What was your first thought when you began blogging? Was it primarily to make money or to be seen and heard?
When I began, it was more of a hobby than a means of generating income. I loved the idea of writing and then having my friends read my work and rate them.
But when I kept getting follow-backs and even new followers on my blog, I knew I was doing something right, and that was when the thought of using my content to generate income crossed my mind. If I tell you it was easy, then you already know I’m not being sincere.
From advertising on platforms like Google AdSense to using affiliate ads, I really had it tough, and it took me close to 6months to begin earning a decent amount of money from my blog.
The first thing you need to do as a blogger with a flair for writing is to consider freelance blogging, especially if you are looking at building your own blogging site. When you freelance, you get paid to write for other blogs. You may not have realized this, but there are a thousand and one businesses in need of blog writers, content writers, copywriters to help them drive traffic to their business site and generate leads for them. Why not try them out?
The good thing about this is that it doesn’t take time as you get paid immediately after you are done with an article, sometimes upfront. But the question on your mind now is likely, “Where can you find these freelance blogging clients?” To be sincere with you, although I have my blog, I have been freelancing for quite some time now, and though it hasn’t been easy especially with the stress of creating content, the pay from both sides is well worth it.
In the course of carrying out my freelancing contracts, I have been able to discover three ways you can successfully win highly profitable freelancing contracts and clients, and the good news is that you don’t even need to own a blog to do this. All you need is to have a passion for writing, and know exactly how to pen down your thoughts and present them to your online audience to wow them.
Let’s dive right in!
1. Freelance blogging adverts
I got my first freelancing contract from an advert I saw on a job site. I made my pitch and got a positive reply in about 3days. You need to understand that there are two ways you can get job adverts and that is either through a free or paid means. You can try using the free job boards as they are free for bloggers and freelance writers to browse, but charge a fee if you are the one placing the job advert.
Now, the trick to using a free job advert board is to ensure you apply to the ad almost immediately it is published. If you wait for two days or more, you may likely never get the gig, as its review is often done on a first-come basis. You also need to ensure that the pitch you include in your application mail is top-notch, shows your expertise, and is appealing to the eye and mind. Outside these, you must conduct research on the company or blog posting the advert. Show them you are serious about wanting to work for them. You don’t want to get tongue-ties in-between pitching, do you?
There are quite a number of job boards you can check out, but you can start by looking up BloggingPro and ProBlogger, which happens to be the most popular job boards with their high-quality job adverts. These sites are very good starts for you and will definitely land you a good gig if you judiciously adhere to the tricks given.
2. Social media
Another way I have found to be most effective for freelance blogging work is social media. For someone like me who is quite active on my social media platforms, it wasn’t really difficult securing a good freelancing gig. If you aren’t already active, you will need to up your game and also interact with other bloggers and influencers in your industry. So far, LinkedIn and Twitter have been my major source of writing gigs and I don’t joke with either of them.
When searching via Twitter, I try to land a blogging gig by optimizing my Twitter profile and filling out my bio talking about myself. You can include the fact that you are a freelance writer for hire in this bio. I also ensure I pin my advert tweet on my profile so it becomes the first thing seen when a visitor comes to my site and also follows all legitimate job posting sites and handles. Outside this, you can build your list by following other bloggers in your niche for a follow back, to further increase your traffic rate.
On the other hand, LinkedIn is more popular for getting such writing gigs, as it is strictly for business purposes. You can tweak your profile to attract writing jobs by filling out your profile mentioning you are a freelancer for hire, and attaching a sample work of gigs already done for clients. You can also use the LinkedIn job search function to search for freelance blogging opportunities, and try connecting with other freelancers to get extra gigs from them.
3. Warm outreach
One method of finding clients that have always worked for me is to connect and build a sustainable business relationship with influencers and other bloggers. Don’t be deceived by anyone who says it’s easy building such relationships. The truth is that it is never easy building a valuable relationship with a blogger especially if he/she is quite popular, and simply sharing their posts can never catch their eyes.
What you need to do is to consistently make useful comments on their blogs, ensuring they are in line with the topic being discussed, or you can opt to respond to the call-to-action. You also need to ensure that you are following them on their social media handles. Now, following them doesn’t mean they will follow you back, and when this happens don’t fret it! Just continue engaging yourself and others in the influencer’s comment section.
Besides this, you can also engage a potential client or blogger by consistently posting, sharing, and replying to their blog posts. I advise you use platforms like Facebook and Twitter for this as there will always be a popup notification on their own end. When you constantly do this, your name will be stored in their subconscious, and over time, there will be a connection between you two as they may begin to look forward to your engagement. You can also mention them or their works in your post. This will further harness a bond and give you better chances of getting a gig from them.
4. Send a Message
You have learned to warm up to these prospective clients and engage them in their posts. This is the time to now send that message or email request making inquiries about a possible blogging gig. To ensure your email covers all the necessary points, begin by mentioning your relationship with the blogger, listing a blog post of the blogger you agree with, and your reasons. You can also complement their blog success, and then ask if they have other blogging opportunities and would need your services.
Wrapping it up
You can generate income from your blog without necessarily having to monetize it. Try offering freelance blogging services to other top bloggers to make money quickly.
You need to put yourself out there for you to be seen by prospective clients. Don’t rely on your blog followership to fetch you a writing gig. Build a connection and relationship with prospects to further foster getting a lucrative blogging gig from them.
Finally, getting a writing gig isn’t something you can do overnight. Ensure you take your time, study your prospects and then send that email to them. You just may be talking to your next big client!