For many of us, 2020 was become a challenging year.

The recent events have made us revisit our values and the way we work and live. And now, we see it clearly that getting a freelance job is the best way to earn a steady income while working from home.

Have you just started your freelance career? You have made the right decision! Now you need to focus on improving your communication skills and business writing skills in particular. Here are five reasons why it’s so important.

Create a positive professional image

When people communicate with you online, they form theories about your competence, character, and commitment. If you express your ideas clearly and write everything in perfect grammar, your clients see you as a professional in the field. But if you demonstrate poor writing skills, people start doubting your competence.

Stylistic errors, grammar mistakes, and typos affect your credibility. Therefore, you should always proofread what you write.

The good news is that you can do it with the help of new technologies. You can proofread your emails, reports, and other important documents using a writing service or online grammar checker.

Eventually, you will build a good professional image and increase your freelance income. Your clients will be ready to pay a higher price to work with such an expert as you are.

Land more projects

Poor business writing skills scare away prospective clients. So if you don’t improve your skills, it will be extremely challenging for you to land new projects.

You only have one chance to make a first impression. When you are reaching out to a prospective client for the first time, don’t forget to proofread your email. Check every sentence and every word to ensure that your email will make a good impression.

The math is simple: the better impression you will make, the more freelance projects you will land, and eventually, the more money you will make.

Boost your self confidence

Lack of proper writing skills may negatively affect your self-esteem and self-confidence.   When you don’t know how to structure a monthly report, and when you are not sure whether you have written an outreach email correctly, you may start doubting your professionalism. And that may decrease your productivity and worsen your performance.

To prevent that, you should practice in business writing on a daily basis. You should get aware of your common mistakes and start working on them. In such a way, you will boost your self-confidence and take your performance to the next level.

Become more convincing

High business writing skills will help you to sound more convincing.

Whether you want to upsell your service or start working on a new project, you can use your writing skills to make the client accept your offer. Try to articulate your thoughts more clearly and explain complex topics in simple words – and then your ideas will be heard.

Enhance the communication process

In contrast to oral communication, written communication has such disadvantages: impersonality, lack of instant feedback, and frequent miscommunications.

Unfortunately, clients often misunderstand written messages because of a lack of verbal input. And the only way you can fix it is to improve your business writing skills.

Work on your skills, and you will get positive results. You will enhance communication with your clients, minimize misunderstandings, and increase your freelance income.  Teach yourself to think before writing, use the active voice, and stick to one topic – that will be your first step to a big success.

6 tips on how to improve business writing skills

Do you want to get better writing skills? Do the following:

  • Practice daily. Don’t be ashamed of your mistakes.
  • Always start with an outline.
  • Strive for brevity and clarity.
  • Enrol in a business writing online course.
  • Consider starting a blog to get more practice.
  • Become “an attentive reader”. Analyze the writing styles of your colleagues, clients, and business book authors.

Wrapping it up

Now you know for sure that your business writing skills influence your freelance income. So, if you want to earn more money in the coming months, aim to become better at writing.

Do your best to improve your skills, and you will advance your freelance career.