A portfolio or website can make a freelance medical writer or editor look established, but it cannot clarify an unclear professional identity. Before thinking about building a portfolio, hiring someone to develop your website, or even thinking about pricing, a freelance professional should be able to explain what they offer in a sentence or two.
A useful positioning statement identifies the kind of work you provide and the professional context in which you provide it. For a freelance writer, this may involve a particular type of content, audience, therapeutic focus, or areas of expertise. For a freelance editor, it might describe the type of documents they work on and subject matter expertise. In a positioning statement, both writers and editors should also state the audience they’re developing content for and how they can help the clientele they’re looking to serve.
The wording in your positioning statement does not need to capture every skill you have. Trying to include everything can make the statement less useful. A potential client should be able to read it and understand what kind of professional you are and where your expertise fits.
Positioning is particularly important in medical writing and editing because these fields encompass a wide range of specialized work. “Medical writer” can mean very different things depending on the projects, audiences, and settings involved.
Here are the important components of a positioning statement:
- What type of content you develop
- Who this content is for (audience and clientele)
- The medical writing specialty (or specialties) and therapeutic area (or areas) you focus on
- How your work helps your audience and clientele
Try to follow these points and see where you land. Our guess is that you’ll have a good starting point!
Your LinkedIn profile, portfolio, and website are ways to showcase your expertise and should support and reinforce this understanding. They should not be responsible for creating it from scratch though.
Clear positioning gives those later elements something specific to communicate. Without it, even a polished professional presence can leave a prospective client wondering what, exactly, you do.