You're a Writer - You Need a Website!

All freelance writers should have their own web site!

That's a pretty strong statement; here’s why it’s true:

The people who will pay you for your writing are searching the web for writers.

There are exceptions, of course, but more and more editors, publishers, and people who need copywriting, speech writing, ghostwriting, ebook writing, and other kinds of both business and personal writing are looking for writers on the web. Here are several examples from my own experience.

1. I posted my website on a bidding site and was contacted by the owner of travel site who needed articles on sailing in Fiji and Tonga; I agreed to do the writing, and was paid well.
    
2. A man who wanted an allegory written found my website, called me and we got it done. Again I was well paid.
    
3. Over time I’ve had several coaching clients come to me because of my website.

   None of them have even been in California. I would never have met them if it hadn’t been for my website.
    

4. I’ve received assignments from magazines because my website has samples of my writing, making it easy for a new editor to check me out.

You simply can’t afford not to take advantage of marketing yourself via the web. Fortunately, it’s easy and cheap to do these days. Here are the basic steps:

Your writing website needs a host

A web host is where your web site is stored so can be found on the ‘net. I use 1and1.com, but there are tons of companies out there that provide the service. Chances are you already have some web space with your Internet Service Provider; many of them, however, won't let you use your own domain name without an extra fee, so do some checking.

1and1 and some others offer simple website builders along with their packages which may be a good way for you to go, at least at first.

Get your own domain name

Buying your own domain name costs $10 or less a year these days, and it's worth every penny. You can use your own name, like I do ( AnneWayman.com), and if it's available. Or pick a phrase that's related to the kind of writing you do and is easy to remember. I search for domain names at godaddy.com, but I buy them through my host to keep everything in one place.

Keep your website simple

Your site doesn't have to be complex to do a good job showing off your talents. In fact, keep it simple. A home page, and a page or two of writing samples will do nicely. Those samples, by the way, can often be used instead of snail-mailing clips--just point the editor to your web site and you're done.

If your web host doesn’t provide a site building tool, you’ll have to use an html editor. (html=hyper text markup language and is the code that allows display of your site.) If you've got Microsoft Office, you've probably already got FrontPage which is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that will do nicely for a start.

And don't forget to include contact information on your site!

Promote Yourself and Your Writing

Once your site is up, make sure your web address shows up on all your email, business cards, letterhead and anyplace else you can think of. You'll also need to submit your site to search engines--there are free places to do this. See Website Help below for helpful links.