So you are looking at content writing as a career and you are wondering if it’s the right decision for you. Well, this article will answer all of your questions and concerns about this career choice and is content writing a good career?
In order to answer the question about content writing improving your career, we need to first define what content writing is.
Content writers produce written information that is presented to help better serve a company’s needs. This can be done in different ways, such as through newsletters, blogs, press releases or social media posts. On the other hand, content writers also deal with communication strategy and marketing pieces that are used to sell products or services.
Are content writers in high demand?
The advent and growth of the internet has made content writing a very high demand job. There are a number of reasons for this. Content writers help people with their problems by offering solutions and tips through their writing. By doing this, they are able not only to help more people, but also become a solution provider for many organizations.
Content writing is one of the most cost effective ways to promote a product or service. It is much easier and cheaper than other types of marketing strategies. Content writers can be more effective because they target their audience more closely. With proper marketing techniques, a content writer can bring in more customers than any other type of marketing.
How much can you make?
There is a wide range of salaries that content writers receive depending on their experience. In general, the starting salary varies from $20 to $60 an hour. After 27 or more years of experience, the salary can increase dramatically to $100-$300 an hour. This increase in salary is mainly due to the amount of work that the content writer performs and also the quality that they produce. Since content writing is such a popular career, competition is stiff and candidates should expect to be paid accordingly.
Those who choose to work freelance can make even more because they are not required to pay for benefits or a salary. Freelance writers can charge more per hour than someone working full-time.
Are there any drawbacks?
There aren’t many drawbacks when it comes to careers in content writing, but there are some aspects that take some getting used to. One of these is dealing with deadlines. Content writers have to perform under constant pressure to meet their deadlines. This can be stressful at first, but most content writers learn to deal with it fairly quickly.
Content writing is not an easy job and it requires a lot of hard work, especially when you are just starting out. Those who are not willing to work hard will probably not make it far. Content writing is about working as a team in order to produce the best quality possible.
What is the future of content writing?
Content writing is one of the fastest-growing career choices today. This is mainly because more people are using content to communicate with each other. The internet has made information much more readily available to everyone and content writers have risen up to meet this new challenge. Content is a way that we can collectively share our thoughts, ideas, and experiences with each other. By creating meaningful content, we are able to help each other out and make life a little easier for ourselves.
Content writing definitely improves your career. It is a great way to learn how to market and communicate with others. This career can also lead to other opportunities such as freelance writing or copywriting for larger companies. When the internet continues to grow at an exponential rate, the demand for quality content writers will continue to increase as well. If you have the desire and passion to help others, then content writing is a great career choice for you.
How to become a content writer in 9 steps
- Choose Your Niche
As a content writer there will be a lot of choice when it comes to what you write. Depending on how niche you want to get, you can be as specific as you like.Write about your passion and make money from it? Or go broad with something completely different? You decide.
- Find Your First Client
One thing that will help you out a lot when it comes to getting your first clients is referrals. But this is only the starting point. Your work needs to be of good quality to get noticed by people who are looking for someone to do the job.
- Determine Pricing Structure
Learning how to price your services is a very important skill.
a. Time-Based Pricing: This pricing model is straightforward and simple. You charge your clients based on the time spent working on their content. The most common way of doing this is charging per hour and sometimes, you can also charge a flat rate per project.
b. Project Based Pricing: This type of pricing model charges the client based on the amount of work involved in creating a certain piece of work for them.
c. Staggered Pricing: This is a pricing model that is most commonly used for content writing and it’s based on the quality of your work. You can divide the work you do into different quality levels and charge your clients accordingly. For example, if you believe your work is of high quality, charge more than the standard rate per word or if it’s of low quality charge less than the standard rate.
- Take some content writing courses
Training can really help your content writing career. There are a number of content writing training courses available that will set you up for success as a content writer. There is free training on platforms like Udemy, Lynda.com and Skillshare that will teach you everything from simple writing skills to more advanced and specific subjects.
- Network like crazy
Content writing is a very competitive business. You need to take advantage of the fact that you’re in a competitive industry by making sure you are networking like crazy. Having connections with other content writers will really help you get your name out there, so make sure to do that because your work needs to be seen by as many people as possible.
- Build a Portfolio to Show Off Your Skills
Another important thing to do in your content writing career is to build a portfolio of your best work. This will help you stand out from the crowd by showing potential clients just how good you are at what you do. This is especially important if you are new to content writing and don’t have many clients yet.
- Understand the Art of Pitching
A salesperson who is really good at his or her job will first understand the characteristics of the product they are selling, understand the customer’s needs, and then build a compelling argument for why they should buy the product. My friend Oliver is an expert at this art of pitching – his passion is making people excited about products that make people’s lives easier.
Content writing is not quite like that but it does share some similarities with pitching. Your content needs to be appealing to your audience.
- How to Find Freelance Jobs with a Networking Site
You could apply for paid assignments on sites like Upwork, Freelancer.com and Freelancer.co.uk. All of these sites are an excellent resource for freelance jobs as they will send you a constant stream of assignments that you can complete in your spare time from home.
- Gather references for your work
It is not enough for you to simply say that you are good. You need to work hard to prove it. With each piece of content you write, have someone else proofread it and get their feedback on it. If possible ask them if they would be willing to forward your work on as a reference for your writing skills.
The wrap
Content writing is an exciting industry with a wide variety of opportunities. From crafting content for SEO content writers who use keywords to help a website rank higher in search engine results, to becoming a copywriter for marketing campaigns, or even creating ad copy for social media profiles and blogs, there are many different ways to incorporate copywriting into your career.
Content writing is also a fairly new and exciting field, making it a very lucrative career. Content writers can make anywhere from $36,000 to $72,000 with many other benefits included. Because content writing is still such a new industry, there are many online classes and certificate programs that one can take in order to specialize in this field and get their foot in the door of the world of online content writing.
Good luck on your journey into the world of online content writing, and happy blogging!
Keen to more about how to become a content writer?
