With the high rate of competition involving internet writers, it becomes more important with each passing day to attract potential clients to your website. Ensuring web traffic could easily be your only means to survive. We’re talking about the cut-throat world of e-commerce here. You need to get all the positive points you can headed in your direction.
There are ample opportunities which can help you bring your writing business to the next level, but with a catch. Many of them require money be spent and there has to be a better way. We are going to take a look at some of the least expensive or free options you have to help grow your writing business.
In order to get this show on the road you’re going to need a website. Not just any old website, but one which pops with professionalism yet attracts potential clients at the same time. There are many services that offer free of charge blog-style websites such as blogspot.com or wordpress.com. With these sites not only can you create separate pages for different content, but they also offer templates you can choose from as well. This leaves only the content for your pages to worry about as there is no need for HTML or other programming knowledge.
Provide a short introduction about yourself as a writer. This step is crucial to the desired outcome of building your writing business. This can be as long or short as you feel comfortable with, but it is the primary detail you want to centralize your website on. You could have a page with some writing samples in the form of a portfolio or resume. These could include reviews you have received on your written work, links to any external websites where your published works appear and any other information you wish. You might want to consider including a copyright notice on your works or samples to avoid misuse of your writing.
Once your website is up and running with all the information you deem important, you can begin attaching a link to your email signatures, providing it on your business cards and sharing it at every possible opportunity. Keep the information on your website/blog current and associated to your writing as much as possible. You want potential clients to see the business side of you, and this is the place they will go to see that.
Your next step will be to start promotion of your services. As mentioned earlier, you can add your web page or blog link to your outgoing email messages. However, there are more ways you can promote your skills. Social networking sites are the ideal location for spreading the word about your writing services. Sites like Twitter or Facebook are prime locations for networking – not only with fellow writers but potential clients as well.
If you find yourself in a dry spell and needing to find extra writing somewhere, one again you can turn to the online community. Try guest blogging for someone. By offering to post as a guest on someone else’s blog you could be drawing more attention to your business. This attraction could result in new clients. Or how about taking a look at some of the job boards such as freelance.com or monster.com? There are almost always jobs available for writers on the various boards. In a pinch, this will help with your financial situation until your own client base builds back up again.
