There are many jobs out there for freelance writers; you have to find them. It may seem that every website needs better content and you may be correct with that assumption. However, not every website owner sees it that way. They may figure if they use their keywords and put 3 or 4 paragraphs down they will get new customers and clients.
Here’s where you come in as a freelance writer. Content is now king. You’ve heard that expression before but it’s more true than ever. The search engines don’t accept content that’s just a bunch of keywords and has little relevancy to the topic. The search engines are looking for a post or article that is 450 to 700 words, not a 210 word post. Link backs are fine but they better be place in excellent content if they’re going to be found.
Depending upon what you type of job you are submitting a query to, the probability is that you should send your query letter on line. I prefer sending the letter as an attachment to an email. While others prefer sending the letter itself as an email. Try it both ways and see where you get your best responses.
I address the person formally in the email and use a formal letter format.
Then it’s
Dear Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. Jones: with a colon
I usually start my letter with a questions. For example (the figures in these examples are pure fiction)
Did you know there are more than 315,000 creative writing courses taught each year at community centers? What’s more the latest estimate of the number of adults who have an idea for a book they want to write is 41 million.
I am inquiring whether you’d be interested in a story describing what community colleges and universities are doing to tap into this market.
Attached is a letter with more details about the story and a brief bio of myself describing my qualifications and experience writing articles focusing on educational institutions.
It’s not a real zinger of an introduction. It doesn’t have to be. If the editor isn’t interested in the topic it doesn’t matter how novel the opening is. What I wanted to do is to cause the reader to think so that he or she will want to read on and find out what I’m talking about.
In the query letter itself I get a little deeper into the content of the article. What is special about my story? It demonstrates how universities and community colleges are using adult education as another income stream. I will use quotes from people I’ve interviewed who are very much involved with this. I will quote adult students who enrolled in some of these courses. Using quotes shows that I have done some of my research.
I may get a quote about the topic from the president of a major educational association to show the editor this is an activity that schools are using throughout the country. My purpose here is to show the editor this topic isn’t about small potatoes; it’s big.
The second to last paragraph may read something like:
I propose a 1300 word article about teaching freelance writing in adult education for the “Teaching Outside the Box” section of your magazine or newsletter.
I am a full-time freelance writer. My work has been recently featured in such publications as ………….. Clips are enclosed.
If you’ve never been published, just don’t say anything. After all, they may not even think about the fact that you didn’t mention credits. And don’t go into describing how you edited your high school newspaper.
I look forward to your response.,
Regards,
Ruthan Brodsky
This should give you some idea about how to go about getting an assignment from a publication , on line or offline. If you have any questions, ask them in the comment section and I’ll reply.
To your freelance writing success
Ruthan
Ruthan Brodsky
Copywriter & Content Creator
