If you frequent many job boards for freelance writers you’ve seen plenty of ads wanting to see samples of your work. Never send these out. More than likely this is simply a ploy to get a lot of content for free.
It’s extremely important that you build an online portfolio. Read my article, “Creating a Successful Portfolio in Economic Hardtimes” to find out more about a portfolio. Any legitimate content buyer will not mind getting a link to your online portfolio. If they do, then you probably don’t want to work for them anyway.
I’ve applied for these jobs that request writing samples and I send a link to my portfolio. I’ve never heard from any of them. Why? Because they weren’t interested in hiring me, they wanted free writing samples. Think about it. If 500 writers each send a writing sample, that’s 500 pieces of unique content they’ve just acquired for free.
Of course there’s nothing to stop them from copying your content from your portfolio, but they do risk the duplicate content penalty by doing this. A much easier solution is to post a free ad on craigslist and request writing samples.
Happy Writing,
Patti Stafford
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