Sample Freelance Writing Resume

How-to Market Yourself to Potential Clients

Are you a freelancer and wondering what kind of information to include on your resume? Here is a copy of the resume currently used by The Creative Cottage founder Lynn Smythe.

I always seem to have a few un-booked hours as a freelancer, so I’m ALWAYS looking for new clients and extra projects. I’m 51 years old, so I’ve held a variety of different jobs during my MANY years experience. I only go back 5 or 10 years, no one wants to know that I was a chambermaid during the summers after my Freshman and Sophomore years of college, or that I worked five days at a fast food restaurant. Human Resources departments and recruiting firms don’t have time to scan through a 10 page resume, but I also think one page isn’t long enough to include relevant work experience, unless you’ve only had one or two jobs during the past few years.

When I market myself to potential clients, I call myself a Digital Content Manager, specializing in SEO Copywriting, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing and Reputation Management. You’ll see I don’t mention my college degree on the resume – I got my B.A. in Geology back in 1985, not really relevant to freelance writing – but when asked if I went to college I can say yes, I have my bachelor’s degree. I used to format the Areas of Expertise section as a bulleted list, but that took up too much room, so now I’ve formatted it as a single paragraph.

Because a large part of what I do for clients is manage their social media profiles, I include links to all my personal social media profiles. In my free time I write articles and promote my personal websites, so it’s important to let your job prospects know you have an active online presence. But if social media marketing isn’t part of your career path, then you might want to leave that information off your resume. I also don’t include freelance clients that I only worked for on a single project. When asked what kind of company’s you’ve written for, you can get into more detail and show actual samples of your work. I have an online portfolio of writing samples, and I include links to the samples in the cover letter I send with all job applications.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bikediva
Twitter: twitter.com/thebikediva
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynnsmythe
Google+: plus.google.com/+LynnSmythe50/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lynnsmythe/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lynnsmythe

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

SEO copywriting, blogging, blog articles, white papers, web pages, landing pages, press releases, newsletters, infographics, ecommerce product descriptions, social media marketing, reputation management, crisis communications, keyword research, basic HTML, basic CSS, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, WordPress, MailChimp, Constant Contact, PR Web, PR Newswire, Dropbox, GoogleDrive, Google Analytics, proficient in both Windows PC and MAC operating systems.

WORK & EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

Continuing Education
Forest Hill High School – Adult & Community Education
January 2014 – March 2014

• Certificate – Creating Web Pages – Basic HTML & CSS
• Certificate – Creating WordPress Websites – Basic HTML & CSS

Lynn Smythe Creations
Freelance Contractor
Digital Content Specialist, SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing, Public Relations
January 2014 – Present

MY FREELANCE CLIENTS INCLUDED:

1. Mediasophia – West Palm Beach, FL

Mediasophia is a full-service marketing agency specializing in organic search engine optimization, web design and online reputation management.

• Reputation management, copywriting and social media marketing for their clients.
• Researched and wrote original SEO content relevant to aesthetics, medical spas, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, music, photography and technology.
• Posted blog articles, title tags and meta descriptions to various content management systems including WordPress.org, WordPress.com, LiveJournal, Tumblr, Medium, Sett and Weebly.
• Social media networking using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, Photobucket, YouTube, MySpace and LinkedIn.
• Programs used included Google Drive, Gmail, MS Word, MS Excel and Dropbox.

2. MedSpa – Boca Raton, FL

MedSpa is an online directory for plastic surgeons and medical spas.

• Researched and wrote original SEO content relevant to plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, aesthetics, dermatology, cosmetic dentistry, weight-loss and anti-aging.
• Created search engine optimized web pages, landing pages, blogs articles, email newsletters, social media posts, press releases and white papers for MedSpa.com and MedSpa Interactive.
• Proofread and edited articles provided by freelance writers contracted through Craigslist and LinkedIn.
• Social media networking using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn.
• Posted blog articles, title tags and meta descriptions via WordPress and Tumblr CMS.
• Programs used included Google Drive, Gmail, MS Word, MS Excel and Infusionsoft.

3. PPC Professionals – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

PPC Professionals specializes in pay-per-click ads for travel and technology companies.

• Developed SEO content for their clients.
• Search engine optimized web pages, landing pages and blogs articles.
• Posted blog articles via WordPress CMS including title tags and meta descriptions.
• Programs used included Google Drive, Asana Project Management, MS Word, MS Excel, and Toggl.

Vision Precision Holdings
Content Manager
January 2013 – December 2013

Vision Precision Holdings is a retail optical chain operating 40+ stores throughout the United States under the Stanton Optical and MyEyeLab brand names and the e-commerce site Frame Genie.

• Content Manager at Stanton Optical’s corporate headquarters in Palm Springs, Florida.
• Head of online content creation and social media for 40+ Stanton Optical & MyEyeLab stores.
• Creation of daily, weekly, monthly, yearly editorial calendars using Microsoft Excel.
• Social networking using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Storify, Instagram, Quora and Tumblr.
• Online reputation management.
• Project management using Google Group Camp.
• Wrote e-Commerce product descriptions using Magento.
• Wrote and distributed press releases using PR Newswire and PR Web.
• Microsoft Word and Google Docs to create search engine optimized copywriting for web pages, patient education articles, community involvement events, blog posts, infographics and email newsletters.
• Proofread and edit articles provided by freelance writers contracted through My Blog Guest, Copy Press and Web Content Brokers.
• Cultivated brand ambassadors, key influencers and guest posting opportunities through HARO, My Blog Guest, online contests and promotions.

New Epic Media
Director Content Management
August 2012-November 2012

New Epic Media is a full-service marketing agency. Their clients included MacGregor Yachts, Veritas of West Palm Beach, Ken Paves Self Help Hair Care, James Family Dentistry, Leila Restaurant, Prosperity Partners, Preferred Lifestyle Services, Palm Beach Designer Fabrics, API Draper, VegaLab, Lookout Deals, Little Soft Shop, Bargain Software Shop, Florida Industrial Super Cleaners, Charlie Pierce and Countess 100.

• Social media posts for all clients using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube.
• SEO copywriting for website pages, landing pages, Word Press blog articles, Mail Chimp email newsletters, PR Web press releases.
• Wrote e-Commerce product descriptions for computer software using Shopify.
• Creation of monthly editorial calendars using Excel, project management using Asana, online file sharing using Drop Box.
• Monthly report generation using Raven Tools to pull together each client’s Google Analytics, Twitter and Facebook data.

United States Media TV
SEO Copywriter
May 2012-August 2012

United States Media TV is a producer of educational cable television programs narrated by Terry Bradshaw including Editions with Terry Bradshaw and Today in America with Terry Bradshaw.

• SEO copywriting for web pages, blog articles and press releases using MS Word.
• Social media marketing on Facebook Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest.
• Contributed to content marketing and online reputation management utilizing WordPress, Xanga, Posterous, Tumblr, HubPages and Squidoo.

Lynn Smythe Designs
Freelance Writer
September 1997- Present

Non-fiction article writing for print magazines and yearly anthologies

• Wrote articles for print publications including Llewellyn Worldwide, Farmer’s Almanac, BackHome, Veggie Life, The Herb Quarterly, The Essential Herbal, Altered Arts, Lapidary Journal, Beadwork and Jewelry Crafts.

Contact The Creative Cottage

What kind of information do you include on your resume? Leave a comment on this blog post, or send an email to: media@thecreativecottage.net.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe of The Creative Cottage

© 2015, The Creative Cottage. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.