How you gain experience before being hired as a content writer
For writers, this statement is wrong: It’s hard to start out because you need experience to gain experience but you don’t have experience to prove you’re qualified for your first job or client.
Why is it wrong? Because we are SO lucky in that we don’t have to get hired to write. We can just do it. So if you would like to create a jackpot of writing samples to practice your writing and to show potential clients or employers, a blog is one way to do it.
There are also many other writing samples you can create with little to no professional writing experience! Let me show you with my free gift to you:
Now for the good stuff: blogging.
Blogging and I go way back. I wanted to write and share my work with others, so right before I graduated college, I started a blog. Since then, I’ve made a few different blogs in different niches and they have all taught me something new—all while making me a better writer.
Why, though?
Here are six reasons why you should have a blog to improve your writing to help you become a professional writer:
- They come in clutch on interviews with potential clients or employers.
I’ve always included my blog on applications and interviews (along with other relevant writing samples) because I knew that it showcased my writing skills and writing style the best. You can bring a tablet with you on your in-person interviews so you can easily pull up your blog to show your potential client or hiring manager.
- It shows that you understand how to create content.
So you don’t just know how to string sentences together, you are also a self-starter and can create content on your own—this is a very valuable skill on a creative team or on your own as a freelancer. You won’t necessarily always be told what to write and could be involved in content strategy and content creation, so this is a cool bonus skill!
- It shows that you may know a little bit about managing a website.
While you may not need to manage a website that much or at all for your clients or employer, it is another bonus skill. You may be responsible for at least publishing content to a website or a similar platform, so the fact that you have some background in that with your blog can be a huge plus.
- If you also create social media accounts to drive people to your blog (and I highly recommend this), then this is also a bonus for potential clients or employers.
Not only are you then providing your potential clients or employer with social media writing samples, it is also showing your social media strategy! This is super useful if you want your blog to perform well also. Having a blog is a great opportunity to experiment with different strategies and your potential client or employer will notice your efforts.
- A blog shows your creativity so well.
Not only do you have complete freedom to write what and how you want, you can also play around with the website imagery, colors, and even add video or audio clips to your posts. You can completely make it your own to “wow” someone who may hire you. While you may also not be responsible for imagery as a content writer, learning about basic design elements is a great complement to your work and builds upon your skillset.
And who knows! Maybe you find that you enjoy the design component of content creation more and that leads you down another path. There is nothing wrong with that.
- You are your own boss.
This is your chance to choose your own niche and write everything about it. If you are super passionate about video games, you get to write your little heart out about video games. If you love baseball, baking, collecting sneakers, yoga, kayaking…whatever you are passionate about, write about that. You will do your best writing when it is about something you truly enjoy. And employers may like to see this extra initiative to practice your craft on your own rather than depending on paid work for samples.
How, though?
Luckily, blogging is free! My website is created with WordPress and its basic package is completely free. You don’t need any special certification or training in website design to make these websites look great, also—each package has a wide variety of website styles you can choose from where you can edit pre-existing templates and you’re all set. Trust me, in a couple hours, you could have your own blog all set up and start drafting your very first blog post.
ALSO—once you publish your first blog post, your post will be added to the WordPress community where you can read other bloggers’ content and gain more exposure! It’s kinda like Facebook where you can scroll through a newsfeed of other bloggers. You can tag your post for different categories (like hashtags) before you publish so others can discover your posts even better.
Ready to show off your skills and grow as a writer? Start below.
This isn’t even a paid promotion (this is literally my first blog post with Robin Writers, so there’s no chance! LOL), I just really believe in WordPress since it has helped me immensely in shaping my career and I want you to benefit just like I have!
Success!
If you publish on a pretty regular schedule (maybe once per week or every other week—as often as you can, but as regularly as you can manage) and (bonus!) you create at least one social media account to drive traffic over to your blog…oh man, you are setting yourself up for success. Also, you’ll have something to look back on to see your progress and remind yourself of how much you have improved and learned.
Have fun. Write a lot. You got this.
Don’t forget my free gift to you!
Nice
Thank you!