If you write for a living, you have a career that many others envy. You pick your own hours; you pick your own location; you pick the type of writing you want to do – so long as someone is willing to pay for it, that is!

Being a freelancer means constant hustling; you will always have to market yourself to potential new employers, marketplaces, agents, publishers and filmmakers. And one of the best ways to do that is to have a blog, creating a following and platform for your work.

Here are five things you will get out of having a blog:

1) You Develop a Reputation in Your Genre

You can use your blog to highlight the writing you have done for others and the writing that has been published or produced. If you are a fiction writer, for example, excerpts from your novels and short stories can be posted to pique interest and promote sales. You can do the same if you are a filmmaker, posting clips and showreels of your movies, adverts and web series.

If you write non-fiction, you can use your platform to help others and bring them to your door, like this site Bang2write does. This can help sell your books, courses and other services.

A blog, in many ways, is far more valuable than any MBA degree you might have as a business expert – you have demonstrated expertise through your writings.

Reason #1. Your blog attracts more attention to your persona. MORE: How To Build Your Own Online Platform

2) You Develop a Personal Brand

Every writer has a “voice” and a style. Compare, for example, the style of Janet Evanovich with that of James Patterson. Or, if you are a non-fiction writer, say a blogger, you have a certain way of telling an anecdote, reporting research, and a certain sense of humor.

This style and tone are what your readers become familiar with and what your specific audience likes. When you publish your own writing on your blog, you develop that familiarity which becomes your personal brand and, as well, your credibility as a writer.

Reason #2. Your blog shows your writing skills and your writing style as well. Why not check out Firstsiteguide for more information.

3) You Can Promote Your Work

Authors use their websites/blogs to promote their newest releases, to provide tips and advice to other would-be writers. If your writing relates to blogging for others,  your own blog can showcase your most popular posts and style, so that you can capture potential new clients, who see you as an expert.

In addition to your blog, you should have a presence on social media. Because, there you can drive people to your blog. And if they like what they read, they can share your writing with their communities as well. Your readership will grow, and along with that, your personal brand.

Reason #3. Your blog is your work’s best advertisement – help spread the word via social media. MORE: 10 Ways Being A Freelance Writer Prepares Me For A Screenwriting Career

4) You Can Share Unpublished/Rejected Work

For whatever reason, you may have fiction or non-fiction pieces which you have not submitted or which you did submit and were rejected (As a writer, you are all too familiar with rejection!).

Your blog will give you the opportunity for others to read those works, to comment on them, to provide feedback, and to suggest revisions. Getting those conversations flowing among others in your writing niche adds to your visibility. But it will also help to improve you as a writer and give you ideas for new avenues of writing.

Reason #4. Your blog is your gallery.

5) You Can Use Your Blog to Write Your Book

Each of us has a book within us. For some it is the first; for others, it is another. No matter what type of writing your do for income, you will have gathered and nurtured your ideas over time. You can now take those ideas and, in your blog, begin to craft the chapters and share them with your audience. And your audience will motivate you to continue the work on that book, providing the feedback and encouragement you need to keep going.

Reason #5. Test your ideas and drafts with your existing audience. MORE: 6 Ways To Find Success As A Writer With Your Blog

Concluding:

You may realise many other benefits of creating and maintaining a blog. One thing is for certain, however. Once you start that blog, you have made a commitment – a commitment to keep writing. And that can only be a good thing!

BIO: Neighthan White is a freelance writer and an undergraduate specialist in education sciences. In his late twenties, he is a regular member of Montessori techniques for children under 10 seminars; a blog editor; a volunteer at Education Without Borders and LDS; a startup inventor; a language learner; a writer and a happy husband.