Storytelling is the secret to building an A+ roster of clients.

Creating a narrative for yourself as a professional will land you better contracts. You want an all-star roster of clients? Only the A+ types of people to work with? Your online presence and business image shape how people view you as a professional. Writing tone, color scheme, and website design all contribute to that image.

There are many factors that affect your odds of success as a professional writer. Positioning yourself and developing a compelling business narrative will build your client base. In this article, we’ll cover five elements to help increase your revenue. More importantly, you’ll be able to close on higher quality clients.

1. Buyer Personas

Building buyer personas gives you more focus in landing quality clients. Imagine your perfect client. Who are they? What are their pain points and needs? After you’ve mapped out the types of people you want to work with, it’s time to fine tune your content. Your website homepage and portfolio will be the most important pieces of the puzzle. You should also think about what buyers think when they review your proposal.

2. Content

Match your content to your buyer personas. What type of language attracts and compels them? What kind of companies do they want to work with? Keeping your website up to date with design and UX trends is a great way of show you’re on the money. A sleek and intuitive website represents organization and professionalism.

Beyond design elements, you need to showcase your competency with website content. Blog articles, case studies and testimonials get the job done. Showcase your best portfolio pieces on your homepage.

3. Pricing Strategy

Give yourself some credit. Try not to undervalue your work. Self awareness is key to competitive pricing. If you have any sample work to show, put it on your website. If you’re at the start of your freelancing career, you can write sample documents and post them. Whatever you do- don’t sell yourself short. There is nothing worse than blindly underselling yourself. Quality clients want quality content, so show them you can deliver.

4. Specialization

Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Are you strong in articles or newsletters? Blog posts or adverts? It’s fine to be stronger in one style of writing than another, but self-awareness is key. Specialists have much higher value in the market than the master of none.

5. Professionalism

It’s so incredibly obvious but it needs to be part of the discussion.

Professionalism separates the successful and the struggling. Keeping tight on deadlines on a consistent basis will put you above the competition. At the very least, these practices will ensure steady work.

The Takeaway: Attracting and maintaining good clients takes work. But if you’re smart and diligent about your work and professional reputation, all the choices are up to you.