How to Start a Successful Freelance Writing Business

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Business plan
Writing skills
Website
Marketing plan

Step 1

Create a detailed business plan. You’re a writer so this may seem quite simple—on the contrary business plans are very in-depth plan that outlines the following:
The summary is a description of the services your freelance writing business will provide the customers. Management plan; this includes your experience, skills, and other pertinent information—think resume.
Marketing plan; includes the results of your research for a demand for a freelance writing business, it showcases your competition, includes your business’s strengths and weakness compared to the competitor, describes your marketing tactic and sells procedure.
Organizational plan is next; this shows how your business is structured, i.e., office arrangements or set up, business equipment, software, and the time line for getting the business up and running.
The financial plan is a key component; it includes monthly profit-and-loss statements, monthly cash-flow statement—this will show if you will have enough capital to meet your freelance business writing expenses, financial statement—shows liabilities, net worth, and personal assets, projected monthly sales and for the first year of your freelance writing business, start-up costs and a balance sheet that shows your business’s assets and liabilities.
Finally the forecasting plan will include your strategy for keeping your business, well, in business.
A well-written business plan should be at least 25-30 pages in length; some are much longer. You can purchase software to help you create a business plan for a successful freelance writing business.
Step 2

Evaluate your writing skills.
Freelance writer are responsible for writing a variety of content for clients with specific needs and demands, so it is imperative that you start a freelance writing business only if you posses writing skills that reflect concise, grammatically correct, error-free and properly formatted written content to each client.
Step 3

Create a website.
There is a lot to be said about a professional, easy-to-navigate website that customers can quickly review your portfolio to determine the services your freelance writing business offers. Customers will feel more at ease knowing that you have an updated professional website that displays your freelance writing business services.
Customers seek out qualified professional writers and a professionally designed website showcasing your writing abilities is the only way to stand out amongst the freelance writing competition.
Step 4

Market your business.
Effective marketing is so very crucial to attracting clients to your freelance writing business--it does not help your freelance writing business if you are the only one who knows that it exists. With so many great marketing tools available online for you to take advantage of there is no reason your business should not be getting the exposure it deserves. Market your freelance writing business in your local area and utilize word-of-mouth; one of the most effective and inexpensive marketing tools.
Step 5

Decide what to charge the clients for your services. Writing is an art and customers are certainly willing to pay for a work of art. Familiarize yourself with the writers market to offer fair and competitive prices for your freelance writing business services.
Step 6

Contact a legal advisor to create a contract regarding terms and conditions of payments and other information that will be required to properly establish a binding agreement between you and the customer.
Step 7

Register your freelance writing business name. If you have decided on a name for your business visit http://www.business.gov/guides/business-law/business-name/dba.html, visit this site to gain knowledge on the legal aspects of registering your business and other resourceful information as it pertains to starting your successful freelance writing business.
Step 8

Find clients to write for. This may seem like a daunting task, but it really is not. You would possibly be surprised at how many people need a freelance writer to write a resume, a grant proposal, a speech, a newsletter for e-mail campaigns, and even a business plan for their business. The key to finding clients is to not only network— which can lead to dependency on others to gather your business clients,build up clientele by sending professional flyers to local businesses and organizations,be sure to include how your freelance writing business can save them money by not having to hire employees to handle their written content. I would advise that those who are starting a freelance writing business offer a discount of 5-15% to certain organizations, Army veterans who need resumes, or to first time customers in general—this is a proven method to build up clientele.
Step 9

Go for it-- you can do this. Don’t be bashful, in order to have a successful freelance writing business you have to get moving—that means marketing and getting your business name out there in a positive way by creating a spectacular experience to those clients that use your services.