New to freelancing? Here's how to get your first clients

Jul 2, 2023

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This week, hosts Rachel and Lynne are responding to a question we had on Instagram from an entry-level writer asking how to get her first clients. So we are sharing our 12 tips (6 from each of us) on how to land your first freelance writing client when you have no experience.

We talk about:

Finding your niche
Using that niche to target clients in that area
Partnering with freelancers who are a little bit ahead of you and might be able to sub-contract to you, so you start to get some clippings
How short-term contract work will help you build up contacts and clippings
Why you should set up a website and optimise it for SEO
How to write blogs that showcase your writing
How to lean on your existing network.
Internships that enable you to write and promises you clips at the end of it
How to get onto the jobs boards and create alerts for the types of jobs you’re looking for. Join free jobs emails like Rachel’s List’s entry level list
How to optimise your LinkedIn page - and connect with thought-leaders in your niche(s).
How to make your email address a professional one - no gmail or hotmails
How to pitch to online publications that regularly use first-person pieces to help boost your portfolio

Read Sophia Auld's blog post on moving from physiotherapy to health writing: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/from-burnt-out-physio-to-booked-out-health-writer-how-i-did-it-and-how-you-can-too/

Read our blog post on building an online portfolio and the different platforms to choose https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/9-easy-ways-for-journalists-to-build-an-online-portfolio/

Read this post on what internships should look like: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/what-i-think-internships-should-look-like/

Young Australian Writers Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/youngauswriters

Find out more about The Content Byte Summit here (and sign up for updates): https://thecontentbytesummit.com.au/

Find us: Rachel's website https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website https://lynnetestoni.com/ Rachel's List https://rachelslist.com.au/

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded, an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. See https://rounded.com.au

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co