A TEAM PLAYER MENTALITY IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT TO A THRIVING FREELANCE WRITING BUSINESS
Freelance writing is no walk in the park. In fact, some view those who embark on such an endeavor either two ways: they have “heart” or they are plain NUTS! Admittedly, not all freelancers hold themselves to high standards of integrity and authenticity. This is one of the reasons business owners and project managers cringe at working with freelancers. The question of reliability always crops up because of bad experiences in the past with freelancers missing deadlines, presenting plagiarized work, or they completely disappear off the face of the World Wide Web.
For those of us who take pride in presenting clients with quality work product, we see days where it seems it is an uphill climb vying for substantial writing projects. Even so, it is crucial to not give up, but keep climbing. Sure the journey is not a quick one, but longevity affords the time to build trustworthiness and reliability in the business world.
Here are a few suggestions to consider that will benefit your freelance writing business:
- Continually add to your writing portfolio; regardless if the written product is a paid project or not.
- Ask your clients if they are willing to refer your freelance services to other business colleagues, or write a testimonial to include in your business literature and/or on your website.
- Maintain open communication with past, current and prospective clients. Nothing is more frustrating for a client than to have an urgent project arise and not be able to get in touch with you ASAP!
- Be honest. If there is an assignment or deadline that is not within your means of completing, or it concerns a topic that is not within your expertise, advise the clients immediately. Better to be up front with them than to present written product that is unstructured, mediocre, or arrives past the deadline.
- Think like a team player, speak like a team player and perform like a team player on your clients’ projects. Clients will be more at ease knowing you want the project to succeed as much, if not more, than they do.
“There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” ~George Shinn, Owner of Charlotte Hornets Basketball Team.
The success of your freelance writing business emulates the gumption you have to make others (businesses, websites, blogs, newsletters, press releases, etc.) excel and shine through your writing skills, experience and, most of all, CREDIBILITY!
WEB CONTENT: QUINTESSENTIAL QUEST FOR QUALITY
I am sure you have heard of the Three Rs, but are you familiar with the Three Qs? Quintessential Quest for Quality! As a writer, the Three Qs should overshadow the basic Three Rs. A website’s quality is sustained by its content. A site cannot … and I repeat … cannotprosper without providing beneficial content to its visitors and readers. Look at it this way. The entire wide world of Internet is powered by content. It is extremely crucial that marketers, developers and yes, even writers, give readers a reason to return to a particular site. It requires passion, sincerity and dedication to pursue the quintessential quest for quality.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” ~William A. Foster
However, only a few writers put forth the effort to produce great work product; to pursue quality more so than quantity. Too often, corners are cut for the sake of celerity and time; using shortcuts at the cost of quality when it comes to creating content for sites. As a result, the internet has become a trash dump of sites filled with spam and pitiful content. This has come to Google’s attention, as well. So much so that Google has updated its notorious PageRank with a new search engine results ranking algorithm. It is now known as Panda. Simply, Google aims at lessening or eliminating low quality content and fostering high quality content with the reward of higher search engine placement ranking.
Now that we know what needs to be done as far as our quintessential quest for quality of web content, how do we go about achieving it? Here are some useful tips:
- Create content that is beneficial to visitors. Information that provides solutions to readers is the springboard that compels readers to share the site with others. This in turn increases site visibility and attraction. Remember, Google will be analyzing the “likes” and “shares” your content receives, thus determining your site’s page ranking.
- Emphasize the message you wish to convey in simple ways. Make the web content easy on the eyes structurally and grammatically. Otherwise, visitors will not remain at your site very long, often choosing to go elsewhere. Consider how you read a book, magazine, newspaper, etc. People normally read left to right and the readers’ eyes generally are attracted to headlines and bulleted content first before, after which a decision is made whether to continue to read the entire content.
- Focus on sincerity. Believe in what you write. Readers can easily see through a facade, an appearance. Remember: credibility v. falsity.
- Give your readers a reason to remain at your site. Mix up the content but maintain the congruency. Provide readers with relevant articles, blogs, resources, etc, yet be certain the information is relevant and beneficial to the targeted audience.
“Focus on the user and all else will follow. … Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experience possible. Placement in search results is never sold to anyone, and advertising is not only clearly marked as such, it offers relevant content and is not distracting.” ~Google’s Philosophy
At this point, creating quality web content may seem commonsensical to you. You are correct! There are no secrets or mysteries to solve. The only way to change the direction of a web site sinking deep into a densely populated graveyard of failed websites is by saturating its content with integrity, believability, and sincerity. In turn you will find that the site soon soars into higher SEO rankings due to your quintessential quest for quality.