Baby steps to a freelance writing career: Write what you know

Want to start a freelance writing career? Take baby steps, and start out by writing about what you know.

“Write what you know” is excellent advice which is always given to new writers because no matter who you are, and how much you know, or don’t know, you can always start where you are. There are always hundreds, if not thousands of people just like you, and you can write for them.

Think about your life and lifestyle. Let’s say you’re a mother of two young children, and you’re about to re-enter the workforce after a hiatus of three years.

You know:

* About kids and parenting, so you can write for parenting magazines and Web sites;

* About job-hunting, because you’re actively engaged in doing that, and there are many career-oriented magazines and sites;

* Food, since you have a family to feed, and again, there are many food-oriented magazines and sites.

So how do you make your first sale? You pick a magazine or a Web site which is oriented towards parenting, job-hunting or food, and which you can read with a lot of interest. Use your intuition. One of these magazines or sites will scream at you: “I can do this!” This is your very first target market — the market you will write for.

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