Thanks to the internet’s incredible prevalence in our lives today, freelance writers now have more opportunities to connect with potential clients than ever before. Many freelance writers work with clients in different states and even in different countries on a regular basis, never meeting the clients they work with. Many never even speak with their clients, and instead communicate via email and online messaging.

Some freelance writers, however, prefer to work with local clients and really develop a more personal relationship with the people who they are working for. If you want to use your talents to work with clients close to home, there are some great opportunities that you can consider and look for in your local community:

Local Business Blogs. More and more businesses today are finding that blogging has its benefits from a business perspective. Blogging, after all, is a great way to keep in touch with clients and customers, spread personal interest stories, and otherwise just let customers know what is going on with the business including how that business is participating in community activities, sales and specials, new merchandise or services being offered, and more. While freelance writers can write blogs for businesses around the globe, you can absolutely find a great selection of businesses close to home that need your services, too. You can find a few local businesses that already have a blog established and contact them to offer your services.

Real Estate Listings. Real estate agents for the most part are born salespeople, and some of them truly do have a knack for the written word. Others are simply the quintessential “people person” and lack the ability to sell through their writing. We all know, though, that from posting listings online to creating engaging fliers to accompany yard signs and even just general web content for their website, real estate agents need to have an effective writer working in their corner. This can be a great way for those freelance writers who love to look at houses as a past-time to really use their talents in a fun way.

Marketing Materials. Just about every type of business needs marketing materials prepared, from dentists to plumbers to restaurants and more. Many of the larger businesses and especially the chains likely already have a dedicated marketing company preparing their materials, but locally owned, smaller business probably would jump at the chance to do business with you. You can network around to friends and neighbors, keep your ears open at parties and gatherings, and more to find these gigs, or you can contact them one by one.

It can take a bit more time to find local clients than to simply use the freelance writing job placement websites. However, while it may take more effort to find a single client, you should know that you don’t need to have ten or twenty clients in most cases to keep you busy. Many freelance writers find more than enough work to fill full-time work hours by working with just a handful of clients, and many also enjoy very long-term relationships with their clients. So often with a little bit of legwork up-front, you can develop several long-term, lucrative, and successful relationships with local clients who can get to know personally!