Web content writing and website promotion is the first niche that I started breaking into. I am still learning about writing different types of web pages and I have experience in writing SEO articles and article marketing. Here is an overview of this niche and some tips regarding how to get started with this type of writing and how to do it well.

Different Types of Web Content

Blogs. For freelance writers, blogging is an important tool. Maintaining a blog with high quality posts is an easy and free way to self-publish, build your portfolio, establish credibility on certain subjects, and market yourself as a writer. Blogging can also open doors for your writing career. Writing blog posts for other people or companies can become a regular paying job in itself if you write for enough clients.

SEO Writing. Search Engine Optimization includes the methods used to raise the ranking of a website. SEO writing is basically preparing content that is rich with popular keywords or phrases and links. There is an increasing demand for writing website pages, articles, and blog posts that will attract search engines and place websites among the top links on the first page of the search results on popular search engines. It is not as complicated as it sounds, and it is actually one of the quickest ways to start earning money when freelancing online.

You’ve been waiting by the mailbox and you finally receive the letter you’ve been waiting for. Your book is going to be published!

But your journey doesn’t end there. On the contrary. It’s just beginning. There are appearances to be made, books to sign and television programs to be a guest on.

In fact, many publishers want to know your promotional plan of attack before they even look at your manuscript. How you market yourself and your book is downright vital to success in these competitive publishing days.

The art of self-promotion can be overwhelming. Many people don’t even have the first clue as to where to get started on their own publicity campaign.

I was talking to a new freelance writer recently about getting started in freelancing. One of their questions to me was about which services they should promote the most. In their case they wanted to offer both Web content and Web copywriting services. On the surface, there seemed to be three solutions:

1. Promote the one you enjoy doing the most.
2. Promote the one that pays the most per project.
3. Promote them both equally.

They understood they would be working with two different target markets (and that’s a great start — a lot of new writers don’t get that in the beginning). In cases like that, promoting them both equally from Day 1 might not be the best option. It could lead to the writer spreading themselves too thin. After all, at that point you need to start building a reputation around the service(s) you’re offering, and it’s easier to do that when you narrow your focus.

Here’s what I suggested:

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been learning about How to Become a Freelance Writer.

There are a lot of elements to consider when going into freelancing, such as how to price yourself, and even deciding whether or not to become a freelance writer.

Now that you have your portfolio setup and your prices in mind, we’re going to talk about how to promote your freelance writing business to gain repeat clients that pay the price you want them to pay.

Promotion is the hardest part of any freelance business. In your career, there will be many “one-time” clients, and as a freelancer, you might be wondering how to keep the money and work rolling in to stay afloat. Luckily, there are a couple of tried-and-true methods for bringing in repeat customers, and I’m going to discuss them in depth!

The hard work, you think, is over. You’ve labored into many late nights writing your book, struggled to literally make sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” crossed. Your book — your baby — is all grown up now; completed and ready to set the world on fire.

Then, the cold, hard truth slaps you in the face like a winter chill. Like the proverbial tree falling in the woods with no one around, your book isn’t going to make a sound — or even be known about by anyone — unless you get the word out. You could hire a publicist, but the often high-costs can be prohibitive, and perhaps most of your “book money” went to editing, design, layout and printing.

What to do?

Relax, set your ego aside, and set up a plan and course of action. Book promotion isn’t rocket science; but it does involve a lot of hard work, persistence and some added touches of creativity. Here are some basic yet invaluable pointers for the bold author who has decided to go it alone in the wild world of book promotion.

When the movies were young, publicity in the motion picture industry was a very different game than it is today.

The one job a producer could give a “friend”–and feel certain no harm would be done–was the job of publicist. The legitimate publicists were tucked away in a corner of the lot, pounding out fabricated “items” on their typewriters.

And if writers think they are at the bottom of the food chain in the motion picture and television industries, they should glance way down at the billing given a film’s publicist.

Even today when the industry recognizes the importance of publicity to its success, this worker’s credit usually falls somewhere between craft service and honeywagon driver.

But entertainment has now become a major industry in America. For instance, in the area of film, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that domestic ticket sales totaled $5.91 billion in 1996 and $3.78 billion a decade earlier. An equal amount comes back to the U.S. from the international distribution of American entertainment products. The LA Times has also reported that “Hollywood may be providing as many jobs in Southern California as aerospace-defense ever did.”