It seems that the world and his/her wife has a blog these days, doesn’t it? There’s enough people harking on about their cats or discussing their daily diets to keep procrastination levels sky high, and it seems like the whole blogosphere is so over-saturated it’s in fear of collapsing completely.

Yes, there’s a lot of noise out there. It can seem daunting trying to clamber through the melee of meals and marketing tips, but if you want to stand out as a freelancer my biggest recommendation is taking the bull by the horns and starting a blog where you can showcase your skills.

For me personally, my blog has acted as both a CV and a place where I can get my writing out there in front of the right people. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not easy creating a blog that people ACTUALLY want to read (in fact, I’m still not sure that’s even the case with this blog!), but if you spend a little time every day or week tending to your blog, you can really reap the benefits when it comes to freelancing.

Ah freelancing.

As a self-employed gang we are in sole charge of pretty much every little thing, from keeping a record of income and conversing with clients, to chasing invoices and making tea. As if there wasn’t enough on our plates, we then have to actually find the time to market ourselves so work doesn’t dry up completely.

So it seems like utter madness that I’m suggesting pulling an hour or so of your day to dillydally around on a blog, right?!

Wrong. Starting a blog can be the best thing you do for progressing your freelance career. Here’s why!

Starting a Blog Boosts Your Online Presence

With everyone clamouring for a slice of the internet pie, you don’t want to disappear beneath the folds of other hopefuls.

I’m under no illusion that clients these days will Google their freelancers to within an inch of their life before they hire, so you want to blow them away with what they find, right? Instead of letting them find you through passive streams, make sure you’re in control of the first thing they find.

Google my name and my blog is definitely up there in the search results. Straight away, potential clients can click through and take a look at my writing and my interests, as well as see the kind of influence I have in the industry.

Connect with brands: Starting a blog is also a great way to connect with brands. Every day I get a huge number of emails from brands looking to work with me and tap into my audience. Whilst I’m very picky with who I feature on this blog, these companies are all potential clients if I go in with the right angle.

The power of influence: The term ‘influence’ is huge in the blogosphere at the moment, and brands are always looking for freelancers that have a budding community (because, extra leverage, right?).

Look at it this way: you’re hiring a writer and you have two applicants. One has twitter (food updates and celebrity shout outs) and a personal, private Facebook page – that’s it. The other has a well-presented blog and active social media accounts that they regularly use to stream interesting industry news. Which one would you hire?

Sure, you’d take a look at their portfolios, but on first look you’d definitely be leaning towards the latter.

It Shows Off Your Skills

Having a blog is especially important for freelancers who are just starting out. Take a look at my latest video for more insight into that.

If you have very little to show in professional samples, starting a blog can be a great way to highlight your skills and interests. Even if you have absolutely no clippings at all whatsoever, you can still link to your blog to show potential clients that you can actually string a sentence together.

Make it your best work: Don’t make the mistake of whacking out crummy 500 word posts twice a week just to be consistent. Instead, spend time crafting two or three really great pieces that you’re proud to link out to.

Client case studies: As well as creating in-depth and well-written posts, you can also write up client case studies to show your working process and the results you’ve gleaned from previous projects. Publishing these kinds of case studies are a major green-light for potential clients, especially if you’ve done some exceptional work in the past.

It Creates a Community to Vouch for You

One of the most powerful things about starting a blog is the community you can build around it. When Wanderful World first started out it was a travel blog, and I was fervently getting to know other travel bloggers and industry professionals through social media, blog comments, and conferences. Soon, this little community began to form, and I started getting recommended for jobs within the industry.

If you haven’t heard, communities are all the rage on the internet these days (my previous job title was Community Manager, just to show you how serious everyone is about this), and having one of your very own is one of the most powerful things you can have. It’s like online currency. The more members you have in your community, the richer you are.

Whilst having a solid, committed community means that you’ll probably receive hundreds of emails a day from companies looking to tap into your audience for free, it also means you have a great group of likeminded people who can vouch for you in your freelancing career. They love your words and are interested in what you have to say, so as soon as they know anyone who needs a writer, you’ll be top of their recommendations.

It Helps You Become an Expert

Like I said, the world and his/her wife has a blog these days, so how do you stand out from the crowd? Well, you become an expert. Choose a niche or a couple of niches that interest you and research, research, research until you know everything you possibly can – and then learn some more.

It takes a while to gain expert status, but as soon as you do you’ll be the go-to person for that topic. This means it is worthwhile starting a blog in a niche that’s relatively under-subscribed (e.g. don’t choose travel, or at least get specific with it…). When you become a well-known authority on a subject clients will come to you more often than you need to go to them.

They say that knowledge is power, and in this sense it’s absolutely true.

The key to being an expert: It’s not easy becoming an expert in a field, and you need to stick at it for a while before your name gets out there. But as well as creating fabulous, in-depth, useful content on your desired niche, you need to keep it consistent and be confident in your offerings. If you don’t believe in yourself, guess what? No one else will either.

You’ll Be Easy to Find

What do you do when you need to find a plumber? Or a shop that sells sewing equipment? Or the nearest restaurant to the theatre? You Google it, right?

Clients do exactly the same. If they want to find a freelancer in a certain niche, they’ll simply Google it. Starting a blog that slots nicely into that niche, has a decent amount of keywords, and publishes great content consistently is likely to come up high in those search results, so having a blog really is the answer to getting more work.

I’m sure there are plenty more ways starting a blog helps boost your freelancing career, and I’d love to hear your personal stories in the comments below!

If you’d like me to go into more detail on any of the points listed above, just let me know and I’ll schedule a video or another blog post to cover it.

Once again, I’m always, always interested in your thoughts, so let’s discuss:

Has starting a blog boosted your freelancing career?