10 Ways To Raise Your Online Writing Profile

Making money by writing online is a lot easier if your name is well known. Rather than constantly seeking out work, you’re more likely to be offered attractive jobs. So here are my top tips for promoting yourself online.

Maximise your email sig

The easiest first – make sure you use your email signature to market your skills. Describe your talents, and include a link to either your site or an example piece of work. You may consider updating your sig on a weekly basis to alert readers to your latest article or job.

Use social networks

Make sure you have an account in your name on the key social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Add updates regularly, sprinkling a good mix of both work related and social comments – you’re more likely to get friends and followers if you say things of interest rather than pure self-promotion.

Contribute to key forums

You may already read forums within your subject area, but make sure you join and contribute posts. Aim for quality rather than quantity, and try to build a reputation for expert opinions and contributions. Make sure you always use a consistent display name when registering on each site.

Edit Wikipedia

Think about registering as a Wikipedia editor in your specialist area. This is less of a public role, but you’ll become respected within the community and it will give a great addition to your CV. You’ll also get some great editing experience which will in turn improve your own writing and research skills.

Write for a rev share site

Open an account on a advert sharing site such as Wikinut – not only will you be able to generate cash from any existing articles you’ve written, but you’ll be able to build up an online portfolio within a community of online authors.

Join a freelancing site

Middlemen such as Elance will put you in touch with potential clients, and also allow you to submit a profile to their site.

Get in touch with old colleagues

Use professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to re-establish links with past work colleagues. You’ll also be able to submit a CV and work experience to these sites, so even if you’re just starting out as a writer you can show off your other skills and experience.

Become a guest poster

Contact blog owners you respect and send them some example guest posts. Ensure you try to target your writing for their style, and always provide a short bio of yourself. By building relationships with a few high traffic blogs you’ll be putting your name before potentially huge audiences.

Write a blog

Create a blog for yourself, as a show piece for your talents. Use it as a place to promote your work, recent jobs, as a portfolio, to air your thoughts on writing… basically, anything that puts you in a good light. Spend a bit of cash to get your own domain name for that professional look.

And finally

If you do have your own blog, ensure you spread your content far and wide. Utilise feeds such as RSS and Feedburner to syndicate your content. Create a mailing list, and send out regular newsletters with relevant, original content interspersed with your self-promotional content.

Andy Walton is a co-founder of Wikinut, a new publishing platform that pays lifetime royalties for your writing on a massive range of topics. Use promo code “5more” when joining www.wikinut.com today, and get an extra 5% in royalties. (Photo: lumaxart)

Tagged as: promotion, self-promotion, writing, writing business, writing career