by: David Drake
Before you move on further with the idea of starting a home based writing business, you should assess your skills. I don’t mean to discourage any of you, but I’ve known many people who got themselves in to the wrong business and lost all their savings, properties and the business itself, along the way. So make sure it won’t happen to you by evaluating whether writing is your greatest strength.
A small amount of time introspection can give a definite shape to your future.Once you are confident about your abilities, do some research online and offline. Find people who would outsource their writing jobs or assign projects to you. Do not jump start with this business. Start if off as a part time job, while you keep your full time job. If you are a home staying mom, start off the business on your own without involving partners or employees.
When you step in to the world of freelance writing, it is always better to have a safety net to fall on to. So don’t keep too much hopes and invest too much on equipments, office space etc initially. All you need to do is buy a reliable computer (maybe a used one) and good word processing software. To begin with, it is advisable to use free word processing software such as Open Office. A telephone connection with internet and a good printer are other essential equipment for the job. Once you start getting good work you could take up from there.
You may be skillful as any great writer out there, but you will need to keep out to date. With internet dominating home based businesses, there is an increasing demand for freelance writing; so search for new writing leads and develop your skills everyday. Try out different styles of writing and different assignments such as newsletter writing, magazine articles, blog posts, SEO articles, ghost writing e-books, proposals, resumes and the list goes on…
Market yourself everyday. There are websites that allows you to post advertisements promoting your services. Keep track of all such sites and the customers that you meet. A good rapport with customers is the key to any successful business. Remember that, most buyers tend to stick with the same writer if they become impressed with the work. So make sure you’d always deliver on time, be professional and keep to your word.
Continue working part-time for at least 6 months before moving on to full time writing. By then, you should have made a lot of contacts in the field and have sufficient number of buyers to compensate for a good income. If your projects are getting out of hand, recruit one or two people as part-time employees. However, before doing so, do a feasibility study to see if you can still make profit, increase business and keep up to the reputation you’ve built by having people working for you. If everything goes well, you might even be able to employ people on full time basis and start off a small company of your own.
