The COVID-19 that hit the world at the beginning of 2020 changed everything.
Millions and millions of people ended up without a job, and thousands and thousands of businesses haven’t survived through the global pandemic. We have witnessed a very unlucky period for everyone, and startups and freelancers aren’t an exception.
However, some freelancers have managed to react quickly and adjust to the new normal without breaking their banks; and some started making even more money than before.
And the good news is freelance content writers are among them. It might surprise you, but the businesses are hiring freelance writers now as never before.
So, if you are new to the industry or don’t have enough experience yet, we want to share some valuable tips to help you become a better writer and increase your income in 2021. So polish up your video resume (or a regular one), and see what’s out there.
First, let’s look at what precisely freelance writers do.
- These creative self-employed individuals produce whatever written text is needed by their clients, promoting or selling a business, brand, product, or service.
- Freelance writers can work from home (which is more likely during the ongoing pandemic), from co-working spaces, rented offices, or other places.
- Some of them work as generalists and cover topics as varied as drones, embroidery machines, and interior design.
- Others specialize in one domain, such as food or fashion. And it’s worth mentioning that this kind of freelance activity doesn’t require any formal training or special education.
But, your writing should be persuasive, and you have to develop an ability to influence people’s actions with your words. Therefore, you should learn the basics and never stop mastering your skills.
Headlines
Even a well-written article (email, blog post, etc.) has to have an attention-grabbing headline. Its quality will have a significant impact on the success of your project.
The better your headlines, the more clients you’ll land and the better work you will do for those people.
Follow this small guide to make sure your headlines always serve their purpose efficiently:
1. Value Statement Headlines
Can you briefly summarize what the business you write about is offering? To whom is this offer addressed? How can it benefit potential readers? It’s essential to express all of this in a sharp, mind-catching, and eye-catching way.
2. Email Subject Lines
Making a promise and creating curiosity works like magic. People often skip reading emails if the subject line doesn’t sound intriguing and promising.
Open your mailbox, look through the email headlines and identify those that attract your attention. It will give you some clues. Besides, this compelling article has tons of advice on how to improve this exact skill.
3. A Great Blog Post Headline
If you write blog posts for your client, and your content is related to a popular topic, your Headline should indicate why your post is worth attention.
Check out these examples so that next time, you will be able to nail that task nicely and efficiently.
4. Title Tags
Meta title tags are the main factor in helping search engines (think of Google) understand what your web page is about, and they are the first impression people have of your page.
Therefore, you should keep your meta title under 60 characters, and it has to include keywords or a keyphrase.
However, you have to avoid titles that are just a list of keywords because it will get you into trouble with search engines.
Instead, stay creative and unique with your titles and make them searchable to ensure that intrigued readers will not ignore your blog post, your landing page, your ad, or any other place where you would like to lead them.
Now, let’s talk about other essential skills of freelance writers that are always in demand.
Value Propositions
As a freelance writer, you should be capable of creating extraordinary value propositions. A value proposition is a brief statement that:
- Conveys what a business is offering (similar to a brand positioning statement)
- Differentiates its value
- Specifies who it’s meant for
It would be best if you defined the offer and for whom it’s intended in a very clear way, and usually, it’s not the hardest thing to do, but the differentiating value is quite challenging. You can find a few great examples in this helpful article.
Landing Pages
Landing Page creation is always in high demand. Almost every business today has a dedicated website or at least a web page, and having well-performing landing pages is crucial.
Everything rotates around them, and if you know how to get it right, you will always have clients willing to pay for that. businesses out there need these scripts right now
The primary goal of landing page copywriting is to articulate the value of the business and connect it to customers so they realize right away how this business can help them meet their goals, and they feel very excited about that.
If you want to see what the great landing pages look like, don’t skip visiting this informative page.
Emails
Another much-needed skill you can always get paid for is Email Copywriting.
All businesses highly rely on email marketing; therefore, you can easily make it the primary source of your income or try it as a starting point with excellent earning potential if you are thinking about becoming a freelance writer.
With thousands of templates available out there, a comprehensive guide to email copywriting, and a bit of creativity on your side, mastering this demanded skill will not take very long.
Video Scripts
We are not talking about video scripts for the movie production industry (though you may try yourself in this field if you have some fresh ideas in your head).
Thousands, if not millions of companies, startups, and single entrepreneurs, build their businesses through webinars, social media videos, explainer and demo videos, sales videos, etc., and all of them need video scripts and screenplays.
Even the most uncomplicated how-to-do tutorials will never perform well enough without a good script behind them.
A script creates a framework for a video with a very descriptive chronological run-down of actions and dialogs/monologues presented in scenes.
This fantastic resource will help you get started and put together your first script. And if you are interested in creating a screenplay, you may look at the extensive list of the best screenwriting software tools to use in 2021.
Blog posts
Blog Source: Vectornator
Blog posts can range from 500 words to 7,000 or more, but regardless of the length, you should be able to grab your readers’ attention and keep them engaged till the end of your post.
Whatever you will be writing about – an article for a wine blog or review of PDF reader software, these practical tips from Neil Patel, one of the top influencers on the web, will help you to master your blog writing skills in no time.
Ad Copywriting
The market for ad copywriting is vast, but writing ads doesn’t come as a single job. Usually, small business ads are created by PPC (pay-per-click) specialists, so you might consider becoming a PPC service provider and run someone’s campaign on a full-time basis.
Final Recommendations
If you choose a freelance copywriter career, you don’t have to master all the skills from above at the same time.
Just work your way through the basics of everything, see what you like the most and proceed in this direction.
There are two handy apps that you can employ for improving your writing. The first one is Grammarly – a grammar checking, spell checking, and plagiarism detection software used by 20 million people worldwide today. Grammarly is a paid tool, but a free version is available as well.
The second software – the Hemingway App, highlights any mistakes and gives tips on how to tighten up your copy. The combination of these tools provides you with everything you need for beautiful error-free writing.
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.
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