It's the question every new freelance writer wants to know when they first start to find freelance work from home: how do you find the best clients?
Luckily, it's a question that has quite a simple answer: by looking for them.
There is no magic list of clients when you first start to earn money for a living. All too often new writers ask questions such as 'Where can I find a list of companies to approach for work?' or something similar.
You just have to look. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it can be frustrating. But it is the only way to go about it if you are serious about a career in writing.
Where to Look for Freelance Jobs
The best jobs that I have ever found as a freelance writer have come from contacting companies which I have found online. I focus almost exclusively on SEO content, and this works well for me because there are so many companies out there which need the sort of writing I provide.
There is no one type of client who wants SEO content. I could just as easily contact a website specialising in cat food as I could a travel portal looking for destination guides. Essentially, if anyone wants to do well online and run a business then they will need web content at some point.
However, having said that, you could always target the middle men. There are middle men in every industry, and I like to think of SEO firms as being the middle men for my services.
SEO companies have one aim, which is to get their clients' websites to appear higher in the search engines. They need content for this a lot of the time, and they regularly outsource this to SEO content writers.
So, they find the clients, and then every month they come to me with an order for a batch of articles. The only marketing I have to do is to send out an email, and the rest of the time I can focus on regular article work coming in to keep me busy.
Other Options for Finding Freelance Clients
Of course, the problem with targeting the middle men is that they usually take a cut. They are providing articles for their clients at one rate, and they are not going to pay you the same rate to write them.
In that case, try contacting companies directly. It may be harder to find the work, especially regular work, but if you find a company with a large website which needs regular content then you may be able to charge them more for each article.
Keep Marketing: It's the Only Way to Succeed
Whichever types of companies you target, just keep on doing it. Regularly. Daily if possible. Get in the habit of sending out regular marketing emails to potential clients, and even though many of them won't reply, over time you will build up a number of clients who will be able to keep you busy.
Luckily, it's a question that has quite a simple answer: by looking for them.
There is no magic list of clients when you first start to earn money for a living. All too often new writers ask questions such as 'Where can I find a list of companies to approach for work?' or something similar.
You just have to look. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it can be frustrating. But it is the only way to go about it if you are serious about a career in writing.
Where to Look for Freelance Jobs
The best jobs that I have ever found as a freelance writer have come from contacting companies which I have found online. I focus almost exclusively on SEO content, and this works well for me because there are so many companies out there which need the sort of writing I provide.
There is no one type of client who wants SEO content. I could just as easily contact a website specialising in cat food as I could a travel portal looking for destination guides. Essentially, if anyone wants to do well online and run a business then they will need web content at some point.
However, having said that, you could always target the middle men. There are middle men in every industry, and I like to think of SEO firms as being the middle men for my services.
SEO companies have one aim, which is to get their clients' websites to appear higher in the search engines. They need content for this a lot of the time, and they regularly outsource this to SEO content writers.
So, they find the clients, and then every month they come to me with an order for a batch of articles. The only marketing I have to do is to send out an email, and the rest of the time I can focus on regular article work coming in to keep me busy.
Other Options for Finding Freelance Clients
Of course, the problem with targeting the middle men is that they usually take a cut. They are providing articles for their clients at one rate, and they are not going to pay you the same rate to write them.
In that case, try contacting companies directly. It may be harder to find the work, especially regular work, but if you find a company with a large website which needs regular content then you may be able to charge them more for each article.
Keep Marketing: It's the Only Way to Succeed
Whichever types of companies you target, just keep on doing it. Regularly. Daily if possible. Get in the habit of sending out regular marketing emails to potential clients, and even though many of them won't reply, over time you will build up a number of clients who will be able to keep you busy.
Greg Walker is a freelance content writer who runs ProWebWriting.com, a website providing advice and information to help anyone to start up and run a rewarding and profitable freelance writing business from home.
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