Is it your dream to freelance or work for a large company providing content writing services to a variety of clients? Content writing is a unique and fascinating career path that can provide numerous opportunities for professionals to learn and grow. However, if you’re planning to pursue this path, it’s best to be thoroughly prepared first, since any writing career can sometimes feel uncertain and following expert advice can help you clarify your vision and feel confident. Before you snag your first client, check out these five essential tips to keep in mind.
- You’ll Need To Learn Different Styles and Tones
Content writing is a large field that can encompass several different types of writing, meaning success in this profession could rely on your ability to learn different styles and tones and to toggle between them as needed. Depending on the sort of work you’re hoping to pick up, it may be helpful to master a business-oriented style, a more casual or playful tone and a professional style that makes your writing sound authoritative. Having the skill to juggle these different options could expand your clientele and make you more attractive as a hire!
- Consider Choosing a Specialty and Honing Your Expertise
Although some content writers remain general and broad in their expertise, you may be able to land more clients and find success if you choose a specialty. Having a specialty allows you to position yourself as an expert or authority and may also help cut down on research time prior to writing. Some great specialties to consider include, for example:
- Financial writing
- Legal writing
- B2B corporate writing
- Copywriting or other marketing writing
- Learn the Ropes of Market Research, Keyword Research and Competition Research
A big part of content writing is aiding in search optimization efforts, wherein companies try to make their content rank higher in search engines so that it will get found by potential customers. If you understand the basics of keyword tactics, keyword research and market research, you may be even more attractive to companies that need those skills on their marketing teams. Of course, you can also take your research skills to do some digging into what’s made your competitors successful and how you could position yourself as a top choice when companies need writers.
- Complement Your Writing Skills With Social Media Know-How
Although you might think that being a content writer strictly means you’re in charge of the final write-up, many clients today are attracted to strong social media skills that could complement the final product. If you learn some social media tactics, you could be even more marketable! Consider:
- Managing social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook or Twitter
- Learning the basics of search engine optimization and HTML coding
- Leaning on previous academic or work experience to inform and complement your writing
- Infuse Your Unique Writing Voice Into Every Post and Article
Lastly, remember that readers love originality! Even if you’re otherwise a strong writer, producing articles that all sound monotone or bland could potentially turn some readers off. Rather than falling into a factory-line mode of content production, be sure to infuse your unique writing voice into every post and article that you produce. You’ll be able to develop a signature style that way, making you not only more distinctive but potentially more marketable to new clients as well!
Becoming a content writer presents aspiring professionals with a wealth of opportunities for the taking. Whether you’re planning to go freelance or hope to find an in-house position at a large corporation, though, this interesting career path comes with some unique aspects that it’s best to learn about before getting started. If you’re hoping to make a living doing content writing, be sure to heed these five foundational tips before you get started.
