Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Boost Your Sales With Business Writing

In your quest for freelance success, don't overlook the importance of business writing, or commercial writing, as some call it, as an income booster. I know, it doesn't sound very glamorous, but there is a need out there and you may be just the writer to fill it. A good place to start is local businesses looking for someone to put together a media kit for them or a preschool who would love some updated brochure copy. Make a list of all the advertising and public relations agencies in your area and put together a few samples and a copy of your resume and business card. These places typically need contractors when they pick up a few new accounts and they have more work than they can cover off with their full-time staff. I worked in public relations before making the switch to freelance writing, and I still do business-writing projects (even if it just requires fact checking/proofreading) from time to time. Browse an updated copy of The Writer's Market for a handy chart on what you should charge for specific services.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Hey Renee,
thanks for this post...this is something I've been wanting to do for awhile now, but just keep feeling intimidated when it comes to putting together some samples. Any suggestions with where to start? And also, do you have any suggestions for what a newbie should do about a resume if she doesn't have any prior experience? I really appreciate any suggestions you can offer! Thanks in advance!!!

Renee Roberson said...

Sarah,
You shouldn't feel intimidated! What I would recommend, although other freelancers may not agree with me, is to offer to do one or two small "pro bono" pieces for a local business to help build up your portfolio. From there, if your client is pleased with your work, ask for a testimonial for your website. This pro bono piece should be simple -- a press release or page of web copy for a new business, etc. You can find a lot of leads for business writing jobs at:
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/
Browse a recent copy of The Writer's Market to get an idea of high to low business-writing rates.

Hope this helps!