We’ve added this information on more reading as a way to get more advanced in-depth information about some topics.

The main points and steps to becoming are freelance writer are in the other sections of this blueprint. So you don’t have to read these posts if you don’t want to — especially if you think you’re going to get distracted.

Since we don’t want you to feel overwhelmed trying to read a ton of more advanced information, we’ve made this page where you can learn more about certain topics.

So, once you’ve gone through the whole blueprint feel free to come here and read more. None of this is required, choose to check out any of these links at your own pace (if you want to at all).

Freelance Writing: Phase 1

Here is some more suggested reading from Phase 1 that you can read when you want.

Different types of freelance writing:

Freelance Writing: Phase 2

Here is some more suggested reading from Phase 2 that you can read when you want.

Freelance Writing: Phase 3

Here is some more suggested reading from Phase 3 that you can read when you want.

A Few Helpful Tools

All of these are optional and most of them are free. But I wanted to add some of the tools that have really helped me as I’ve gotten started and along the way.

  • Grammarly: I pay for the premium version of this and it’s worth every penny but the free version is good too. It’s an awesome tool that spots spelling and grammar mistakes in everything you write.
  • Hemingway App: Here’s a secret, most of my clients even the fancy finance and insurance ones want me to write in really simple language, usually at an 8th or 9th-grade reading level. This free tool helps you simplify your writing.
  • Notion: This is sort of like an Evernote-style tool. I use it to create my own standard operating procedures for things like pitching so I can just do the same process every time.
  • Dropbox: It’s really important to have a way to save your stuff to the cloud. That ensures you don’t need to panic if your laptop crashes, but it also means you can work on your stuff from anywhere like your parent’s laptop or a library computer without missing a beat.
  • Pocket: Whenever I’m researching for a post I will save any papers or articles I see and tag them so I have everything in one place. I’ll also save interesting articles I might be able to glean for pitches too. (Note: Both Notion and Lanes have ways to save articles too).
  • Airtable: If you don’t love using something like Excel, check out Airtable. You can make similar style spreadsheets here that have a few extra features.
  • Streak: We have a whole post here about how you can use Streak for Gmail as a tool to turn your inbox into a client management tool.
  • How to Get Started With LinkedIn: This blog post walks you through setting yourself up with LinkedIn.
Thinking about money

A big part of freelancing revolves around money. How to make it. How to get more of it. And so on. Here’s so more reading on that.

You can also check out sites like Who Pays Writers and Contently’s Freelance Rates Database to get a better understanding of the sites and companies out there and the rates they pay.

If you want more reading, here are a few good posts to check out on how to write and format a freelance contract:

Freelance Writing: Phase 4

Here is some more suggested reading from Phase 4 that you can read when you want.

How to Build Good Marketing Habits

When you’re ready, check out these posts to help you get your marketing ready.

Freelance Writing: Phase 5

Here is some more suggested reading from Phase 5 that you can read when you want.

How to Become a Writer:

Other Good Blogs to Explore:

SEO:

Backlinko has a lot of great stuff on SEO and the aHrefs blog does too. Both are good resources to stay up to date on what’s happening in SEO.

B2B Writing:

Ed Gandia runs a great site and podcast that helps B2B writers make more money. Another of my favorite sites for writers is Jennifer Gregory’s blog.

If you have any questions, feel free to post a thread in the forums, and we’ll be sure to try and help you out as much as we can.