Advice on how to become a professional blogger person type
A friend of a friend asked me for some tips on becoming a writer for the Internets, and I figured I’d post the basics of what I sent her. A lot of this is centered around my own experiences, though — so your mileage may vary and additions welcome.
- Start a blog, and get into the habit of updating it daily about the topics you feel passionately about (not just what you ate for breakfast this morning). It’s an easy way to start building up a background online, and it shows potential employers that you’re not only down with this whole writing thing, but this whole writing thing too.
- Get together some samples, and try to get some semi-official credits. There are plenty of vaguely professional websites looking for cheap/free writers — Craigslist and other places are good to explore for opportunities. Be prepared to write for free at first, but the more credits you have, the easier it’ll be to get an editor’s attention when you send out more queries.
- The easiest way to start getting paid work is to develop a speciality that few other people have. If there’s a subject you have a background in or passion for — knitting, video games, world music, classic cars, whatever — search around and see who’s covering it online. And then sell the hell out of yourself to whoever’s running it.
- If you don’t have a topical speciality, you can also backwards engineer this and just pick the websites you love that probably pay their writers — start harrassing them about whether or not they need newbies, and in the meantime make sure to comment and participate in their discussion forums. There’s enough turnover/freelance options in this content-hungry environment that if you keep poking, you’ll come across something.
- And — though it totally goes without saying — be professional, polite, and prepared whenever possible. Details matter. I put out a Craigslist ad looking for writers once, asking them to send me a resume, two writing samples, and a list of their three favorite show. Maybe five people managed to successfully complete all three tasks. Being a grown-up online is like the best thing ever.
- What it comes down to is quality prose and quality presentation. 90% of everything is crap, and the cream eventually rises.
I’d listen to Liz Miller. She is the best.
