I made a resume for my writing but it's very short. I only listed the two companies I've been writing for the last two years. What the best way to make a resume stand out if your trying to find clients? Sherry
I've almost never used a resume to get freelance work actually. Resumes are more for permanent employment. For freelance work, you really should be focused on a portfolio instead, paired with a simple cover letter (when you're looking for gigs instead of clients finding you directly). I don't consider it a good idea to start off with any client letting them feel like it's more of an employer/employee relationship. It usually leads to problems down the road.
Making a resume is just like selling and advertising your self as well. You need to write everything about you, your skills, expertise, achievements and experiences. This will help you find a good and quality job, make sure, that all the information you have are right and correct.
One of the things I did for my resume was to add a quote from a reference one of my clients gave me. It was something very nice they said about my work, work habits and abilities. I have to say that ever since I've added that to my resume I seem to get even more response. I agree that you need a portfolio, but a resume is helpful too I think especially when you are starting out. You can say to someone "I can write about real estate....I used to be a real estate agent" and that will show on your resume and not on your portfolio. I think you also really need to sell yourself in a customized way in your cover letter. Your cover letter needs to be like a three minute pitch to the client on how you can help them and why they should hire you. I think sometimes the clients look more at the cover letter because that is all about THEM and we always pay attention to things that are about us! lol That's human and natural. When someone has something that has your name in it...don't you pay attention? lol Consider doing a functional resume. There is a book called Damn Good Resumes that lists all types of resumes. Very helpful. Good luck!
True, but those are also the types of things that you should be mentioning (and in a catchier way) in your cover letter anyway (which you've also mentioned). I can only think of one place, maybe two, where I've sent a resume, and that would have been for large networks. Even now I wouldn't do that though - and ironically those gigs were the ones where the clients seem to have a hard time differentiating between employees and contractors, which is why if I see someone demanding a resume, I take them as new to the game and don't apply for the gig.