Let’s play a game. When I say “fashion blogger”, you say…

Airhead?

Vain?

Hobbyist?

Try this one for size: hard-working professional writer.

Fashion bloggers have a bad rep lately. Industry veterans see us as an amateur trend that should’ve died already, while the average internet citizen thinks we’re all self-absorbed model-wannabes.

Having been a style blogger for more than four years, I can tell you that we’re not these shallow beings who take selfies all day (well… not all of us!). We’re stylists, photographers and, like you, writers.

Many of us have taken our “hobby” to the next level — launching businesses, opening boutiques, even starring in an ad or two. I started freelance writing and doing social media for small businesses when I figured out that I could build a career on my fashion blogging experience. Reading awesome blogs like this one, I realized that the fashion world and the freelancing arena aren’t all that different.

They’re both tough businesses that need tons of creativity, a relatable personality, quick thinking, and the courage to put yourself out there for the world to see.

Still not sure how fashion and writing work together? Here are my takeaways from fashionista land that you can use no matter what types of blogging you do. 

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Meaningful relationships create effortless rewards. So effortless you forget how miraculous they seem to others.

In your freelance blogging business — in any business — a seemingly insignificant effort may blossom into something grand, much like the growth of a garden. I’m going to show you how to step up a level in your freelancing business using complementary skills and relationship-building.

Here’s how one guest blog post landed me $1,500 per year. 

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I was brand new to freelancing. No idea what I was doing.

But I won 5 gigs in less than a week, and you can do the same.

A bit of background to this story: I come from the passive-income writing world where I create my own products and all the work I do is for myself. I didn’t know how to write up a freelance proposal, let alone how to successfully deliver services to a client!  But I decided to try freelancing for two reasons.

1. To create a backup income I could lean on for cash if anything went wrong with my passive income writing.
2. To test a theory I had about business and life in general: that the way you communicate matters more than your background, and that you get more if you give more.

I’d outsourced many aspects of my passive income business through the Elance platform, so I was familiar with that system and how the flow of bidding worked. I figured I’d set up as a freelance service provider there.

[Note from Sophie: Yes, I know some of you hate Elance with a passion. But Lior’s approach to sending proposals got him started and hired fast, so set aside your Elance-flaming reaction for a few minutes and consider how you can adapt this to your own proposals, no matter where you find your clients.]

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