By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Communication Central owner and
NAIWE Board of Experts member for Networking; An American Editor owner
As some of you may have seen if you belong to the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE), I’m looking forward to talking about websites for freelancers at “Gateway to Success,” this year’s “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference, coming up October 11–13, 2019, in St. Louis. This is the 14th offering of the conference, the first time it’s been held beyond the East Coast, and the first-ever partnership between Communication Central and NAIWE.
AAE subscribers may use the NAIWE/past attendee rate. The early bird closes on September 3; hotel reservations must be made by September 10 (you won’t be charged until you arrive, but the conference rate ends on that date).
This topic is always fun to discuss because there’s always something new in the world of creating and managing websites, and because it lends itself so well to graphics and illustrations. It’s also fun to share what doesn’t work in a website, alongside what does make an effective site to promote your freelance business.
It’s become common knowledge that freelancers in any skill set need websites to build and support our business efforts. Sure, you can promote your business at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, but a website is important because:
- It’s all yours; no one else controls or limits how it looks and what it presents.
- It helps you be found — it comes up when someone searches for the skills and services you provide. That’s especially important for anyone starting out, because unknown freelancers won’t be found by their names.
- It gives you a permanent e-mail address.
- It’s flexible — you can choose what to post, what and when to update it, the amount of information you provide, etc.
- It speaks for you with clients who aren’t local — it’s your portfolio in an era when you probably will work with more clients who aren’t in your geographic area than ones who are, whom you aren’t likely to meet in person to show your work samples.
Even if you already have a website for your freelance services, it can probably benefit from insights to be offered at this session. You might gain new resources for making it look or read better, and more effective at getting you business and educating prospective clients about who you are and how you work. Depending on timing, we might even do critiques of participants’ websites.
Think of your website as the base and office of your freelance business. It’s your showroom. It’s your path to being a better freelancer!
The conference as a whole is an invaluable resource of information about creating, enhancing and managing a freelance editorial business, no matter what your skills and services might be, and where you are on the thinking about-launching-having-enhancing your business. And freelancing is a business; a perspective that many people find difficult to embrace, but that is essential to success.
To benefit from this session — and many other ones featuring respected colleagues from around the country — by registering for the conference, go to https://naiwe.com/conference/. We hope to see you there!
Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and — as of 2019 — owner of An American Editor. She also hosts the annual Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), this year co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com). She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.
An American Editor 