Andriana BoyrikovaChoosing to be your own boss and to deal with clients and editors on a daily basis is a crazy ride which can get you deeply in the weeds unless you arm yourself with some veteran freelancer’s lessons to guide you on your way.
As a rule of thumb, freelancing is an attractive way of life that offers independence, flexibility, and unlimited financial potential. Yet, the road to freelancing success is paved with too many stumbling blocks. How can I land an assignment when I don’t have a portfolio? How can I find clients? Why isn’t anyone offering me work even though I have created a website with the services I offer?
As the freelancing path can get too thorny, I want to share with you a couple of lessons I learned in the past 18 months, somewhere in between the long periods of delayed payments, sleepless nights, and writers’ blocks.
How can I start freelancing when I don’t have a portfolio?
Do an internship or traineeship
If you have decided to enter the freelance writers’ world without solid experience and portfolio, as it was the case with me, my advice is to do an internship or traineeship at a media company, magazine, newspaper, startup, or any other place where you will have the freedom to do interviews, write articles, go to events, and expand your network.
I did an internship at Innovation Origins which gave me a stellar start I wouldn’t have possibly imagined. Apart from building an extensive portfolio, which later helped me find clients, the whole experience taught me how to cope with difficult situations: asking uncomfortable questions during an interview; meeting tight deadlines, for example, doing an interview in the morning and writing a story that goes online in the afternoon; going to networking events without having my heart in my throat; and more.
How can I land assignments?
Build a portfolio and practice, practice, practice
One of the most effective ways to get assignments at the dawn of your freelancing is by writing blog posts in the niche in which you want to develop yourself as a writer. You have a fancy for fashion? Start posting about fashion. You plan to be a technical writer? Get off the ground publishing instruction manuals about computer software and hardware. This will not only give you exposure but also train your writing muscle.
I began blogging about high-tech innovation in the Netherlands, and suddenly media owners and entrepreneurs who had liked my blog posts wanted me to write articles about their companies or help them with different writing projects. A quick estimation shows me I got 80% of my writing assignments as a result of my blog posts or previously published articles in the respective field.
Network
If building your portfolio and practicing the craft of writing is sowing the seeds, networking is reaping the harvest. It took me a couple of months before I realized that spending my days locked between four walls wouldn’t bring me clients. Going outside and meeting new people would.
Networking is one of the best ways to show to the world you are a professional writer looking for new career opportunities. Just take your business cards (I strongly recommend you to always have them within arm’s reach, you never know when and where you will run into a prospective client interested in your services), arm yourself with a smile – always the best ice-breaker – and go create those business opportunities for you.
Be proactive
Proactivity is at the core of every successful freelance writer’s mentality. Sitting in front of your laptop all day and waiting for someone to call and offer you an assignment simply won’t do. I know some freelance writers who don’t even have a website but still spend all their energy complaining they land no writing projects. Let’s face it: if you can’t find the time to even build an online portfolio to showcase to the world, cross freelancing out of your list.
Tell everyone you are open for business
On a final note, I advise you to take every chance to promote yourself both online and offline. Tell everyone you know that you are a freelancer: send a message or an email to your friends, former colleagues, and university lecturers, basically anyone you know, and tell them you have set up your own business. Next time you go to your hairdresser’s, tell them what you do for a living. Don’t be shy to promote yourself on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. The more people who know what you do, the better for you.
I have been consistently promoting myself on social media and when meeting new people, and so far I have been offered several writing projects as result of my sustained marketing efforts.
Take control and make it happen because no one else but you can.
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Freelancing tips: As someone who has faced a myriad of challenges in the freelance writing arena, I want to share my tips and ideas with you, fellow freelance writers, and hopefully make your daily freelancing struggles one tone lighter. What are your tips that can save another freelancer’s writing life? Let me know in a comment.
