Freelance Writing Quick Start
It doesn't have to take a lot of time to get your freelance writing career started. There are several ways you can earn money without spending all that time submitting queries.
One of the great advantages of the internet for the freelance writer is the tremendous demand it has created for good writers. There are millions of websites out there, many need fresh content, and not all website owners are up for writing it themselves.
That's where you, the freelance writer, comes in. Let's take a look at some of the options you have.
- Associated Content - This is a website that allows you to write the 400+ word article of your choice, and you get paid $3-40, depending on a few factors.
This can be quite wonderful for the freelance writer. No editor to make nitpicky changes to your article. Writing on a topic you understand or can research quickly. You can get paid in as little as 5-7 days for your work.
Yes, they do reject articles, but they'll tell you why most of the time.
- Freelance Work Exchange - All kinds of freelance jobs are listed here. Consider this another resource for finding all levels of freelance writing jobs.
- Constant Content - Rather than have the site set the price they will pay for your articles, Constant Content lets you put up your articles for bid. Trouble is, a lot of authors let their articles go for free, so you have to have written a pretty good article to get paid on this site.
- Guru and eLance - These are sites where you bid for jobs. Lots of people come here posting writing jobs. You tell them what you would charge, and if they like you, you've got an assignment. Pay can be good or poor, depending on how you are willing to price your talents.
Read each posting carefully before bidding. You want to be sure that you understand what you will be getting into if you are selected. This is not a case of lowest bidder wins automatically; the person posting the job chooses the bid they like best. Read other writers' bids to understand how these things go.
- Write for Yourself - That's right, you can earn money from your writing and you don't have to know too much about website design. You'll have to learn a little, but if you run your writing as a blog (or several blogs, split by topic), you can earn money from Google AdSense or affiliate programs.
You can buy your own domain name and hosting or get a free blog at Blogger.com.
The AdSense account is free to signup for; however you do need to have some content up on your blog before you request a site, so that Google can approve what you're doing.
This route does involve learning to market yourself. However, a website is a pretty good investment for a writer these days, so you can consider the blog practice, a side business or a part of your marketing plan for your freelance writing career.
All these provide samples of your writing that a potential employer can look at, so keep the quality up. You don't want to be seen doing a lousy job or plagerizing. These days it is very easy for people to look up your work onlline. These tactics can be used to get practice writing in something similar to the area you'd love to work in, in many cases, so do your best.
