How to Become a Freelance Writer and Double Your Income

Matt Harrison November 10, 2020

If you want to be a financially successful freelance writer, now is the perfect time to start. Freelance writing is a great way to express your creative side while helping businesses make more money. Good copy is in high demand, and you can make a great living as a freelance writer.

In this post, we’re going to show you how to become a freelance writer so you can double your income.

What Does a Freelance Writer Do?

A writer’s job is to create compelling, informational pieces for blogs and websites that inspire people to take further action. That ultimate action is usually to buy something, but it can also be to engage more with the brand, like follow them on social media or watch a video with additional tips from the brand owners.

A good freelance writer knows how important it is to know the brand’s audience and to keep that audience’s psychological trigger points in mind. This is how one writes effective content. All content must have an end goal, and a freelance writer gets paid to attract and lead readers to take action towards that goal.

To double your income, you need to master the specific elements of written content that draw readers in, keep them on the page, and inspire them to follow your lead. You will need to be able to effectively craft the following technical elements on a regular basis to achieve the goal of each piece:

1. Title – You must grab readers’ attention straight off the bat and provide enough information to encourage people to read the piece.
2. Headings – You need to explain the contents in brief so that a reader can get the gist of the piece without having to read every paragraph.
3. Images or Illustrations – These are supporting elements that help break up the text and aid comprehension. All visuals need to be relevant to where they are placed within the text and can have descriptive captions to further support the content. Visuals are not part of the writing, but they go a long way to keeping readers’ attention focused, supporting your headings, and providing an attractive overall layout.
4. Calls-to-Action (CTAs) – You can’t just write a piece without telling readers what the next step to take is. All content must point readers to do something, whether that’s to add an item to their cart, sign up for a webinar or newsletter, download a guide, call a number, or any number of other possible actions that take them down the sales funnel.

How To Double Your Income as a Freelance Writer

As a freelancer, you can literally make as much money as you want. But you have to produce content that’s worth the price, as mentioned above. You also need to be known well enough for businesses to recognize the value of your content. Below are the steps to get there.

Pick A Niche

The key to making a name for yourself as a freelance writer is to have a specific niche to serve. Many who are just starting out will try a bunch of different things, accepting all kinds of assignments to simply earn money. This can be good practice, but is a hit-and-miss strategy at best.

Start by asking yourself what you love to write about. Then ask yourself what you can write about well. Put those together and you’ve got your niche.

Identify and Target Your Ideal Clients

A niche is not enough. You need to know who you are going to write content for. And this means not just what types of businesses, but the people behind them. It is, after all, people who will choose to hire you.

Start by asking yourself who you love to serve. Then ask yourself who you can serve well. Put those together and you’ve got your ideal client.

Market Yourself

Armed with your niche, you can start appealing to your ideal clients by figuring out where they hang out. These days, most business owners have a social media presence, so it’s really easy to connect with them. You just need to know which platform to focus on.

Start by creating a compelling profile on your chosen channel. Choose a profile picture and create a cover image that reflects your brand. This way, at a glance, you can show people who are interested in your posts who you are.

Then, simply share content. It doesn’t have to be full-length articles, but it should provide enough value and insight to show your ideal clients that you know what you’re talking about. It should make you attractive to them.

Tell stories about yourself, too. People like to know who they are dealing with. They want to get to know you before they hire you, and stories are better than a single interview to close the deal. While you tell stories, you can also show how you solve problems, persuading your ideal clients to reach out to you because you understand and can solve their pain points.

In your content, use emotional triggers to connect with readers. This makes your content resonate with them. When you hit that trigger, it prepares them to buy into the solution that you provide. Putting yourself in another person’s shoes is a sure-fire way to build the rapport you need to draw people in to listen to you.

Showcase Your Product and Results

Each time you get hired to write a piece of content, make sure that you share that, too. Businesses always appreciate free promotion of their web pages and blog posts. When you share the published links, don’t forget to add some new content to it, like the story behind it – with permission, of course, if you’re sharing something that might be internal to the organization you are writing for. Later on, as the post gains momentum, you’ll want to share it again. This time, add some information about how that post performed for your client.

Ask permission to add the content to your freelance portfolio as well. When you have a nice collection of work on your souped-up digital portfolio, make sure you have a link to that on your profile. It’s a great idea to create a featured image for it so that there’s a supporting visual to go along with that link.

Final Thoughts

You can become a freelance writer and double your income in a few short months if you follow this process and work hard at it.

You will need to really get clear on who you serve and what you provide, and sharpen your soft skills to reach them. Don’t underestimate to power of setting clear goals, too. And keep practicing to refine your voice and art. A mentor who has succeeded in the niche that you have chosen can be a great guide and put on the fast-track to your own success.

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