How to Market Yourself as a Freelance Writer

Video Transcript

"REBECCA SATO: Hi. I'm Rebecca Sato with ExpertVillage.com, and we were going to talk about how to market yourself as a writer. Now, just think you're a writer. It's your job to be creative so I don't ever want you to lie about marketing yourself, but I do want you to use that creativity and present yourself in the best light. So here's the deal. Nobody wants to hire a writer that isn't good. And that's true even if they're barely paying you anything. Even if the job sucks, they still somehow want you to be this awesome writer that could put Shakespeare to shame. So you have to market yourself that you're a good writer and a lot of that is confidence. Don't be afraid to be confident and I don't want to say exaggerate, but I will say, "Go ahead and embellish it." Don't ever lie. Don't ever tell them you've written for a publication you've not written for. They can check and it's pretty easy to do. And if you are lying, you've just ruined your reputation. So morality aside, which is also a good reason to be honest, but even for just practical purposes: Don't lie, be honest. But I think it's okay to present yourself in a favorable light, of course, that what sales is. So when you're marketing just remember to be confident, let them know that you are a professional writer with experience. And if that's a little of experience, don't mention that, just mention that you have experience and that you--play up what you have done and minimize what you haven't. And don't be afraid to tell them that you're good and you know you're good. And that you're going to do a great job for them. That's all they want to know is that you're going to do a great job. So don't be afraid to tell them how good you are. You won't sound like you're bragging. [SOUNDS LIKE] It just makes them assured that you're confident in what you're doing, and people trust confident people. So just keep that in mind, it's all about believing in yourself and getting that believing in yourself across the client."