Your writing platform probably won’t look exactly like mine, and it won’t look like those of your colleagues necessarily. There are no tools or tactics that you must use, although there are some that are used more commonly than others. It’s up to you to choose the things you’re most comfortable with, which will also appeal to your own target market.

Here are some things that may work for you in building a writer platform:

1. Setup a professional website and public portfolio
2. Start a blog where you can demonstrate your authority in your niche or industry
3. Conduct original research and publish the results (to again convey authority status)
4. Give speeches at industry events or organizations
5. Conduct seminars and / or webinars
6. Offer a course or e-course (free or paid)
7. Get published in trade or niche publications read by members of your target market
8. Write and release e-books and / or reports
9. Write a book (again related to your specialty area)
10. Have op-eds or letters to the editor published in newspapers, magazines, or Web publications
11. Take part in article marketing
12. Comment on blogs or websites in your niche or industry
13. Write guest posts for other blogs in your niche or industry (the more visibility the better)
14. Setup your own virtual publicity tour (combining reviews, guest posts, interviews, etc. over a week or so)
15. Write for a larger site, blog, or network regularly within your niche (by-lined work, and often paid)
16. Solicit or make yourself available for interviews
17. Release a white paper
18. Start your own podcast series
19. Create a video series or video blog (can be good for tutorials)
20. Guest lecture at an educational institution
21. Send pitch letters to targeted journalists, pitching a story concept and offering yourself as a source
22. Actively take part in forums, social networks, or other online communities in your niche or industry
23. Take part in joint promotions with others
24. Publish (or allow others to publish) excerpts of longer books or e-books you’ve written
25. Join professional organizations
26. Create your own networking group or professional organization
27. Build a following on microblogging services like Twitter
28. Offer a print or email newsletter
29. Offer related products (if you’re a health and fitness writer, for example, you may publish and sell–or give away–your own fitness calendar or training plan)
30. Give away free stuff (freebies are a great way to give people a taste of your expertise and style, and they attract links and buzz)

Like I said, you don’t have to do all of these things. Everything in the list isn’t appropriate for every freelance writer out there. But there sure are a lot of options, aren’t there? How many do you currently use to your advantage? I find that even experienced freelance writers often don’t make use of many of the tools available to them. Are you doing enough? At a bare minimum, pick one thing from the list this week and start pursuing it. Yes, there’s some market planning to do (which we’ll cover also), but for now just narrow down your options and lay the framework (always keeping your target client base in mind of course).

I asked each guest to share some parting words of wisdom or advice for other freelance writers. I hope you’ll find it a fitting close to our series. Here’s what they had to say:

Chris Bibey

1. Be willing to speak with anybody and everybody. Too many freelance writers avoid phone calls and personal meetings. If a client wants to talk on the phone, go for it. This is how you build long lasting relationships.

2. Ask your current clients to pass your name along to others. This is something you do not want to forget. As long as you do not pressure your clients, there is nothing wrong with asking for their help. Tell them you are expanding your business, and that you are hoping to land a few new clients in the near future. You will be surprised at how many clients are willing to refer you to people in their network. Soon enough their network becomes your network.

3. Start a blog and service based website. An online presence is very important. In the past, this was not so much the case. But in today’s day and age, the majority of people searching for a freelance writer are going to start online.

Angela Booth

For a new writer (and for any writer, for that matter) what counts is writing, and getting your writing in front of people who can buy it.

If I were a new writer starting out today, I’d start with the outsourcing sites like Elance. I’d spend around six months there, until I’d completed 50 to 100 projects, and had testimonials. Then I’d branch out into writing my own blogs, and would use those blogs as writing samples to target any market I was interested in.

I wish someone had told me way back when that I COULD write whatever I wanted to write. It would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of anguish. I’d have written more, with more confidence.

Jenna Glatzer

I know it’s not glamourous-sounding, but I’m still a fan of the old-fashioned method– sending out queries and letters of introduction (and even articles on spec, when necessary), getting those initial assignments, and kicking butt on them. To me, the right way to go about it is to have patience and work your way up while building experience and really earning better assignments. I have also heard of writers making great connections at a few prestigious writer’s conferences in NYC… I can’t vouch for that because I haven’t attended any, but it certainly can’t hurt.

Kristen King

Join and actively participate in professional organizations in the areas in which you would like to focus, and create a professional website for yourself.

Deb Ng

My advice to anyone starting out is to first research. Learn about the different types of writing. Figure out niches and areas of expertise. Read up on rates, scams and different types of clients. Learn how to format a manuscript or write a query letter. Don’t enter into it blind. When the writer is ready to begin, I recommend he first work on his query or pitch letter. Ask other writers how they pitch for jobs and find a formula that works. One never gets a second chance to make a first impression.

Allena Tapia

Don’t hang out with other writers too much (at least not for platform purposes), go find the people who cut the paychecks! Truly, other writers teach us, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And, heck, sometimes I hire other writers—but not every writer does that, so widen your circle.

Anne Wayman

It’s really hard for a beginner to start ghostwriting books I think. So I would suggest they begin by writing articles and maybe a blog with some ebooks in the area they think they’d like to ghostwrite. Some ghostwriting of articles might help too – even a couple of the really cheap ones. Developing the listening skills of interviewing will also help. Listening is key in ghostwriting.

I just want to offer a big THANK YOU to our guests for a fun and informative series, and to everyone who took part in the conversations here.

Now that you’ve received an introduction with some of the approaches available to you as a freelance writer, we’ll be getting back to to the business of query-free freelancing here with tips, tactics, and tools you can use to build your own writer platform (if you feel this method’s right for you). I hope you’ll be back for our next upcoming interview, which will be with Peter Bowerman. We’ll be talking about self-publishing books, and how publishing a book can be a valuable addition to your platform!

A major aspect of query-free freelancing is building a writer platform–your visibility and demand. There are many possible elements to a writer platform such as blogs, a professional website, published books, microblogging (Twitter), and speaking engagements. (If you’d like more examples, check out our past post listing 30 ways to build your writer platform.)

I asked our guests what they considered to be the most important aspect of a writer platform, based on the most effective elements of their own during their careers. Here are their thoughts:

Chris Bibey

There are a couple of things that come to mind here. One, every freelance writer needs a blog. Since starting my blog a couple years ago I have received a number of large projects from clients who found me in this manner. Yes, it takes time to develop a readership but once you are there it can help immensely.

Having two books in print has also helped me grow as a writer. Not only has this brought forth additional projects, but it has allowed me to connect with others who can help me reach my goals.

Angela Booth

All of the above [e-boks, a blog, published books, speaking engagements], because at various times, I’ve used and have done all of the above, and will continue to do it, as time permits, and as projects require.

Jenna Glatzer

Some editors did find me through my website, but to be honest, most of it was just a matter of editors getting to know me through my work for them and their colleagues. As I proved myself, editors began batting my name around more and more, and taking me with them when they moved to other magazines and other publishers.

Kristen King

Having a website was absolutely essential to building my business. I now also have a blog, and they both bring in enough work to more than pay for their own overhead costs. My website and my involvement with American Independent Writers were the two biggest external contributors to my freelance success. Busting my butt nonstop to go after work was essential, but I don’t think it would have been nearly as effective without those two elements.

Deb Ng

For me it was my blog. My blog is the best thing that ever happened to me, my writing career, my “brand” and my reputation. Not everyone will have a successful writing blog, but I put out the right blog at the right time and it continues to grow today. I also speak at various blogging and social media conferences and write ebooks and together these have all helped to shape my success.

Allena Tapia

Often I think this whole “platform” business tends to accidentally connect us to other freelance writers. For me, that’s important because of my work at About.com. But, you know what? Other than freelancewrite.about.com, it’s not freelancers who pay me! It’s publishers, editors. So I would say that the most important part of your platform is the audience!! Select them carefully.

Anne Wayman

I’ve always thought speaking might be a good way to get writing assignments, but it looked as hard to get speaking engagements as it can be to get writing assignments, so I focused on the writing. Websites and now blogs are my most important marketing tool, but although I think every writer should have a site with samples, etc., it won’t be everyone’s prime method. Just as we’re all different, our marketing will be different too.

So there you have it. Get a website. Get a blog. Do what works for you, but for goodness sake get out there and do something! The sooner you get started, the sooner your platform can begin bringing in the gigs.

Come back tomorrow for the final post in our series, where our guest will share some parting words of wisdom.

I asked them whether or not they spent much time early on thinking about things like building a platform or networking, or if they instead stuck to the traditional querying process, letting their platforms build slowly over time.

Let’s get right to it:

Chris Bibey

Early on, I definitely spent more time on querying. In fact, I was sending out several query letters per day as well as many emails. Over time, I realized that I was putting too much effort into this and forgetting to build my online presence and business network. This led me to make more contacts, and to start my freelance writing blog. Looking back, I would have still started with regular queries but would have also been marketing myself in other ways. In my opinion, building a network and reputation is vital to freelance writing success. Just because you work alone, without a lot of personal interaction, doesn’t mean you should forget about building a network.

Angela Booth

I started writing professionally in the late 1970s, and early 1980s. Initially, I had no idea what I was doing. I considered myself a novelist (hence the book proposals.)

Then I started to write copy (advertising and press releases) for a business I was running. Other businesses asked me to write for them, and gradually, without realizing it, I became a copywriter. I wasn’t writing copy for anything other than fun at that stage, I enjoyed it, it was a challenge, so I did it.

I started writing for magazines too, at around that time. I sold the first article I proposed, which gave me a real taste for it.. :-) After that, I got into querying magazines I wanted to write for because I sensed that I could write for them. If you write enough, you soon learn to trust your instincts. If you think to yourself “I can write that”, you always can.

In those days, the 1980s, as now, it’s who you know, and who knows you. You have to write enough so that people know who you are, and what you can write.

If I were starting out today, I’d do things differently because you have so many more tools available.

Instead of writing book proposals, I’d write a book on a blog, and I’d wait for the reaction. No reaction? OK, dud. Reaction? Excellent. I’d keep on writing the book on the blog, and would then sell it as an ebook, and if I thought it really had legs, I’d develop a book proposal for print publishers, because the book already had an audience…

Instead of writing magazine queries, I’d start blogs on any topic I was interested in, and I’d approach magazine editors and other buyers of writing using the blogs as samples. I’d write something like: “I’ve been blogging on ________(whatever topic) at ___________ (Internet address). It struck me that your readers might be interested in ______________ (three ideas) _______ please let me know if you’d like me to develop these ideas further.”

The blog would provide excellent writing samples, and it would show a degree of professionalism that’s attractive to editors and other buyers of writing. A blog shows commitment, and reliability.

Showing those things is essential when you’re a new writer. Most editors have been burned by writers many times. They come to expect it. Finding a writer who’s writing regularly with a degree of competence is like finding a gold nugget.

Putting it bluntly and no disrespect intended because I love writers, many writers are flakes. Receiving a commission is no guarantee the writer will actually complete the project on time, so a blog at least shows the editor that the writer can write, even when there’s no one jabbing him/ her with a cattle prod to get him/ her to do it.

Jenna Glatzer

I spent my time pitching and querying, working my way up. I think I would have done it all the same way again, considering it worked out just the way I hoped it would, and I felt like I had really earned my stripes. If I had tried to “cut the line” and get ahead faster, I probably would have flopped– I needed to do lots of lower-level assignments before I could have handled big features for national glossy mags. About the only thing I would change is that I would have liked to have learned a little earlier how to write a great query. That took some practice, especially because I was following all the rules in books that were outdated (which I didn’t realize, of course). Only after I started tossing out the rules and making up my own did I really take a major step forward in my career.

Kristen King

When I first started freelancing, I joined several online forums and e-mail discussion lists focused on freelance writing. At the same time, I began aggressively responding to posted job openings on freelance job sites and Craigslist while also advertising my services on Craigslist. I built a website for my freelance business and directed potential clients to the site for samples and details on the services I offered.

I also joined a regional organization for writers, Washington Independent Writers (now American Independent Writers) and started attending their seminars and volunteering to help with various events. This helped me build my network and develop relationships with seasoned writers while also providing me with scores of educational programs and opportunities.

Deb Ng

I think I did it just right. It was a combination of all the above. As I looked for work, I networked with other writers and potential clients and we all helped it each other. It was all the networking and helping that gave me the idea for my blog, which is now the number one online community for freelance writers. The only thing I would change is waiting so long to leave my job to freelance full time, otherwise I think I did it just right.

Allena Tapia

If I could go back in time, I’d definitely change a couple things! I feel like my approach was kind of scattered—I did a little of everything and I’m really not sure that’s the best approach. I would say that I was like a scatter gun—just shot out a bunch of stuff to see where it stuck.

Anne Wayman

I got started before the web. I remember the stacks of SASE and query letters. They worked, then I began to fall into the ghostwriting. I took a career twist (one of many) and began writing for the web, usually as in employee, then as a freelancer and that’s when I first started building my own websites and now blogs.

Considering the fact that every one of our guests is successful in their own specialty areas, it’s not surprising that for the most part they wouldn’t want to change things. Who could blame them! But what about you? How long have you been freelancing, and is your career where you want it to be right now? If not, what would you do differently?

Two more parts left in our series, and Monday we’ll pick it up again to talk about the tools and tactics our guests consider the most useful in developing your writing platform!

Your writer platform is basically a collection of tools and tactics that allow you to build and maintain both visibility and demand for your freelance writing services. Think of it as your built-in audience. The idea is to build an audience that will benefit your writing career, either through contacts and referrals or direct job offers from prospective clients. It’s what helps people find you, so you don’t have to spend all of your time finding them.