Your website is your online business card, resume, and persona all wrapped up into one. It tells prospective clients and your freelancer peers who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and what you offer as a professional.

Those of you who’ve already joined the AIPP know we have very few member requirements, but from the start, we have remained committed to our requirement that members must have actual business websites.

Why? We want to ensure the AIPP remains a professional organization for those who take their work with self-published authors and small presses seriously, and in order to do so, our membership should reflect that level of professionalism. To that end, we vet member applicants by reviewing their websites to get a sense of who they are, what type of services they offer, and what type of experience they have.

Some freelancers may believe that a listing on a freelance database website or a Facebook business page or a blog in lieu of a website will suffice, but none of these provide your client or networking prospects the whole picture. You may be an excellent freelancer, but does your online presence reflect that?

Creating a business website is less overwhelming and expensive than some might think. I’m not what they call technically adept, yet I was able to put one together completely on my own and it didn’t cost a fortune or take all that long (8 hours total). Consider the time it takes to create a site as just one more way to invest in yourself and in your business. It will help you land better and better projects and you will establish yourself as a dedicated professional freelancer, one who is prepared to show the self-publishing world all you have to offer.