
A
freelance writer has more opportunities to earn a living than have
ever existed. Back in the 20thcentury, a freelance writer had only a
very small chance of even getting their work published at all. Even
writers who were hired to write directly for businesses were generally
only hired for short term low paying contract work. In the age of the
internet, though, demand for the written word is higher than ever in
history. Every website you see has some type of written content on it.
This could be anything from a few paragraphs to hundreds of articles to
full books. Nearly every business that wants to market their products
or services on the internet needs a constant supply of well written
content. There are also more ways than ever to deliver that content to
the consumer.
If you want to make a living as a writer
today, all you need is a computer and an internet connection and you
are fully set up and ready to go. Control your own schedule and work
where you want to. All you need is the drive to get the job done and a
little knowledge about marketing. You can pick up all sorts of regular
freelance work without ever having to leave the
comfort
of your home. In addition, a writer no longer has to spend years
trying to convince a publisher to print their book or novel. Everything
can now be done online, including marketing.
If you
want to make a profit as a freelance writer, you don’t have to worry
much about business expenses. You just need to sit down and write every
single day. The most effective way to get noticed and to pick up
lucrative writing jobs is to have a substantial portfolio of work to
show to potential employers. Make it easy for potential clients to be
able to find your work and determine if you are a good fit for their
business. Regularly submit articles to reputable websites in order to
get links published back to your own website where you offer your
writing services.
If you have specialized knowledge, be
sure to take advantage of it. Quite a few writers specialize in
specific subject areas and even in specific types of content. For
example, if you have experience and knowledge in the real estate
business, market your services to
real estate agents
for their websites and customer newsletters. If you enjoy writing long
detailed works, then market yourself as an eBook writer, or better yet
publish books of your own through Amazon’s Kindle platform. If you
enjoy writing marketing material, then market yourself as a copywriter
and help others with sales pages, autoresponder emails and web content.
Most writers do a little bit of each of those things, but you can feel
free and make a profit doing the tasks you do best.
One of the easiest ways to market your self is by joining some of the freelancing web sites such as
elance.com,
guru.com or
freelancer.com.
You can probably find many more with an easy Google search. These
sites can help you get a fast start while you market yourself to higher
paying clients. Each of these sites has different procedures but
usually the process involves potential employers posting jobs they need
done and the freelancers have the opportunity to bid on the jobs. Once
you have won the bid for the job, the payment is placed in escrow
until you successfully complete the job. There are also sites such as
textbroker.com where you can simply “claim” jobs and you get paid through the site when you complete the work.
Another
great source for freelance writing work is the local business
community. All businesses need to have a marketing presence on the
internet today and those businesses need web content. A lot of it. Local
businesses today need to hire writers. Blogging is a perfect way for a
business to continually build a relationship with potential customers
and most business owners don’t have the time to do it Join local
business networking groups and give presentations on online marketing
(including the need for regular content). Offer to provide that content
for those businesses for a regular monthly fee.
If you
want to make a living as a writer, spend a few hours each day or every
other day working on your writing and another few hours each day or
every other day soliciting clients and before you know it, you your
career as a freelance writer will be underway.