You love to write. You’re pretty darn good at it. After another painful day at the office, you start to think that perhaps you should give freelancing a shot, try the nights and weekends thing to get your feet wet, and see if you can work for yourself as an independent writer full time one day. Where should you start? Someone reached out to me recently with that question, and I thought I’d share my thoughts here as well.

I’ve written some newsletters and the occasional blog post for organizations, but I don’t like to do it much, I wouldn’t say that I’m great at it, and don’t really push copywriting as something I offer clients. However, I think that basic advice for breaking into freelance services holds true across multiple industries, so here are some lessons I’ve learned as a freelance designer that could help budding writers as well.

Work backwards from a specific goal.

Be as specific as you can about exactly the kind of work you want to do. Who’s your ideal client? How much time do you want to spend per week on this? How much do you want to earn? What do you definitely not want to do?

Partner with someone who works with your ideal clients in some other service field.

Like, ahem, a designer. Or a lawyer, or accountant… you get it, anyone who doesn’t compete with you who can toss clients your way… and someone who you’re a champion of and will send your own clients back to. Of all the tips here, this is the most important one, and the one that will do the most to help you get your first few jobs.

Work on building credibility.

If you don’t have one already, set up a site with your full name or whatever business name you have a DBA set up for. Populate it with useful resources for your ideal client. Instead of just having an online resume and a bunch of writing samples you did for someone else, make sure that everything you put up actually helps your audience even if they never hire you. I suggest starting with three articles on the following topics:

• Common mistakes people make when writing. Someone looking to hire you to write is very likely to read this because for a lot of people, writing is something they’re insecure about. You could cover everything from grammar and voice to general thoughts on purpose-driven content. Establish yourself as an authority, someone who can relieve your client of the pain of being unsure when it comes to the quality of the copy they publish.
• Resources for creating great content. Everything from training and hiring writers, to evaluating your own work. Become your clients’ best friend and adviser when it comes to content by portraying yourself as a resource expert.
• Examples of inspiring/great content/writing. Do not promote your own writing here, make sure you don’t come off as a salesperson here. Here’s your chance to show that you know their industry well, AND to point out where they might be missing the target. So if you ideal client is in a specific field, make sure you have examples of other companies in their field that are doing an amazing job with content.

None of these articles have to be perfect, and you can update them as needed, but they’re a solid place to start. Remember that this is your chance to showcase your natural writing voice and your ability to produce moving copy.

Go after awesome opportunities even if not solicited.

Don’t be shy–if you find someone who looks like a great client, and would allow you to do the work you’d love to do, reach out to them first. Approach them by saying something like “I’ve noticed you do this amazingly well, but you could really benefit from ________”, at which point you make your value proposition.Offer something for free as a sample and so that you don’t come off as a needy salesperson. This free tip is your chance to make them understand how valuable you’d be when they hire you. Be gutsy, be persistent, you know the deal…

And once you start getting jobs, don’t forget to make good money.

It’s OK to do some things for cheaper than usual in the very beginning, but remember that it’s always harder to raise prices than to lower them in the services field. Some people, including myself, are really shy about asking for money, and that’s just an uncomfortable phase you need to get through.

But… won’t my website be a red flag to potential clients because I won’t have a lot of work samples up?

No.

When you’re starting out, your best bet at landing clients will be word-of-mouth. Your “starter” site (aka the one you’ll have before your first 5 or so clients) should do everything it possibly can to encourage this. One great way to do so is to write a few pieces of useful content that a potential client would either save or share with someone else. Should it be a regularly updated blog that tries to teach visitors how to write well? Absolutely not, unless you want to be a blogger instead of a copywriter. And please, don’t ever, ever put ads on your personal site. Ever. Remember, you must focus on how you can help your ideal client within 3-5 minutes of them exploring the site you put together.

In short, here’s how to avoid any red flags. Create a site that makes you look like someone who knows more about writing well than your client does. Then focus on landing your first clients through partnering and word-of-mouth. When you’re coming to a potential client with a personal recommendation, 99% of the time they will just quickly glance at your site to see if you’re someone they wouldn’t lose face by hiring, spend a minute clicking around your content, and then hire you anyway based on the recommendation. In most cases, no one has the time to dig deep in your resume or writing samples. They just want to see some signs that you know what you’re doing, that you’ll get along with them, and that they’ll be better off after contact with you than before. Once you start working and finish at least 3 projects, go back and add writing samples to your site. Don’t do it with the very first project you finish because it might not be that great (not to be blunt or anything…).

That’s all, folks!

I hope these tips help all budding freelancers, regardless of your specific field or interest. Remember, be specific about your perfect client, prove your value to them, and partner, partner, partner. Good luck! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you need some words of encouragement.