Alicia,
Hello, Rochester. Boy, I've been reviewing profiles for a long time and I don't think I've ever seen one in my neighborhood. I'm two hours east of Rochester.
Anyway ... you're profile is almost there. What it does is it leans just slightly towards the mindset of someone looking for a job. In freelance, you already have a job. You work for yourself. More specifically, you might get a job offer and accept it anytime you like, but a freelance business should do better than that. If I got a staff writing offer, I would say, no, thanks, I'm doing fine on my own.
Anyway, I have a few items to point out. First, you start with a rhetorical question. "Need help ...?" They already know they need help, so you're wasting their time by asking them that. It's not information they need. You're a mouse-click away from rejection, so you can't waste their time. Click. They're gone.
You then say you are "fast learning." That gets the buzzer sound -- eeeeehh. A freelancer works for themself, so they are expected to be experts. They are not supposed to learn on the job. That just another way of saying, "I will spend your money stumbling around, when I should be getting you results." So, you can learn on the job all you like, but don't tell people that. Tell people you are a pro who knows what they are doing and will get them results on time.
You have TONS of great experience. So you really should just upgrade your assertions. Don't say "I have experience," say, instead, "I am an expert with experience."
The word "expert" carries a lot of weight around here. Your clients want to hire an expert. They don't want to hire someone who is learning, stumbling around or making mistakes. Employees make mistakes and you train them and point that out to them. Freelancers do not work for the company, so there is no room for making mistakes. Nobody is going to train you or be kind to you here when you botch something.
You have so much experience that you should be able to say, "I have helped _____ size companies meet regulations, prepapre for taxes, avoid or survive audits ..." Put this in tangible terms that speaks to the concerns your clients have. Why do they hire accountants? To prepare for meetings ... to surive audits ... to help with decision-making.
That's what you should write ... if not word for word something that sounds like, "I am an expert accountant who can clafify issues so you can make better decisions."
Making better decisions is why they hire you. So why don't you spell that out for them in your profile? Avoiding audits is why they hire you. You should say "I can help you avoid audits."
That's what you should write about. Yes, you might mention quickbooks and alll those applications, but that's a pretty boring thing to read. Nobody really reads those lists. They glance at them. You have to convince people you are an expert. Talk the talk. Tell them you can walk the walk and get them results.
