Being successful as a freelance writer requires more than good spelling, grammar and research skills. Any skills you can bring to the table beyond writing can help you gain access to a wider array of jobs and a better pay scale. Here are 5 skills that can help you expand the field of jobs for which you can qualify:
WordPress
Not only should you learn your way around WordPress as a Content Managment System (CMS), you would do well to learn about plugins, tips and tricks to make it run better and how to maximize a WordPress site for SEO. At the very least, set up your profile site on WordPress so that you can learn how to run this type of site. It’s becoming the industry standard and without the know how, you’ll fall behind. You can qualify for even more positions if you understand a little about web design, CSS and html. No need to take a class. Just set up a WordPress site, preferably on your own host, and see what your clients go through in running their sites. Google anything you don’t understand and you’ll quickly learn the skills. Classes are available, but WordPress is so easy to use and customize, most people can learn it by trial and error. Get the essentials right from the horse’s mouth at http://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-started. These days, most hosts have an interface that lets you install WordPress right from the host site through simple scripts or other software.
HTML
You do need to understand HTML code to fix small annoying problems that crop up in WYSIWYG editors. Only when you look at the code can you see what’s causing the quirky look of your blog post. http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp is the best place to learn the basics. Get into the habit of writing posts in HTML instead of the Visual editor in WordPress. Google solutions to problems you find and you will gain confidence in your expanded skills.
Basic Image Editing
Some say you should know Photoshop. I say you just need to know where to find free public license images and how to crop and resize. Check out http://www.morguefile.com and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. I rarely have to go beyond these sources for good blog images. I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager as my editor for simple crops and resizing. Photoshop is pricey stuff. Unless you intend to do logo design or web design, it’s not worth it. Few writers are expected to do any more than crop or resize.
Search Engine Optimization
To learn SEO, don’t rely sole on the blog posts all over the Web by every Tom Dick and Harry. Some of the info is trustworthy, some is just plain wrong and some is outdated. The best thing to do is use Google’s own tutorials at http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=70897&hl=en. Take the Google 101 lessons and you’ll be in much better shape. Take it slow, though. This stuff takes time to understand and master. Use your WordPress site to practice the techniques and gain a full understanding of them. After you’ve gone through that training, I recommend http://www.bruceclay.com for the best SEO tools, education and information. The most important things to understand are keyword research, keyword placement, formating images and formating anchor text.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEO has to do with the on-site elements, like keywords, headings, headlines and the way you code images within a post. SEM is a broader skill set that includes an understanding of how often to post, how to use social media, social bookmarking, guest posting and other link building strategies.
Essentially, you need to have all the basic skills of a webmaster. To be a great Web writer and find your way into better jobs like content manager and site editor, you need to know these things. It is also easier to appeal to clients when you can understand the frustrations they face and help them manage solutions.
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