As a copywriter, blogging has helped me develop my internet writing style, learn SEO and build websites for others. All very valuable skills as a freelancer.

I like what Michael Martin says about qualified traffic vs high traffic. That makes a lot of ‘cents’ to me.

I read all you said about blogs and the comments…Thank you very much you answered all the things I was wandering about. As free lancers we always have the feeling to work alone and it is nice to know others meet the same issues – sorry for my poor english, I am much better at translating.

People want to do business with those they like, and more personal writing will do a better job of that than impersonal writing.

I have noticed that a great many freelancers do not know how to write on their blogs in a way that attracts qualified clients. I’m not saying that’s you, I’m just saying it’s generally true in my experience.

It’s important to not fall under the spell of high traffic. What you want is qualified traffic: people who hear about your services via word of mouth or who find you via search. This may give you lower traffic numbers overall, but a higher percentage of them will be inclined to hire you.

The best places to showcase your other writing, besides your own blog, are other blogs. Consider guest posting on other blogs. You can add these samples in with client work for your portfolio.

I have tried to make my blog focused. The initial idea was to write about writing (helping writers with info, or potential clients understand more about writing as a profession to help them see the value in hiring a professional writer). What I’ve found, thought, is that people are connecting more with my personal blogs. I didn’t meant to make my blog a platform for personal thoughts but when my mom passed away last year I had to write a tribute to her. So where could I share it? My blog ensured that people would see it and it would get published in some form.

My hits went up exponentially after that posting and I still get comments on that one piece.

A friend of mine (another writer/author) recently wrote a blog on care giving. I posted a comment and she said it was amazing and that (in her opinion), the blog I wrote about my mom was the best piece I’d ever written.

I guess, from a personal perspective, I can connect easily with people but I do believe that my freelance writing articles are good, for the topics I wrote about. Still, my friend encouraged me to write a blog about being a care giver. I did that yesterday and my responses are up again.

It’s hard for a writer to divide what we love to write, or what we write best, from the business side because the other writing is always present. Even what could be categorized as the most banal topics or pieces we may write – website copy, sales letters, etc. – will be infused with our personal writing voice. But I wish I could package up that very personal voice that connects with people and be able to make a living writing pieces like that all the time, and make a decent living doing that. That would be heaven.

Plus…

Your well-developed blog can be written to attract a certain type of client you would want to do business with, so as much as it “pre-sells” you…it could also be written to “pre-qualify” your potential clients as well.

Great post Michael!

@Colum – Well, at least we know where you stand… I think.

@Jason – That’s true. How it’s true depends on particulars. In my case, for example, I have clients who found me because I rank number one for blog consulting and they never even looked at my services page. However, without my blog, I wouldn’t rank number one.

@Rick – Who’s the better client, the one you chase down or the one who chases you down? Where does the chase begin? Often at the Google search box. Who wins that contest? Usually blogs. It’s another tool in the toolbox just like cold-calling and referrals. Without this blog and social networking, do you think Pete, Steve, and Ed would have sold out of all available copies of The Wealthy Freelancer at Amazon? Look at every (and I do mean every) major copywriter out there and you will find a blog.

@Doreen – What’s starting to happen now is that publishing companies are less willing to take a risk on an author unless she comes with a built-in buying audience on the web. It’s a much safer bet for them.

@Marlene – There are designers who are proficient with more than one content management system, no doubt. Here’s an alternate example to help get an angle on this: let’s say I need direct response copy written. Would I hire a generalist freelance writer? No, I would hire a direct response copywriter. So, if I want a professional blog design, I want the best results possible for my money. I’d hire a blog designer. Make sense?

@Jim – Good points. Achieving and maintaining search rankings is a never-ending process, and constant content creation chock full of the right keywords keeps feeding that hungry monster. Blogs and social sites help with this.

I also agree completely with the point about writing for your peers. As writers, it’s easy to offer writing tips. While these posts might be good for demonstrating expertise, they really aren’t going to appeal to your target audience.

Think about the problems your potential client is facing and write blog posts that help them solve their problems.

I also don’t date my blog posts. That way you can take advantage of the long-tail nature of a post without the ghost-town effect.

I highly recommend WordPress on a self-hosted site. I’ve built entire websites (not just blogs) with it. While a designer might be nice, there are enough themes out there and it’s easy enough to use that you can build a nice site/blog without one.

If anyone needs help with WordPress, drop me a note. I’d be glad to lend a hand. We’re all in this together.

I’m interested in more information related to your comment about hiring a *blog* designer versus a *web* designer. Care to elaborate?