Are you freaked out by artificial intelligence powered by ChatGPT and other A.I. tools?

Fear that the writing industry might disappear after 2023?

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, said, "A.I. will lead to automation and changes in jobs and will mainly affect knowledge workers and change job descriptions."

Some people read into this that writers and developers are going to be gone, but like everything, it evolves; here's how to grow with A.I.

If you're worried about starting as a Freelance Copywriter in 2023, you're not alone.

That is where the opportunity lies; when potential competitors bow out, you have a huge opportunity to stand out.

Today I'm explaining three things that will supercharge your success as a freelance writer:

1. Don't worry about A.I.
2. Use the Right Tools
3. Learn the Right Skills

Let's go from the top with:

#1. Don't worry about A.I.

Let's face it. Writing isn't going anywhere.

However, it's no longer acceptable for a copywriter to "just" write.

• Your spelling and grammar must be perfect.
• Your search engine ranking and analysis must be excellent.
• Your research and references have to be perfect.

You no longer have an excuse to make grammar, content research, or search ranking mistakes.

But copywriting has also never been easier. What most people need to realize is that A.I. is just another great tool to use.

A.I. will supercharge your freelance copywriting success because it's a mighty group of tools.

Copywriters will become even stronger generalists and more valuable than ever before!

Say "Goodbye" to Editors with tools like Grammarly and "Ciao" to SEO Experts with tools like SurferSEO and SEMRush.

You'll become WAY more valuable in 2023 with the help of A.I. writing assistants because you will write more content accurately and give the client exactly what they want.

So what do clients want with their content in 2023?

2023 is the year that David can take on Goliath by writing content with much more precision instead of giant content teams filling the web with nonsense to get Google to rank them just because they wrote the most.

Next up:

#2 Use the Right Tools

By now, everyone is talking about ChatGPT, and it is powerful!

To make a career out of freelance writing, you must go beyond the prompts of "write me a 500-word blog post on cats," then copy and paste it into your blog.

People want to hear from people. 

Yes, use A.I. writing tools, but to do it right, what tools do you need?

You can now use A.I. tools as a scalpel to cut through the noise of others with highly targeted content.

Idea generation with A.I. tools has become incredibly powerful and easy to do.

The A.I. tools that I recommend starting with are:

1. SEMRush for analysis
2. SurferSEO for writing content
3. Grammarly to stop mistakes in their tracks

Combined, these tools make you a powerhouse writer.

You can write copy that no longer needs an editor for clarity and grammar or an SEO expert to rank on Google.

However, I recommend going easy on generative text to ensure you maintain your style.

With AI-generated text, you must also be careful with Google's search algorithm.

Using AI-generated text can get you de-indexed from Google search because it is currently classified as spam content.

The main point is that A.I. has become just one more powerful tool in your arsenal as a copywriter and can't be ignored.

Will AI-powered ChatGPT-based tools take your copywriting job?

...only if you are a content mill and pounding out content with no style, as replicating those same results has become much easier.

A.I. will increase your value if you learn how to use them, making your job easier and more effective than ever before.

Are you seeing the power yet?

Alright, it's almost a wrap:

#3 Learn the Right Skills

So what skills do you need in 2023 to become a freelance copywriter?

Copywriting will no longer just be typing on a keyboard, then sending it out for review, and on to the next project.

Here are my recommendations on what to learn in 2023 to ensure your job is safe and increase your writing worth.

Step #1 Be your Own Editor!

You don't need to rely on others to check your work. 

You can edit it to perfection without anyone else in the pipeline.

Step #2 Be your Own SEO expert!

You can now easily optimize your content for search, without the help of highly technical SEO experts.

Step #3 Be your own Digital Marketer!

You don't need help posting your content to your marketing channels. You can post to your website and socials without help. I believe in you!

You no longer have to worry about typos, research, and search engine ranking. These have become significantly easier but require a higher technical aptitude to leverage the tools to your advantage.

But if you're a specialist with a particular writing style, you're safe now!

As a copywriter in 2023, you must embrace the tools and expand your knowledge beyond words.

Learn to combine analytics and expert use of the tools available, and you'll be unstoppable!

My recommendation? Keep writing, be original, and get your unique voice out there.

Keep on growing!

I'm Scott Luscombe, your freelance coach. Check out my books and courses at www.creatibly.com to learn even more!

At a Glance

Want to start freelance copywriting? Copywriting is a skill you can develop using nothing more than a Notes app on your phone. If you want to level up quickly, combine Grammarly to write accurately, SEMRush to see your ranking progress online, and SurferSEO so you can find topics and optimize them for search. Keep on growing!

Want to build a freelance copywriting portfolio? Mix at least 20 pieces of short (less than a tweet), medium (under 1,000 words, like a product description), and long-form blog post-style articles for copywriting services that are in demand. Keep on growing!

What copywriting services are in-demand in 2023? Content and personal brand writing for social media, eCommerce product description writing, and landing page writing are my top 3 picks for earning a high income with freelance copywriting. Keep on growing!

Want to know what to charge for freelance copywriting? The easiest way to determine what to charge is to answer these two questions. How busy are you? And How much do you want to work? If you're not busy, spend time reaching out to clients, refining your presentation, and lowering your prices to attract as many clients as possible. Once you are completely booked with clients, increase your pricing with each new client. Keep on growing!

Want to know the best A.I. Tools for Copywriting? ChatGPT is super popular right now, but for the do-it-yourselfers like me, I love Grammarly to ensure I don't make mistakes, SurferSEO so I have endless ideas about what to write about, and SEMRush to analyze and optimize my progress on search engines. Keep on growing!

Want to grow a freelance copywriting agency? Write down all the services you provide, and make three pricing tiers for each. Then, write down your exact process for each of these services. Start by hiring an intern in school, and begin delegating each project. Work together to figure out the system that works for you. As you progress as a leader, you can hire that intern full-time and have them help you find other writers for help. Keep on growing!

Want to learn how to start content writing? Head over to LinkedIn and find founders and entrepreneurs to write content for. Offer your services for free at the beginning while you're learning content writing to build your portfolio. Once you have created 5-10 portfolio pieces and gotten a few good reviews, you're ready to dive into professional content writing! Keep on growing!

What niche should you pick for copywriting? Here are my top 5 in-demand freelance copywriting niches. Slogan writing is perfect if you like short, punch one-liners. Content writing is excellent if you enjoy growing audiences on social media. Blog post writing is terrific if you want to dive deeply into each topic. Ghostwriting is perfect for introverts who want to earn a lot but not get any credit. SEO writing, love balancing content writing and data analysis? This one's for you! Keep on growing!

Conclusion

Whether you just want to start a blog writing from coffee shops nationwide, refine your writing and get hired by Huffington post, or niche down to write just for health insurance or any other specialty. It's never been easier to become a copywriter.

Search engine optimization is also one of the major areas to add to your arsenal to become an unfireable copywriter. By including Case Studies of clients you helped move up the Search Engine rankings, you are ensured of an easy time getting hired. Job applications become a breeze when you have been able to make yourself successful.

Working for small businesses or enterprise corporations, every client loves a successful freelancer, and freelance writing jobs are everywhere right now. There are actually more jobs available simply because of all of these new tools available.

It's easy to combine a freelance foundation part-time for extra income when your have a full time job. It just makes sense to add in freelancing to your career so you're never worried about being fired again!

The skill of writing

Writing, on its surface, seems like something that comes to us naturally if we know the English language. Then why are some writers better than others and why do some make exponentially more money? The answer is simple, writing skills. A successful freelance writer does not have a vast vocabulary, nor do they have a complete understanding of grammar rules. Professional writers use tools to explore vocabulary and be grammatically correct. What sets them apart, is their superior writing skill.

Solid writing skills are not essential to become a writer but they are important to join the ranks of successful freelance writers. No matter what tool comes around, without skills, your words are as good as placeholder text. Let's go over some ways that you can become a skilled writer.

Read extensively

Getting your point across most accurately and efficiently will always be a requirement for writers. Reading books, both fiction and non-fiction books greatly impacts this ability. Once you read books, you build your vocabulary and see how different words with the same meaning can have different impacts. There's a difference between something being bad and something being awful. Reading helps you make this distinction between words using contextual cues.

This extended vocabulary also helps you cherry-pick words that can be used in the place of phrases or entire sentences. An example would be the word "jeopardize" which simply means to put at risk. "He jeopardized everyone's chance of survival."; is a much more effective sentence compared to "he put everyone's chance of survival at risk".

Reading also helps you understand sentence structures. All good books have crossed the desk of an editor after the writer has written them. The editor then modifies the sentence structure to nail down the tone of voice and other grammatical elements before it goes to print. Exposing yourself to books hammers the logic down in your mind and helps you use this logic in your own writing.

Writing regularly

A simple answer to the question "How to become a freelance writer?" is writing regularly. It's the obvious one. You don't need to wait for writing jobs or some gig to write. To be a better writer, you must write regularly. You must then edit the copy to make it concise and more understandable.

This doesn't have to be some paradigm shift that makes you go out of your way just to write. So don't go looking for a secluded lodge and a typewriter just yet. Start journaling at the end of the day or every week. Build a writing habit, something that is low effort and easy to maintain. From there you can crank it up as you see fit. If possible have a set word count that you can easily maintain. I can tell you now, once you start writing, you won't be able to stop!

Seek feedback

Seeking feedback is the only surefire way to be a better freelance writer. If you are writing by yourself, toiling away at your laptop, it is hard to seek feedback. Irrespective of the niche of the writing, it's always good to get outside eyes on your work. Both from regular readers and experts.

You can start with your family and friends who may have little or no context of the writing. See where they struggle to understand something and how you can tweak your writing for your understanding. You can also seek expert advice from other freelance writers or a writing community on Reddit. Let go of the perfectionist attitude and detach yourself from your work. All feedback is good feedback, just know what to keep and what to filter out. Over time you will get better at writing and editing your writing as well.

Plan before you write

It can be easy to just give in writing and keep writing for hours on end. Language is beautiful, it gives innumerable ways to express ourselves but it's important not to get carried away.

Always have an outline for your writing. This is true for both non-fiction and fiction writing. Know what your writing goals are, be it a blog, social media copy, chapter in a book, or landing page. This will help you stay on track with your train of thought without veering away from the point. This outline will also be helpful when you go into editing mode, keeping only the essential parts within the text.

Experiment with different styles

As a freelance writer, you will have to wear multiple hats. Some days you are a technical writer for an engineering company while on other days you write social media copy for a cosmetics brand. These responsibilities will overlap ever so often.

Practice fiction, non-fiction, technical writing, poetry, and any other styles of writing that you come across. This will exercise your writing muscles and make you skilled at what you do. Over time you will learn how to use the written word to drive an objective. Writing and speech have the power to influence and change the world, and good writers are at the very foundation of both those things.

Use AI writing tools as assistants

Writing tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and CopyAI are excellent research and editing tools. They can take the grunt work out of writing and help you focus on what you love, writing.

My recommendation would be to use ChatGPT as a research tool. Get better at writing prompts for ChatGPT with contextual cues like audience type, writing objective, and word count. A neat trick is to add "limit prose" at the end of your prompt to stop GPT from writing gibberish. Learn how to question AI to confirm biases with an explanation. You can also generate outlines for the topic you want to cover and then edit them within GPT or elsewhere. You can slo use it to check for fallacies and spelling errors.

Jasper and CopyAI are paid tools and slightly more writing-focused. They can help you generate full-size blog posts and other types of copy based on the prompt. You would still need to read and edit the copy generated.

AI tools can assist your writing but never replace a professional writer. Throughout your freelance writing career, you will need to exercise your judgment regardless of who wrote the first draft of something. You will need the best tone of voice across writing projects. The effectiveness of the communication and styles will need to be fine-tuned to match the individual or business you're writing for.

Edit and revise your work

Regardless of your freelance writing niche, you will need to edit and revise your work. You can use tools like Hemingway Editor to see what statements are accurate and which ones are verbose.

Edit with brevity and clarity. Remove unnecessary phrases or words to make your writing concise and easy to understand. See what words can be used in place of others which will resonate better with your audience. Fancy vocabulary might be a flex among your writing friends, but your audience must be able to understand your writing without much effort. Remember, write to be understood. Writing that is not read, is almost as good as not writing at all.

Start a blog

Following up on "Writing that is not read, is as good as not writing at all." I used the word almost because writing something is still better than writing nothing.

My advice to aspiring writers and novice writers is to start a blog. It could be around a technical theme or a certain style of creative writing. Yes, self-publishing can help you get more leads and show writing samples to potential employers but more importantly, it's an outlet. An outlet that you can have a commitment to and have other people read your writing. Even when no one is reading your blog, you are still exercising your writing muscles. Commit yourself to writing at least one blog post every week, and get the reps in.

The skill of writing isn't developed overnight, it is no one's birthright and can't be taught with a bachelor's degree either. The best writing comes from those who work at their craft, effectively use the tools at their disposal, and exercise their judgment based on contextual cues. A profitable writing career is not a goal that you achieve someday, it's a byproduct of a commitment to effective writing.

A profitable writing career

Freelance writers are much more than simple writers. Once you add freelance to any professional qualification, you automatically have a business. And as a freelance writing business owner, you can't simply survive being a good writer. You will need to take on other responsibilities as well.

Build a portfolio

If you already have a blog, you have some solid pieces for a portfolio. These posts can be used as writing samples in your new portfolio. You would also need to add samples in-line with the jobs that you are applying for. Don't lose track of your personality chasing jobs based on dollar value or demand.

Experiment with what writing styles come naturally to you and try to find a market fit for them. There is a demand for a fiction writer and for someone who writes short stories too. That being said, see how far you can push yourself around your writing style. Don't negate something unless you try it. Be open, experiment, get feedback on your writing and then take a call. Include successful pieces in your writing and create an online portfolio, where you can send clients to review your writing samples.

Reach out within your network

Finding freelance writing jobs is easier than you think. Your best bet at finding clients would be to reach out within your network to see if anyone is hiring a freelance writer. People are always building new ventures which require freelance writing work. This can be a website, a social media page, a family album, or Christmas cards. You can offer your services to help them achieve their objective.

Yes, some demands are more steady than others but you won't know till you ask. Don't be ashamed to reach out to your extended family as well. You are starting something new, and they would be more than happy to support you however they can. Your network can also refer you to someone else if they can't hire you immediately.

Freelance platforms

If you don't have an extensive network, freelance platforms are the next best bet to find freelance writing jobs. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr see a constant demand for freelance writers. Whether it's blog posts or technical writing or creative writing; there's a steady supply of all kinds of freelance writing gigs.

Different platforms work differently. Success in each depends on a well-maintained profile, updated portfolio, and other platform-specific factors. We won't go into the details of these platforms in this post. I have covered some of the best strategies to win clients on Upwork in the blog How to Get Freelance Work on Upwork.

Additional skills

Writing is a cardinal piece of communication but it's never used in solitude. As a freelance writer starts by building basic business skills including sales, marketing, and accounting. Use the necessary software to help you with each of those skill sets.

Once you have the basics of business down, think about how you can improve your skills in and around writing. Your core offering to your clients is writing but adding contemporary marketing and design skills will greatly increase your value. A client doesn't want to work with multiple freelancers, they want to hire one individual to do the most amount of work for them, at a predictable rate.

This is called skill stacking, where you find your position in the journey of a project, and see what other skills are required to complete the project. Then start absorbing skills before and after your role is complete. For example, if you start freelance writing for landing pages, you are likely working with a creative directors, a designer, and a developer. There may be a project manager as well. Try to learn design and development skills at first, and use your creative input to build projects. Successful demonstration of these skills can land you better and higher-paying clients in the future.

Consistency

This will be a requirement regardless of the freelance career you choose to pursue. You will need to bring in clients at a steady pace. Update your portfolio at regular intervals and take courses to move to the next level.

You must also push to stay ahead of the curve with the latest software and technologies as they are released. This can be AI tools, grammar checkers, and other writing tools like Hemingway. Remember creativity is foundational to writing in all niches, and the fundamental basis of all tools including AI tools is human knowledge. It's not about what the tools spit out based on a prompt, but rather what you make of it. Staying ahead and understanding these tools, and then incorporating them in your freelance work will make you a better writer.

Extended conversation about AI

When ChatGPT came out, writers around the world were worried that it will take their jobs, and rightfully so. It can create coherent sentences and converse like human beings. The truth is far from what writers thought in late 2022.

Tools are only as good as the prompts

Tolls like ChatGPT are only as good as the prompts you give it. If you ask it for a blog post without any context, you will likely get a bland piece of copy without any creative flair to it. It will not nail the tone of voice necessary for the business objective. In some cases, it will be flat-out inaccurate.

As a writer who understands effective communication and proper language usage, your input will be key. It can give you a half-decent first draft but your modifications will be critical to make it sound plausible and resonate with the audience. You can tweak your prompts to get a solid first draft. These prompts can include the type of audience, writing goals, and other custom input like images in the case of GPT-4. Writing skill is still important for a successful written piece, AI is simply saving you time.

AI tools disrupt workflows not jobs

AI can technically surf the web and virtually all written words ever. That makes it an ideal tool for idea generation. It can help you uncover just the right idea for your next business venture, blog post, or social media carousel. AI will not execute the idea for your complete. Your judgment will be key to seeking ideas, finding viable ones, building them into finished pieces, and then continue pushing for their success.

AI tools to perform research. Let's say you are writing a blog about a medical device, as a freelance writer who knows the niche. You know what the device does but you need a scientific reason to demonstrate that it works. You can use your knowledge of the industry and its terms to find a paper that supports your argument. At the same time, if you want to debunk something, you can find sources that prove otherwise.

Another important use case is translation. You can use AI tools to translate your work from one language to another. Before 2022, this would require a translator but you can now do this by yourself. Would it be the best translation in the world, down to the correct tone of voice in the language of choice? No. But it'll be pretty close. Yes, you could've hired a translator, but now you can do a decent job on something that was technically impossible without hiring someone.

Beyond these 3, AI can check your writing for spelling errors, fallacies, and plagiarism. They can also provide feedback on your writing. They aid your workflows, and can't put a freelance content writer out of commission. They will help writers get better at writing by doing more with less.

AI tools are sounding boards

Think of AI tools as the Post-it notes or the whiteboard above your desk but on steroids. You illustrate and describe your ideas in your own words and then allow them to percolate. The same goes for AI tools.

You give it a prompt, which is comparable to writing on a Post-it note. In this case, you get a response that builds on the idea that you fed it. So the percolation that initially happened inside your brain is now happening in real time in front of your eyes. You can explore those ideas and debate their viability and impact in real-time. They are simplifying thinking, not doing it for you. In Iron Man, Jarvis can fly the suits and control every possible action but Tony Stark still needs to tell it what to do. AI tools can't think for themselves, yet. Until that's the case, writing jobs are not going anywhere.

The future

Being a writer in 2023 is the same as being a writer in the 2000s. The only difference is the AI tools which make it easier to be one. Yes AI tools are extremely good at what they do and can do alot of impressive things. One thing they can't do is replace human judgment. That's what writers bring to the table when working with AI. The impact of AI on the freelance writing industry will be profound. Those who will use it will benefit from better ideation, fast editing, and overall workflow improvements. This will help a writer be better at writing, but their human judgment will be pivotal to a successful writing piece.

How to Become a Freelance Writer in 2023?