Working as a freelancer can be the best of all job worlds. However, you will need strong creative, writing and computer skills before you get started. One of the joys of freelancing is that you can get paid to learn (and write about) topics that interest you, but you’ll want solid skills in place to keep your hourly rate where you need it to be. Writers As a freelancer, you will want to determine your personal tone. Some writers are more casual, while others are a bit more formal. Being able to move back and forth is ideal. If you’re curious about anything in the world of science, enroll in online courses to become a technical writer. You may find yourself writing out MSDS sheets, or taking research notes from meeting recordings for an R&D team in the automotive industry. No matter your interests, a technical writer needs to be able to be clean, concise, and detailed. From detailed reports to experiment outcomes, be sure that you focus on clean writing as a technical writer. Business writing is all about clarity and courtesy. You may need to write promotional flyers, informational promotions, or press releases. Know your formatting, or take a class that provides free templates and have them close at hand so you can quickly populate the press release and get it back to the client. Proofreading The art of proofreading is all about focus. A good proofing class will teach you how to review a document from 30,000 feet right down to the sidewalk. If you wrote it and have to proof your own writing, learn to take a step back and put a fresh set of eyes on the project. Be sure that you change your perspective on your own writing. Flip the document upside down and check the spacing without reading it, then flip it back and study it with a bit of distance. To become a good proofer, especially of your own copy, make sure that you track your time and get in a real break before getting back to proofing. You need distance to get out of the narrative you created and see what’s really on the page. Build Your Excel Skills Data entry is a great way to build your freelancing career and income. However, if your Excel skills are limited, you may wind up doing a lot more keying than is strictly necessary. If your skills are limited, you may find training that’s above your basic understanding. To improve your basic skills, create a self-study course. Build a calendar with as few keystrokes as possible Enter an old checkbook register on a spreadsheet For your calendar, be ready to grab the corner of cells and drag. You can enter “Sunday”, then move to the right and enter “Monday”, then grab and drag to complete the week. Dates can also be entered and carried over. Play with cell size, simple calculations, inserting rows, changing colors, and many other actions until they become […]
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