Why High-Demand Freelancers Need Personal Blogs

It’s no secret that freelancers build success through word of mouth. Your reputation is directly proportional to your client base — and your salary.

When you’re good, you’re high in demand. You’re so busy focusing on client projects that you start to neglect the passion projects that originally pushed you to write.

Your personal blog can also be a robust business development tool. Three freelancers explain why:

Blogging Boosts Your Street Cred

Blogs are an additional layer to your already busy day. It’s easy to procrastinate writing in favor of client driven posts that get you paid immediately.

But smart freelancers know that great writing careers need something more — visibility.

“Many freelance writers see bogging as extra, unpaid work,” explains Jenna Rose Robbins, a writer with more than 15 years of experience writing for companies like AOL and Disney.

Robbins’s blog builds interest around the topics that make her most passionate.

“I have been using my own blog to increase my search engine relevance for the term ‘Depeche Mode,’ as I am finishing up a book about my teenage obsession with the band,” she explains.

And the strategy seems to be bearing fruit.

“While standing outside a concert the other night, someone recognized me from my blog,” she said. “She had read all of my Depeche-related posts.”

Blogs Are Business Growth Machines

Even the best of the best freelancers find themselves in positions when they’ve run out of work. What happens then? When work runs out, freelancers typically go knocking on doors for more gigs.

What if a salary found you instead?

Your blog can make this distant dream a reality by positioning your business around you.

“Personal blogs are platforms for monetizing your own ebooks and other products,” explains Carol Tice. “They’re also springboard to guest post on more popular blogs — which is a key way to get found and get new clients. For instance, through my personal blog I was tapped to guest post for Copyblogger which led to a ton of exposure and many other writing opportunities.”

Tice’s blog, a resource to help other freelance writers, is more than a platform to showcase her writing. It’s an independent revenue stream that empowers her to pick and choose her gigs.

“It grew into a major business of its own,” Tice says. “It continues because I love helping other writers earn more.”

Blogging Keeps You Sane

From cloud computing to linens, top freelance writers are versatile in their areas of expertise. You can write about anything, and you’re probably great at what you do.

But what do you love?

“Not only does a personal blog allow them to connect with potential clients who may enjoy their writing, but it also allows them to maintain their own voice,” explains Ken Lane, consultant at neXrm Solutions. “Working on content day in and day out for clients, while gratifying, does begin to jeopardize a writer’s literary voice.”

Lane, who maintains a blog on Jewish culture in the Midwest, explains that personal blogs help freelancers stay authentic to their values.

“There isn’t a large Jewish population in the Midwest, so seeing how the Children of Israel are handling the Midwest diaspora can be especially fascinating,” says Lane. “My blog is called Okie Hebrew and it documents not only important lessons in Torah and Judaism that I’ve applied to living in the Midwest, but also the culture of Jews living in places where Judaism isn’t widely practiced.”

Blogging is about who you are, not what you do.

“Remaining who you are is crucial otherwise you’re just a word slave to the highest bidder and those types are a dime-a-dozen,” he says.

Image courtesy of jÖrg/flickr