About Research & Freelance Writing

Video Transcript

"REBECCA SATO: Hi. I'm Rebecca Sato with ExpertVillage.com. And we were just talking about how to get new jobs, generate new leads and a lot of that is just doing a good job, and then there's also other resources online. Every year, there's a publication that comes out called the Writer's Market. That's good. There's different ways. There's networking. That's a big one. Make sure you're asking everyone you know. Make sure they know you're a writer and you're good--you know, network. Let people know what you're doing and don't be afraid to tap into resources and contacts that you have. That's a big one. You have to be willing to market yourself. So--but actually what I really want to talk about is how to do your research and to know your client. I think, a lot of times if you're a good writer, you're probably good at making things up. You have a good imagination, but you have to balance your good imagination with reality when you're writing copy. Make sure that what you're writing is factual. Make sure you've done your homework. You know what, you might want to sell a product for a client. For example, you've been hired to do some copywriting for them and you might to exaggerate. And the trick is, yeah, you want what you're writing to sell, but you want it to be truthful. So do your research. There's always a way to sell something if it's a decent product or service or whatever it maybe that you're writing about. There's always a way to sell it using reality but you can still use great descriptive words, and just make sure that you do your research. And as a freelance writer, you might be writing about the medical industry one day, and then you'll be writing about tulips the next day--how to grow tulips. So you're going to be jumping a lot, and you need to know how to research and you need to know how to do your homework. So just don't forget how important accuracy is."