The traditional world of publishing has been changed forever thanks to the rapid development of technology and the Internet over the past decade.

Now is the time for tech savvy writers to take full advantage of these changes so they can maximize and develop their online writing potential.

With these eight strategies you can boost your freelance career by utilizing the most effective websites and online services to become more accessible, more marketable, more widely read and with a greater chance of landing new clients to generate more money than ever before:

1) Create a Kickass Online Portfolio
Whether you have a handful of published articles or hundreds of them, you still need an effective way of promoting your experience. Ideally, you need your own website, that only you control. Setting up an online presence under another company’s URL can put you at risk of losing that presence some day, or having ads from competitors running on your profile, and more.

If you can’t afford your own website, one solution comes from the website Contently.com, which is for writers who want to showcase their work. Contently gives writers their own webpage, and makes it easy for them to detail everything they have had published along with links to each publication. This means all you need to do when pitching your credentials is send the URL of your Contently page so editors can quickly understand your capacity as a writer.

2) Develop Your Network
LinkedIn is the best known business social network in the world and it’s a perfect fit for freelance writers who want to grow their professional connections. Not only can you showcase your resume and writing experience but it also lets you contribute blog posts for other members to read, which is a great opportunity to demonstrate your skills and attract potential clients. LinkedIn encourages companies to post jobs, including listings for editorial, content and freelance writers, plus the site is useful for searching out clients who may need assistance with corporate projects, company blogs, newsletters etc.

3) Become an Authority Blogger
It has never been so simple to set up your own blog yet many freelance writers are more focused on their client projects then they are on their own personal writing. It makes sense that, if you want to sell your writing services, especially for tasks like blogging or copywriting, you would already be active with your own authority blog. They can be set up for free on WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr and Weebly and many sites even let you use your own domain name. A clean and professional looking blog can be set up in minutes and talented writers should have no problem developing content to promote to clients.

4) Promote and Share Your Content
Whether it is an article you had published, or a new blog post, it is now possible to share your writing with a huge number of readers thanks to the sharing functions built into social networks. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon and Digg all depend on people providing them with content for users to share and read. With their combined audience reaching a billion plus people, all it takes is one of your articles to go viral for it to be worthwhile. Even mildly popular content can be seen by thousands which makes it a great way of building a fan base.

5) Find Your Next Job
The web has made it easier than ever before to find new information at the click of a button. This includes discovering new leads for writing jobs via good sources of information such as WritersWeekly.com and Problogger.com as well as a number of specialist forums, listings and blogs dedicated to providing freelance writers with up-to-date job opportunities.

6) Fund Your Next Project
Many writers have dreams, not of freelance writing, but of developing their personal writing projects. Lack of funding is often the reason many writers don’t fully pursue their dreams but this is less of a problem due to the launch of popular crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. They let you pitch your project on their sites where, for a period of time, you can collect advance donations in exchange for copies of your future writing project. Not every pitch is successful but there is a good chance that well-executed pitches will generate reasonable levels of interest and books remain a popular option on both sites.

7) Self-Publish Successfully
In the past, writers had to either find an agent and publisher willing to take on their book projects, or would pay many thousands of dollars to print thousands of copies of their own book (which would likely never sell) before the advent of Print on Demand technology.

Things have developed significantly since the introduction of the eBook, which now accounts for 20% of all units sold in the world, and is a perfect option for those wishing to self-publish at minimum cost.

However, affordable Print on Demand has also been making inroads as more professional service providers have begun offering low-cost packages, like Booklocker.com. They work with writers to provide layout, artwork, formatting, ISBNs, barcodes, eBook formats, hardcover, paperback options, sales distribution with major booksellers, and more. Booklocker’s most popular package costs $675.00 (be sure to ask if you qualify for their $150 discount code, which brings the price down to $525!), and takes just one month to process, from start to finish. That’s right. Most books are on the market within a just a month and they also have a two-week rush option.

8) Sell Your Content
Financial technology has made it easier for the entrepreneurial writer to make money directly from their own website with electronic writing projects such as informational eBooks, white papers and reports. Payment gateways with minimal fees can be set up using systems from companies like Gumroad, E-Junkie and PayPal. This lets writers keep both their copyrights and their revenues.

Steven King has worked for 12 years in the media industry having been employed as a newspaper editor, dining out columnist, community news reporter, freelance property writer and PR copywriter. He has spent the last 10 years living, working and writing across South East Asia.