How to Make Money by Freelance Writing
I have lost count of how many times I have been asked about freelance writing, and blogging in particular. Everyone wants to know how I got my start, and I have gotten a fair few others involved in paid writing in the last couple of years. It is so rewarding to help people find a source of income done in their own homes.
The problem is that getting into this line of work isn’t done a single way. I have had my own experience, but I have spoken to plenty of freelancers and they took their own path. It is as versatile as the work we all do, and who we end up working for. So my way isn’t the only one, and in the end what it really takes for all of us is determination, time and effort.
How To Get Started
There are a few steps that are going to make the way a bit easier. The first is to get writing your own content. It is important to have well written, published samples to show potential clients. Without them it is very difficult to land a gig, even if it isn’t impossible.
So the first step is to start your own blog, and use it for personal branding and an ever-growing resume. Here’s a great tool to generate your blog name and visual identity (logo and color scheme).
You can do these on any topic you like. But it might help to focus on niches that you are both well versed in, and have a passion for. That is because you will be sure to produce better content if you are interested in the subject. I reject any advice that says to right based on trending niches. You will never produce anything quite as engaging that way.
The number of posts you should publish is hard to say. I would suggest three, at the least, so you can use them as your initial samples. An average sized article is between 500 and 700 words, which is a standard sample sized piece. As you write more, you will have a larger pool of samples to choose from so you can specify certain articles for certain job types.
Treat Your Work as a Business
It is very important to change your mindset here: This is your business, you need to work on managing and developing it.
Take some time every day to work on your personal brand, post on your social account, create content on your own site. Invest time in yourself.
Use all kinds of business phone apps to scale your own customer support and to never lose leads.
Where To Find Work
You can find freelancing positions all over the place. Depending on the site, you can find both high paying and low paying positions, of varying difficulty. Some will require a full resume, and others will as only for samples of your writing and some details about yourself and your past work.
Some common places to find posted writing jobs are:
- Digital Point Forums
- Craigslist
- Simply Hired
- Blogger Jobs
- ProBlogger
Here are also 15 Blogs To Apply To In Order To Become a Paid Contributor
The price you will charge will be up to you. I can tell you that I started out at a very low rate until I had gained some experience and had a collection of happy clients who would vouch for me. Then I slowly raised my rate over time.
Industry standard is a tricky subject, and some writers charge as little as $0.01 a word, or as much as $0.10 a word. You can work out the details with your clients.
The Place Of Contributing
If you want to gain some visibility and build a network of bloggers quick, a great way is through writing for other blogs in your niche. This is especially great to do in the beginning, when you need a reliable site to host your posts for samples.
It is also a great way to build traffic and get more email subscribers.
You can usually contact blogs you read to ask about contributing. Or, you can use a site like MyBlogU to more quickly and easily find opportunities.
Conclusion
All of this is obviously a summary of my journey into freelance writing. It can be incredibly difficult to increase your rate, find steady work and make a living. But many of us have done so, and it all starts with what was mentioned above.
Ann Smarty
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