One of the things that sets apart top freelance writers is they know the power of branding. With a unique brand, you’ll stand out from the thousands of other people trying to make a living in the same niche as you. More importantly, it may enable you to command higher rates down the line.
An excellent freelance brand is all about knowing how to market yourself and the work you do. This is important because clients will go with the guy who has a strong brand in their field over a freelance writer who claims to know about every niche.
In this article, we’re going to talk more about why you need a brand for your freelance writing business, then I’ll walk you through three tips to help you develop one. Let’s talk marketing!
Why You Need a Brand for Your Freelance Writing Business
If you’ve been working as a freelance writer for a while, you have probably noticed there’s a ton of competition online. A lot of those writers earn terrible wages because they take any work they can find. The ones at the top usually share one thing in common, that they know how to market themselves as experts.
In other words, successful freelance writers know how to brand themselves. Here’s how that process can help you stand out:
- You can market yourself towards a particular niche.
- Good branding will make you look more professional.
- It can help clients find you in the first place.
Great branding can mean the difference between potential customers seeing you as a guy writing in his spare time and a professional who can help their business. For example, I mostly write about tech and freelancing. However, I market myself as a ‘tech writer’ with an expertise in web development. That helps me stand out since fewer writers are competing for work in that pool.
With the right branding, landing new clients should be a lot easier for you. Once you get your branding down, we recommend you check out the Paid to Blog Jobs board, where we curate freelance writing offers, so you can test how effective it is.
How to Create a Brand for Your Freelance Writing Business (In 3 Steps)
Creating a brand from scratch takes some time, but the first steps you need to take are rather simple. Let’s start with the big picture.
1. Choose a Niche In Which to Market Yourself
Technically, you could brand yourself as a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to freelance writing. However, most people who make a living in this field succeed in doing so because they specialize in a niche.
Whichever niche you choose, it makes sense to use it as part of your branding. For example, I market myself as a “friendly tech writer.” The friendly part isn’t so important for now, but the “tech writer” segment tells potential clients I can help them in that area.
As part of my branding, my portfolio is focused mostly on my tech pieces, and it includes details about my experience with web development. The main takeaway is, when someone visits your portfolio, they should immediately get an idea of what your niche is. If they don’t, then you’re going about branding yourself the wrong way.
2. Create a Logo and a Tagline
Once you know what your primary niche will be, it’s time to get to work on a logo and a tagline that reflects it. This part of the process can be tricky because designing a good logo requires design experience.
Unless you know what you’re doing, I recommend you look into hiring a web designer to create a great logo for you. Option number two is to forego a logo, at least while you’re starting out, and focus on a unique tagline that tells potential customers what you can do for them. If you’re also in the tech writing business, that could be something such as:
- Writing services for tech blogs.
- Freelance tech writer for hire.
Your tagline doesn’t need to be too complex, it just needs to tell clients what they need to know. Then, the rest of your portfolio should do the trick to convince them and get them to contact you.
3. Develop a Unique ‘Voice’ for Your Business
Once you establish a name for yourself in your niche, you’ll have clients coming to you because they’ve seen your work. Most successful freelance writers develop a unique style over time, which becomes part of their branding.
Personally, I like to maintain a casual tone in my articles. Even when I’m writing about web development topics, I try to explain everything as simply as possible, which makes that tone part of my brand.
Your style might be different, or you may not know what you want it to be yet. However, I recommend you start cultivating a voice you like as soon as possible. That way, as your portfolio grows, your pieces will show a unique style that potential clients will come to appreciate. As for what type of voice you can use in your articles, you have plenty of choices.
For example, you can choose to write in a serious tone all the time or inject a bit of humor into your writing. You can also highlight your expertise often and go for the guru route or keep things casual. It all depends on the audience you want to connect with and how you feel most comfortable writing.
Conclusion
Good branding on your portfolio and social media accounts is a great way to catch the eye of potential clients. It can make you look more professional and thus, more hirable. Then, as your business grows, you can look into increasing your rates, so branding can pay off in the long term.
As for how to create your freelance brand, there are three basic steps you should cover to get the ball rolling:
- Choose a specific niche in which to market yourself.
- Create a logo and a tagline.
- Develop a unique voice for your business.
Do you have any questions about how to brand your freelance writing business? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!
Image credit: Pixabay.