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What Is Freelance Writing? (And What Do Freelancers Do?)

What is freelance writing and is it for me? The freelance writing industry has seen a major increase in individuals switching to freelancing over the last couple of years. Many people embarked on this journey because they were either laid off or needed to move away from the demands of a 9-5 job. But a lot of people are unfamiliar with the concept of freelance writing. So, in this article, I’ll discuss what a freelance writer is, what they do, and the type of writing you can do as a freelancer.

What Is Freelance Writing?

Freelance writing is a career where you write content for companies and organizations on a self-employed basis. As a freelancer, you’ll often work with multiple clients at once, and you can choose to specialize in a niche (focus area) or be a general writer and write on any topic required by clients. The main types of writers in this industry are:

• Content writers – Writers that write to inform, educate and instruct readers.
• Copywriter – Writers specializing in written content to generate and increase sales for a company.

What Exactly Does A Freelance Writer Do?

The role of a freelance writer is to…write. But, a freelancer does more than just write. Here’s a breakdown of what they do.

1. Write

A writer effectively communicates the message of the organization or company they’re writing for. Writers should also be able to match a brand’s style to engage the company’s target audience.

2. Research

Researching takes a lot of time (approximately 2-4 hours), especially if you’re writing about a new topic. Good research allows for fact-based and fluff-free content.

3. Conduct Interviews

Sometimes writers have to interview experts on the topic they’re writing about to create plausible quotes for any claims they make. This especially applies when writing for newspapers or magazines. 

4. Edit and Proofread

These two aspects of writing are vital. Edited content creates easy-to-read and grammatically correct content.

5. Manage Various Projects

When you freelance, you’re running your own business. This means you need to have impeccable organizational skills because you’ll be managing multiple projects from various clients, ensuring you’ve sent out invoices on time, and setting time to follow up on (potential) clients.

6. Optimize Content For Search Engines

Most of the content written these days is for the web. There are 1.93 billion websites worldwide at the time of writing this. So there’s an increased demand for businesses to be found (preferably on the first page) when users type in their queries on search engines. SEO is essential for companies to generate traffic and convert that traffic to sales.

7. Source Images

In some cases, writers can be expected to look for images that are relevant to the topic at hand.

8. Market Themselves

We’ve already established that as a freelancer, you’re self-employed. Some of the projects you’ll take on will be on a contractual basis, so you’ll need new clients once the contract ends and to maintain cash flow. Marketing can be in the form of cold emailing, applying on job boards, or reaching out to digital marketing agencies hiring freelancers.

What Is An Example Of Freelance Writing?

The type of content written by a freelancer varies and it also depends on the content needs of the organizations you’re writing for. 

Here are examples of content you can write as a freelancer:

• Scripts 
• Interviews
• Speeches
• Books
• Website copy
• Blogs
• Products reviews and descriptions
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Proposals
• Essays
• Academic writing
• Newsletters
• Emails
• Advertorials

Conclusion

There’s a lot that goes into freelance writing and professionally conducting their business. Once you’ve figured out the scope of your career and the type of writing you’ll be undertaking, getting into a space of organizing your tasks and priorities will be seamlessly possible.