When applying to certain websites or clients, you may need to provide a portfolio. If you are a writer who has never created a portfolio before, then you might not know what type of works you should include. Here are some tips on how to create the writer’s portfolio that will help you land a job.

Consider the job you are applying for. This is the most important thing that you can do when creating a writer’s portfolio. If you are applying to write for a woman’s health website, you probably won’t want to send an article that you have written about football. Try to choose the content that you have which is the most relevant. This will help the person reviewing your portfolio get a better idea about what you can do for them.

Try to provide varying samples. Although you will want to choose information that is relevant, you will want to also choose samples that are very different from one another. If you are applying for a website about teens, you may provide one sample on teen health, another on teen relationships, and another on teen fashion. Providing samples that are different from one another will help the reviewer of the portfolio see that you can be versatile.

Only include your best samples in your writer’s portfolio. Try to choose samples which have been used by websites that are fairly well known. If you’re good enough to get accepted by a bigger publication, the person reviewing your portfolio will see less of a reason to hire you. Even more importantly than providing works that have been published by reputable sources, you should never EVER include an article that has a typo or grammatical error in the writer’s portfolio. Remember that the person who is hiring you is looking for reasons not to. Don’t provide them with the fuel to feed their fire.

Creating a writer’s portfolio doesn’t need to be as challenging as it may seem. With the right amount of planning, it is likely that your portfolio will be good enough for you to get a second glance from the person reviewing it. All that you need to do is make the wisest decisions when deciding what to include in your writer’s portfolio.

A very common misconception is that writers do not need to pay taxes. This couldn’t be any further from the truth. Just like any other American citizen, freelance writers do need to pay taxes too.

Why do people think that writers don’t need to pay taxes?

One of the reasons may be because a lot of the jobs that you find over the years will not require you to provide them with any tax information. If you are dealing with clients on a one-time or inconsistent basis, it is unlikely that they will request information from you. They may not even want to have to deal with the issue themselves. Unless you are working for a well known website or company, such as Associated Content or Demand Studios, you probably won’t have to send a thing.

In addition to the people who are misinformed about not having to pay taxes, there are also many people who also think that they can hide the money that they are earning. It may seem a lot easier to hide money from the government when you are a writer, and in many ways, it can be. This does not mean that you shouldn’t pay taxes, however. Sooner or later, the IRS is going to catch up with you and realize that you haven’t been paying taxes.

When do you need to pay taxes if you are a freelance writer?

If you have made at least $500 a year, then you need to report your earnings. There are many people who feel that you do not need to pay if you have only earned $100 from one client, $100 from another, and so on. This is not true. If you have earned $500 total, then you are required to pay taxes on this money. Your clients or the companies that you work for many not necessarily be required to report the amount of money that you have made, but you are going to need to.

Self-employed individuals are also recommended to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. If you have a business name, not doing this according to regulations can come back to haunt you. That said, reporting any earnings that you have made, even if it is only done once a year, can help prevent you from getting into trouble with Uncle Sam.

Since not paying taxes is a federal offense, it is important to make sure that you do so. The best thing that you can do is keep good records of your earnings as a writer. Check back tomorrow for some tips on how to keep track of the amount of money that you make each month.