Discover 3 Easy Ways to Get Hired to Write

Want to get hired to write? This is easier than you can imagine. There are just a few steps.

1. Decide what you want to write.

   What do you want to write? Check online outsourcing markets like elance.com to see what companies and publications need from writers.

   Decide what you want to write for others. Ideally, choose things which are easy for you to write. If you're a new writer, you may want to practice writing articles, and small advertisements, before you take on longer projects.

2. Create your "book".

   Your "book" is your portfolio. It contains samples of the kind of writing you want to do. Ultimately, once you've been hired, you can add real examples of work you've done for clients to your book. (Make sure that you have permission to use projects for your portfolio: just ask your client whether you can use them.)

   When you're just starting out as a professional writer, you won't have samples. You'll need to create some. Look through the writing you've done. What might work as a sample of your writing? Add relevant pieces to your book. You can also create a couple of pieces of writing specifically for your book.

3. Write your bio

   As you might imagine your "bio" is a mini-biography. Your bio doesn't try to cover your entire life story, it's relevant only to the particular kind of writing for which you want to be hired.

   You'll be writing lots of bios, highlighting different aspects of your experience as you send out introductory letters, proposals, and job applications.

   Your bio is always written in the third person, and it directly references your skills as applicable to the job you’re applying for. Even if you’re sending your bio as part of a direct mail letter, rather than replying to a "Copywriter Wanted" ad, you’re applying for a job: the job of writing copy for that business.

   So to repeat: directly reference your skills as applicable. For example, if you see an ad asking for copywriters with experience writing about technology, be sure to address that tech experience in your bio.

   Here’s an example of my copywriter’s bio.

4. Make a list of prospective clients

   Once you’ve completed the above tasks, you’re all set to market your writing services to prospects. Make a list of publications and companies for which you would like to write.

   Then, approach those companies.

-----SAMPLE COPYWRITER BIO-----

Angela Booth copywriter bio

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business, copywriter Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and small.

When she writes copy, Angela focuses on the client’s message. Long experience writing both fiction and non fiction help her to use the skills of both when writing copy. From fiction, she learned how to evoke emotion, and from non-fiction, she learned to write clearly and succinctly.

Angela has written copy for companies in many industries, from technology and real estate to the jewelry trade. Clients include Acer Computer Australia, Brother, and Lakes Jewelers. Angela is accustomed to translating dry product specifications into images in a reader’s mind, in which the reader can imagine herself buying and using the product.

She enjoys the challenge of writing about technical subjects clearly and succinctly, in terms anyone can understand. She also loves writing about luxury items. Her aim is always that her client’s investment in copywriting services makes a difference to the bottom line.

Exercise 13. What do you want to write?

You may not make a conscious decision on what you’d like to write. I started my career as a romance novelist. I didn’t make a conscious decision. One day I was reading and a thought flashed into my mind: "I could write this!"

That thought was hard to get rid of, and eventually I sold my first romance novels.

You can also decide that you want to write movie scripts, or mystery novels, or advertising...

Think about it, and choose something.