Have you ever thought
of working from home but didn’t know where to start? Well, you are not alone
because I have been there too, and in fact, every established writer out there
has been there too. I am going to tell you how to kick start your freelance
writing journey and make it.
I remember when I left
my first job and started looking for freelance writing opportunities. I’m
not telling you to leave yours now. I had a backup plan and you should too
before you quit in case you are thinking in that direction. I had gotten the
idea of working from home from a friend of mine who used to do it part-time.
She was working for another guy who dealt with academic writing.
My first freelance writing Gig
After persuading her
to introduce me to this guy, she finally agreed. I got my very first freelance
writing training from this guy which was majorly on academic writing. He taught
me various academic writing styles, punctuation and grammar tools, sentence
structure, and so on. I am always very grateful to this guy.
After writing for him
for a while, I decided to look for better opportunities on the internet since
this guy was paying peanuts. That is how I landed on elance.com which was later
changed to upwork.com. Elance was a gold mine to me (I haven’t tried Upwork
though). I would get various legit jobs like article writing, article
re-writing, e-book writing, etc. I loved it ’cause I felt these were more legit
jobs than academic writing which was against my ethics. I got great clients
there and that is how I grew my freelance writing career.
Now let me give you
pointers on how you can find freelance writing jobs as a beginner till you
become perfect on the trade.
1. Work under someone
The first thing I did
when I wanted to join the freelance writing career was to look for someone to
train me as I work. The training lasted only a few days then I started getting
work to do. These guys don’t always pay much but it’s worth giving a try
because of what you get in return. Most people will tell you that they offer
training at a fee with guaranteed employment after the training but this isn’t
always true. So you need to do your research well beforehand. If possible, get
a trainer through referral. This way you’ll be sure that you are getting the
right person to train you.
I don’t recommend
paying for freelance writing training. You can ask to write as you train. This
way the person will be able to use your writing for their clients, or their
blog as they also offer you the training. So it’s like you are paying for the
paying with your written work.
2. Join a job board or
a freelance writing marketplace
A job board is a
platform where employers advertise their freelancing jobs for writers to apply.
There are various job boards depending on the type of freelance writing that
you want to do. Academic freelance writing jobs normally pay well compared to
article writing and transcription. You could pursue academic writing if you do
not have any ethical issues with it.
The good thing about
job boards is that they help you gain confidence as a new freelancer. Job
boards also have quality and consistent work.
Below is a list of
some job boards and freelance writing marketplaces where you can pitch and bid
for work;
- All
freelance writing job board
- Contena
- BloggingPro
- Problogger
- Upwork
3. Cold Pitching
Cold pitching is when
you contact employers directly through their websites e.g. bloggers, companies,
magazines, to introduce yourself and the services you offer. Trust me, I’ve
never tried this, but I hear it’s one of the best ways to get quality recurring
jobs.
There’s less
competition when you cold pitch, hence giving you a better chance at landing a
direct client, and most direct clients pay really well.
I know you are asking
yourself, how do you cold pitch? Don’t worry, I’ll tell you.
The first step to cold
pitching is identifying where to send your pitch. Locate a website that needs
writers, a company or business that needs a website (if they have none, or if
their website needs improvement and you think you can help them), and so on.
Once you have located your target, draft a pitch to send to them. A pitch is
like an application form. Something you use to introduce yourself and what you
offer. Capitalize on what you can do to help them solve a problem. And ensure
you include who you are, how and where you found them, and what you do to help
them.
4. Offer Free Guest
Posting
What? Do you mean you
want me to write for free? And how will that even help me? Well, yes, you read
it write. Don’t always give money the front seat. Look at the opportunities
ahead. See, when you guest post on a popular website, it is guaranteed that your
post will be viewed by thousands and thousands of people. Some of these people
may turn out to be potential clients.
Moreover, it’s easier
to pitch on job boards when you have some of your writing out there that you
can quote as samples. Especially if the writing is on another person’s website.
It’s normally a bit harder getting clients on job boards when you have no
samples to showcase – though not entirely impossible.
So how do you find a
website to guest post? The best bet would be to use the search engine. Just go
to google and type “your niche + write for us”.
Once you get the
results, choose the ones you like and send your pitch. Remember to follow their
guidelines for guest posting.
5. Join Facebook
freelance writing groups
There are numerous
writing groups out there on Facebook. Joining a couple or so will propel your
writing career. You will be interacting with potential clients on a day-to-day
basis on Facebook once you join these groups. Some clients actually post jobs
on these Facebook groups and if you are lucky to land one then you are good to
go. you only need to be careful not to fall for scams. There are some people
who pretend to be offering jobs but once you write for them, they never pay
you. Be careful of such and you’ll be good to go.
I hope these tips were
of great help to you as you start your freelance writing journey. Be sure
top als0 check out my tip on how to start a successful
blogging business. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. I’ll be
glad to respond. Cheers!