I need to strategically write. After some time I had clients wanted me to do blog posts, product descriptions and others. 

The key is to focus on one to two services first before moving to more. This is to avoid burn out and also to ensure that all your output is of the highest quality. Remember that freelance content writing also involves research, actual writing and more. 

3. Choose Your Rates. 

If you are just beginning to go freelance then it will be best to ask for a minimal fee per number of words. Your goal is to build a portfolio and generate related experience to  the service you are offering. I started with $1 per 150-200 words then went higher and higher depending on the difficulty of the job and the total number of words.

4. Build Your Portfolio.

Since you are going online, it is very important to create a portfolio. Freelance writers can opt for a blog or an official website where you can upload your recent projects and promote your other services. 

If you don't have enough time or you don't really see yourself creating a blog then you can easily create a sample for each writing services you offer. You can choose any topic and just layout to a PDF file for clients to access.

5. Find Your First Client. 

If you really want to have clients then you need to sell your services to people. You can post a status that you are now ready to accept content writing or try to email companies about your services. You have get known so that people will remember what you do.

6. Learn From Each Writing Experience. 

The journey to freelance world is full of lessons. You will learn on a daily basis because of the research you do and the different topics and clients you will encounter. Make sure that you learn from each writing experience. Develop your writing skills by acquiring more projects and clients.

7. Just Do It.  

If freelance writing is something you see yourself doing then why limit yourself just because you lack experience. All it takes is courage and action to really do it. 

How to Succeed in the Freelance Content Writing Field?

Your success as a freelance content writer depends solely on the time and effort you spend. If you are hard working enough and really put  your heart and soul for the job then you will be sure to be a success.

Read a lot of books and blogs in accordance to the writing niche you chose and learn the ways of the successful people. Take note of every mistake, failure and reject you get and count into it as something that will make your foundation stronger.

Success in freelance content writing doesn't happen overnight. You need to be very intentional if you really want to earn thousands of extra income with what you do. Continue learning new skills, new tools and new writing styles that will make you original. 


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