How To Write Effective Cover Letters
A cover letter is your response to a job advert. As you go through the several ads from advertisers for freelance online writers and you find the one that appeals to you, the next thing is to respond to say you are interested in the job.
But this is not what you do in a hurry. Why? I will tell you. Sending a cover letter to indicate your interest in the job is probably the most important stage in your quest to nail a freelance writing job online or any other job for that matter, as a poorly written cover letter will definitely prevent you from getting the job.
In fact, if you have been applying for freelance writing jobs online [or other jobs in general] without success you may have to consider working on your cover letter. More often than not, it may just be the reason you haven’t been able to get any job in spite of having applied to several.
This is why you really have to give top priority to preparing your cover letter.
Your cover letter is your first contact with the advertiser. Remember that this person who is in need of your service may be in another continent of the world with a different mindset and experience.
They don’t know you, and since you are going to be doing the job from home, they would be faced with some concerns about trusting you with the job.
And considering that many other people would equally be applying for the same job, the first screening would be based on the content of the cover letters they received from all applicants.
From the cover letter, the advertiser can perceive which of the writers applying for the job can be trusted with it to deliver the best value. Therefore, for you to be the one chosen for the job, your cover letter must stand out and be compelling.
And to ensure that, you must know what is important to the advertiser and write your cover letter along those values.
Notice that some of these things that the advertiser holds very important, and upon which they decide who to give the job to are general to every advertiser seeking a freelance writer, while others can be found in the ad itself.
First of all I will talk on the general attributes which an average person looking for a freelance writer would be looking for
Will you be able to do the job?
Any person who needs a writer to do their job for them would strongly want to be sure that the writer can do it perfectly without any other person correcting it again or doing a major editing. Part of what they would be paying you for as a writer is the time you are taking to do the job so that they can have their time to concentrate on other things.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be funny if they have to start writing it all over again after paying you for the same job.
Recognising this need by advertisers, you will therefore have to communicate the fact that you are a good or excellent experience writer with the ability to produce quality writings devoid of errors in your cover letter.
It is however not enough to just tell the advertiser that you are the best writer around, you will need to strongly reflect it in the cover letter. That is, your cover letter must be free of grammatical and spelling errors. And that again mean you should take the time to proofread your cover letter thoroughly before sending it.
How readily available are you for the job?
Another important thing to the advertiser is whether the writer who will not be monitored will really have the time for the job and deliver as at when due. Advertisers wouldn’t like a situation where their plans would be hindered by writers’ inability to provide their completed jobs when they should.
Therefore, you will need to assure them in your cover letter that you would give priority to their jobs. And that they can totally rely on you.
Those are very important issues which an advertiser would be looking for in a prospective writer they are looking forward to hire. And which should be profoundly expressed in the cover letter.
Furthermore, there may be other requirements, depending on the particular kind of writing the advertiser wants you to do for them. They usually express these in the ad.
For instance, they may specify that they need an SEO writer [I will be writing about this sometime soon], a travel writer, a woman’s health writer etc. Whichever it is, you should be able to show in your cover letter that you can write it well.
General points to mind in your cover letter
Here are some points to consider in writing a cover letter that can nail that job for you.
Show you are a professional. You do this by ensuring that your cover letter is error free; and by expressing your thoughts clearly and concisely in paragraphs.
Don’t state your fee in the cover letter unless you are required to state it, in which case you can give a range to let the advertiser know they can negotiate fee with you. For instance, you can state: I take between $5 to $10 for a 300 – 500 word article.
Don’t mention or state in your cover letter previous experiences that do not relate to the writing job you are aiming at – it’s only writing job experiences if you have them that can help strengthen your cover letter – unrelated experience will weaken it.
Address the advertiser as either Hello or Hi , followed by the advertiser’s name if it is given, and not “Dear Sir.” Also don’t include your title such as Pastor, Mr., Mrs., or Chief, etc. in closing your cover letter.
Lastly, remember that your cover letter must be as compelling as possible to be able to capture the advertiser’s attention at a first glance; otherwise your job hunting effort may never yield the result you so desired.
Therefore considering the enormous importance of cover letter to your getting a job, whether online or offline, you will be doing the right thing spending some time studying how it is written. And with practice you will get better at it.
However, if you can afford it, it’s always better to seek professional resume writing service providers who also prepare cover letter for their clients.
Being professionals in the area of writing resumes and cover letters, you can expect to have over 90% chance of being considered for the job. Some such as Professional Resume Writing 100% Guaranteed – Free Cover Letter even offer money back guarantee if the resume and cover letter they prepared for you didn’t nail the job.
If you ask me I think it’s a great deal – you are sure of getting the job and thereafter continue to earn income months after months, year after year.
