Should Freelance Writers Launch a Niche Blog? | Blogging | Writing Forum

I'm a big fan of blogging, and starting a niche blog is often something I tell new freelancers to consider. I have three main reasons for this:

1. For a new writer, a blog serves as a living portfolio piece. You keep on writing whether or not you have client work, and it gives you something to highlight in your portfolio even if you don't have client samples. 

2. Blogs can be direct income streams. That's not to say anyone should count on a new blog being a great income source early on. But over time, they can help you get through slow times. I've had blogs that earn almost nothing. And I've had others earn a few grand per month. It's all in the niche you choose and how well you promote and monetize it.

3. Blogs are great marketing tools. The key here isn't to keep a personal blog or even blog about writing. It's to have a blog in the same niche you freelance in. For example, if you're a travel writer you might launch your own travel blog. It helps you build a reputation in your specialty area which can make you a more authoritative source. And clients generally pay more for writers who are considered authorities in their specialty areas.

Do you run a niche blog as a freelance writer? What have been the biggest benefits for you? Can you think of other reasons writers might opt to launch a blog?

Jenn

Hana, I'm sorry I missed your previous post earlier. But here are some thoughts. 

I think ultimately it's going to come down to what you specialize in and exactly how personal your personal blog is. 

For example, if you want to take on copywriting, clients don't want to read a personal blog as a writing sample. They want to see copy that works. On the other hand, if you write about the dating scene, a blog about your own romantic relationships in the past might work out very well. 

I wouldn't use a personal blog as a writing sample. I'd put together some directly relevant samples and get a portfolio online. With personal blogs we sometimes don't think quite as much before posting, and it can lead to prospects seeing something they shouldn't -- even if it's just a rambling post. And unless you plan to specialize in the same kind of writing for clients, I wouldn't risk alienating prospects by directing them to a non-business site where you might express views or share stories they would find offensive. That's fine if it's relevant to the work. But I imagine many personal posts wouldn't be for most freelancers.

A blog template isn't a place, but a design. If you mean a freely hosted blog, I usually recommend against it. After all, a single contract even on the fairly low end of the pay scale can cover a domain name and a year's worth of simple Web hosting. So to me it looks a it unprofessional for someone to essentially tell prospects they should invest money in their services when the freelancer isn't even willing to invest that small amount in their own. Just my $.02 on that issue. 

I recommend self-hosting a site. It can be a simple one, especially at first. And you can use free, premium, or custom templates / themes / designs. My preference is to use self-hosted Wordpress (from Wordpress.org) and either use custom themes or premium themes that I can customize myself. 

There's nothing wrong with free templates in general. But you have to be careful about a couple of things. First, you want to make sure it's not already being over-used where your prospects would see it (so don't use one you know a competitor is using for example). These days free themes aren't always well-maintained (even those here aren't updated, and I may soon pull them from the freebies page until I can have a designer look into updates). And if they use outdated scripts, they could include vulnerabilities that can lead to your site being hacked. So your best bet is to go with a free theme only if the designer or developer has an active support forum or you know it's set up to work with the latest version of Wordpress.