Online Writing: 5 New Skills You Must Develop

If you want to make it with your online writing business, you can do it — if you keep on top of the game. Here are five new skills you must develop in order to stay ahead of the pack.

1. Social networking. Face it; if you want to get the word out about your skills, you need to at least know about the various social networking platforms out there: Facebook, Twitter, you name it. You don’t necessarily have to take part in them but if you want to pass yourself off as an online writing expert, you have to know about the major outlets and how to write on them effectively. Otherwise, your potential client just may go elsewhere. (However, don’t let these sites become a time sink or else you won’t get your real work done.)

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2. HTML. Learn at least the basic codes so you can format your word correctly. As you get more familiar with it, you can advance to more complex tasks, such as Java, CSS etc. Not only will this make you more valuable to your clients, you can also make your own website a cut above the rest.

3. Internet marketing. Yes, you can make a healthy online writing income. But you won’t unless you know the secrets of driving traffic to your door. Your clients won’t seek your services unless they know how to find you. Join internet marketing forums and check out the various websites and articles devoted to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising etc. Read the information, understand it and try to apply it to your own writing business.

4. Graphics. While the text you write is important, equally important is how that text appears on the page. We’ve all seen websites that fairly scream, ìI’m trying to sell you something.î It is much more effective to pair your persuasive copy with an attractive website that is not overcrowded with cheesy clip art. Your clients will appreciate the extra value you give them when you can say, ìI can also make recommendations as to the layout, if you wish.î

Here’s an exercise: Pick out a website that you dislike and then think of what you would do to change it. If you have the resources, create your own dummy or fake site and make it over the way you think it should be done. (Do not use a real company’s products unless you really plan to approach the company eventually with your new and improved version.)

5. Brevity. While it’s not a new skill by any means, it is essential in the fast-paced online writing marketing. You need to learn how to research quickly and write quickly so that your copy reads quickly. When you read your copy over, think about it: Where is the fluff? Can you eliminate any words without sacrificing content? Are you offering real information? Remember that online writing is generally meant to be skimmed over quickly. No-one is going to be sitting by the fireside with a cup of cocoa reading this text on a cold night, so don’t worry about the high art of writing. Just get your message out clearly and succinctly.

So, where do you get these online writing skills? Where else? Look online for all the writing resources you could need. The sooner you start, the sooner you will succeed.

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