Pre-Website Questions to Ask

In a Linked-In discussion about websites, Michael published this list of questions to ask yourself or a client before creating a site plan or proposal. Loved them, wanted to share them.
by Michael Parish

• What are the key reasons for creating/revamping your website?
• What goals do you have for the site?
• What products/services do you offer?
• What benefits do your customers gain from these?
• Who is your target audience (or if applicable, audiences)?
• What do you know about them (demograhics and psychographics)?
• What methods of selling do you employ?
• What other marketing material do you have available?
• What web pages do you envisage on your site?
• Are there other sites you'd like to link to? (And why?)
• What other sites do you like (and why)? (Doesn't have to be in your industry)
• What can you tell me about your brand, i.e. how do you want to be portrayed online/what tone of voice and style, etc?
• Who are your main competitors and what are their web addresses?
• Are you aware of the keywords or phrases favored by search engines?
• What mandatory content do you require?
• Is there anything else you'd like?

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Getting Started as a Freelancer

by Sandy Penny . http://sandypenny.com . http://simplewebclasses.com . http://sitesandwrites.com

I have belonged to several writing groups on Linked-in and found them to be good places to network, learn from other writers, and hone my skills.

Recently, a new freelancer asked how to get started in freelancing. There were a lot of good answers, and here are mine.

Read a lot of the writing that is being done in the market you're interested in working with, so you get a feel for the tone they want.

Apply online for some contract work with a good resume that accents your knowledge, skills and abilities. Create a portfolio of writing, even if you have to write it for yourself to show your skills and style. Check the LinkedIn job postings.

Especially in the technical field, there is a tendency to want industry experience and knowledge more than writing experience, but you do have to be a good writer, have good grammar, and be able to proof your work.

Create a nice clean, easy-to-navigate website with a domain name and content and keywords that are searchable by your target clientele. 

Blog all the time and find new sites to post your work, especially industry publications.

Center yourself in what you really want to do and visualize it happening.

Combine all these practices, and there's a lot of work out there to be found. It should be a writer's market right now with all the ever-changing content required for the web, so accept that it can really happen and act as if it already has.

Onward and upward.

(I've been a freelancer since 1993, and I haven't starved to death yet.) Once you get a gig, give them more than they expect, and they'll come back and recommend you.