A Career in freelance writing

Many beginning writers start out with blog posts or article writing. That's fine, either one of those are a good way to break into the field of online writing. Many people already have some idea of what a blog post is because it is so easy to set up a blog of your own. Article writing is not much different, the main difference between articles and blogs is the tone of voice you write in and sometimes the number of words involved.

Blogs can be anywhere from 300 words to 500. Articles generally start at 400 but can go on to as much as 1000 words. When you are looking for article writing make sure that you always know the length of the article the employer expects and price accordingly. Blog writing involves a more casual, almost a conversational tone of writing. Articles need to be more informative and should be written from the point of view of an expert on the subject. This does not mean that you, as a writer, need to become an expert before writing about a topic. It does mean that you will need to do more research on topics before writing articles about them.

Keep in mind that these are not the only two types of writing you can do. Many employers are looking for writers who can produce website content. Website content writing is different. It needs to be compelling; you need to be able to convince someone visiting the site that they need to take action. The action you want them to take changes from site to site. You could be writing content to get them to buy a product, you could be getting them to sign up for a newsletter, or you could be trying to get them to hire the company you are writing for. I've heard it said, and you probably have, too, that when a person visits a website you have from 5 to 10 seconds to catch their attention. This is what your website content needs to do.

If you are having trouble finding writing jobs that you want to do, you can switch over to data entry for a while. These are generally set price jobs, which cover a limited time span. In most cases they need you to locate and enter information into an Excel spreadsheet or an alternative form. Some freelancers make a good income with this type of work. It isn't writing, but it can provide a nice break now and then.

Another popular form of writing you should consider is eBooks. With the advent of the Kindle and other electronic reading devices, traditional publishing is changing radically. You can now write and publish books online without ever contacting an agent or publishing house. You have options with this choice, you could either write an eBook for an employer, or simply write one on a topic that you are interested in. Many people are hiring eBook writers, giving away a free eBook about what their online service or product is, is an excellent way to get people to sign up with them.

As you begin your writing career, remember that there is plenty of room for growth. You may start out writing blogs, but you can expand into other writing fields anytime you think you are ready.

I have just been doing some editing work for an employer who made the mistake of thinking that he was saving his company some money. This is a common mistake; there is an old adage, "You get what you pay for", please keep this in mind when you are looking for prospective writers. These sayings survive to become old adage's because they contain a lot of truth. When you are considering the people who apply for the writing jobs you have to offer, remember that cheaper is not always better.

Yes, there are some freelance writers out there who are just starting out, so even though their writing is good, their prices are still low. However, for the most part if someone is offering to write you a 500 word article for $3 it's better not to take them up on it. In many cases you will get back the kind of articles that I just spent the day editing. Consider the price you pay for the articles that you need written as an investment in your business. You wouldn't pay for shoddy work if you were having a business built in the real world, why would you want to pay for less than quality work in your online business?

I'm sorry if I am sounding negative here. I have just been fighting with run-on sentences, improper sentence structure, mis-spelled words, missing words, and too many more writing mistakes to go into. If it is possible to do it in the written language, then I have been dealing with it. What is probably the most aggravating part of this is that these errors could have been caught.

To all the freelance writers out there
Always take the time to read over what you have written before submitting it to an employer. Better yet, have someone else read it. If you live alone send it to a friend online that you can trust and have them read it over for you. You will save both yourself and your employer a lot of grief with this one simple step. There are times when we are writing that we get thinking faster than we are typing. In our minds we see the word that we forgot to type. When we read our own work over again, our subconscious adds the word in because we know it should be there. This is why it is better to have someone else read your work for you.

Remember that the work you are doing for an employer is going to be used to represent his business. Avoid slang, be professional, and double check your facts; your employer will thank you and you will get a lot more repeat business. Take my word for it, you want repeat business. When you are writing for someone else put yourself in their position; if you were them would you want the writing you are doing connected to your business? If you cannot answer yes to this then you are doing something wrong.

Most people are afraid to try writing online. They do not feel that their skills are good enough to provide the kind of writing needed. To be honest, if you could write a paper for a high school class then you can probably do the writing needed for online articles. As with any other job, it usually sounds harder than it is.

Think about all the websites you visit, the articles you read either for pleasure or to learn something. Have you ever spotted errors in grammar or seen where the wrong word was used? When you are reading the material online do you notice when sentences are not structured correctly? And no, before you ask, not everyone notices these things while they read. People who notice these types of errors generally make very good freelance writers. You may even be able to qualify for an editing position.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that you cannot do the work before you even try. You may be wondering what kinds of writing people would pay for. The answer to this is almost any kind but I'll narrow it down some as that answer really isn't very helpful. Some of the most common writing jobs you will find are for:

Articles: Your future employer will tell you what topic these need to be on (it could be anything), how long they should be (generally around 500 words), and what they will pay for them (this varies a lot). Don't panic if you don't know anything about the topic they want you to write about. That is where research comes into play. You have the whole World Wide Web to look at in order to find information about a topic. Just remember, never ever copy and paste. Read the information, learn about the topic, and then write in your own words about what you have learned.

Blogs: Blogs are shorter and have a more conversational tone of voice. If you have never visited a blog site then do some research! Pick a topic you are interested in and do a search for blogs about that topic. You will see that these are written more like one friend talking to someone they already know. While this is a more casual writing style you still want to avoid slang, unless of course the blog is about slang.

Press releases: Press releases generally announce something new. They need a more exciting title and tone of voice. This could be a new product, website, service, or just a breakthrough in some field. Some people really enjoy writing in this style, in most cases your future employer will have some basic guidelines that they ask you to follow as far as formatting is concerned. If you have read many news articles you already know what kind of writing is involved in these.

Website content: This can be a little trickier. You have to write from the position of the website owners. You have to be able to catch a reader's attention and hold it. Think about the websites you visit. What is it about them that catches your attention and keeps you reading? How many websites do you click on and then leave without reading more?

Most new writers start out with article writing or blogs. This is simply because they are easier to master. However, this does not mean that you have to continue to write nothing but blogs and articles. As you gain confidence in your writing skills you can always branch out into other types of writing.

If you are facing the same problems I had in the beginning, then you have tried several different ways to make money online. Being able to work from home has become the new American Dream. You have probably found just as I did that most if not all of the offers online for work from home jobs are scams or involve affiliate marketing. Not that there is anything wrong with affiliate marketing, it is just a difficult area to be successful.

During my search of online jobs, I stumbled across one offer that seemed to be more legitimate than some of the others. It actually involved me doing something to earn the money it promised I could make. I know, weird idea, all the rest were telling me to buy their pre-made website and watch the money roll in. I decided to invest $27 dollars in one of the training programs that were offered. That was probably the best investment I have ever made.

It opened my eyes to the freelance writing sites that could be found online. I looked at 3 or 4 different sites. The first couple websites I looked at were really discouraging. They wanted me to bid on writing jobs. This may not seem so bad, but when you are first starting out in a job, you have no idea what to put in as a bid. Some of them wanted me to take tests that they charged me for. All in all, I was getting discouraged and beginning to think that this was just another scam. Then I checked on o'Desk. They offered tests to prove my abilities for free. The employers listed what they were willing to pay and a description of the work they needed done. The only catch I found on this site was the need to create a portfolio.

I solved this problem by going to ezinearticles.com and writing three articles for them. There is a waiting period of around a week, while the articles are checked over, before they go live on the web. Once the articles were live, I simply added the URL to the articles to my portfolio. This was very simple and easy to do, as well as being good practice for the work I was hoping I would be doing.

Since I didn't have any idea what I should charge for the work I would be doing I started out taking some jobs that really didn't pay all that well. What they did do was give me valuable feedback. This allowed me to move on to better paying jobs. I have talked to other freelancers who specialize in data entry, or website design; however, I have always enjoyed writing so I stayed with that.

As my intro stated you won't get rich doing freelance writing, although some people make very good money at it. What you will get is a steady paycheck that you can take pride in earning.