Freelance writing has grown more popular as a viable option for those with a knack for communication and working from home. There is no better feeling than starting a career as a freelance writer since it puts you in control of your destiny. Working as a freelance writer isn’t always straightforward—still, many other intriguing aspects to consider for freelance work online. Writing web content is a lucrative and widely accepted method of making money online.
While there are a variety of platforms that may assist you in finding freelance jobs online in general, getting decent freelance writing work, even for experienced writers, can be challenging. Finding reputable, paid, internet writing jobs that pay well is difficult for freelancers. Many gigs for freelance writing seem simple but are less than rewarding in the long run.
The excellent news is that there are several legitimate options for seeking paid internet writing jobs.
But before delving deep into understanding the finest locations to look for internet writing work as an independent contractor, let us first know how to get started as a freelance writer.
How to Become a Freelance Writer?
In the beginning, it might be challenging to figure out how to become a freelance writer. Anyone who has the motivation to do so can get into freelance writing. Still, it is particularly appealing to self-motivated people who need more freedom in their daily life. A freelancer pursues a career without being tied down to a single company for an extended period.
Freelancers may write content ranging from articles, blogs, screenplays, instructional manuals, and technical papers to short tales and advertising. Freelance writers may work with clients across diverse industries and provide a wide range of content. Some freelancers can write in fiction and nonfiction, while others specialize in a specific niche.
Freelance writers may contact customers by phone, email, or video conferencing since they don’t have to be in the same place as their clients. Although some collaborate with other freelancers or full-time employees, most freelance writers work independently.
To exhibit your skills as a freelance writer, you must take concrete measures to achieve your goals. Here are a few actionable steps to help you get started.
1. Explore the world of freelance writing
Learn all you can about the freelance writing profession before getting started. Consider looking at samples of well-known freelance writers’ biographies, articles, blogs, and other work on their websites. One of the incredible things about being a freelance writer is that so many people are ready to share their professional expertise and experience with those who want to get into the industry.
Job forums for independent writers provide a wealth of information on getting started as a freelance writer. They may give a general understanding of what occupations are available, employer expectations, and current market salaries.
2. Enhance your business acumen
To taste success as an independent writer, you need to be organized and have solid time management abilities.
To work on your assignments, you should establish a regular writing schedule and maintain an organized list of ongoing, finished, and pending tasks you may refer to when needed. You’ll need to keep track of invoices you’ve already issued, those still waiting, and the money you’ve received. Many authors have a list of potential themes to write on.
3. Build a portfolio
A portfolio is a carefully managed compilation of clips or examples of your work to demonstrate your writing abilities. A well-maintained writing portfolio is vital to your freelance writing business. Create a professional website where you can showcase your work.
Keep an eye out for fresh business opportunities and expand your customer list. If you can’t think of anything to mention, list your interests or areas of expertise.
4. Market your expertise
There are various methods to get your name out there. You may join social media platforms where you can post and follow authors and companies. Using LinkedIn and Twitter, you can land the majority of your job. Make a guest article and provide a link to it in your author profile.
6. Enhance your writing skills
Self-improvement is a journey. Reading other people’s work may teach you about sentence structure, vocabulary, avoiding fillers, evocative details, etc. Read extensively outside your professional expertise.
7. Begin with a modest project
Initially, finding an editing position or a more significant project may be challenging. Getting a full-time job also has substantial advantages and is an excellent start for your business. You may also start small to generate momentum if you have problems acquiring huge assignments.
10 Websites To Find Freelance Writing Gigs
Freelance writing jobs are more straightforward than ever, and some sites pay significantly for quality work.
If you want to be a content writer, you need to know which websites provide freelancer work from home. Below are some legitimate freelance writing employment sites.
1. Pepper Content
India’s premier content marketplace, Pepper Content’s clientele includes Swiggy, Cars24, Cogoport, and more. Customized content solutions are available through Pepper’s network of talented writers around the country. More than 18,000 creative writers have applied to this freelancing platform so far. They have a rigorous hiring process where you’ll be tested for your grammar skills. Only if you pass will you be chosen as a verified writer on the portal. This is to ensure that their clients are confident of the quality of the work they receive.
2. Upwork
Upwork is a 2015 merger between Elance and oDesk. It has 12 million freelancers, 5 million clients, and 3 million posts every year. It’s free to sign up on Upwork. Begin by adding your rates, work examples, CV, case studies, and bio to your profile. Before you may apply for jobs, the site must validate your profile.
The market provides several freelance writing opportunities, from blogging to CV writing, website copywriting, and technical documentation.
Upwork provides consulting, customer care, engineering, marketing, IT, translation, and web design services. The market is overloaded, and your knowledge may not meet Upwork’s qualifications. Then you may look for hourly, project-based, or short-term employment on Upwork.
You’ll need to work harder to build a portfolio and a reputation as a new freelancer. If you’re creative, you can always find work online.
When you successfully book a customer, Upwork receives a share of your revenue. In most cases, Upwork charges the following rates:
- 20% of the first $500 invoiced to a client.
- 10% for lifetime billings of $500.01-$10,000 with a customer
- 5% for lifetime billings exceeding $10,000+ with a customer.
3. Contena
Contena is a network that develops and connects freelance writers to high-quality remote writing projects. In addition to being a job website, it is a premium freelance writing website.
First, they offer a “writing job finder” that compiles the most excellent freelance writing jobs on the web. Fill out a 5-minute survey to become a freelance writer for Contena. A premium account links users with a Contena coach.
The elements that make this one of the top freelance writing services for newbies and experienced include
- Courses: Discover how to start freelance writing in one weekend and keep growing.
- Coaching: A coach can assist you in advancing your freelance writing profession.
- Pro Rates: To correctly price your job, you need to use Pro Rates.
- Publish: Create your portfolio with gorgeous and simple tools.
Their daily Alerts emails save you even more time by only showing you jobs that match your parameters, such as pricing and specialty.
4. Fiverr
There are over 50 million transactions on Fiverr. Fiverr was launched in 2010 and is popular because many merchants provide services for as little as $5. Every 4 seconds, one gig is sold. For newbies who want to expand their portfolios, Fiverr is the most excellent site because of its reputation for giving low-cost assignments.
If you are looking for quick ways to make money online as a freelance writer, Fiverr is for you.
You may sign up without any subscription to start as a freelance writer on Fiverr. Set up your gig, offer your work to a global audience, and start earning money.
You also need positive feedback, just like Upwork, in reviews to attract more clients. You can also use Fiverr to upsell.
It’s free to join Fiverr, and there is no subscription needed or fees to list your services. You retain 80% of each transaction, and the rest, 20%, goes to Fiverr pockets.
4. Freelancer
Launched in 2009, Freelancer connects over 58 million freelancers and employers in over 200 countries. In terms of overall quality, Freelancer leads the pack.
An account with Freelancer is free. Once your profile is complete, you may start looking for and applying for jobs. On Freelancer, you may search and apply for jobs locally and remotely. Examples include accounting, architecture, design, human resources, content authoring, social media marketing, and software development.
Even while Freelancer is free initially, the site does take a share of your revenue if a customer accepts your proposal. The fees are as below:
- Projects that have a fixed price tag: 10% charge or $5, whichever is higher
- Hourly Projects: Flat 10% charge
- Services: 20% charge
- Accounts that remain dormant for at least six months: $10 a month.
Freelancers may contact customers using the site and log hours, submit invoices, and get money throughout each assignment.
5. Contently
Businesses may use Contently’s AI and freelancers to create high-quality marketing material that can be used to promote their products and services. Audio, video, UI/UX designers, and writers are part of the network.
Anybody can join the Contently platform as a freelance writer; it is not imperative to have prior experience. Before utilizing Contently, business owners must first tour the platform and create an account. Following the product tour, companies will receive an estimate of the platform’s price.
6. FlexJobs
FlexJobs FlexJobs analyses and validates all jobs to avoid fraud and low-paying employment. For more experienced freelance writers, it will save time. Those needing to create a portfolio will have a difficult time getting work.
With FlexJobs’ unique job search, you may locate the correct position for you. It allows you to choose work categories like writing jobs. To access FlexJobs’ freelance writing jobs, you have to subscribe; Flexjobs usually charges $14.95/month or $49.95/year.
7. ProBlogger
Darren Rowse, a long-time blogger, founded ProBlogger to help freelance writers advance their careers. Those who submit ProBlogger’s job listings include content agencies, small businesses, and online publishers.
Article writing and copywriting for SEO purposes account for most positions available. As a general rule, job listings provide wages ranging from low to high. The client’s level of experience mainly determines this.
As a whole, ProBlogger is an excellent resource for expanding and showcasing your freelance work online skills. Thanks to the influx of new positions posted on a near-daily basis, beginners and seasoned writers will have no trouble finding a job that matches their skill sets and interests.
8. Textbroker
As a large-scale agency, Textbroker acts as a freelance writing platform. They assess freelancers for quality and then provide access to the many product descriptions, press releases, site copy, blogs, and other writing assignments that clients submit.
Verify your US citizenship and submit a writing sample to become a writer for the site for free. They’ll rate your performance on a scale of 2 to 5 stars.
Getting started with Textbroker is a breeze; all you need is a sample of your writing, and you’ll be able to get freelance writing gigs.
In contrast to other freelancing services that pay well, ‘Write Up Front’ does not guarantee payment until after you have completed your task.
9. Constant Content
Freelance writers have created a wide variety of online content for over 50,000 businesses using Constant Content. Services vary from social media posts and product sites to blog posts and ebooks.
To get freelance work online with Constant Content, you’ll need to create a profile, take a questionnaire, and submit a 100-250 word writing sample. Work alone or in a team on projects that interest you and build a reputation that will attract clients if approved.
Overall, this is an excellent platform to start. But you can’t contact your customers outside of Constant Content. Consequently, you won’t be able to build personal relationships with consumers or acquire referrals.
10. BloggingPro
You may use the BloggingPro to search for jobs that match your interests, both in terms of work kind, such as content writing or copywriting) and contract full-time or even freelance.
However, unlike FlexJobs, there is no customer screening procedure, so you must be cautious to prevent fraud. As a result, you won’t go through a single hiring procedure when applying to prospective customers. Some may request a résumé, portfolio samples, a form, or an email.
This site is mainly focused on blogging-related jobs. Still, there are other opportunities here, so it’s worth checking out even if you’re not a blogger.
Because this online job board is not a platform, there is no uniform mechanism to submit applications or be employed. There is no vetting of listed positions, some of which may be frauds. BloggingPro is free to use.
Don’t settle for low-paying writing employment since writing is a valued talent. To build your long-lasting career as a freelance writer, you must cultivate various income streams and locate customers who will pay you properly for your skills.
One way of doing so is to join numerous content networks, apply for employment on multiple job boards for freelance work online, or create your portfolio website and use SEO to draw in customers.
The best-paying freelance writing projects aren’t the only thing you should be pursuing. It will help if you concentrate on expanding your professional network and creating an excellent portfolio, including working on your writing abilities.
Key Takeaways
- Starting and maintaining a freelance online career demands time and persistence.
- Your portfolio and testimonials are vital for acquiring freelance writing gigs.
- Any freelance writing platform would need you to pitch often. Set a daily aim of sending out x number of applications/proposals.
- Starting with blog writing is arguably the best/most straightforward option. These are relatively small tasks and an excellent way to develop customer connections and extend out into other types of online writing.
- The most crucial thing for freelance writers to realize is that it takes a lot of effort to acquire freelance jobs online for beginners.
FAQs
A freelance writer is a self-employed independent company owner who must locate customers, market their services, complete the task and ensure both parties are satisfied at the end of the project.
Freelance job listing websites enable companies to find freelancers to accomplish short- or long-term tasks. Freelancers seeking customers may utilize freelance job listing sites to get employment, find leads, and network.
Some online freelance writing gigs are on PepperContent, Blog writing, Copywriting, Content writing, SEO writing, Web content, Social media writing, Video scriptwriting, and Email writing.
Some websites are entirely free to use, while others charge a monthly fee when you schedule work. Prices vary from 5% to 20%, and subscriptions range between $12 to $60 each month.
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