So, if you’ve just walked into this whole freelancing thing, you’ve probably learned by now that things aren’t quite as easy as you thought, especially when you’re starting from scratch (no previous clientele. No portfolio. Nada).

At this point, all you’ve got is your openness and desire to learn new things and that desperate hope that someone will eventually hire you.

To help make your transition into the freelance writing world just a teency bit easier, I’ve put together some tips that might just help you land your first (of many) gigs.

Here we go, in 3…2…1.

Building Your Portfolio to Land Your First Gig, Before Landing Your First Gig

What?

Yes, you’ve read that correctly.

In order for you to land any decent gig (something that’s worth your time and effort), you’re going to need some kind of a portfolio for clients to take a look at.

Why?

Because they’re going to ask for it. Simple as that.

Now, even though you’ve just started out freelancing, it doesn’t mean you’ve just started writing (and if you have, still continue to read, because this information still applies to you).

And, if I’m not mistaken, no one ever said that your portfolio had to be made up of work you were paid to do–it just has to showcase the work you’ve done, whether you were paid for said work or not.

Here’s something I want you to understand…

Your potential clients/employers want to see your portfolio, not necessarily because they want to see what other people paid you to do, but because they mainly want to see:

1.) If your work is good enough to be published on credible websites (other than your own site or blog).

2.) What your writing style is like.

3.) That your writing skills are what you say they are.

Insecure about your writing skills? Not sure your clients will want to pay the money you want to make?

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So, what are some ways to show off your writing skills? So you can land more clients?

Create a blog

Yep, just like this one.

You don’t have to talk about the same topics that I do (unless helping other writers is your thing).

Pick a niche that you can see yourself writing about regularly, and stick with it.

Don’t worry if you’re not instantly getting results off of one or two blog posts. These things come with time.

Right now, your main focus is to get some good content up and live for your potential clients to read over.

That being said, the purpose of your blog is so that potential employers can see your ability to write a well-structured piece.

Your blog can also help them get to know you on a more personal level.

Some employers and clients like learning about the things you’re passionate about. And who knows? You may even touch on some common interests with your client, which might just land you a gig with them.

Write For Blasting News and Make a Little $$ as You Build Your Portfolio

As a new writer, you need all the experience you can get.

You also need money, am I right?

When you write for Blasting News (a popular news site similar to Huffington Post and BuzzFeed), you not only get your work published live (which looks great to potential employers/clients), and to a huge traffic base, you also earn money from your published content.

Earn up to $25 for every new writer you bring onboard.

No BS.

Blasting News will pay you $5 every time someone you refer publishes an article, up to 5 articles.

You + 1 referral + 5 published articles = $25.

(Build your portfolio and make a few extra $$. Sign up here. It’s free.)

Get your work published on other websites that let you post for free.

Hear me out first.

I know it doesn’t sound fun at all to write for someone else and not get paid for it, BUT what if I told you that this kind of thing is going to help you land those paying gigs that you desire so much, later down the line?

Still with me?

Take a website like InfoBarrel.com (a crowdsourcing website with a HUGE traffic base) for example.

They actually allow writers to freely publish written content to their platform.

Once again, the only downfall is that they don’t pay you for your posts.

(But there is a way to make money with InfoBarrel with the posts you write for them. Keep reading…)

Posting on InfoBarrel has a few benefits actually.

One, being that it can help you build that portfolio of yours; another, being that it can help you improve, or touch up on your writing skills.

How can they help you improve your writing?

Well, because InfoBarrel is a site that gets a ton of daily traffic, they strive to ensure that the content being published on their site is good-quality. They don’t just accept anything. If you write something of poor quality, they’ll reject your post.

But, they don’t just reject your post and say “be gone with your filth!” No. They actually provide feedback that tells you what’s wrong with your content, and why they denied it. You can take this feedback and revise your post and try again.

They usually look out for things like grammar errors, punctuation, sentence structure, and readability–all things you need to be in good practice of in order to make it as a writer.

So, even if you’re afraid that your writing skills aren’t quite ready to be published on other websites yet, InfoBarrel will ensure that only your best work gets posted (you know. To save you the embarrassment).

Oh–before I forget–you can also make a little extra $$ off of InfoBarrel while you’re waiting to land gigs.

Because they’re just that awesome, InfoBarrel actually pays you up to 75% of the earnings they make, when someone clicks on one of the ads that appear in your published posts.

It works like this:

You sign up. You provide your PayPal ID You publish an article InfoBarrel places ads on your article (you don’t have to do anything here) You get traffic (promote your article on social media and ask your friends and family to read and share your post!) People click on the ads on your article InfoBarrel pays you

Why do they do this? Because they’re basically rewarding you for the traffic you bring in. That’s it.

So, if you have a PayPal account, go right ahead and enter your info so that you can get paid from the traffic you get on your posts*.

*It will take some time for your posts to generate their own traffic, so it may take a little while before you start seeing any money rolling in. Just be patient.

(Sign up for InfoBarrel for free. Click here.)

What Clients and Employers Want to See in Your Portfolio

I get this one a lot.

“What things should I include in my portfolio, that will help me land a position as a [your desired writing job here]?”

Granted that you’re looking for writing work, you want to have things in your portfolio that showcase just that–your writing.

They also want to see your best writing work, that’s relevant, or most relevant to the position they’re hiring for.

…This is why it’s important that you find a niche (or two) you want to write for, and stick with it.

…Trust me, this is going to help you find clients and employers you can actually have fun working for…

Employers want to find exactly what they’re looking for in a matter of seconds.

The key here is to make your portfolio as easy to navigate as possible. Your potential employers or clients want to be able to find what they’re looking for right away…and if they can’t do that in less than 15 seconds, chances are, they’ll move on to another writer who’s a little more organized.

I know. It’s a tough world out there.

No need to worry. An online portfolio will help you get your portfolio organized and ready for employers to browse around.

Each of the below online portfolios are 100% free (unless you choose to upgrade to a paid account), extremely easy to use and have super nice & tidy platforms for you to display your writing work:

1.) Contently – Originally a place where journalists and companies go to connect, Contently offers a really easy-to-navigate portfolio, that’s simple and helps highlight your work to your visitors immediately. So that they don’t have to dig and try to find what they’re looking for.

2.) Journo Portfolio – This one’s another fav. Not only can you highlight your best work using this portfolio, but Journo Portfolio also doubles as a blog. So, no more having to juggle multiple platforms!

3.) WordPress – Even though WP isn’t necessarily geared toward portfolios, it still gives you total freedom to do whatever the heck you want with its platform. So, if you want to get creative and use one of WordPress’s free themes for your portfolio, go on ahead. Just make sure to keep it simple.

Where to Go to Get the Feedback You Need

Ah, this one.

First, I’d like to start by saying that when you ask for feedback, you must, must, MUST be ready to take in all the feedback–the pretty and the ugly.

Second, if you’re going to ask your friends and family for feedback, please remember that they love you, and don’t want to hurt your feelings (or so I’d like to believe). Be straightforward with them and tell them not to sugarcoat anything. You want them to tell you like it is…

Facebook, Instagram and other social medias

Now is not the time to be shy. Ask you friends and family for honest feedback on your work.

It might also help by asking them to also be serious with their feedback because it actually affects your work (just incase you have those sneakies that like to troll your stuff).

Be ready to take some notes from the feedback you receive.

The Lovely World of Reddit

If you’re not familiar with Reddit, I suggest you go take a look around.

The Reddit platform is a place where you can find news, jobs, GIFs, images of cute cats and just about anything you can think of.

I personally like asking for feedback on the /r/copywriting subreddit. This page is mainly for copywriters, but I especially recommend coming here for feedback because you’re getting it from people who literally know how to master the wizardry of words.

A word of caution: These writers don’t play around. They give you exactly what you ask for. So please, take no offense when the feedback you get from them isn’t as pretty as you hoped it would be.

They’re there to help you improve. Learn from what they have to say, even if it’s a little brutal.

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