How to Start Your Own Content Writing Company: A Step-by-Step Guide

It may seem incredible to some people that a good number of people make a decent living writing freelance. They are overlooking the fact that they, and about 77% of the population that use the Internet, are fueling the demand for online freelance writers thereby making it one of the most lucrative careers.Commercial enterprises are aware that the best way to connect with the majority of online users is to publish relevant web content. They make a point of integrating content marketing strategies into their promotional campaigns. To do that, they badly need the services of experienced freelance writers for web content, as well as other things.Resumesplanet writer James Patrick reveals that a $150 fee per order per client is typical, and his clients order regularly. At those rates, it is perfectly possible for you to make a pretty penny as a freelancer, limited only by your willingness and ability to deliver work.Unfortunately, your income as a freelance writer on your own is necessarily restricted, because no matter how good or fast you are, you only have so many hours in a day. Inevitably, you will reach your ultimate capacity, and that is as far as you can go.You can make more money, but you have to think big. You can organize other writers like yourself to work under a content writing company: your own.This step-by-step guide will help you accomplish this as easy as pie.

1. Make a Business Plan

Before you make that face, a business plan doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A business plan is just a list of goals you need to achieve to set you on the road to success. Setting goals helps you channel your energy to a laser point. You can attain your goals more efficiently.One of your main goals should be a financial target. You obviously want to make more than you are making now, which is why you are starting a content writing company in the first place. Use your latest earning capacity as a benchmark, and double it.If you make $300 a day as a freelancer, your initial personal income should be $600. This could mean you need to set rates that will attract freelancers to work for you, that clients will find acceptable, and still have enough left over to reach your goal.Your business plan can guide your path. If your initial strategy doesn’t help you attain your goals, then you know you have to try something else. When it does succeed, you can make it part of your success formula.  You can be methodical in your approach, instead of just winging it.

2. Do your Research

If you are a successful freelancer, your rate as a writer should give you a good idea of what the market can handle. However, you need to know that freelance writers do not have the same overhead as an established company, so the rate can change significantly depending on many factors. On the other hand, if you charge more to make a profit, you could be pricing yourself out of the market.The best way to find out how much you can charge is to find out what fees other companies are charging. You can use this information to help you strike a balance between competitiveness and profit. Your fees are certainly an important factor in making you stand out among your competitors, but it is not the only one.You can differentiate your company by charging the same rates as everybody else, but offer excellent work and extra services to draw in clients. You can use many marketing strategies to promote your company outside of price point.You also need to understand your target market, and the factors motivate them to push that buy button. Some people go for the lowest price they can get, and never mind the quality. Others rely on what other people recommend, while still others run counter to what the reviews say.Some tools can help analyze competitor and buyer behavior, and make out what channels other companies are using to promote their business.

• • Similar Web – Check how your competitors are ranking by using this online tool. You get traffic data as well as insights on the marketing strategies of any site you choose.

• • SEMrush – This is a tool specific to search engine marketing (SEM), particularly valuable for search engine optimization (SEO) and web analytics. It monitors and analyzes the use of keywords by the competition. It also tracks backlinks on your site.

• • Majestic – Speaking of backlinks, this website specializes in mining important information from backlinks on your site as well as other sites.

• Google Analytics – You should also track your own website traffic. You can use this plugin direct on your website to do that. This can help you improve your strategy.

3. Establish your Financial Strategy

You need to manage your finances so you know if your company is actually making money. You have to make the most of your available resources when starting your content writing company. You need to create a realistic budget, and for that, you need to do a lot of research.Fortunately, as an online business, your biggest investment is in your website. It is where you get both your talent pool and clients. Make a careful plan on creating and designing the best possible website you can manage on what you can afford. You also need to figure out how much you can afford to pay your writers and spend in marketing efforts.Aside from operations, you need to know the legal requirements of starting you business. This includes licenses and taxes. When you know your costs, you will have a good idea of how much you should charge your clients to get a decent return on investment.

4. Launch a Website

It is perfectly acceptable to create and launch a website using any of the excellent web authoring platforms available for no charge. However, you really should buy a domain name, and choose an authoring platform that will allow you to self-host, because free hosting can limit your reach.Most free hosting services are slow, and restricted in features. You want to create credibility and trust by paying a good service to host your website like Wordpress or Shopify. They usually come with a company email, which you can use to communicate with writers and customers.

5. Get a Pool of Freelancers

The raison d’être for your content writing company is generate more income than you can manage on your own. For that, you need to organize other writers to help.You need good writers willing to work for your company as freelancers. There are quite a few sites you can tap to find and recruit them. A good one is LinkedIn. You can also try online job boards such as Upwork (formerly oDesk) and Freelancer.com. If you can, get them to write a short article so you can gauge for yourself if they are as good as they claim.

6. Market Your Company as Widely as Possible

Make sure people can hit upon your company website by being outgoing. Create accounts on appropriate social networks, and build your online reputation. An excellent way to promote your site is to post a writing competition. You can generate a lot of interest, you might even discover good writing talent at the same time.People are more likely to visit your site if your blog is full of attention-grabbing and important content. You can use the opportunity to form relationships with your audience by engaging them as much as possible.An Adwords campaign might work if you plan it carefully. Alternatively, you can get a reputable SEO company help you rank high in search engine results. It might cost a bit, but it might be worth it. The top site in any search gets almost one-third of search traffic, after all. The potential for profit is significant if you play your cards right.

7. Start Strong, and Keep Up the Good Work

Put your best foot forward with your first clients and gain their loyalty. However, you need to continue to deliver the same quality of work each and every time if you want to sustain your company. Your reputation is only as good as your last job, so make sure you start as you mean to go on. Maintain high standards, and people will eventually line up to get your service.

8. Don’t Stop Improving

The biggest mistake of any successful business is presuming it will always be the case. Never rest on your laurels and become smug about your accomplishments. Always strive to become better than you are right now, and always be on the lookout for fresh talent. There is always room for improvement, and being innovative in an increasingly competitive marketplace will help you stay on top and expand your business. There is really no limit to what you can achieve if you follow these tips.Starting your own content writing company, or any business for that matter, requires a lot of preparation and research. It can be wearisome when you are rearing to get started.  On the other hand, starting your business with not enough information can land you in a heap of trouble. This guide is not complete by any means, but it can get you started down the path of success.