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Understanding Content writing Profession for a freelancer

Sunada Jayaram
Sunada Jayaram
Create: Nov 14,2022

The term Content writer completely describes what happens in the profession. Content writers use creativity, extensive research, and strategic planning to write and edit original stories for – 

  • Marketing products and services
  • Qualitative research and documentation
  • Academic writing
  • Copywriting
  • News writing

There are many opportunities in this field, especially with the reach, access, and use of the internet. One can kickstart their career as a content writer from their home in any location in the world.

Exploring the merits of being a Linguist

Although there is a great demand for content writers in the English language globally, there are well-paying jobs for linguists who have good writing skills and a creative mind in other languages too. Besides international languages such as French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish to name a few, there is also much demand for regional language writers within the country. The content writing services mostly include translations, but there is also a demand for an original content writer for all the other writing services too. 

Relevant Content Writing Skills

To establish oneself as a content writer, first of all, one must have a deep love for reading and writing. The best content writers are the ones that read and expand their vocabulary and knack to use words to shape ideas and put them on paper. Some other skills one must possess to succeed in the field and be established as a freelancer are – 

  1. Originality - as much as the internet and web-based applications have made it easy to become a writer with features to autocorrect grammar, spelling errors, and check for plagiarism, it is also being misused to repurpose and rewrite original content to create plagiarism-free copies. The high demand for content can be a major motivation for opting for such shortcuts, but it is a sticky area. If caught, one can be penalised by Google Analytics and even blacklisted. The best thing is to create original content. 
  2. Research – a large part of writing involves reading and researching for information, trends, and parsing through the immense amount of data using targeted keywords and queries to find the relevant information. 
  3. Editing – a large part of writing happens in editing. After the first draft one will find signs of repetition, grammar and spelling mistakes, and incoherent sentences among other things. Even for a 500-1000 words article, one must edit at least once to raise the writing quality. 
  4. Ideation and expression – Knowing how to write well means one has a good understanding of the language and its grammar. To be effective and successful as a freelance content writer one must have original ideas to present content and know how to express the ideas beautifully through words. 
  5. Knowledge of technology – it is important for a content writer to understand the use of technology for communication, research, and writing. You must know how social media marketing works to draft apt copy content for it. Besides knowing how to use MS Word, a content writer must understand content management systems, instant messaging apps, and the implementation of analytical tools and digital collaboration tools. 

Earning potential for freelance content writers

The average annual salary of freelance content writers is Rs. 300,000 and they can earn anywhere between Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 600,000 depending on the nature of the work, the scope of the project, and the writers' experience among other things. Projects can be found on freelance job websites such as Freelancer.com, ZoopUp.com, or Upwork to name a few. These websites advertise a range of projects from book writing, SEO content writing, and website content writing among other things. 

Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and job sites such as Naukri.com and Monster Jobs also advertise freelance writer jobs. However, these are long-term or consultant roles and not project-centric roles. 

Preparing your content writer profile

Learning is an important part of growing a career as a content writer. Content writers must know more than writing well to add value to their work. One requires versatility to work with projects in different industries, with different products and services, and on different subjects.  Here is a way to improve your profile to land the best projects and earn top income – 

  1. Different types of writing skills – you can write about the different types of content work you have done and add context to make it more job/ project-centric when you are applying for a freelance job or project. 
  2. Technical skills – include technical skills such as knowing and using content management systems, social media monitoring, and word processing software among others.
  3. SMM/ SEO content – social media requires crisp content which will fit the 150 characters parameter. Often, the writer is required to create catchy taglines to add to images, videos, GIFs, and others. For SEO, the author must know how to organically integrate keywords with the content to create effective content for the product. 
  4. Subject understanding – whether you are writing marketing copy or academic content, you must find a niche and specialise in it through regular practice, attending skill training courses, and building strong area expertise for yourself. 

Irrespective of the industry, every business needs a content writer today. Hence, there is immense scope for finding good projects and growing in one’s career in this field. 

If you are interested in a career as a content writer, then you must sign up with Zoopup.com today. We are constantly inundated with projects from clients who are looking for good writers. The project can be to write articles and blogs, academic writing, or writing website content. There are short-term and long-term projects that writers can explore through bids or competitions.


About The Author

Sunada Jayaram
Sunada Jayaram
Create : Nov 14,2022

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