When it comes to promoting your writing skills, do you prefer a blog or a website. I want potential clients to be able to access a variety of writing samples, my resume, etc., so I'm thinking a website would be more user friendly in my case.

I like blogs simply because they are so easy to update and make look appealing with little coding knowledge but I think as soon as possible I am going to make the move to a website. You can still have the simplicity of a blog (or a blog encoded right into the mainpage) but with a lot more ease for a client toward finding their way around.

Luckily I have a brother in web design but as to blogs versus websites I think the latter is definitely the better (long-term) although more difficult to create/update.

IF you figure out the basics:
1 - domain name
2 - hosting
3 - development
4 - design
5 - maintenance
6 - SEO
7 - SEM

... you should already know that the hosting company you (#2 above)
decide on should provide you with
a - cPanel (the real thing; not sliced and diced)
b - fantasitco (deluxe)
with full service on both.

IF you have full service with fantastico you will have a web site and
WordPress at your fingertips.

ie: a web site and a blog for the same price.
Anything less and you have been goofed.

.02

Verb

I'd recommend a mix of the two.

Use your website to act as the professional and promotional side of things. So include things like your CV, work samples, your process, your approach, your contact details.

Then use the informality and fun side of things a blog brings! Voice your opinions on peoples work, on anything that you feel particularly strong about etc. It's also a great place to build up original written content to your website, so won't do your website any harm in search engines.

Also a great place to try writing articles that people link to. As a copywriter you'll no doubt be getting paid to do it at times for other people!

Ive considered a blog, but the amount of time it would take to maintain it puts me off. How do others manage, and how much time do you spend on your blogs?
pp

Hi!

Copyvirgin has a point. A blog is pretty informal so it's better to have some formal writing in another category. Fortunately, you can do both with some CMSes. Even with WordPress, you can have extra pages besides the front.

For a freelance writing website, I think I would skip the blog. Being informal and fun could bite you in the butt, so to speak, if you are trying to put out a professional image. If you are just marketing yourself as a freelance writer for hire, just a website is good. If you are also giving tips about freelance writing, or if you specialize in a certain topic or niche, a blog could work.

I think you'll find it far more stimulating as a creative to have a blog as well as a website. If you are capable you will be able to make the blog look detached enough from your professional website so as to not impact upon it to your clients. Your blog should never be so informal as to show you're a fool either! If you have an opinion then voice it, but only constructively! I think the most successful freelance sites and places i go back to have a mix of website and blog.

I maintain a blog and it does not take a lot of time but it is just a simple blog. I would guess that the time spent woudl be spent on getting your material together which you will have to do regardless of if you have a blog or a site. One good thing about blogs is people can leave comments on your stuff.

I much prefer a blog to be perfectly honest with you. I have been wanting to revive my blog for a while now, but I only finally got round to getting it designed a couple of weeks ago! And so hopefully I'll have it back up sometime soon, and thus I can commence writing.

Hey! I actually enjoy a blog. I have my portfolio on a blog at this time. You can view it here: http://www.nichecopywriting.net

There are pros and cons of each, but personally I have opted for both.

Again, IMHO, Wordpress is not for the noob. It's not very user friendly and it can get a bit complicated at times.

Many hosting companies offer the option to add a simple blog to your website, the option I have gone for.

BTW a blog doesn't need to be time-consuming, or informal. make it what you want. To me, a blog is a place for you to connect with your readers on a more personal level, allowing for interaction and personal opinions through the comments option.

A website maintains the professionalism you may want to convey, while the blog allows you to stretch out of box a little.

In the end, whatever you feel most comfortable with is the option for you.

Hope this helps.

I personally love blogs..I've become very familiar while using wordpress and with all the available plugins at your disposal it's hard to say no to wordpress. If you can learn even a little bit of php, you can modify almost any theme to do exactly whatever you want. Its perfect for what I'm doing currently.

I tend to use wordpress with a few modifications for all of my needs.