From TV shows and memes to blog posts and social media posts, exceptional writing can transform ideas. Today, many clients are looking for professional writers who can drive customer engagement and revenue generation.
If you enjoy writing as a craft and want to turn it into a money-making skill, consider becoming a professional writer. In this article, I’ll explain how you can build a successful professional writing career and answer some additional questions along the way.
But first:
Who is Considered a Professional Writer?
A professional writer is an individual who creates specialized written content for an intended audience within a specific field. These writers may write for different genres, such as social media posts, legal documents, press releases, video scripts, white papers, and journal articles.
What Are The Requisite Professional Writing Skills?
To build a thriving professional writing career, you’ll need a combination of creativity, advanced language skills, and extensive communication skills. Furthermore, professional writers also need a mastery of grammar rules, strong attention to detail, and the ability to perform research.
How Much Does a Professional Writer Earn?
The average pay of a professional writer in the United States is $68,000/year (about $35/hour). Although professional writing is a lucrative skill, salaries depend on factors like the industry type, scope of work, educational background, and unique skill set.
Some professional writers are able to earn as high as $87,000/year ($45/hour) when they take on full-time remote roles with employee benefits. In order to build a financially successful professional writing career, consider advocating for wages that match average industry rates in your field.
8 + 1 Proven Steps to Becoming a Professional Writer
Now that you want to become a professional writer, what’s next?
1. Learn About The Types of Professional Writing Careers
When building a career, many professional writers pick a niche or two to focus on. Choosing a niche makes it easier to find the right opportunities, pitch to the right clients, and connect with the right network.
Don’t know where to begin? Explore this short list below to find a niche that resonates with your area of expertise.
- Creative writing
- Business writing
- Legal writing
- Medical writing
- Copy editing
- Academic writing
- Technical writing
- Journalism
- Content writing
Before choosing a niche to settle on, I often advise writers to conduct further research on what their field requires. For example, if you operate in tech, you may have to focus on specific software/machinery within your niche.
2. Polish Your Writing Skills
Good writing requires a mix of mastery and creativity. To master these skills, you’ll need to practice, practice, practice. For example, you may decide to take short online courses that teach the basics of foundation writing.
Additionally, you can sign up for writing boot camps and workshops. When practicing, pay particular attention to hard skills like basic spelling errors, editing, and grammatical usage.
Many clients pay writers for exceptional finished works, not drafts. So, to excel as a professional writer, you’ll definitely need to polish your writing skills.
3. Gain Some Writing Experience: Intern, Volunteer, or Just Journal
After picking a niche and polishing your skills, the next step is to gain professional experience. Many writers start by pursuing writing internships or by volunteering at organizations. During this phase, the goal is to acquire business hard and soft skills you can use to build a successful career.
For example, as an intern/volunteer, you learn how to communicate with clients, manage deadlines and expectations, understand client briefs, and take constructive criticism. Here’s a simple formula you can use to land your first free/paid writing experience.
- Ask friends and family members to refer you to anyone hiring within their network.
- Check out websites that share about writing internships and send in an application.
- Regularly publish short-form content like technical manuals, instruction manuals, or short articles on social media.
- Become a guest blogger on smaller, reputable websites where you can write about your experience and interests.
It rarely matters whether you have a bachelor’s degree or you’re pivoting from a different industry. With some practice, you can build a career as a professional writer.
4. Build a Solid Body of Work
When pitching to clients, you’ll most likely have to share writing samples. Here’s how you can build a solid body of work.
- Use social media to your advantage: You can make consistent posts about different topics in your niche. After posting, tag experts and companies you’d like to write for. Furthermore, encourage readers to reshare your content across their network for maximum visibility.
- Create a professional LinkedIn bio: A professional LinkedIn bio makes it easy for clients to understand your writing style and services. After adjusting your bio, explore writing on LinkedIn to build a body of work that new connections can easily browse through. See a quick sample below.
- Write articles and books in your spare time: If you are interested in super niche topics, consider putting out a body of work that you can share with potential clients. For example, many professional writers start up a blog where they showcase their critical thinking skills and share ideas on topics that are important to their industry of interest.
Don’t know how to build your own personal blog? Check out this simple technical writing blog by Tom Johnson.
Next, create a professional portfolio where you can compile all your writing samples. With a comprehensive portfolio, clients are able to determine which skill set fits their current needs. Additionally, it gives them an opportunity to explore other formats of content they may not have thought of before.
5. Join Writing Communities and Try to Get Feedback From Experts
Writing communities are a great way to build a community while learning from other professional freelance writers. You’re able to get real-time feedback on companies who are hiring, how to advocate for better pay, what red flags to watch out for in contracts, and find a mentor who will be willing to support your journey.
As a professional writer, the writing communities you join depend on your unique interests and journey requirements. So, when searching freelance writing communities, pick one that reflects the values and skill sets you’d like to build.
Furthermore, you can ask experts within these groups to provide actionable feedback you can use to improve your writing and increase your chances of landing new gigs.
6. Learn The Business Side of The Writing Career You Choose
Like every other skill you learn, you’ll need an element of business intelligence to build a successful professional writing career. For example, you’ll need to master the art of effective communication, cold pitching, financial intelligence, and negotiation.
Cal Newport and Scott Young are great professional writers who have built a career off writing self-help articles for professionals. From their experience, they believe that the best way to build a successful career isn’t just to write; it’s by learning the specific, essential steps of building the kind of career you want.
Whether you’re a freelance writer or full-time remote staff, you’re still building a career out of professional writing. Hence, you’ll need to be smart about positioning yourself for the best opportunities out there.
7. Start Pitching Prospects to Land Writing Work
Many writers handle more than one project at a time. This means they are consistently looking to build a database of potential clients. When pitching your services to clients, you want to optimize your outreach in a manner that improves results.
Here are some steps you can take to make pitches that convert leads to paid clients:
- Ensure all cold pitches are customized to suit the client and their brand. For example, you can check their website to see if they have specific guidelines on pitches.
- Write an email to a decision maker stating who you are and what services you can render to the company. Also, include a cover letter and your writing portfolio as well.
- If you believe that the company needs a content refresh, include details about the benefits of the service and how you can help the company tap into old traffic.
As a professional writer with over a decade of experience, I’ve noticed that potential clients respond to cold pitches better on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It may be best to send your pitch during the week to avoid the Monday rush and Friday frenzy.
Here’s a simple email you can customize when sending out cold pitches:
“Subject: Use Exceptional Content to Drive Business Growth
Dear [Client’s Name],
I hope this email finds you well. I am [Your Name], a dedicated professional writer passionate about crafting compelling narratives and engaging content. I am reaching out to express my interest in collaborating with you to enhance your content strategy.
With a background in [mention relevant expertise], I am confident I will deliver high-quality, tailored content that elevates your brand and resonates with your audience. I’ve attached my cover letter for your reference and invite you to explore my diverse portfolio of writing samples on my website: [Your Portfolio Website URL].
These samples showcase my versatility, creativity, and ability to adapt my writing style to [name of industry]. I understand the importance of captivating storytelling and persuasive communication in today’s competitive market. Whether you need website content, blog posts, articles, or any other form of written communication, I am committed to delivering content that not only meets but exceeds your expectations.
I am open to discussing how my skills align with your goals further and exploring potential collaboration opportunities. I am looking forward to the possibility of working together to bring your vision to life.
Please feel free to contact me to schedule a call or meeting at your earliest convenience.
Warm regards,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Professional Title]
[Your Phone Number]
[Your Email Address]
[Your Portfolio Website URL]”
8. Keep Learning New Writing Sub Skills
Even pro-professional writers consistently learn about new writing rules and industry practices to provide excellent services. Developing exceptional writing styles can open up a lucrative professional writing career for you. For example, you may decide to learn about new industry techniques and how to present them in a manner that works for the target audience.
Furthermore, you can also learn how to write for the web, the best practices for social media posts, search engine optimization, and content distribution. Clients are more likely to pay a rewarding sum for professional writers who can handle more than one aspect of the writing process.
(Optional) 9. Start a Newsletter or a Writing Blog
Because your writing is a brand, you want to build a relationship with other audiences in your industry. Take Ryan Holiday as a case study. Ryan provides expert stoic advice on how to navigate mental wellness and life in general. To stay closer to his audience, he regularly sends out emails and newsletters sharing his thoughts and journey.
Writing a blog/newsletter has many benefits— it keeps you writing, helps you build an organic following, as well as enhances your brand’s presence as well. You can pick a schedule (once a week) to share simple research or new facts you discover in your industry.
An effective emailing system is a very strong foundation for your business and allows you to sell your services to clients who already enjoy your content.
Take The First Step to Become a Professional Writer Today!
Every organization wants one thing from professional writers: content that engages their audience and inspires them to take action. The best way to start your career as a professional writer is to actually write.
Just as I’ve leveraged these skills and methods to build a successful writing business, I hope it serves as an effective manual to guide you on your own journey. So, start clicking your keyboards today.
