Friday, October 3, 2008

Essentials For A Freelance Copywriter

By Ray Edwards

Copywriters are in high demand in the freelancing world. The Internet has helped turn freelance copywriting into a lucrative career because it has opened the doors to opportunities previously unavailable.

There is plenty of work for freelance copywriters if you know how to establish good contacts. As mentioned before, one of the things a freelance copywriter can do is write online content in order to help boost Internet sales. Furthermore, online content is becoming one of the largest sources of work for freelance work in many different fields. Giving more evidence to the growing impact the Internet is having on business.

Never the less, even though there are lots of job opportunities for freelance copywriters, this does not mean that you'll certainly have a lot of work. With all the other copywriters out there you will have to make a name for yourself and find ways to stay competitive, this will insure a steady and lucrative workflow. To help you stay competitive here are some tips:

Advertise

In the Freelance Internet Copywriting world, it is very important that you effectively advertise yourself. Clients wont be able to hire you if they don't know that you exist. Advertising yourself can be as expensive or inexpensive as you wish, although the more money you invest, the greater your return. Have business cards made-up to give people when you meet them and prepare a short thirty-second explanation of who you are and what you do. Do some work for free to build up your client base and body of testimonials. There are also forums out there where people ask for advice with their marketing on which you can post comments with links back to your site. You should also build a portfolio with some of your best work to show people. Advertising yourself is very important because it will help you get your name out there in order to start your freelancing career.

Do Good Work, All The Time

Since you are your own boss and employee, your business credibility rests on your shoulders. Therefore you need to do your best work all the time. No matter what kind of copywriting you do, your work will form the basis of your entire business. It will help determine your credibility and it will affect the rate at which you win project bids. So it is very important that you do your best work consistently.

Develop A Good Reputation

Your attitude and work ethic have significant effects on your reputation as well. You can be the best copywriter out there, but have no clients because you're known to treat people poorly. You must be personable, practice good work ethics and meet deadlines. Meeting deadlines and practicing good work ethics are important factors that clients use when they are hiring a freelance copywriter.

Search For Work

You have to hunt for projects and jobs initially, even though at some point you may not have to look for projects because clients could be coming to you. There are a lot of ways to look for copywriting work.

Ask your current clients for referrals, or anyone you already know that may know someone who needs some marketing help. This helps you establish your business with contacts and people you already know.

Easy and effective places to find work are Freelance Internet Marketplaces. They are sites such as www.elance.com, www.directfreelance.com, and www.guru.com that help copywriters and clients to find each other. They also allow you to create a profile where you post your portfolio, bid on projects, and have emails sent to you about jobs that could possibly interest you.

Hopefully this article helped you understand some of the essential parts of freelance Internet copywriting. This field does require your best work and some time, but the benefits of being your won boss are far worth the effort. These were just some pointers on copywriting, so if you're interested in it, then you should do some more research to see if it?s right for you.

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