Freelance Writing
The truth is, freelance writing is a job with flexible hours and a versatility of location. Luckily the internet now offers freelance writers more options than they have ever had. Not only are their more opportunities due to a higher demand for quality content online, but it is now much quicker and easier to find work pays.
Points of Interest
- Types of Freelance Writing Jobs
- Amazon Spotlight
- Tips to Improve Your Freelance Writing
- Staying Organized in Your Freelance Writing
- Freelance Writing is a Job
- Great Places to Find Freelance Work
- The Importance of SEO
- Freelance Writing SEO Tips
- Formulating Query Letters and Emails
- Why it Pays to Submit to Magazines
- Which is better?
- Earnings
- Freelance Writing SCAMS!
- What is Your Worth?
- Negotiating Income and Contracts
- Focus is the Key
- Reader Feedback
Types of Freelance Writing Jobs
Freelance writing can easily be broken down into two general categories, in print materials and online materials. However, there are hundreds of thousands of opportunities in each medium and a freelance writer should not limit themselves to one or the other.Let us first examine online writing. Writing online is the preferred medium of most freelance writers since the work can be found easily and often requires less overall time.
Jobs for online writing will include nearly everything:
-Website content
-Articles
-Blogs
-Resumes
-Press releases
-Reviews
-Promotional materials
-Product descriptions
Basically any type of writing you see online can be the job of a freelancer
Work styles of every job vary. Some websites allow you to write on any topic you wish, some allow you to submit any freelance writing that is relevant to a certain topic, and others will give you titles and keywords to form your freelance writing around.
Another form of freelance writing is a self managed version. This means that you start your own website or blog, full of your own freelance writing; you then place affiliate ads, in text ads and banner ads throughout your site and reap the revenue from these ads. While lucrative if you can get a lot of daily traffic, getting traffic is not so easy. If you are considering this option, research it through and through before embarking. You certainly do not want to lose more money than you can make. Think of it this way, how often do you click on a website ad? EXACTLY! Very few people click these ads frequently so your traffic must be astronomical to offset this trend.
Jobs for print often offer much less play in content but are also much more lucrative. For the most part, freelance writing jobs for printed materials consist of the following:
-Articles
-Prose
-Poetry
-Books
-Personal essays
-Resumes
-Press releases
-etc.
To get freelance writing jobs for print you must often query the company you are considering writing for. This will likely be a magazine or book publishing company. Occasionally you can apply for a freelance writing position online or in a local office as you would any other job.
More information about queries and in print writing is offered below.
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Tips to Improve Your Freelance Writing
- Always run your writing through a spelling a grammar check but check suggestions before accepting them
- Learn SEO
- Uss your there their they'res, to too twos, accept exceptys, your you'res and then thans in the correct way
- Learn to site sources and research like a scholar
- Utilize that thesaurus
- Carry a notepad with you everywhere. Inspiration can strike at any time
- Learn some basic HTML code to improve the look of your online posts
- Avoid writer's block by reporting on suggested topics on websites like Textbroker and Associated Content. This is sure to jog some ideas eventually while getting you paid in the mean time.
Random Facts for Inspiration!
Staying Organized in Your Freelance Writing
As with most jobs, your freelance writing job requires organization. To avoid distraction it would be a good idea to set up a schedule for yourself. Schedule in times to search for new work, times to check email, and of course, plan for writing time. Also plan any distractions that may arise; time for housework, lunch, breaks, special T.V. shows, etc.If you plan for all these things, and stick to them as closely as humanly possible, it will help you avoid distraction. When working out of the home it is not hard to decide that you are going to watch the "Monk" marathon today instead of write. "What's one day?" right? The reality is, you do not want to make a habit out of treating your freelance writing job as a casual thing. If you want to make more than a few dollars each month you will need to remain dedicated.
Another great way to stay organized is to track your income and published materials. I personally have an Excel spreadsheet prepared for each month. This is where I track all my freelance writing. In these charts I mark the day, titles I wrote, where the writing was submitted and how much I anticipate to get paid. I later fill in information as to when the writing was accepted and when I was actually paid.
This chart helps me reach my daily goals. Speaking of goals, every freelance writer should have some. I personally determined that I need to make only $600 a month to make freelance writing worth my time. To achieve this goal I need to make $30 a day, five days a week. This is where my chart comes in handy. There is no more wasted time thinking, "Wait, did I submit that today? Did I ever get paid for that?"
Staying organized is not only good for your sanity, it is also great come tax time. If you track all the companies you have submitted writings too, it will be easier to get your tax information come January.
While each person requires a different level of organization it is still clearly necessary to track certain things. Not everyone needs a clean desk, quiet environment or any of that but simple tracking of information is helpful for anyone.
Sample Spreadsheet
Freelance Writing is a Job
If you want to make real money as a freelance writer you must remember, freelance writing is a job and should be treated as one. Sure the strict boundaries are a little fuzzier, you may not have a boss but, without a little hard work and discipline it will never pan out for you.
Great Places to Find Freelance Work
- Freelance Writing Gigs Blog
- Great blog updated daily with writing tips and job lists.
- BrightHub
- BrightHub allows you to join up to three channels to submit your freelance writing to. They pay $10/ accepted article. Easy money!
- Demand Studios
- One of the best sites to earn good money. Submit your application and be patient. The pay is $15 or more per article and the articles are very easy "How-To's"
- Textbroker
- Offers $0.007-$0.02 per word. A decent way to build your resume.
- Freelance Writing
- This is a place to find contests and jobs. Under "Writer's Guidlines" you can find one of the most comprehensive lists of magazines that use freelance writing.
- Associated Content
- Get money upfront for certain articles and reap extra benefits for each person that sees your article.
- Craigslist
- Search through the major cities to find unique opportunities. Beware of scams!
The Importance of SEO
What SEO is and Why You Need to Know!
All modern freelance writers know how search engines work; type in a keyword and out pops a list of "relevant" websites that can help you find what you're looking for. Most people use search engines and this is why they have the ability to generate huge amounts of website traffic for websites that are easily found in searches.This is why search engine optimization (SEO) is a must have for all versatile freelance writers. In your freelance writing efforts, you will likely be asked to write materials for the internet. These materials are placed on websites, not just to inform the consumer, but also to land the company high in search engine results for certain keywords. It is now expected of freelance writers to have, at least, a rudimentary understanding of SEO.
I would like to act like SEO rich freelance writing is something that will take a few days or hours to learn but honestly, as a freelance writer we have the easiest part of SEO.
Freelance Writing SEO Tips
- Limit your list of keywords to only a few words or phrases per webpage or article.
- Write your SEO rich freelance writing pieces with quality of information in mind.
- Include each keyword or phrase between 1-5 times per 100 words. You do not want a keyword density of more than 5% as this looks like SPAM to search engines.
- Always place your keywords and key phrases in the title, as many as possible, and in the first paragraph as well as consistently throughout your freelance writing.
- If you have the ability to format your writing there is more to do.
--Bold, italicize, add to a bulleted list and underline each keyword at least once
--Fill in meta tags with keywords
--Place keywords in the web address with a "-" between words to make it SEO friendly
Amazon Search: Writing
Formulating Query Letters and Emails
Approaching a potential client for the first time is one of the many challenging hurdles a freelance writer faces. When you realize that hundreds of freelance writers are all vying for the attention of a single client the anxiety can be all encompassing. The key here is, obviously, to stand out amongst the crowd in the appropriate way; easier said than done.When requesting freelance writing work through an email you should always remain professional. I once tried to stand out by attempting humor. This did not go over very well. Maybe I am simply not funny, this is a strong possibility, but for the most part a client wants to see a professional demeanor. Even if they are requesting articles for an adult website, humor blog, or children's website, you still want to display that you have the discipline to accomplish the job at hand.
There is no exact formula for submitting queries, however, you should always formulate your query as a professional letter and, when possible, mention the editor you are addressing by name:
"Dear Mr. Hossierdaddy,"
Additionally, do not shy away from your adjectives. Displaying a knack for painting a beautiful picture with your words is definitely an asset. Together these two techniques will show that you can write, not only technically, but also creatively. This versatility is beneficial for any freelance writing job.
**When requested to attach a document to an email remember to attach files in rich text format. This will ensure that any document reader can clearly see the information.**
If you are querying an article for inclusion in a magazine be sure to concisely, but accurately, describe what you would like to write about. Include a few facts and quotes you have compiled as well as a teaser page of the article that you have already prepared. This will give the editor a better picture of what they can expect to receive. The more detailed the query the more likely you are to be accepted.
When querying a publishing company for your new book, submit a synopsis of your plot to include major events of your story. In addition, include a couple chapters of your book to increase interest and give the editor an idea of your writing style.
Realize that a reply from any in print publishers can take months if any response comes at all. To ensure that you eventually hear back you should include an S.A.S.E. that is large enough to hold the materials you sent for review. Oftentimes, editors will offer margin notes on rejected materials that may prove to be the most valuable asset of any freelance writer. Do not take rejection as a reason to quit, learn from your rejections, determine where you went wrong, rewrite and resubmit.
Read the Submission Instructions!
When applying for freelance writing jobs be sure to follow the basic guidelines provided. Read them three or four times before submitting. If you do not have the ability to follow a few simple instructions then you will be written off quickly as inept.
Why it Pays to Submit to Magazines
The internet has become a somewhat hostile environment for freelance writers. The problem is that many freelance writers have become willing to work for free or nearly free in order to stay competitive. The reality is that, traditionally, a freelance writer should not make less than $0.05 per word. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of remaining this picky while accepting work. The exception is for inprint freelance writing.A single magazine article can fetch hundreds of dollars depending on the publication. A book can go for thousands. Even a simple resume or brochure can earn a couple hundred dollars. This is why taking the time to submit articles, books and other freelance writing is a great idea.
Even if you submit a small article to a small, local publication, you can still expect to get $50 for 500 words. Compare this to the $5-$10 you could expect to see online and the benefits are clear.
I suggest writing at least one article a week or two pages towards your book every day to submit for in print publication. Submit each work to several places that are requesting unsolicited submissions and cross your fingers!
With each rejection simply rewrite, proofread, edit and resubmit. You can also rewrite your article to appear new for different publications. Writing multiple articles on the same topic limits the amount of research you will need to do and enhances your chances of getting multiple pieces published.
Oftentimes, magazines and book publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. For these companies you will need to submit a query, letter of interest and any other supplemental information the company requests.
To ensure that your articles are publishable make sure that they are of heightened quality. There should be no spelling or grammatical errors and the overall voice should be appropriate for the audience. Displaying that you understand the audience is pivotal to your success. Research each company to get a good understanding of what it is they are looking for.
Are most of their publications written in a technical way? Are they personally related stories? Picking apart other successfully printed materials from the publisher can give you a good guide to follow.
Things To Do:
Submit one article a week for in print publication or write two pages of your book each day.
Which is better?
Which do you prefer, in print submissions or online submissions?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand by
walterward says:
I prefer in print submissions at this time, reason being, I have no home internet access at current moment.
Posted December 02, 2009
Shamik Banerjee says:
Print Submissions are better, obviously!
Posted July 04, 2009
Online
Great Freelance Writing Lenses
- Get Paid for Writing Articles
- How and where to sell articles online.
- Drawbacks of Freelance Writing
- Great items to consider before quitting your day job.
- Write Successful Articles
- Writing tips for all freelance writers.
- Writer's Block 101
- Tips on overcoming writer's block.
Earnings
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Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing
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Learn some great tips from one of the first publications to support freelance writing, "Writer's Digest."
Freelance Writing SCAMS!
Avoiding These Common Scams
Freelance writing scams are typically easy to find. Here's a tip, if you are asked to pay for leads... it's a scam! If only that was the only way people waste the time and energy of the freelance writer.
The most common scam is from websites who request freelance writer's services, receive their literature and then never pay the writer. For small projects dealing with $20 or less this may not be a big deal. So you wasted an hour of your time learning a valuable lesson, no big deal. If, however, you have signed on for a large, time consuming project and are not getting paid, now you have a problem.
The best way to avoid this freelance writing scam is to insist that you receive either partial payment upfront or you receive small increments of your pay over time as you submit materials for review. If a company refuses to work with you in some way you may consider ditching the project. Be reasonable here though, they are testing you as well. The company wants to know that you will produce quality materials in a timely fashion. Be flexible but ensure that you are not being taken for a ride either.
Other scams are from companies who appear to be legitimate freelance writing communities who pay for content to share within a community. Most of these companies are legitimate. Associated Content (AC), for instance, is a great community of talented people. AC has a fantastic record for paying what they state they will and in a very timely matter. The scammers, however, claim that they will pay for your submissions but, bizarrely, never seem to pay out for one reason or another.
These companies will often only pay out after you have accumulated $50-$100+. Once you get near this goal they will inform you that they had to slash their pay rates due to this reason or that. You will then have to start at square one. Since most people will give up after this, the company not only gets out of paying you, they also have a lot of free content on their website that enhances their search engine rankings so they can generate more ad revenue.
You should also keep your personal security in mind. Occasionally a website will ask for you personal information to include your social security number. This in no way means that you cannot trust this company. Most of these companies are simply trying to follow the laws of the United States Department of Commerce. You should, however, always check the website's security and credentials before giving away this information.
These scams are very hard to spot initially. Before signing on to any of these freelance writing networks, you should always check out the minimum pay-out rate, pay-out dates, website security settings and also involve yourself in the community. Has anyone else actually been paid? Also check out other communities like Yahoo! Answers to see what people there are saying. If people speak highly of them, proceed!
What is Your Worth?
Determining your worth is one of the most important aspects of freelance writing. When applying for freelance writing jobs you will often find that the pay rate is not set. Companies will request that you quote them a certain price per page, article, etc.To determine the amount you should ask for you should start by considering hourly wage. How much would you like to make, minimally, per hour on this project? Now determine how many words you can write, with research in that hour. Break this number down to a per word price and quote accordingly:
$10/hour
500 researched words per hour
$10/500 words = $0.02 per word
The job requests a quote for an 800 word article
$0.02 x 800 words = $16
I would quote this client $16 for a well researched, 800 word article.
Ideally, however, you will learn to produce materials more quickly. Learning to research and write a 1,000 word article in an hour is definitely an asset as a freelance writer. Being able to produce quality materials in a timely manner is a huge concern of potential clients.
Negotiating Income and Contracts
When to Settle
When signing on to a large project, you will often have to negotiate your own rate of pay. Knowing your worth is obviously an important aspect of freelance writing, however, the rules may be different for larger projects. Rather than determining your per word rate you should consider a project rate of pay, an hourly pay or even a monthly amount you will seek as long as you are producing content for a company.Often a company will ask for a quote and then counter your offer. If you are still applying for the job be sure to quote near the low end of your acceptable pay and do not budge below what is considered a livable wage when negotiations begin. If you have already been accepted then it is best to quote a little high. This will give everyone more play room and you may end up getting paid more than you had anticipated. Do not quote too aggressively, however, as you may scare off any company seeking freelance writing services.
Other things to consider are when and how you will be paid. If a company refuses to put up any money upfront or pay in increments throughout the project, tread with caution. Read the "Freelance Writing Scams," tab for more information. There are very few legitimate reasons for a company to hold off on paying you until the project is completed.
If you are signing a contract you will want to keep your ownership rights in mind. Is the company seeking to buy the sole rights of your article? If they are you may seek a higher pay rate since you will not be able to resell this article. If you still hold reprint rights then you should be willing to accept a slightly lower pay as you can often sell the same article three or four times as a reprint for $25-$75 each time.
Also be mindful of delivery times, cancellation policies, and other entitlements. Basically, if you are signing a contract, READ IT! You may be signing on for more than you can reasonably agree to. You do not want to run into any legal problems simply because you neglected to spend 10 minutes reading your contract.
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Freelance Writing Career
Focus is the Key
Starting out as a freelance writer can be a frustrating task. Every day you spend more time looking for viable work then actually writing.
While this process is certainly frustrating is important to keep treading along. When you spend 8 hours a day writing and looking for work for a mere $15 a day it is easy to want to quit. If, however, you persevere, the pay off will come.
Reader Feedback
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