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Freelance Writer - Importance of having my own website

by Martin Pupke
14 replies
Hi Warriors,

I would like to offer writing services on the warrior forum. I do have a "for hire" thread which I will be re-activating. However, I would like to know if there is any benefit in setting up a website where I show off my samples, explain who I am and what I can do.

Does the extra step of setting up a website improve the credibility of the writer?

Opinions from warriors who hire writers would be much appreciated...

Thanks

Martin
#freelance #importance #website #writer
  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Burritt
    Banned
    Everyone should have their own website these days.
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  • Profile picture of the author H.Miller
    You don't necessarily need a website. You can always email samples to those who request them. I guess it really depends on what you are trying to do. If you are trying to write on a full time basis I would suggest setting up your own website. If you plan on doing it on a very part time basis there is no need for a website. Just set up a thread on the forum and send everyone there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stachart
    Why it is recommended to have a website to promote your skills, it is not required. But if you can embed some positive reviews and articles, it will be great and improve your success rate! You can simply start a portfolio on freelancer as it owns warrior forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Martin Pupke View Post

    I would like to offer writing services on the warrior forum. I do have a "for hire" thread which I will be re-activating. However, I would like to know if there is any benefit in setting up a website where I show off my samples, explain who I am and what I can do.
    Hugely, Martin.

    To the extent that it may be extremely difficult, without one, for you to get many orders. (Would you yourself order articles from a writer without the information you want on a simple website, when so many of his competitors have one?).

    All you need is a little two-to-three page site explaining your background, qualifications and experience, a couple of specimen articles and two or three good testimonials. It should take no more than an hour or two to put up such a site?

    Without it, you're putting yourself at a huge disadvantage, and may be more or less limited to competing in the "$10 articles" sort of market, in which there are almost as many service-providers as customers.


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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I agree with Lexy (who wouldn't?)

    As a writer myself, I get enquiries directly through my site when people Google writers or ghostwriters. I also have samples and testimonials and some info on what info I need before I can offer a quote.

    A website also shows you're a "real person" and helps build your reputation.

    If you don't have a website, you're leaving money on the table.
    It doesn't need to be flash. A simple Wordpress.org site with your own domain is not costly to set up and if you're not prepared to spend that amount, then are you really serious about your business?
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    Cheers, Laurence.
    Writer/Editor/Proofreader.

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    • Profile picture of the author kangen333
      Although having a website isn't completely necessary, I would recommend having one.

      They only cost a few bucks a month to host, and there are many promotions where you can get a .com domain name for free or a dollar or two. On Godaddy, they have a promotion where you can host a Wordpress site for $3 for 3 months - so a dollar a month (plus tax) -, which isn't bad. Plus they have a promo for a .com domain at $1.50 plus tax, and a promo where you can get a domain with domain privacy.for $4 plus tax.

      Having a website can open a lot of opportunities for getting more clients. I'm not sure if it's a term, but with a website you can get passive awareness about your services. In other words, you can generate ongoing awareness about your services easily.

      The easy way to do this does require a bit of money to invest. And this is by paying for clicks via Bing Ads or Google Adwords. Mind you this requires time to invest in creating a winning campaign that results in a high return on investment. Clicks can cost from $0.20 to $2.00 each (clicks on Bing Ads are usually cheaper, but still have quality... but lower volume).

      Also, you can market your services via your website for free. But this requires a bit of work. Getting free exposure can be done in multiple ways: Posting your back link on forums that have a targeted audience such as Warrior Forum, posting your back link in social media communities, including your website url after leaving thoughtful comments in the website text field on popular blogs (best method is to comment right after blog posts/articles are published, because that way your comment and back link will be closer to the top which usually equals more traffic), etc.

      Something that I just remembered is guest blogging. By becoming a guest blogger for popular blogs/websites, you can get a ton of exposure for your services. This can easily be achieved by directly contacting popular blogs/websites that you think you'd like to write for, and ask if they need another writer. Although you could ask them to pay you for your work, if the blog/website is very popular the amount of exposure you could get writing for them could make it worthwhile working for free. For example, say if you write an article and it gets published, that article could get tens of thousands of views. And if the website allows author bios at the end of the article along with a link to your website, that could turn into hundreds of people clicking the link and visiting your website out of interest.

      One visitor could think to themselves "that writer has an awesome writing style, oh hey, I could use a writer to write up web copy for my new website", and since he knows that your a writer by reading your author bio, he may then contact you via your website after going through your portfolio.

      I remember reading a story of this writer who owns makealivingwriting.com where she revolutionized her writing career by writing for popular websites. I think she mentioned that for some websites she wrote for free, but most she charged on a per article fee. Now she makes a whopping $100 to $200+ per article where she mentioned it only takes her a 1-2 hours to write. $100 per hour is a pretty penny I would say. And she also mentioned she has to do zero marketing to get clients, they come to her. Why? Mostly because her website receives so much traffic from published stories/articles with back links to her site.

      Anyways, this is enough typing for now. Hope I helped with communicating the potential that having a website has to offer.
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      My goal is to learn SEO, to make Money

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  • Profile picture of the author positivenegative
    Originally Posted by Martin Pupke View Post

    Hi Warriors,

    I would like to offer writing services on the warrior forum. I do have a "for hire" thread which I will be re-activating. However, I would like to know if there is any benefit in setting up a website where I show off my samples, explain who I am and what I can do.
    Yes, a massive benefit. It's the only way to go if you're seeking business.


    Originally Posted by Martin Pupke View Post

    Does the extra step of setting up a website improve the credibility of the writer?
    It doesn't improve your credibility as such. What it does is showcase your talents and illustrate you're keeping pace with modern trends . . i.e. . . an internet presence.

    Originally Posted by Martin Pupke View Post

    Opinions from warriors who hire writers would be much appreciated...
    That's the LAST people you want opinions from. People who DON'T need to hire writers because they can comfortably and successfully do it themselves are the one's you should be picking the brains of.
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    • Profile picture of the author Denise Patton
      Absolutely improves credibility, visibility, and accessibility. If you're going to self-host, there are great brochure/resume/landing page themes you can use. You don't need any fancy website, just 3 essential pages:

      About Me
      My Portfolio
      Contact Me

      If you're going the free route until you're able to self-host, try to use a platform that looks professional, or that you can customize for a more professional presentation with minimally intrusive advertising.

      A few ideas:
      Utilize free portfolio sites specifically for writers
      Create a Facebook page for your service
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      • Profile picture of the author drmani
        Originally Posted by Denise Patton View Post

        Absolutely improves credibility, visibility, and accessibility. If you're going to self-host, there are great brochure/resume/landing page themes you can use. You don't need any fancy website, just 3 essential pages:

        About Me
        My Portfolio
        Contact Me

        I'd add two more sections:

        * Client testimonials
        * Price (unless you prefer to negotiate rates with prospects)

        You can't underestimate the value of search marketing bringing in new clients. If you're specializing in a niche, targeting specific keywords will give you an edge over other freelance writers in your area of interest.
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  • Profile picture of the author stealthtargeting
    If you have a website,that would be helpful for you to show your sample work. Also you can write articles on popular article writing sites like Squidoo,Buzzle, Goarticles, Articlebiz, Articlecube etc and use it as a sample. I think it will help you to get more order.
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    Wanna See how the BIG BOYS made their first $ online? guess what, now u can! go there and watch: http://www.nice1marketing.com
    Check out "Launch Cam" as well! wanna be in the next show? go! catch me if you can! ;)

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  • Profile picture of the author vtotheyouknow
    Yes! I've finally found something to disagree with Alexa about!

    Martin - You absolutely, positively do not need a website to run a solid writing business.

    I can say this confidently because article writing is the very first service I offered on the Warrior Forum, and I did very well (as well as somebody can do without a team to scale operations anyway.)

    My solution to not hiring a team - perhaps because I'm a control freak who refuses to entrust his reputation to random contractors - was to charge some of the highest rates for articles on the Warrior Forum.

    The Warrior Forum is pushing a million members. If you position yourself as a premium provider you will be too busy writing to worry about a website.

    What you do need, however, is to make a kick-ass sales thread. It should have good, punchy copy, tons of reviews, some authority triggers, and perhaps some samples (although I never even offered those.)

    If you're going at this alone, what you want to do is offer about 5-10 review copies, write the heck out of those articles, get your reviews and repaste them back into your thread.

    Rinse and repeat this process and keep raising your rates. You'll find that your clientele will improve as you charge more, and you'll be able to less work for more money.

    Obviously, you should be able to deliver the goodies. But assuming you've got that part covered, you can work your way up to a healthy per-word or per-article sum.

    You can check out my old thread (which is long since closed) here:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...-turnover.html

    Moderators: the thread above is closed so please don't pimp slap my reply!

    Having said all that, Martin, I would personally encourage you to stay well away from writing. It's a business with a super-low barrier to entry and terrible margins.

    Try to pick a service with a higher barrier to entry that would justify better rates (something like setting up forums or running split tests for clients, etc.) and then a find way to productize that service so you don't wind up like me - a highly paid consultant who is only now starting to build a real, recurring, automate-able, delegate-able scalable, sellable business.

    To your success!
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      Originally Posted by vtotheyouknow View Post

      Yes! I've finally found something to disagree with Alexa about!
      Sorry to disappoint you, but I contend that you're actually agreeing with Alexa.

      The OP asked about the benefits of a website - not whether one was absolutely essential. And what you've described here:

      What you do need, however, is to make a kick-ass sales thread. It should have good, punchy copy, tons of reviews, some authority triggers, and perhaps some samples (although I never even offered those.)
      ...is pretty much exactly what you'd put on a website. So, it's hard to argue that if it works in a sales thread, it wouldn't also benefit a writer to place that same info on a site and potentially reach other, non-forum clients.


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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Frank Donovan View Post

        Sorry to disappoint you, but I contend that you're actually agreeing with Alexa.
        Oooh, there's always a catch!

        Either way, it won't stop me from reading Vic's posts with interest and respect.

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