Freelance writing is an exciting and interesting profession.
This is because, as a freelance writer you’re directly involved in the sprout of businesses and companies both offline and online, by helping in communicating their ideas effectively through writing.
This leads to amplified audience engagement, improved online visibility, increased ROI, and so on.
However, your career as a freelance writer could be tiring and boring, since you’re a one-man business involved in a lot of things.
If you’re not researching for article ideas for clients, you’ll most likely be writing content for them.
Similarly, you might be searching the internet for the best images to accompany your blog post, or thinking of creating an infographic for your next guest post idea.
The truth is if you’re not careful you might fizzle out soon due to these numerous tasks.
Why you need these resources as a freelance writer
In order to have a productive and fun-filled career as a freelance writer, you need to arm yourself with some resources.
With them, you’ll be able to craft engaging content on a consistent basis, reach out to more clients for work, and create awesome images for your posts.
That’s not all.
You’ll be able to focus on what matters at a particular time, manage your clients’ social media campaigns, help them with awesome infographics for their business, and so on.
Think about it:
Which would you prefer?
- Running to social media on a daily basis to promote your services, or scheduling a series of posts across various social media platforms weekly or monthly for that purpose?
- Spending hours on the internet to get your next blog post title or being able to do it within minutes with the aid of some tools?
- Searching endlessly on the internet for the email addresses of prospects you want to target, or getting them within the click of a button when you use some resources?
The truth is:
In all of these, you’d prefer the latter to the former.
The resources you need as a freelance writer
As a freelance writer, you’re a small business owner.
You work within limits, deciding the kind of clients you want to take on, and the projects you’ll be interested in.
The resources you use in this case must reflect your kind of business.
From awesome resources that aid you to improve your craft greatly, to books that help you in the sprout of your business, then blogs that update you with the latest industry tips and news.
Likewise, tools that help turbocharge your productivity, make designing images a pleasurable task and ease the research process for you.
And so many more.
One thing is for sure, with these resources and tools handy, your freelance writing business will never remain the same again.
Wow your clients at all times
As a freelance writer, your most important asset is your writing skill.
When you write well, clients will love your work and always come back for more.
But if you don’t, you’ll most likely lose them to the next available freelance writer for hire.
What if I tell you that, there are resources that’ll make you become the clients’ favorite all the time?
With them, you’ll be able to polish your writing skill immensely on a consistent basis.
Not only that, you’ll become more confident to prospect for more clients, and land high-paying ones too.
Here they are in no particular order:
You can never have enough of anything related to writing as a freelance writer. This is exactly what the Purdue Writing Lab is all about. It’s the hub for everything related to writing.
In this awesome resource, you’ll find a series of informational articles and books on the correct usage of the English language. It’ll help you greatly to update your know-how of writing, and how to do it effortlessly.
Writing effectively, convincingly, and powerfully is a herculean task for many freelance writers.
This is so because the English Language is a complex one.
However, with this resource, which is the online version of J.K Strunk’s The Elements of style, you’ll be able to develop your writing skill in no small measure.
#3. Guide to Grammar and Writing
When writing, special attention should be paid to grammar and its usage. After all, grammar is the backbone of writing.
One way to get good at this is through the use of a guide which you can always refer to at all times. With this guide, your grammar and writing will improve drastically.
Copywriting is a specialty most freelance writers want to delve into. Not only is it lucrative, it’s also compelling and revealing. No doubt about it, if you’re damn good at copywriting, you become highly sought after by clients.
With this Copywriting guide by the Copyblogger team, you’ll be able to put a foot ahead of other writers in the business.
This awesome web resource by Mignon Fogarty is your “go-to” website which contains resources and materials on the correct use of grammar. One amazing feature of this resource is that the founder uses humor and everyday examples to drive home her points.
It’s super resourceful and I recommend that you check it out regularly due to its frequent updates.
One thing is sure, if you want to become a great writer, you need to update knowledge and best practices in the use of grammar.
It’s needless to say that, this is a must for all freelance writers. With this resourceful blog, you’re sure of learning something novel about grammar every day.
Take your freelance writing business to the next level
As I said earlier, a freelance writer is a business owner.
It’s only when you see yourself as such, that you’ll see a significant difference in your freelance writing business.
Unfortunately, most freelance writers only see themselves as being “self-employed”.
They’re neither interested in taking a critical assessment of the business side of freelance writing.
If you belong to this category, these books will help you immensely.
With them, you’ll understand the business side of freelance writing, get more clients, and make more money in the process.
#7. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris
This awe-inspiring book by Tim Ferris is regarded as one of the best business books ever. It’s a practical guide which shows you how to escape the 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich.
In the book, Tim Ferris shares tips and secrets that’ll help you achieve more productivity in your work, by working less and earning more.
#8. The E-myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work
In this book, Michael E. Gerber gives a deep insight into why most small businesses fail to work.
Not only that, he gives a solution to the problem identified, by showing you what you can do about it.
If you want to know more about freelancing, then this co-authored book by Sara Horowitz and Toni Sciarra Poynter, is a must-have for you.
With it, you’ll learn strategies that’ll make it easy for you to be able to have a career of your dream on your own terms.
#10. The Hard Things About Hard Things
Building a business such as freelance writing could be difficult. Most times, your questions are mostly unanswered since it’s a totally new terrain.
With this book by Ben Horowitz, you’ll be able to overcome that.
Ben explains what you should do when you find yourself in this situation, and the steps you must take in that regard.
Follow the latest industry news and trends
Content marketing, search engine optimisation, social media marketing, inbound marketing, are topics that interest you.
This is so because, it constitutes a greater chunk of what you’ll write about, and the solutions you’ll provide your clients.
As a freelance writer, you need to be up-to-date with the latest happenings in these industries.
Your best bet is a list of blogs that makes it easy for you to follow these trends.
With them, you’ll know what your industry needs most, and what you should be writing about.
#11. Content Marketing Institute
When it comes to Content Marketing, this is the “go-to” blog for everything related to that subject matter.
On this blog, you’ll learn tips and strategies that’ll aid you to improve your Business to Business (B2B) and Inbound Marketing.
It’ll surely broaden your knowledge and expertise in these industries.
#12. B2B Marketing
This is your ultimate resource and guide for anything related to content creation process involving businesses.
On this blog, you’ll learn the terminologies, best practices, and trends that’ll help you greatly in order to succeed with B2B.
Ever heard that successful freelance writers are great marketers?
If that’s so, marketing is an area you must pay a great deal of attention to as a freelance writer.
If you don’t know where to get started, this amazing resource comes in handy.
With blog posts, case studies and eBooks on marketing from a diverse team of marketers all over the world, you’ll sure take your marketing skill to an entirely new level.
As a freelance writer, you’re automatically an entrepreneur.
So, if you want to go far in your freelance writing business, you must know more about entrepreneurship.
Who else comes to mind in this subject matter than the exceptional and world-renowned entrepreneur, Seth Godin?
Seth, who is the author of over 18 books, provides useful tips on entrepreneurship for writers on his blog.
Amazingly, he keeps his blog posts short and simple, yet informative.
Founded by Brian Clark, this is a place to be if you want to learn more about copy writing, digital marketing, and content marketing.
One great thing about this resource is that it features experts weekly on these topics.
Brian and his Rainmaker digital team, will provide you with words that’ll work for you in your freelance writing business.
This is a marketing tool for freelance writers.
On the Hubspot blog, you’ll learn marketing tips and strategies that can help you improve in your freelance writing business.
Another advantage it has for you as a freelance writer is that it has a lot of free courses you can enrol in.
Some of the courses include: Inbound marketing, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, and so much more.
Since 2004, this blog by Darren Rowse has been the home for bloggers wanting to create, grow and make money from their blogs.
This is useful for you as a freelance writer, since you’ll most likely be involved in blog content creation for your clients.
This resource helps you to learn more about blogging tips that you can use for your clients in the long run.
#18. Enchanting Marketing
Henneke Duistermaat prides herself as an irreverent writer on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook content.
And she does just that with Enchanting Marketing.
On her blog, you’ll learn a lot about writing in an enchanting way, creating seductive content and adding sparkle to your business writing.
Wherever you are in your writing journey, her regular blog content will take you by the hand to become enhanced in your craft.
Refine your articles
The importance of editing for you as a freelance writer cannot be over-emphasised.
A writer who fails to edit their articles will soon run out of business.
While this is so, getting an editor could be a thorn in the flesh.
Sometimes they’re out of reach, or simply costly for you to afford.
With these tools, your articles will become more punchy and conversational.
Not only that, you’ll be able to edit on the go directly from your browser or Microsoft word.
Grammarly was first released about 9 years ago, to enhance the writing of the English language.
With the software, you’ll be able to automatically detect potential grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation, and style mistakes when writing.
Not only that, it helps you suggest corrections to them on the go.
This’s a tool which should be on the radar of your choice as a freelance writer.
The tool promises to make your writing bold and clear.
With it, you’ll be able to know the mistakes in your articles, whether it’s the excessive use of phrases, passive voice, difficult sentence, and so on.
This tool is free and easy to use.
All you need to do is copy and paste the article you want to edit on the app, and you’ll start editing instantly.
Ever thought of a way of proof reading your documents easily without spending a dime?
Well, 1 checker is here for you.
With it, you’re able to check your spelling and grammar, enhance text readability, make a professional impression with natural writing, and so on.
Above all, you pay absolutely nothing for using this tool.
This is an editing tool that’s trusted by more than 500,000 writers, authors, copywriters, and so on all over the world.
With this tool, you’ll be able to edit faster, fix style issues, eliminate errors, and learn as you edit.
Mostly a paid tool, it has a free version which allows you to edit 500 words at a time online.
It’s also available on Microsoft word, Google chrome, Google Docs, and so on.
This tool takes a unique perspective to the editing of articles for your online readers.
What it does is that it provides a readability score, which’s a calculated index that predicts the level of education one needs to obtain before being able to read your text.
It checks for the sentence length, keyword density, passive word count, and so on.
Although it has a free version which’s available for all, its PRO version has more features such as keyword analysis, content analysis, Email marketing scoring, and so much more.
Prove your expertise
When creating technical content, you’ll encounter some issues as a freelance writer.
This might not be because you’re not well-grounded in your writing, but due to the complexity of the client’s specification.
Take for instance; you’re asked to write an article using the APA or Chicago manual of style.
This’s tricky right?
What if you’re required to work on a whitepaper and you have to deal with acronyms and abbreviations, what do you do?
Most times, you’ll resort to Google for solutions.
With these tools, you’ll have a manual handy that you’ll always consult whenever you want to make references.
When you run into problems with the use of APA style in your writing, you’ll find this resource helpful.
It provides you with detailed information on how to use the APA style in your writing.
Think of anything such as crafting headlines, lists, table of contents, and quotations.
Not only that, it also provides you with the right information that can be used for websites, e-books, interviews, social media, and on and on.
If you ever need an online dictionary with a lot of features, then this’s definitely for you.
On the website, you have access to a lot of learning materials such as word of the day, a daily grammar lesson, article of the day, this day in history, and quotation of the day.
Similarly, it serves like a “one-stop” dictionary which provides you access to other useful writing resources such as Idioms, encyclopaedia, medical dictionary, financial dictionary, and so on.
Just like the APA style resource mentioned above, this’s your “go-to” resource for the Chicago manual of style.
It’s definitely an indispensable reference tool for you as a freelance writer.
It helps you with up-to-date information regarding the usage, style, and grammar of the Chicago manual of style.
When confronted with the use of Acronym in your writing, you don’t need to fidget.
With this resource, you’re definitely on the right track.
With more than 5 million acronyms and abbreviations, it’s definitely the world’s largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.
Through it, you can find out what any acronym or abbreviation you want to know stands for.
Practice writing without the hassle
To be an exceptional freelance writer, you need to engage in consistent practice.
Doing so, will make you more confident with your writing, and make you the “go-to” freelance writer for clients’ projects.
One major problem most freelance writers face with practice, is doing it the right way; having an accountability-check that keeps them on their toes.
To be able to checkmate this, these practice tools will help you greatly.
What does it mean to join over 400,000 other writers to learn the habit of writing every day?
Awesome isn’t it?
Well, that’s what this great resource does for you.
When you sign up, you’re sure of writing about three pages on a daily basis.
Not only that, you can also track the time it takes you to complete the task; making you more efficient and have fun in the process; by engaging actively with fellow writers.
With this powerful tool, you’re on the right track to becoming a better writer in no distant time.
This is because, when you join other writers who use this amazing resource, you’ll be nudged to become better at your craft.
With it, you can monitor how long it takes you to complete a writing task, the number of words you’ve written daily, and on and on.
Sometimes, you wake up and not motivated to write anything.
With this paid resource, you’ll be able to get over that, as it keeps you motivated to write every day.
Here, you can create a daily writing routine with a series of writing prompts, access writing courses, and also use a distraction-free writing space.
It’s a resource you can always bank on as a freelance..
