Do you enjoy writing? Then why not earn your living as a professional freelance wordsmith? Launching a writing career lets you make an income from the comfort of your home, or the local coffee shop.
As a full-time writer, you can choose whom you work with and when you work. However, writing for a living isn’t without its pitfalls. Along with the occupational freedom, comes the uncertainty and self-doubt of freelancing.
Working online as a freelance writer means that you have to do your own prospecting and qualifying. There is a massive demand for content online. Statistics show that the entire written history of the human race replicates on the internet every 48-hours.
However, the work isn’t going to find you. You have to get out there into the digital universe and make things happen if you want to experience success as a full-time writer.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of places to look for work. Here are 5 opportunities for freelance writers to start their career.
- Write for a Company
Magazines, blogs, and journals need to produce a steady stream of quality content to stay relevant. These content mediums employ writers on both a permanent and contractual basis depending on their need for quality writing.
Create a spreadsheet of all the publications that interest you. Next, write out a cover letter addressed to their editing department and list your skills, as well as the advantages of employing you as a writer on their team. Attach your resume and send your request to the editing department.
If you’re selected to join the writing staff, you’ll enjoy a permanent position that earns you a steady monthly income.
- Guest Posts and Writing Contests
Every day, millions of guest posts on a smorgasbord of subjects, are published to websites. SEO companies use guest posting strategies to place backlinks on authority sites. Many SEO companies contract full-time writers to create the content they need for the guest post. Make a list of 10 optimization companies and send your cover letter and resume to their HR department.
Writing contests offer an opportunity to showcase your skills. Search for a list of writing competitions and review the guidelines for submissions. If you win a writing contest, you can expect a cash prize and some company’s use contests as a means to find quality writers for their staff. Winning a competition looks fantastic on your resume, and it may open up other doors in the industry.
- Sell Your Skills in the Freelance Marketplace
The first two methods of finding work as a freelancer involve cold-calling on companies for work. Unless you are a hardened salesperson, you may have an issue with rejection. Reaching out and receiving little to no response will quickly diminish your enthusiasm.
Why not let the work find you instead? Register with freelance writing sites like Fiverr and Upwork. These companies allow you to create a profile and a “gig” which you can advertise for free on their platform. Millions of prospects search these platforms every day looking for talented writers.
- Earn Income with Copywriting
Copywriting is an essential part of marketing. Video scripts, sales letters, and product descriptions are all examples of copywriting content in demand. Companies use copywriting to influence a call to action on their prospective customers. Therefore, it’s an acquired skill that requires research before you can offer these skills to the market.
Take an online copywriting course to improve your skills and learn about content marketing. Once you’re comfortable with your skill set, look for copywriting opportunities on sites like Freelancer and Upwork.
- Create a Niche Blog and Use Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Take your destiny into your own hands as a writer and consider launching a niche blog. Populate the blog with compelling content that attracts eyeballs and monetize the content by dropping affiliate links into the post.
This strategy gives you complete control of your writing, as well as the companies you choose to market. As your blog grows and receives more traffic from various sources, your income will skyrocket.
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