“The Quick and Dirty Guide to Landing Freelance Writing Jobs” encapsulates the entire reason I started this blog. This little series is going to consist of the shortest possible answers I can muster to that age old question, “How do I get freelance writing jobs?”

I started freelance writing and realized that, while there are a lot of dos and donts, there isn’t much rocket science involved when it comes to finding and landing jobs. Like most things in life, landing freelance writing jobs comes from preparing, networking, and then working hard every day. Is that sexy? No. Will it work? Yes.

So here’s part 1 of the quick and dirty breakdown of things to do before you start applying for freelance writing jobs:

Soul Search

What are you good at? What types of things do you like to write? Do you enjoy blogging? How about creating marketing materials? Or do you, perhaps, have the soul of an editor? Pick a thing or two you want to specialize in and start there. (Get some ideas on specialization here and don’t forget to check 67 Freelance Niche Writing Markets You May Never Have Considered.)

Don’t go out into the world shouting “I will write anything!” Narrow it down. This will pay off in the end. (More about this in a later post.) Also, before putting a lot of time and energy in embarking on a freelance writing career, be sure you have asked yourself the age old question, “Can I write?”

Decipher your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

What makes you more hirable than the other 500 freelancers who will undoubtedly apply for the same gigs you are going after? This could be anything from vast experience writing about weddings to a very transparent and easy to understand project management system. What makes you special? Know that before you start marketing yourself. (Read this article for more ideas on USP.)

Create a Web Presence

Ideally this is a website with, at minimum, a bit about you, a portfolio, and your contact information. It should highlight your unique selling proposition in a prominent way. If you don’t have any traditional writing samples, a blog will do in a pinch, but should be a temporary measure until you can build a portfolio. And while a blog will suffice, a Suite101 profile or a personal blog where you complain about how your rear looks in these jeans will not. This is the where your potential clients will learn about you so keep it classy. For more ideas on how to fill out your homepage, see this post about vital blog pages from Problogger or this one specifically about vital blog pages for small businesses from Erno Hannink and craftily apply them to your portfolio site. It’s not a bad idea to keep a physical portfolio, either. (I’d show you a picture of mine but it’s getting a little beat up. Don’t do that either. Keep your portfolio fresh and crisp!)

Shout from the Rooftops

So you built this great web presence and have hung out your freelance writing shingle, yet your uncle, who’s the head of Creative Widgets at Acme Corp., doesn’t know that you are a freelance writer now. How about the former boss who asked you to call if you ever needed anything? Or the college professor who always said she knew you would write for a living? These people can help you if you let them but chances are they aren’t stalking you and thus are unaware of your new career goal.

A small aside: One really crafty way to do this is to go ahead and start email marketing. First, send all of your contacts a personal email (preface it with a call if that’s more appropriate) and in that email point them to your portfolio and ask them if they would like to sign up for your email list. Some people most assuredly will want to keep track of your professional successes, so then sign up with a service like MailChimp and get started building your list. (Only add people to a mailing list if they do opt in. It’s unethical, and if I understand correctly, illegal, to add people to an email list when they don’t want to be there.) Then periodically send out news, helpful tips, recent blog posts, and whatever else your contacts and potential clients might like to see. Even if Uncle Floyd in Creative Widgets doesn’t have a job for you now, receiving periodic email updates from you will help him keep you top of mind when a job does come up.

And those steps, my friends, were the things to do before you even start applying for freelance writing jobs. Stayed tuned for “The Quick and Dirty Guide to Landing Freelance Writing Jobs, Part 2” for how to go about landing clients.

Special thanks to @averygood year over at Twitter for inspiring this series. If you aren’t following her, the why not? She is a treasure!