Writers. Do you have your own site?

How many freelance writers here have their own site to help them get new clients?

If you do have one, do you feel it is an important part of your business?

If not, why not?

Michael

 

You have to dedicate time and money to build a website that generates and converts traffic->clients->income, or hire someone to do it for you (how much could that cost, by the way?). If I were good at website promotion I'd earn a living doing that. I would only be writing for pleasure.
On freelancing websites, I often see users who represent a group of writers and they do have websites. Still, they are actively searching for clients where clients usually flock. How would you beat elance, odesk, freelancer and the like on SERPs? It is a challenge. I'd love to hear how you do it, Michael.

 

I've had my own website for years. My own domain hosted on my own paid hosting. It's an important part of my business. I write for a living, not a hobby. I gave up a pretty lucrative career in dental after 15 years to be a stay at home mom. Writing is my full-time income. My website might not be as polished as some, but it gets the job done. My clients want to know that I can write, not how well I can design. (Albeit, I can hold my own pretty well.) It's clean and easy to read and navigate. It's a place for potential clients to go to learn about the services I provide, view my portfolio, contact information, and read a bit about me.

I don't even try to compete with those sites in the SERPs. I'm in a league of my own. The clientele that I attract come to me because I'm not one these large outsourcing companies. I treat each and every client like a business partner. I give them quality and personal attention. A lot of my clients I speak with over the phone to discuss the project at hand. Being on the same page prevents a lot of the back and forth emails only to realize that I haven't delivered what the client was looking for. My time is money.

 

What can I say, I want to be like you when I grow up)))

 

Baby steps. Let's not move too quickly and sprain something. </end of sarcasm>

 

I was not being sarcastic. I respect and understand what you said about the website and I think I saw in your reply something to aspire for. I admit being a newcomer and I am here to learn, among other things. I intended to add a little humor to admiration. You saw sarcasm. Next time I will put things literally.

 

Thanks for all the answers! I've got my own site as well of course. Just started it though, and still working on ranking for some keywords as well as driving traffic in general. I'm looking at it more as a long term investment though.

Michael

 

I was just simply having some fun. Sense of humor. I was the one who was being sarcastic / smart ass , not to be taken seriously. All good.

 

I'm honestly torn right now between two things I want to do.

1) Start a website devoted to writing, sell an e-book on the side that also pertains to writing so that I have two forms of income from the site.

The downfall, I see just how hard it is to get clients to those sites and as an above poster said, a lot of people with websites still have to try to find clients on sites like this that make them want to slam their head into the desk. However, it's not about beating out the SERP, having a website makes you more credible as a professional and someone with a passion for what they do.

I sincerely doubt all of these people who just keep spamming the same garbage in every thread,

"hello sirs, I have you money make content for $1 per 100 word!! excellents qualityes!"

Yeah those people.. I sincerely doubt they have their own website, they're just going from slave-driver to slave-driver.

2) I'm a gamer at heart and I'm pretty good at some of them. I actually started one called Kbwarriors a while back but it fell through because my then partner was a scum and things didn't work out.

As if business with friends ever does work out

I feel that option 2 would be far more enjoyable for me because while it would take a LONG time to generate income, I'm not relying on clients but instead Ad Revenue and I'd be writing guides and doing something I thoroughly enjoy.

I enjoy writing as well, but I still haven't come to a solid business plan on how to target clients that'll pay more than what the majority of these chumps on the forum will pay. Honestly, these people have scared away most of the Native English users here with .50c/1c per word offers and their demands for "high quality". It's quite easy to see why most clients and writers would take one glance at the Freelancing section here and think "nope" and high tail it back to where ever they came from.

So while a site is necessary, I'm torn on Option 1 or Option 2.

 

Why not build both sites? Build a site for writing and use it to advertise what you do, create a professional image, and add misc content and the eBook to it. Then build a site as well for gaming. Both sites are income sources. Divide your time to build both sites. Say like from 9AM to 1PM, work on the writing site and things related to that site. Then from like 2PM to 6PM, work on the gaming site and misc tasks related to that site. Mix in client work when you have it. Another way would be on Mon, Wed, Fri, you work on the writing site. Tues, Thurs, and Sat, you work on the gaming site. Whatever schedule you want to create for yourself that works for you. It's just that it is possible to build both sites and turn them into multiple income sources. Time management is the key.

 

If I started the gaming site, I more than likely wouldn't do anything else. However, I'm weighing in the pros and cons of running JUST a content writing website. I would probably turn it into a money making blog with me selling services on the side.

I know if I ask around in forums, plenty of people will tell me they know six figure content writers and they know people who have a constant flow of 10c per word clients but I'm not at that point or even at the point where I have steady work nor can I afford to put all of my hope into a content writing site.

Half of my time will honestly be working on the site and half of my time will probably be spent whoring myself out on one of those pathetic content mill sites until I can get a flow of clients that all those people keep telling me that they have and know of.

 

Keep in mind that the majority of people online are completely full of crap when they tell you that they know 6 figure writers and the likes. People like to feel important online, have alter egos, and their online persona is better than what they are living in real life. Keep in mind that every freelance writer, even very established ones, experience slumps and dry spells in income and repeat business.

Yes. There is money in writing. Good money. Build a site that represents yourself well, include elements for additional income streams, and then market yourself. The more you get yourself out there, the more chance you have of getting noticed by your target audience.

... and developing multiple streams of income is a good idea.

 

I need my own site badly. I at least want a place to put up work rejected or not purchased by other clients. I have no clue how to set it up. I tried once on Weebly, but it's all over my head. I'm saving up for a professional site, because I want it to work perfectly if I get one.

 

One easy way to go about it and free is to do a tumblrr site. Buy a domain and link the domain to the easily made tumblrr site. Buy some plr on tumblrr or an ebook, to learn it. Basically its a matter of using the txt icon and just typing. Give your blog a good keyword name.
Its pretty simple and then you can link a domain to tumblrr with your writing samples etc. fiverr.com will do that for you. You can put an optin report onto it too.

 

I started writing online since 2007 as a part-time job. I decided to do it full-time in August 2010 and won clients even if I don't have a personal site. But just last month, I decided to have my own online portfolio (with samples, services and fees, and client testimonials) and it really helped a lot to win more clients. It's like a CV, only better because you can write everything you like.

And yes, I think it is very important for freelance web content writers to have one. This will help people easily decide on whether you are the right writer they are looking for. Being able to read something before interviewing a writer will also help them save time.

 

I have my own site, although it is not soley dedicated to writing. It covers all of my skills, i.e. internet marketing website. I think, as TS said, it's important, even if you are farming work on freelance sites. Whenever I fill out a proposal on odesk or elance, I usually include a link to my website or even more specifically, the page on my site dedicated to my article library. I can also point to clients for whom I've done writing. Additionally, I can compound my expertise by stating that I also know website design and SEO, which means I understand how to craft content that will draw favorable attention from search engines as well as readers.

It's a good idea to have a website today, even a simple one, to give you credibility and a point of contact, I believe.