Freelance Writing Opportunities

The first thing that you need to learn about is the different types of freelancing that are available from home. Every type of freelance work will not be for every person. Experimenting and finding the ones you are best at is an important part of the process for freelancing.

1) Copy writing: A copywriter is a person who uses words to promote a business, idea, person, or opinion. Copy writing is therefore always writing that is used for promotional purposes. Many of the other types of freelancing can loosely be categorized as copy writing.

2) Technical Writing: A technical writer explains complicated technical ideas to a non-technical or technical audience. This writing obvious takes a decent amount of knowledge in the specific technical field.

3) Speech Writing: Simple enough; this is just writing that is meant to be read for speeches

4)Ghost Writing: A lot of freelance work will be Ghost Writing. This is any writing where someone else's byline is attached to the article. If they have a particular "style" a Ghost Writer is expected to try to incorporate that style into the work.

5) News Writing: News writing needs a particular style of writing. There should be minimal -if any- first person used in this writing. It needs be non biased and, "just the facts."

6) Online Writing: This is writing article for a site like Helium. The freelancer can get small, "upfront" payments and receive a small amount based on how many article views the article receives.Joining A site like the Yahoo Contributor Network is another great way to get the ball rolling on money making endeavors.

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Join some of the top article sites around: Writing for 3-4 of these sites will slowly begin to build you a substantial portfolio.



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7) Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate Marketing is a type of copy writing, except you do it for yourself. You create web content, to either put on your own site or to post to an article site that allows you links to your own site. These articles will be a little "Salesy" and are designated to give enough information to inter the reader to click on the link to go to your site to find out more. They will then be presented with an affiliate offer, which the freelancer will gain a commission on if it is sold.

8) Content Writing: An argument could certainly be made that this isn't freelancing. But writing your own site or blog is a way to make some money online from home and should never be ignored. Every freelancer should have their own site, even if it is only as an online portfolio.

The first thing you need to work on building your Freelance writing skills. Unless you are already a professional there is always work that can be done to improve writing skills. The best way to go about getting this practice is simply to write. Find an online site like Squidoo or Helium and write as much as you can for them. Submit your articles for community feedback and keep making news ones and editing them until there is little community criticism (there will always be some!) This way you start to build a portfolio and make some articles that should start to earn you a small residual income over time.

Freelance writers are easy to find. Go outside to a crowded street, throw a rock and you are bound to hit one. GOOD freelance writers, on the other hand, are NOT easy to find. Many Freelancers Starting Out get paid peanuts. Sometimes it can mean they are paid in actual peanuts. Starting out many take what they can get.

Once you can show a prospective client a few pieces from a portfolio you should be able to charge enough to make it really worth your while. One of the best way to do this is to use the BEST pieces you wrote while honing your skills on the writing sites. Writing on Squidoo, Helium, Hubpages, Associated Content, Bukisa and Ezinearticles will earn you some money and serve as a portfolio. This freelance writing, under your byline, can show clients your talents and help get those writing gigs with decent pay.

Diversify

Never put all your eggs in one basket. Do the same with your freelancing. Do some writing for customers. Do some writing on the articles sites, mixing up the ones you write for also. Try your hand at Niche Marketing and Affiliate Marketing. Make a blog. A Freelancer should be active on Twitter and Facebook as potential sources for clients and readers. The more you mix it up, the less it will hurt if one revenue stream dries up

Making Contacts

Contacts can come from anywhere. You may have people contact you for work. That is why it is important to be active in Social Media, a blog or static site and even on article writing sites. There could easily be people who are looking for a writer and find that they really enjoy your style.
More likely you will begin to acquire contacts from people you write for, if you deliver quality work. Go the extra mile when writing for people to ensure that this happens. Try to send a personal note to everyone you write for thanking them for hiring you and letting them know you are interested in further work
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Social Media is also a good way to get Content Traffic. Content Traffic is one of the ways that a freelancer can get more people to read his or her work. This is particularly important on sites that have any sort of residual income. A little extra traffic will equal a little extra income in those cases.

Freelance Writing Job Opportunities

This is the meat and potatoes of this Freelance Writing Guide. The best freelance sites are Elance and oDesk. Both sites have a form of payment guarantee. Although there are restrictions for these, they are far better than no guarantees. These offer a lot of new opportunities and are a great place for a new writer to start and begin to build up those contacts.

More Jobs in Freelance Writing

There are two other sites worth noting, Constant Content and Bright Hub. Each site has its individual style and quirks, but both will allow writers to pick and choose among writing assignments that go out and get a decent return for the work they put in.

Using these four sites should keep a freelancer in work, once they are accepted to these sites, and before they begin to build a network of contacts to sell the work directly.

Measure Your Success

As with any job tracking productivity is important. Keep track of hours spent, the amount of money earned for articles and how much average residuals are. Increase the profitable aspects and phase out that are not profitable. Soon enough your freelance income will begin to blossom and grow.

Freelance Writing Opportunities

It is not rocket science, but it is not simply sitting down and writing a few words and making a fortune either. There is groundwork to be laid and work to be done. Once the groundwork is done a decent living can be made from freelance work. There are not many fast methods to making this online money, but it is sure and only limited by your hard work and writing skills.

One of the best places to start writing is Helium.com. It is a great place for a writer to start, build a portfolio and make some money along the way.

Helium has multiple ways to pay its authors

1) Upfront Payment of $.50-2.50 per article per qualifying title. The amount gets higher as your quality and amount of articles increases.
2)"New" Title payment of a flat 1$ on top of Upfront.
3) Weekly contests with $10-60 in prizes for 1-2-3 place finishers for qualifying articles.
4) A "Marketplace" where you can sell articles for $12-100 (depending on offer of publisher)
5) Solid residual payments for the life of the article

Helium is a great place to perfect your craft

Besides all the ways to possibly get paid for your articles, Helium is great place to improve your writing skills. All articles are constantly ranked with articles written to the same title. This lets you see multiple authors approaches to the topic. There is also a weekly rewrite allowed (called a leapfrog). This rewrite allows you to see firsthand what tweaks to your articles can do to improve it.

Promotional Stuff

Check out my Helium Writing Profile

Check out my Helium Article List

If you want to join Helium send me a message or leave your email address in the comment block and I will send an invite to you.

Disclaimer: I do get 5% of whatever money you will make (it doesn't effect your earnings in anyway) So I will have good incentive to help you get started and succeed if you join under my invite.