Tag: blog

Bump on a blog

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If you are a freelance editor and you have a website (which you should), your website should contain a blog.

Your potential clients will want to see how you write and how you edit your writing. Therefore, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation on your blog must be impeccable. I have had the pleasure of finding a glaring typo on my blog after I have published a post and having to go back into the web hosting site to fix it.

What should you write about? You should write about things that are professional, for the most part. For example, I am writing about blogs and blog maintenance right now. I’ve also written about my foray into writing, what an editor should do when they cannot concentrate, and the software I have learned, to name just a few topics. I believe it is also fine to occasionally write semi-cute posts about my workplace, such as descriptions of my bulletin board or the stuffed animals on the bookshelf to my right.

Some other blog housekeeping issues:

Make a new post at least every month or so. Nothing looks less professional than a blog with a timestamp that is, say, two years old.

Decide on how frequently you want to post and stick to that frequency. I post once a week, usually on Sundays. However, as I said before, you can post just once a month if you like. Just make sure you are consistent about it.

Once in a while, brainstorm blog topics so that you have a nice list of topics you can choose from when it is time to write. Keep them in a Word doc (or Excel spreadsheet, or whatever best meets your needs).

Decide on the approximate length of your posts. I usually keep mine from 300 to 400 words, but some bloggers prefer longer posts. Again, consistency is key.

If you have a blog on your website, what are some guidelines that you follow?

A website is what you make of it

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If you are a freelance editor (or freelancer of any kind), chances are you have a website for your business. If you don’t have one, you really should—at least in my opinion. But this week’s blog post is not about why you should have a website. It’s about the essential things to have on it.

There is always, of course, the Home page. This needs to pique the interest of potential clients. There should be visual elements, such as pictures, to break up the paragraphs. (Having a photo of yourself is optional.) Just make sure you have permission to use the pictures! The Home page should also explain why your services are necessary to the client. For example: “Why should you have your writing copyedited?”

The Services page is also one of the most important. It explains exactly what you do. Be specific here; do you copyedit, line edit, or do developmental editing or ghostwriting? Some freelancers list their fees on the service page, while others choose not to.

The About page is where you list your credentials and show the client why you are good at what you do. You can also slip in a sentence about, for example, your hobbies (“When not reading or writing, I enjoy traveling.”) This paints you more as human rather than an editing machine.

The Testimonials page shows all the praise clients have given you. My advice is to ask for a short testimonial from every client who is happy with the work you have done for them. Do this right after the job is done, so that the client remembers you and your work clearly.

A blog is optional for a website, but having one and updating it regularly shows that you are diligent. You must be disciplined about blogging and do it once a week (or however often you have decided) and not just whenever you feel like it.

If you are a freelancer, what have you found is essential to put on your website?