37 Beginner-Friendly Ways to Find Freelance Writing Jobs (2023)
by Kevin J. Duncan
on Feb 27, 2023
Whether you’re a seasoned freelance writer or a new writer with no experience, freelance writing jobs that pay are still plentiful in 2022, 2023, and beyond — if:
You know where to look…
You know how to promote yourself…
And you know how to differentiate yourself from your fellow writers.
That’s where we come in.
If you’re a copywriter, blogger, or any type of freelance writer who wants to earn a full-time or part-time income doing what you love, this definitive, A-to-Z guide will help you do just that.
Let’s dive in.
Chapter One: 6 Steps to Help You Prepare (& Land More Freelance Writing Gigs)
The philosopher Seneca (allegedly) said, “luck is what happens when practice meets opportunity.”
The book of Galatians in the Bible tells us we reap what we sow.
Stephen King put it this way:
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
The common theme? Success tends to find those who are prepared for it.
As a writer, here are six things you should do to prepare for freelancing glory:
1. Create a Writing Portfolio That Kicks Butt
“Do you have writing samples?” “Can I see some of your freelance writing work?” “What are some high-quality articles you’ve written?”
As a freelance writer, you’ll hear questions like these often.
And your answer?
At least, that should be your answer. But unfortunately, many freelancers skip the whole “prove you actually know how to write” thing.
As Scott Weiland once sang, “let the proof be in the pudding, sugar.”
Don’t simply tell prospective clients that you’re a talented freelance writer. And don’t assume they already know you’re the cat’s meow and the bee’s knees.
2. Supercharge Your Writing Skills
Unless you want to spend your freelance writing career slumming through content mill after content, and getting paid peanuts, you need to level up your content creation skills.
Because those high-paying freelance content jobs you lay awake dreaming about? Companies don’t hand them to just anyone.
They give them to the best writers — content creators who:
- Realize the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) and can create SEO content with both readers and Google in mind;
- Understand the importance of proofreading and submitting error-free work;
- Write fast , meet deadlines for their writing projects, and are seemingly immune to writer’s block;
- Craft amazing headlines, write with clarity, and support their points with examples;
- Have top-notch communication skills;
- Can connect with readers on an emotional level.
The good news?
With hard work, anyone can improve their writing skills. And for the few who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do it, the payoff can be huge.
This site is filled with helpful how-to articles on copywriting , content writing, writing contests , content marketing , article writing, and SEO writing . And if you need training , we have that too.
3. Ask for Testimonials
Have you already landed a writing job or two? Awesome.
Did you ask the client to give you a testimonial? A few words declaring their undying love and/or satisfaction with your work (that you can use to help you land more writing clients)?
No? Well, you’re not alone.
Most writers who do freelance work, either due to ignorance or fear, don’t ask for testimonials. Our own Jon Morrow says he’s only had a small handful of writers over the years ask him for a testimonial — even though he would’ve been perfectly happy to give one to them.
So how should you ask for one? Keep it simple.
Here’s how Karen MacKenzie asked for a testimonial after we published her first post on Smart Blogger:
“Would it be possible to get a testimonial for my website? I know you are really busy, but I’d really appreciate it.”
And because Karen did such a good job on her post, I was happy to give her the following testimonial:
Want a great testimonial like Karen’s?
Create testimonial-worthy content for your clients and then — this is key — ask them for a freakin’ testimonial .
4. Learn How to Craft a Killer Author Bio
Picture it:
A wealthy business owner sitting in a Herman Miller chair on top of a rug made out of recycled Herman Miller chairs is reading an article you’ve written.
She’s impressed. She calls to her butler, Jeeves, and asks him to bring one of her suitcases filled with money.
Your article is so good, she wants to hire you.
But then she gets to your byline — the one you threw together at the last minute. The one that lists your hobbies and has no clear call to action.
“Throw the suitcase in the fire, Jeeves,” she says. “I shan’t be hiring a writer today.”
If you don’t want this totally realistic scenario to happen to you, you need to get really good at writing author bios.
Because someone who’s made it to your author bio is primed. They’ve read your work and want to learn about the attractive, intelligent individual who wrote it.
Maybe they want to check out your website content. Maybe they want to find you on social media so they can follow you.
Or maybe they want your contact info so they can hire you.
A byline should shout to the world your expertise. It should say to prospective clients, “if you thought this article was great, you should hire me and see what I can do for you.”
Taking the time to craft a great one is time well spent.
5. Know How to Write a Pitch
Few people enjoy cold pitching to prospective clients.
But you know what?
The job seekers who are willing to do it have an edge. And the ones who are good at it — and I mean really freakin’ good at it — are never more than an email or two away from snagging a new writing job.
So how do you get really freakin’ good at cold pitches? For starters, don’t make these rookie mistakes:
- Don’t write long emails. Editors and clients are busy. Respect their time.
- Don’t send the exact same pitch to different people. Every editor and every client has unique needs, audiences, and styles.
- Don’t ignore their guidelines. Want a sure-fire way to have your email deleted? Pitch to a website that has clearly stated submission guidelines, but ignore said guidelines.
But just as importantly, do these things:
- Research. Do your homework.
- Find the name of the person you’re pitching to. Address the person by name in your email.
- Get to the point. Don’t beat around the bush. Tell them what you want and why.
- Sell them on you. Popular websites receive pitches all the time. Why should they hire you? Explain it to them.
These pointers and more (as well as email templates) can be found in our post, How to Write a Pitch That’ll Wow Editors & Clients .
Read it, bookmark it, and reference it often.
6. Learn the Legal Side of Freelancing
One of the big, scary unknowns when you’re working online is how to handle the “legal side” of things.
Should you have contracts with your freelance clients? How do you send invoices? What about taxes?
The legalities can seem so scary and daunting that many freelance writers choose to stick their heads in the sand and ignore them — or, worse, give up on their freelancing dreams rather than have to deal with any of it.
That’s why we put together this resource:
The Definitive Guide to Freelance Contracts, Invoices, & Taxes
If you’re a freelance writer or any kind of self-employed contractor, it’s a resource you’ll want to bookmark.
Chapter Two: 16 Hacks for Finding Under-the-Radar Writing Opportunities
Anyone can find a job board and search for a freelance or remote writing job.
But that’s both a good and bad thing — anyone can do it.
That awesome writing job you found online? The one you’d be perfect for? Fifty other “perfect” people found it too.
We’ll go over some great job board options in a moment (because they do have lots to offer new freelance writers), but first, we’ll take a trip down the road less traveled.
By knowing how to identify hidden opportunities many of your fellow freelancers don’t know about (or do know about, but are too lazy to pursue), you can find writing jobs from well-paying clients who fly under the radar.
For example, did you know you could…
1. Use Twitter to Reverse-Engineer Online Writing Jobs
Want an outside-the-box way to find writing job opportunities?
Try Twitter’s advanced search engine.
In the example below, I searched for tweets that included the phrase “writer wanted”:
I kept the search simple, but I could’ve also searched by language (native English, Spanish, etc.), hashtags, date range, and more. The more options you choose, the more refined your search results.
Click “Search” and you’ll see a list of tweets with various job postings for writers:
Scroll through the list and tweak your job search, as needed.
Some of the results will be scams, but most will be legitimate. Many will be for remote writing jobs, but some will be location-specific (usually New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Washington D.C., Dallas, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Portland, Oklahoma City, Greenville, Atlanta, and other major cities in the United States). Just skip over the ones that don’t apply to you.
If you look at “Top” tweets, as shown in the screenshot above, you’ll find brand-new freelance jobs mixed with older ones. Click “Latest” if you want to see recent tweets first.
The nice thing about Twitter’s advanced search feature is it’s only limited by your imagination.
Want to find guest blogging opportunities (since many websites these days pay for guest posts)? Enter “guest post” into the “this exact phrase” option and you’ll see every tweet written by someone looking to promote their latest guest blogging masterpiece.
That’ll give you a list of websites that accept guest posts, which you can later whittle down (after you’ve done a little more research) into a list of sites that pay guest writers.
Wash, rinse, and repeat.
2. Follow Leads on Social Media
When you use Twitter’s advanced search feature for finding freelance writing jobs online, you’ll discover certain Twitter handles pop up fairly frequently.
One example is @write_jobs :
When you find a good lead, follow them. That way you can cut through the noise of Twitter and go straight to your best sources.
Even better?
Add them to a private Twitter list so that tweets from all your leads can be found in one handy repository.
Here’s how you do it:
Here are a few more handles to get your Twitter list started:
- @FreelanceWJ
- @WhoPaysWriters
- @jjobs_tweets
3. Check Out Agency Job Postings
Everyone likes to talk about job boards (which, again, we’ll discuss in a moment). But you know what resource most freelance writers ignore?
So how can you get work from agencies? Well, you could contact them directly and ask if they have any freelance work (Jon calls this a “gutsy but effective approach”).
The other way is to keep checking their “career” page:
The Content Marketing Institute maintains a detailed database of agencies. Click here to check it out.
4. Find (and Woo) Clients on Their Turf
Most articles that tout social media as a good place to find leads will point you to Facebook Groups.
And it makes sense. After all, search Facebook for “writing jobs”, click the “Groups” tab, and you’ll see dozens and dozens of options that are open to the public:
If you’re looking for a safe space where like-minded individuals offer tips, advice, and writing inspiration; such groups are great.
But if you’re looking to find paying gigs, you’ll likely be left wanting.
Most members of these groups are looking to be hired, not looking to hire writers. And when someone wanting to hire a writer does come along, the person who raises their hand first is usually the one who gets the job.
That’s not to say Facebook Groups can’t lead to writing jobs that pay. The trick is you need to find groups where the buyers , not the sellers , hang out.
Think “masterminds”, “think tanks”, etc.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. Such groups are usually private. So, what’s a writer to do?
Skip the Facebook Groups. Go Straight to the Sources.
One of the amazing things about technology is the way it allows us to connect and interact with people with whom we’d otherwise never have the opportunity.
In 2014, I didn’t know Adam Connell of Blogging Wizard . But I joined his mailing list and, lo and behold, a “welcome” email with his address arrived in my inbox. I responded, he wrote me back, and a friendship was born.
After reading one of her posts and admiring her writing style, I connected with Henneke Duistermaat of Enchanting Marketing through a humble blog comment. The same was true with Syed Balkhi . I connected with Pamela Wilson via Twitter. For Jon Morrow, the man who would one day hire me at Smart Blogger, I got on his radar by becoming a student in one of his online courses.
Want to write for a mover and shaker in your industry? Want to befriend an influencer who can open doors for you (the kind of doors that lead to paying jobs)?
Make a connection. Be generous. Give without asking or expecting anything in return.
That means following them on Twitter, sharing their content, and interacting with them. It means subscribing to their email list.
And, yes, it may mean buying one of their products. Because here’s the thing:
When you’re their student, an influencer is invested in your future. Your success is their success. You’re a walking, talking testimonial. So many — not all, but many — will do everything they can to help you succeed.
And that includes pointing leads in your direction.
5. Pitch to Software Company Blogs
More from Jon:
e-Commerce companies with blogs tend to publish a lot of content. After all, every article they publish tends to pay for itself (and then some) thanks to the traffic it brings to the website — traffic that often leads to sales of their product.
As with agencies, you can either cold pitch the software companies (which sometimes works), or you can keep an eye out for open freelance positions:
6. Don’t Be Scared of Ghostwriting
A lot of writers don’t like the idea of ghostwriting .
I get it. You’re letting someone else put their name on and take credit for your hard work.
Yes, that’s ghostwriting in a nutshell (minus the theatrics). But here’s the thing:
- Ghostwriting pays better than regular freelance writing. When you ghostwrite, it’s not unheard of to increase your fee by 15%-20% (or more).
- The opportunities in ghostwriting are virtually endless. You could ghostwrite blog posts, articles, scripts used on YouTube channels, or even books sold on Amazon.
- You can make great freelance writing business relationships by ghostwriting. People who pay for ghostwriters tend to have money (and connections). Oftentimes, these clients can refer you to others.
If your primary goal is to build up a strong list of writing samples, ghostwriting isn’t for you.
But if your goal is to make money writing and build potentially profitable business relationships, it’s something to consider.
And here’s the best part:
Because so many freelance writers loathe ghostwriting, there isn’t as much competition.
7. Find Clients Who are Already Hiring Successful Freelance Writers in Your Niche
Want to write for great clients in your niche who pay top dollar?
Well, you can either wait until they post job ads, then compete against everyone else who applies…
Or you can take initiative and proactively seek out these ideal clients.
One of the best places to find ideal clients is in the portfolios of successful freelance writers in your niche.
By studying other writers’ sample content, you can identify clients they’ve worked with in the past.
These clients are ideal targets because:
- You already know they hire freelance writers;
- You know they have years of experience working with freelancers, so they’ll be easier to work with;
- And you know they pay decent wages, otherwise the successful freelance writer wouldn’t work with them.
Start by finding freelance writers in your niche . You can find them by Googling “[YOUR NICHE] + freelance writer” like so:
Scroll through the search results until you see a freelance writer’s website. These writing sites don’t always rank highly, so you may have to go through several pages of search results to find them.
Click on a writer’s website and check out their portfolio. There you’ll find links to articles the freelance writer wrote for various companies in your niche.
Click on a writing sample and visit the client’s website to make sure you’d be interested in writing for them. If everything looks good, add them to your list of potential targets.
Do this over and over again for every freelance writer you find in your search. When you’re done, you should have a big list of ideal clients to target.
Pick one client to target and visit their website.
Study their content to get an idea of what they publish. Pay close attention to their most popular content, as well as the article the freelance writer wrote for them. These will give you a good idea of what type of content to pitch.
Check their website for submission guidelines, which will give you a better sense of what they’re looking for from freelance writers and tell you who to send your pitch to.
Use all of this reconnaissance to brainstorm ideas for good articles to pitch them. Pick your best idea, develop it into a pitch, and send it in.
8. Apprentice With a Successful Writer in Your Niche
Another way to get work from established freelance writers is to build a mutually-beneficial partnership with them.
Many successful freelance writers need help with certain aspects of their business. They could use someone to do their research, proofreading, copy editing jobs, etc.
Of course, they could pay a professional writer or do these tasks themselves. But most would prefer to have someone do it for free.
That’s where you come in.
By offering free assistance to a successful freelancer in your niche, you can save them time and help them make more money in exchange for steady work and writing experience.
Often, successful freelance writers have to turn down work because the client can’t afford to pay their rate. Instead, they can pass this work off to you and split the earnings (again, more money in their pocket).
They can also help you by critiquing your work, giving you tips on how to succeed in the industry, and endorsing you to editors.
Once they trust you and you’ve proven yourself as a writer, they may also let you do some assignments for them.
Successful digital marketing entrepreneur Dan Lok got his start in the copywriting industry this way — by apprenticing with his copywriting mentor Alan Jacques:
“Why did this work out so well? It wasn’t worth Alan’s time for that price, but it was worth my time, because I wanted the experience. I needed clients to gain experience and get better. I got my clients with his endorsement and supervision.” — Dan Lok
So how do you start such an arrangement?
It’s not easy, and there’s no direct path. But your best bet is to buy one of their courses or products. As mentioned earlier, when you become their student, they become invested in your success.
You can also try:
- Getting an introduction from someone who knows them;
- Connecting with them on social and building a relationship;
- Creating a piece of content (perhaps copy for a landing page ?) they could use and giving it to them for free.
9. Reverse-Engineer Writing Samples From Job Ads
Ultimately, most clients don’t care about your experience or credentials. They just want a freelance writer who can complete their assignment and get results.
Your job is to convince them YOU are that freelance writer.
And the best way to convince them you can do the assignment is… to do the assignment.
Most job ads ask for relevant writing samples. When applying to these ads, most freelancers provide similar writing samples.
In other words, they provide articles they wrote for another client that sort of match what the ad is looking for, but not really. Unless they’ve written for an identical client before, their writing samples will be a bit off.
You can immediately differentiate yourself from other applicants and increase your odds of getting hired by creating a writing sample tailor-made for each client.
Start by finding job ads on job sites like Upwork.
Don’t just look for any old job. Get specific with your search criteria to find ideal jobs — jobs that are in your niche, about subjects that interest you, and offer to pay premium prices.
When you come across an ideal job description, study it from top to bottom. Make note of everything the client is looking for in a writer and the assignment.
Then brainstorm ideas for articles that perfectly match what the client wants. If necessary, research tactics and techniques for creating such content.
For example, in the screenshot above, the client is seeking someone who can “write about boring, dry, technical topics.” You could Google, “how to write about boring topics”, then apply what you find to your sample article.
Select your strongest idea and write it. Try to pick a short, simple idea that won’t take too much time to write. Otherwise, the client may hire someone else before you finish.
Finally, apply to the job and submit your tailor-made content as a writing sample. You can either publish the article on a free site like Medium or submit it with your application as a Microsoft Word or Google Doc.
The best part of this strategy?
Even if the client doesn’t hire you, you’ll still walk away with a strong writing sample to add to your portfolio. And if you repeat this process, you’ll quickly build a portfolio of writing samples that are super-relevant to your ideal clients.
10. Pitch Every Service You’ve Used in the Last Year
If you’re a beginner freelance writer, one of the best places to find writing gigs is with the companies/products you already use.
They make great potential clients because:
- You’re already familiar with the product/service;
- You’re in their target market, so writing for their audience is easier;
- You already have a relationship with these large and small businesses.
In fact, you should include these points in your pitch.
Start by making a list of every product/service you’ve used in the last year. This can include gyms, hair salons, landscapers, etc.
Visit their websites and perform a content audit:
Are there problems with their web copy you could offer to improve?
Do they have a regularly-updated blog? Could you contribute to it in an impactful way? Could you help them target certain keywords with their content?
Basically, you’re trying to match the services you offer with the content they need.
While you may be able to convince these companies to start a blog , the best targets are companies that understand the importance of content marketing and invest in it accordingly.
Once you’ve identified your targets and how you can help them, send an email to someone on their marketing team offering your services.
Your pitch should mention you’ve used their product/service and love it, as well as the fact you’re a member of their target market and will be able to effectively influence their audience.
Offer to work for a price you think they can afford, based on your research. You may not get paid top-dollar initially, but the real goal is to establish a working relationship, get steady work, and contribute to your portfolio.
By sending out 30 such emails, Julie Wilson was able to generate over $1,000 in her first month employing this strategy.
11. Write Tutorials for Products You’ve Used
This tip is similar to the previous one in that you’ll be soliciting a business you’re familiar with.
However, this technique differs because it involves writing articles on spec — creating articles for free before you pitch them.
Make a list of products you’ve used that fall into your freelance writing niche. For example, if you want to become a SaaS writer, make a list of software you use or have used in the past.
Visit the websites of these companies to determine if they’re good prospects. Look for companies with well-established, regularly-updated blogs.
Check to see if they have submission guidelines, which will give you information on the type of content they’re looking for and let you know if they hire freelance writers and/or accept guest posts.
Then write a tutorial (that includes a thorough product description) on how to use their product to achieve a desired result. If possible, create a case study describing the results you achieved with the product and how you did so.
Contact someone in the company via email or LinkedIn. Tell them you’re about to publish the article on Medium (or some other blog) and were wondering if:
- They want to publish it on their blog instead;
- They’d be willing to share and/or link to the article once you’ve published it.
Even if they don’t buy the article, you’ll add another writing sample to your portfolio while establishing a relationship with a potential client who may keep you in mind for future work.
12. Find and Fix Weak/Old Content
By now, we’ve established the benefit of demonstrating your value to potential clients in advance.
Another way to demonstrate value is by improving their weak, flawed, or outdated content.
You’d be surprised by how many influential, well-established organizations have flawed web content.
Often, these organizations are so preoccupied with creating new content they overlook small errors or forget to update their content to meet new developments.
By identifying weak spots and fixing them for free, you can establish a relationship with a potential client that gets your foot in the door.
Of course, you shouldn’t just visit hundreds of random websites hoping to find bad copy or content. Think of how time-consuming and unbearably boring that would be.
Instead, make a list of 10 to 20 blogs, companies, or influencers you’d most like to write for.
Visit their websites, analyze their content, and make note of areas you can improve.
Look for older content that could use an update. For example, a headline like “How to be a freelance writer in 2016” is a great candidate for modernization.
(On the other hand, something like “Google Authorship: The Complete Handbook for Getting Respect, Readers, and Rankings” wouldn’t work because its main topic, “Google authorship”, is no longer relevant.)
Dan Lok used a similar tactic to get work from guerrilla marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson. Dan rewrote Jay’s entire sales pitch on spec and sent it to him. Not only did Jay use the updated sales copy and pay Dan for his spec work, but the new copy tripled Jay’s conversions!
Maybe you’re not a copywriting expert like Dan. But if you find a website with weak or unremarkable sales copy, you could try researching the subject and giving it a shot. At the very least, this makes for good practice.
Once you’ve identified and updated your content, send an email to your target explaining what you did.
Tell them you came across their website or blog article, noticed some flaws, and thought you could help them out by improving it.
While they may offer to pay you for your work like Jay did, I don’t recommend trying to sell it to them.
The true power of this tactic is you’re establishing a relationship by being helpful and demonstrating value upfront. And it works best when done for free.
Trying to sell them your work can come off as opportunistic, arrogant, and reduce the chances they’ll bite.
But if you help them for free and they like your work, they may decide to pay you (like Jay did) and/or keep you in mind for future assignments.
13. Dominate Quora
Quora is a social media platform where users can post questions and get answers from other users.
Whether or not you get clients from Quora, it’s an insanely useful marketing platform for writers that allows you to:
- Connect with people in your niche in a helpful way and demonstrate your expertise;
- Show potential clients you can write for their audience;
- Generate long-term traffic from each answer you post (popular Quora questions and answers often get ranked in Google);
- Establish yourself as an authority in your niche and build an audience, both of which make you more attractive to potential clients.
Networking on Quora can be an effective, albeit indirect, method for getting freelance writing jobs online.
The essence of a Quora marketing strategy is this:
Find questions that are relevant to your niche; provide helpful, in-depth answers that demonstrate your writing skill; and advertise your writing services in your profile.
Start by creating a stellar Quora profile .
Treat your Quora profile like your freelance business website. You should include your position as a freelance writer, a high-quality profile picture, a description of the benefits of your services, and links to your writing samples and website.
In the “Credentials & Highlights” section, list all of the credentials and experiences that reinforce your position as an authority in your niche.
In the “Knows About” section, be sure to include topics related to your writing niche as well as your role as a freelance writer (SEO, content marketing, blogging, and so on).
Next, find and follow trending topics related to your writing niche as well as the type of content you create (articles, content marketing, email copy, web copy, etc.).
When your profile is all set up and ready to go, start searching for questions relevant to your writing niche. “Relevant questions” include questions that are of interest to potential clients and/or their audience.
You can find relevant questions either by clicking on a Topic and scanning for them, or by typing relevant keywords into the search bar.
When you come across a relevant question, bookmark it in the “Answer Later” section for easy access.
Finally, write phenomenal answers to your saved questions .
Your answers should be helpful. They should answer all parts of the question in the best way possible. And you should include links to additional resources if and when necessary.
Your answers should tell stories. Stories are not only a great way to engage readers and increase views, they also help readers learn and retain information better.
Your answers should incorporate visuals. Visuals break up your text and make your answers more visually appealing and easier to read.
Be sure to link to your writing samples when possible. In fact, whenever you publish a new article, you should spend some time finding and answering Quora questions related to it as a way to drive traffic.
Regularly answer questions to build your Quora audience and views. You’ll increase your position as an authority in your niche, increase your value to clients by building an audience, and potentially get freelance work from employers who come across your answers.
14. Offer Referral Deals
If they like your work, most clients will happily refer you to others.
But some clients may be reticent to refer you to others because they want to keep you to themselves.
Other clients simply require a bit of motivation.
A simple way to provide this motivation is to sweeten the pot with a referral deal.
Tell clients that for every referral they send your way that turns into a job, you’ll create one free piece of content for them.
Even though you’ll waste some work hours on free work, you’ll more than make up for it with the steady stream of new clients you get.
Short. Sweet. And simple.
Just remember:
It’s important you honor your word.
If a client finds out they referred you to someone, you got the job, and you reneged on your end of the deal, your relationship with the client will end and your reputation as a writer will be tarnished.
15. Monitor Companies That are Hiring for Content Marketing Roles
When you see an ad for a content marketing role, a “job opportunity flag” should be raised in your head.
A new content marketing hire is a sign a company is either investing more in content marketing or changing its content marketing strategy.
It can also simply mean they’re filling a vacant position.
Either way, a new hire still signifies a change in strategy. And it’s likely they’ll need more content and more help creating that content.
Rather than waiting for the company to post an ad for freelance writers (like those other lazy freelancers), take the initiative and demonstrate value upfront.
Reach out to the company (or even their new hire) and offer your help executing their new strategy.
First, use LinkedIn to monitor job ads seeking content producers and marketers.
With LinkedIn, you can use filters to narrow your search by job role, job type, and industry.
You’ll want to filter out any companies that aren’t in your writing niche using the “Industry” filter. If you write for software companies, limit your search to software companies.
It’s also best to limit your search to top-level content marketing roles. Top-level hires are the best indication a company is investing in a new content marketing strategy and increasing content production.
To filter for top-level roles, use keywords like “Content Marketing Strategist”, “Content Marketing Manager”, “Content Marketing Specialist”, “Head of Content Marketing”, etc. You can also use LinkedIn’s “Experience” and “Title” filters to narrow your search to top-level positions.
The best part about using LinkedIn for this strategy is you can set a job alert and have new job ads emailed to you. No need to waste time running new job searches over and over again in order to find job openings. Just set it and forget it.
Next, read the job ads to get a sense of the opportunity potential.
If the job ad indicates the company will be producing lots of new content, you know they’ll be a good source of potential work. Often the ad will say something like, “we’re looking to ramp up our content marketing efforts.”
Keep an eye out for any information on the new direction of their content strategy. If the ad says they’re looking to use written content to build authority in their niche, then make note of it. You’ll use it later in your pitch.
Once you’ve identified a few good prospects, it’s time to start crafting your pitch.
A great pitch should include:
1. An introduction that aligns you with their goals.
You might say something like, “I understand you’re looking to build authority with your blog and I think I can help.” This shows you’ve read their ad and understand what they want to achieve.
2. An article written on spec that you’ll let them publish for free.
This demonstrates your value and writing abilities upfront. It’s also a great way to start a positive relationship by giving them something of value for free.
3. A list of 5 to 10 article ideas you think they’ll like.
This demonstrates your ability to regularly produce great content ideas and will be a valuable asset to their new strategy.
Finally, send them your pitch.
It’s best to send your idea to the newbie hire once they’ve filled the role — the new hire will be most receptive because they’re new to the company, eager to make a good impression, and stand to benefit most from bringing a talented freelancer on board.
While this tactic takes a bit of effort, the potential for steady, long-term work makes it worthwhile.
16. Use an Ad Fishing Strategy
Ad Fishing is a technique that involves using Facebook or LinkedIn ads to target warm leads.
For simplicity, we’ll describe how to employ this strategy on Facebook, but the process for LinkedIn is identical.
To perform this strategy, you’ll need:
- A Facebook Page;
- Your own website/blog with the Facebook Pixel installed;
- A case study describing how you helped a client achieve a certain result with your content marketing.
First, you’ll need a case study that demonstrates the value of your freelance writing.
Your case study should describe a positive result you helped a client achieve and the process you used for doing so. The positive result could be as simple as helping them boost monthly web traffic with a blog post.
Make sure your case study has a killer, benefit-oriented headline. For example:
“How I Got 10k New Monthly Visitors for a Client With One Blog Post”
The case study should also include a CTA (call to action) at the end inviting readers to contact you if they want similar results.
Next, create a “Bait Article” — an article your target clients will want to read.
For example, if you want to work with health care companies, you could create an article titled “7 Ways Health Care Companies Can Generate More Web Traffic”.
Promote the article wherever your target clients hang out. Post it in relevant Facebook Groups. Link to it in answers to relevant Quora questions. Or, simply promote it to your targets using Facebook Ads.
Finally, create a Retargeting Ad sharing your case study with anyone who reads the “Bait Article”.
The essence of this strategy is to use the “Bait Article” to find and qualify warm leads — people in your target market who want the results you can help them achieve.
Then you hook those warm leads with a case study that clearly demonstrates how you can help them achieve the desired result.
Because the ad only targets a small number of qualified leads, ad spend will be low and ROI (return on investment) will be high.
Chapter Three: 15 Writing Job Boards That are Packed with Writing Opportunities
Next up, let’s look at some popular (and some under-the-radar) job boards used by freelance writers all over the world.
If you’re new to freelancing, job boards will likely be your easiest entry point. You’ll be able to find writing jobs of all shapes and sizes.
Once you have some writing samples under your belt and you begin getting good referrals from clients, more opportunities will become available to you.
Let’s start with my favorite one:
1. Smart Blogger Jobs Board
We’ll start with our own Smart Blogger Jobs Board .
With top-notch jobs that have been vetted by a member of the company’s editorial team…
A slick searcher and filter option that helps you find the perfect job…
And a deep catalog of free training material that’ll help you land that perfect job…
The Smart Blogger Jobs Board is the one-stop shop for writers, bloggers, content marketers, copywriters, and more looking for part-time, full-time, and freelance jobs.
Call me biased, but I think it’s pretty great.
2. LinkedIn Jobs
If you’re a professional, there’s a good chance you already have a LinkedIn profile (even if, like me, you tend to forget about it for months at a time).
Its job board, as you would expect from a site that specializes in professional networking, is huge.
Well, at the time of this writing, there are over 35,000 job postings for “copywriter” alone:
Thankfully, LinkedIn offers lots of filters. Search by date, the job’s industry, the job type (full-time jobs, part-time writing jobs, etc.), experience level, and more.
If you’re already on LinkedIn, it’s a good place to start.
Depending on who you talk to, Upwork (formerly Elance-oDesk) is either awful or amazing. And the funny thing is, the reasons for its awfulness and amazingness are one and the same: low rates.
Employers love Upwork because you can typically find qualified applicants who live in areas with lower cost of living. As a result, they can get great work at reduced costs.
Those who hate Upwork do so because they’re competing with the aforementioned applicants who can comfortably live on less money.
So what does this mean for freelance writers?
Unless you’re content with low-paying rates (because you need the practice, you want to build up your portfolio, you need all the work you can get, etc.), you’re better off with one of the other job boards mentioned.
4. ProBlogger
As its name would suggest, the ProBlogger Job Board is a popular one among bloggers in search of freelance writing work and blogger jobs.
With a $70 starting price for posting a job, you tend to find smaller companies on ProBlogger. There are exceptions, of course.
One neat feature offered by ProBlogger is a Candidate Database employers can search to find writers. It’s free for writers to join, and you can use it as an online resume and sales page. Here’s an example from Smart Blogger student Mark Tong:
5. BloggingPro
BloggingPro requires clients to publish job ads that pay a minimum of $15 an hour (or have at least 500 words).
Job categories are blogging, content writing jobs, copywriting , and journalism. And types of work include contract, freelance, full-time, part-time, internship, and temporary.
As job boards not named LinkedIn or Indeed go, it’s pretty detailed.
6. FlexJobs
FlexJobs specializes in all types of online jobs and remote work, including remote jobs for writers. It isn’t free, but you get a lot for your money.
For starters, you’re safe from scams — each job posting is vetted by an actual human. You also don’t have to hunt for work from home jobs that’ll allow you to write in your pajamas — all online writing job ads (from blog posts to white papers to press releases to academic writing) are for remote positions. It’s kind of their thing.
Plans start at $14.95 per month. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you can try it out, see if there are any promising writing jobs, and cancel if you don’t like what you see.
7. Freelance Writers Den
Founded by Carol Tice, the Freelance Writers Den is a paid membership site with a long track record.
Unlike most job boards, you also get bonuses. There are over 300 hours of training material, pitch examples, templates, and monthly live events.
Membership is $25 per month with no contract. You can cancel anytime and not pay the next month’s dues. There’s also a 7-day money-back guarantee when you first join.
8. Who Pays Writers?
According to its website, Who Pays Writers? is “an anonymous, crowd-sourced list of which publications pay freelance writers — and how much.”
Translation: Once you’re ready to write for a high-profile publication that’ll look amazing on your portfolio, Who Pays Writers? will be a helpful resource you can use to discover which publications accept applications (and how much they tend to pay per word).
It’s definitely one you should bookmark.
9. FreelanceWriting.com
Curating the best freelance and remote writing jobs that Indeed, Craigslist, BloggingPro, and others have to offer (as well as their own, exclusive writing opportunities); freelancewriting.com is a one-step resource for freelancers.
Not all job listings are for remote writing jobs, but you can filter the ads to fit your needs. Categories include blogging and marketing jobs (WordPress, SEO, content manager, content strategist for startups, etc.), writing (freelance copywriter, staff writer, short stories, article writer, non-fiction writer, creative writer, grant writer, medical writer , healthcare report writer, real estate writer, personal finance writer, creative content writer, script writer for podcasts, etc.), proofreading (writer/editor, copy editor, content editor, proofreader, etc.), journalism, non-profit gigs, copywriting jobs, social media (marketing manager, social media manager, etc.), and technical writing (technical writer, proposal writer, cover letters, service writer, or even freelance resume writer, etc.).
If you’d like to keep your list of remote job boards short, freelancewriting.com is a good one to keep on it.
10. Freelance Writing Jobs
Freelance Writing Jobs curates blogging jobs from Craigslist, Indeed, Journalism Jobs, MediaBistro, and others.
Every week day, Monday through Friday, they publish a short list of hand-picked job ads. So, if you prefer quality content over quantity, it’s worth a bookmark.
11. Be a Freelance Blogger
Owned and operated by a Smart Blogger student, Sophie Lizard’s job board keeps things pretty simple: if you want to publish a job ad on Be a Freelance Blogger , it has to pay at least $0.10 per word or $50 per post.
If you’re just starting out, it’s definitely worth looking into.
12. Behance Creative Jobs
Though it’s primarily known for its portfolio features, Adobe’s Behance has a job board for creatives of all shapes and sizes.
Job listings for everything from advertising to public relations to freelance writing can be found, making it a solid resource for all kinds of freelancers.
13. Constant Content
Constant Content is a freelance writing platform that facilitates connections between brands and writers. You register for an account, complete a quiz, provide a short writing sample, and — once you’ve been accepted — start applying for writing jobs.
The brands they work with include Uber, Zulily, The Home Depot, Walgreens, Hayneedle, CVS, and eBay; and they claim their top writers earn up to $90,000 per year.
14. Journalism Jobs
If you want to target magazines and newspapers, Journalism Jobs is a great resource. With close to 3 million page views each month, it’s the largest resource for news writers and journalism jobs on the web.
So, if publications are your focus, it should be on your short list.
Copify is a different kind of freelance writing job board. First, you apply for membership. Once you’re in, you can take writing jobs when and if it suits you.
Its aim is to provide you “hassle-free” freelance writing opportunities. So, there are no contracts or commitments, and no need to submit bids or proposals. If you value simplicity, Copify could be a good fit.
Chapter Four: Common Freelance Writing Questions (& Answers)
Still have questions? Don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal.
We’ll wrap things up with a quick FAQ.
Here are the common questions we receive from freelance writers. (If you have a question not discussed here, be sure to leave a comment below!)
You should also check out our Freelance Writing Hub . From elevating your writing skills to getting paid to write, it’s a go-to resource for everything you need to know about freelancing.
Now on to the Q&A…
What is freelance content writing?
Freelance writers are self-employed contractors who are hired by clients to create content for them. The type of content ranges from production descriptions to email copy to full-fledged eBooks — and everything in between.
What do you do as a freelance writer?
Well, hopefully, you write. A lot. 🙂
But you also:
- Proofread and edit
- Market and network
- Hone your craft
- Send invoices, do taxes, and other administrative tasks
- Find paying gigs
And speaking of looking for work:
How do freelance writers find work?
How freelance writers land gigs tend to vary based on their experience writing. When you have a good body of work, you’ll get many of your blog writer jobs through referrals and repeat customers. As a result, if you’re an experienced writer, you typically make more money.
So, when you first start writing, you’ll need to be proactive. The job boards we discussed earlier will likely be where you have the most success initially. And don’t forget about the outside-the-box, under-the-radar strategies we discussed. You can find success with those too.
How much do freelance writers make?
When you’re just starting out, you’ll likely be in the $0.10 to $0.15 per word range. But, as you grow, you can command $500, $1,000, and more per article.
Once you have a body of work and you can prove you get results for clients, your pay increases.
How do freelance writers get paid?
Every client will have their own methods for paying writers, but typically you’ll submit an invoice via a service like PayPal, Stripe, or TransferWise.
Make sure you understand the payment terms before you begin work. If you’re unsure, ask the client.
How much do you charge for a 500 word article? How much should I charge for a 1000 word article?
Using the $0.10 to $0.15 per word range we just discussed, as a new freelance writer you can expect to earn between $50 and $75 for a 500-word article.
For a 1,000-word article, a new freelancer could expect to earn between $100 and $150.
But again, as time goes on, your rate should be higher.
How much does a freelance writer make per hour?
It depends.
Most clients will pay freelance writers by word count or individual project. For such clients, your hourly rate will depend on how fast you work.
But there is some data available to give you a broad (probably too broad) idea:
- According to PayScale , the hourly range for freelance writers is $11.50 to $63.02. On average, the hourly rate is $24.07.
- ZipRecruiter’s numbers are even broader. It says the hourly range is between $5.29 and $76.68 for freelance writers, with $30 being the national average in the United States.
Takes these numbers with a grain of salt, though.
How do you start freelance writing? How do I become a freelance writer with no experience?
Freelance writing experience or no, if you’re willing to accept lower-than-ideal pay rates on job boards, blog content mills, or freelance marketplaces (think Fiverr and Textbroker), you can get started right away. Find freelance job postings, apply to them, and get to work.
But big picture, the answer depends on which group do you belong to:
- I’m a skilled writer, but I don’t yet have a body of work. Or,
- my writing leaves a lot to be desired.
If you’re in the former group, focus on building a good writing portfolio. If you have your own website, publish articles on there. Medium is a good option too (and it’s free).
If you’re the latter, you really should focus on improving your writing skills. You can probably find work as you are, sure, but a portfolio filled with crappy articles won’t help you find good clients.
Our writing articles here at Smart Blogger can help you. So can the excellent writing content at Enchanting Marketing, Copyblogger, and others. And if you need formal training, the free class I mentioned earlier is well worth your time.
Can you be a freelance writer without a Bachelor’s degree (or even High School Diploma)?
Absolutely. I have a Master’s in Computer Science that I paid way too much money to acquire. Know how many times I’ve been asked by a potential client if I had a degree? Zero. Know how many times the word “degree” popped up when Jon was interviewing me for Smart Blogger? Zilch.
If you can do the work, you can do the work. A degree in creative writing, or lack of one, won’t matter.
Are “guest posts” the same thing as freelance writing jobs?
Semantics aside, yes.
With a guest post, you’re writing content for a website you don’t own, you’re credited as the author, and you get an author byline (or, at least you do with good guest post opportunities). With a freelance writing job, you’re writing content for a website you don’t own, you’re credited as the author (unless it’s a ghostwriter assignment), and you get an author byline (unless, again, you’re ghostwriting).
The only difference is compensation.
All freelance writing jobs will pay you money. With guest blogging, some blogs and websites pay writers to write guest posts for them; with others, you don’t receive monetary compensation, but you get perks like having your work seen by new audiences and beefing up your writing portfolio.
Do guest bloggers get paid?
Some do. As mentioned above, some websites pay writers to write guest posts for them.
To find out if a guest blogging opportunity is a paying one, you need to check their website. Look for a page named “editorial guidelines”, “guest posting guidelines”, “write for us”, or something similar.
Then (and this is important) you need to thoroughly read said guidelines.
If it’s a paying freelance writing gig, or even if it’s just an unpaid freelance writing opportunity for a popular website, you want to get your relationship with the target website off to a good start. And nothing will get your relationship off to a bad start quite like failing to read their guidelines.
Many websites, especially large ones that receive lots of inquiries, will use their editorial guidelines to eliminate sub-par candidates.
For example, here are a few of the guidelines Smart Blogger used to have in our since-retired “Write for Us” page:
And, trust me, there was a lot more where that came from. Each paragraph, each sentence, was carefully designed to filter potential candidates.
Most blogs and websites won’t have such detailed guidelines. But they will have some guidelines (and if one doesn’t, it isn’t one you want to do business with).
Read the guidelines, follow them, and you’ll do fine.
What are the highest paying freelance writing jobs? What niche should I pursue if I want to make lots of money as a writer?
The list of profitable writing niches can change for a variety of reasons (just look at what the coronavirus did to the “travel” industry in 2020), but here’s an evergreen tip for finding high-paying gigs:
Follow the money.
If you see lots of job ads for freelance writing jobs in a particular niche, chances are the niche is profitable.
True, smart, and sophisticated businesses will continue to hire freelance writers and produce content during a recession (it pays off for them long-term), but unsophisticated clients will stop — unless they’re still making money.
This is a simple but effective hack for finding profitable niches.
To learn more, check out 17 Freelance Writing Niches That Still Pay Big Bucks .
Is freelance writing legit?
I’ll resist the urge to make an M.C. Hammer joke. Instead, I’ll simply say:
Yes, freelance writing is legit.
(You could almost say it’s too legit.)
Ready to Become a Successful Freelance Writer?
There may be lots of online writing jobs out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy out there.
Landing paid writing jobs is difficult. Getting started with a freelance career is difficult. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t doable. It’s very doable.
With the tips and resources in this post, you’re now armed with knowledge. You know what steps you need to take in order to be prepared, you know under-the-radar places to look for opportunities, and you have a sizable list of freelance writing job boards from which to choose.
All that’s left is for you to take action.
Are you ready to get started? Ready to take a huge step towards quitting your day job and following your dream? Ready to find that first (or hundredth) paying assignment?
Then let’s do this thing.
Kevin J. Duncan
GET PAID TO WRITE
Make 2-5k per month, even if you're a beginner . we're seeking writers of any skill level ..
Written by Kevin J. Duncan
148 thoughts on “37 beginner-friendly ways to find freelance writing jobs (2023)”.
Wow, right where I’m at, Kevin! Thanks again for this great actionable advice. And also for confirming that I was spinning my wheels in some areas to find writing jobs.
Awesome! I’m so glad you found the post helpful. 🙂
Thank you for such an insightful post, a few months ago I have up on my freelance writing but I have now seen great reasons to get back to it while managing my blog.
You’re welcome (and thank you)! I’m glad the post inspired you. Yes, do give freelance writing another go. Don’t give up. 🙂
I’ve just started to write as a freelancer and these tips would definitely help me find the best jobs. Thanks 🙂
Hey Manjula,
Welcome to the wonderful world of freelancing! I’m glad you enjoyed these tips. Let me know how things go!
Hey, that’s what it is! 21 This “Beginner-Friendly Tips for Landing Freelance Writing Jobs” is really helpful, just by sharing these amazing tips, you’re really helping people. I want to show this to my friends right now and I’m going to take action immediately. Thank you very much for that.
Hey Daniel,
Thanks, man. Appreciate that. Hopefully, this post can help a lot of people. Thank you for sharing it with your friends!
Great article! Many interesting tips 🙂
Hey Marcin,
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi Kevin, Thanks for the solid tips.
I particularly liked the Twitter tip. I will try it.
Please check your inbox and help me put my freelancing house in order 🙂 I’ve reached out twice, maybe my emails were nabbed by crazy spam spiders.
Enjoy your day.
Off to share!
Hey Qhubekani,
You’re welcome, my friend! Thank you for the kind words (and the share).
So you’ve emailed me? Let me check. Sorry about that. I’ll go find them today and get back with you soon.
Thanks again for reading and sharing, Qhubekani!
Snake’s’ hips maybe haha.
Awesome post, Kevin! Wish this came earlier when I was just starting out. Bookmarked the agency directory.
Quick question: As one of the big players in the industry, I’m interested in your your opinion on the right time for a beginner or an intermediate writer to transition from content mills like Upwork to cold pitching or scavenging for direct clients in Job boards like Pro blogger?
Do you also happen to know of writers (newbies can look up to) who have made it huge without stepping foot into content mills or the ones receiving the briefcases full of cash while pitching?
Last, regarding asking for testimonials, sites like Upwork allow clients to leave one after their contract with the writers has ended. So, is it worth for beginners to utilize such sites while building their portfolio working with direct clients or should they stick with only one through the dip.
Btw, received your mail, when should we also expect any nugget of wisdom from Be A Better Blogger?
See you on Twitter!
Best, Antony
Hey Antony,
Thank you! I’m really glad you enjoyed it.
“As one of the big players in the industry” — gosh, I don’t know about that, Antony. I appreciate the compliment, though. 🙂
To answer your question: In my opinion, you should transition ASAP. The rates for content mills are really, really low. Too low. If you’ve got the skills (even if you still have room for improvement… if you can write a decent article right here, right now), I wouldn’t hesitate to visit ProBlogger’s job boards (as well as the other job boards I listed) and compete for higher-paying jobs.
As for writers that newbies can look up to: That’s the funny thing. Most writers, when they’ve made it big, tend not to admit they ever participated in content mills when they were starting out. My guess is many avoided them, but many didn’t. They had to go where the work was, you know?
Henneke, who I mentioned in the post, is a great writer to look up to. I’ve had very good experiences working with Ali Luke (who you’ve probably seen on ProBlogger). She’s another good one. Mel Wicks and Colin Newcomer, two frequent Smart Blogger writers, are others. So is Sarah Peterson, who has written for Smart Blogger and worked for Sumo, and who commands big bucks as a freelance writer. Elna Cain is another one I’ve had the pleasure to work with.
Honestly, there are too many to list, Antony. Haha. But hopefully, that gives you a starting point! 🙂
For your last question: Upwork reviews left by clients will likely only help you land more jobs on Upwork. You could, in theory, mention your high Upwork score to non-Upwork clients, but that could backfire. Because everyone knows the writing rates on Upwork are low, your using Upwork as “proof” could cause prospective clients to undervalue you.
My take: the good assignments you had on Upwork should definitely be used in your writing portfolio. Just don’t mention you got the work via Upwork. You had a writing assignment, you did a great job on it, and that’s all that matters.
Hope all that helps, Antony. Thanks again for the kind words.
You’re welcome, Kevin. Thanks for the wonderful feedback too! It’s of great help to others who are planning to start or are part of the freelance writing journey.
Yeah, true Henneke is amazing. I’ve interacted with her. I’ve been enjoying her series of emails from Enchanting marketing too. I’ve heard of Sarah and Mel. Actually Sarah was outranking Jon.
The last time I checked Jon was ranking number one for “power words” but I’m shocked to see him at position 4. You should shove his [email protected] as one of his sidekicks to reclaim the position he deserves.
I’ll make an effort to greet all of them in the course of next week and probably pass your words or greeting maybe haha.
Knock on wood, but as of this writing we’re back at #1 for “power words”, Antony! 🙂
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
That quote alone made this post worth reading.
I love that a lot of the advice, especially at the beginning, has value for anyone looking to increase their sphere of influence.
I want to make connecting with influencers one of my top blogging priorities in 2020. Which reminds me, I think I forgot to reply to your last email!
Excellent post Mr Editor, hope the fame and fortune isn’t going to your head (although I wouldn’t blame you if it did 😉
Have a Merry Christmas Kevin!
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah, I love that quote too.
How are you doing with your “connecting with influencers” goal?
Thanks for these tips. For a begineer like me, This will definitely help me. Thank you again.
You’re welcome, Abhishek!
Hey Kevin J. Duncan , Great post. Thanks for being so generous. I am a beginner in freelancing and i have no idea about it. Yout blog has helped me alot in knowing about these things. Keep up the good work.
Hey, Harry! So glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Kevin for the tips on how freelancers can earn good income from writing jobs. I have picked out two points. 1. Have a kick ass writing portfolio 🙂 2. Follow social media leads this I am working on starting now. Do you usually offer mentorship?
You’re welcome, Silvia! Not doing any mentoring or coaching at the moment. Though, I do interact with our students. 🙂
The information you provided about freelancing jobs site is insane. It helps a lot to student like me. Thanks man keep it up.
Awesome. You’re very welcome, Sagar!
I’ve just started to write as a freelancer and these tips would definitely help me find the best jobs. Thanks
Glad to hear it, Bikash! Be sure to come back and let me know how it’s going for you so far.
Hi Kevin, This right here is rock-solid advice.
It took moments of reflection to read it all and l can confidently say that the Twitter tip stole the show. It’s something l will be working on soon and l hope l can hit a home run with it.
Without further ado, let me head off to Twitter and spread this gospel.
So glad you enjoyed the post and got so much value out of it. Really appreciate the kind words (and tweet)!
The best way to search for a freelance writing job is by joining a freelancer marketplace such as odesk, freelancer, etc. But if a person do not have required skills then he can never become success as an freelancer.
Your tips are surely going to help people who want to be successful freelancer.
Thanks, Gaurav. I certainly hope the post helps people. 🙂
Hey, let’s say that i have writting skills. where i can start my business?
Hey, Saida. If you’ve got the writing skills, start working on two things: writing good pitches to prospective clients, and building a good portfolio. We’re working on a new Smart Blogger post as we speak that can help you with the former. For the latter, this post should help: https://smartblogger.com/writing-portfolio/
Glad to hear it, Alamin!
Hi, This is good to see you beginner friendly tips and having right post article to see you here. Thanks a lot for sharing with us.
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Adrina!
I’ve been hiring writers for over 10 years. Each site or niche is different and it astounds me how much some writers expect to receive per word. I’m willing to pay for good writing but writers, especially new ones need to be reasonable about their rates. If they get in with a good corporate gig I can see them making the rate they want. Anyone freelancing that is looking for work needs to keep their expectations humble. You can always ask for an increase after you develop the relationship. Great resources on this page.
Hey Richard,
Appreciate your perspective (and happy to know you enjoyed the post)! Very true that each niche (and client) is different.
Thank you for sharing this important information with us because freelance jobs are much better than full-time jobs. You can earn more money as a freelancer. So once again thank you for sharing this important information with us.
Glad you found it helpful, Vivek!
Thanks for all that valuable information!! I just want to say your article is very helpful, that’s very clear.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Anil!
Thanks for taking initiative and providing this information which will be beneficial for freelancers. Freelancing in these days is going to help many.
I certainly hope the post helps freelancers. Glad you enjoyed it, Shubham!
Thanks for the detailed article on finding freelance writing jobs. These days it is very difficult to freelance. As there is lot of competition. I feel Facebook is overcrowded and also ineffective. I never know the features offered by ProBlogger until this article. I will check that for sure.
Thanks & Regards Aria Mathew
You’re welcome, Aria. I’m glad you found the post helpful!
How did ProBlogger’s job board work for you?
I didn’t know it so many freelance websites to sign up with. I am only familiar with upwork and blogger. Thanks I will definitely look into some of these on your list.
You’re welcome, Marcus!
Hey Kevin, This a great article. In this post You have covered all the sides of this topic. This proved that Freelancing is not a simple process unless there is a full commitment to the work. It is the right place to learn much about freelancing and to correct the flaws. Thanks for sharing!
Appreciate the kind words, Jones. Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Kevin, How are you doing? Your article caught my attention when it landed in my inbox, but I decided to save it for later. I like that you highlighted creating a portfolio and honing one’s writing skills at the top. A collection shows potential clients what a freelance writer can bring to the table. And when you improve your writing skills, you set yourself up for more writing work and recognition by top marketers. For example, when I started freelancing in 2017, I landed my first client month after that. So I thought I was in my A-game. So, I thought it would be ideal for getting published on top blogs like SEMrush. I wrote and submitted a few articles, but they were rejected. It was when I received their remarks that I realized my writing wasn’t good enough. So, I took the time to improved my skills. Fast-forward 2019/2020, SEMrushhs published my articles with the editor, Melissa emailing me to submit more content for publishing. Creating a portfolio, as stated earlier, is perfect, but it is wise to leverage some underused channels like LinkedIn for portfolio creation as well. For instance, LinkedIn is a top B2B2 lead generation platform, but many writers are not taking advantage of this goldmine for content writing jobs. I used the LinkedIn “Experience section” to create a mini portfolio, my page views increased dramatically, and I landed more high-paying jobs. Iikethearticle you put out, and I have already scheduled it for posting across channels. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it (and appreciate your support)!
It’s fun to read about your journey so far. SEMrush is a great site, so congrats for getting published by them. That’s certainly excellent portfolio material!
Agree with you that many writers aren’t taking advantage of LinkedIn. We have a post on the topic in work, so hopefully we do something about that soon. 🙂
Thanks again for the kind comment, Moss. Have a good one.
Thank you so much for sharing such an insightful article. I do believe in these times of widespread pandemic, it is important to keep going and not sulk. Freelance work is something which will surely earn you some pocket money and at the same time help you revise your skills and knowledge. It will help you go through your area of expertise again and again which helps you improvise every time.
Thank you, Deepankshu. Glad you enjoyed it!
(And, yes, totally agree. You’ve got to keep going. Keep moving forward.)
I am really overwhelmed with this article. I would like to thank for the efforts you have made in writing this post. Thanks for sharing. Great websites!! 🙂
Hey, Richa. I’m glad you were overwhelmed in a GOOD way! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Very very complete, thank you very much for this! The resources are really awesome, very useful for me to start freelancing writing. I really love this one, and shared it to my social media. Thank you and keep posting awesome articles!
Hey, Menulis. You’re very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve bookmarked this as a daily job search reference. This post is meaty, yet each directive is separate. Nothing bugs me more than having to fish back through content to piece the instructions together.
The number “33” in the headline got my attention. It’s such an unusual headline number I thought “Mmm, Kevin must be serious about this number of suggestions, I must read this”
I’m familiar with a few of these tactics. By using this as a reference, there’s no doubt I’ll execute my search better.
Tactics like poaching from other writers, Quora searches and many others, weren’t even on my list … so thanks!
I read this just in time for my May marketing push so about to get started on my spreadsheet to chart my progress.
You’re the best!
Good to see you here in the comments section! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I’m glad you found the layout and sections of the post to be clear and easy to navigate. That was one of the trickiest parts about putting this post together, so I’m glad it worked.
How’d your May marketing push go?
Thanks, Kevin for all the tips. I was finding it difficult to find a freelancing job as a content writer. This article actually helped me. I followed all your sets and finally got a job which I applied at Job Vacancy Result Thanks!!!!!!
That’s awesome, Vedang. I’m glad the article helped you!
Pretty awesome article. i am already working as a freelancer but definitely this article going to help me even further more. Thank You.
Glad to hear it, Muhammad. Good luck!
The Quora part got me. I am active in quora as reader because the answers are always relevant and easy to read. The community are also very supportive there. After reading your article I just realize that Quora can be used as platform to promote our writing skill. That is amazing.
Hey, Utomo. Glad you found the Quora part to be enlightening! Best of luck leveraging the platform going forward. 🙂
Just landed here from Google and believe me, I’m stoked. So many options to choose from. Great article Kevin.
Hey, Gaurav. Glad you found the article! Did you have a favorite tip or suggestion?
The people I found in LinkedIn have always been literate and have done a good job. Also, when you want to hire a freelancer, search the forums and you will see his work and style. If you like him, he’s your man.
Thanks for the tips, Panagiotis. Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!
I am looking for writers those who can come to my office and write. Its hard to find them
Hey, Yogesh. Yeah, finding local writers can be difficult. Is hiring writers who will work remotely not an option for your business?
Hi, i started blogging, i found article writing is difficult task, because it’s need to have good knowledge in English and also need to research on the topic so i decided to outsource articles for my blog
Yes, article marketing can be challenging. But in order for it to be fun and worthwhile, it has to be a labor of love to you. Do it when you don’t feel like doing it and start off with writing one or two articles per week. Then, focus on updating your blog or website with lots and lots of content. If you can manage to write 1500 words a day for 5 to 6 days a week for 2 to 3 years in addition to publishing two articles a week with links in the body of the article pointing back to your blog website, you should be good to go. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your insights, DNN. 🙂
Hey, Rishad. Makes sense. Lots of entrepreneurs outsource their writing. If it isn’t something you’re good at, or — as DNN mentioned — it’s not a labor of love, hiring talented freelance writers is a good call (if you can afford it). 🙂
Damn ! This article is really helpful thanks a lot for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it, James!
Thank you for this super helpful post Kevin. Lots of unknown tips and insights which help us not waste time. Kudos to the great Smart Blogger team, one and all.
You’re welcome, Jeanette. Thank you for the kind words!
As a content writer, I’m always hunting for jobs. You see the thing with content writers and web developers are that our job is only one-time. There’s nothing recurrent, therefore, I ask you to please suggest some platforms for content writing jobs other than twitter and linekdin. Thanks
The hunting for jobs is a constant struggle for many writers. Look into tips 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 in the “16 Hacks for Finding Under-the-Radar Writing Opportunities” section. They should give you quite a bit to work with.
Also, look into the other 12 job boards we mentioned (besides LinkedIn). I’ve personally heard some good things from writers about ProBlogger’s job board, so that could be a good place to start.
The money is everyone online quietly waiting to be tapped into. You just have to be willing to keep going regardless of the awesome challenges life presents. If you really want to make freelancing and the side hustle work for you, you must be willing to do the transformation business work, out of inspiration or desperation.
Great advice. What often separates the success stories from the cautionary tales is the willingness to “keep going” through the challenges, trials, and tribulations.
Appreciate you stopping by and commenting!
Good article, worth spending time…. though a bit lengthy
Glad you enjoyed it. Yep, it’s quite lengthy. Most of my posts are, I’m afraid. 🙂
When did the blogging rules change that required blog posts to be so long that a Table of Contents was required?
And, current year is not a good idea for a Captcha. In Thailand, where I live, it is year 2563.
Hey Lawrence,
I wish we didn’t have to use Captcha at all. Never been a fan of it, regardless of implementation.
Definitely the most comprehensive resource on the internet on this topic. Fantastic read and tremendously helpful.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Umer! “Most comprehensive resource” is what I was going for. 🙂
I am so glad I came across this article today … really helpful
Glad you found it helpful, Kshitija.
This is a well-written post. One site I would recommend apart from twitter, Quora, and Fb would be Fiverr. I feel the biggest challenge writers face are from the article spinning sites
Hey, Vinod. Glad you enjoyed the post!
I was just finding a way to start a new fresh content & suddenly got this article on google. It really helped me.
Hey Kishan,
I’m glad Google led you here. Happy to hear the post helped you!
Was a great article. Freelance writing is not simple as it seems, you have to show commitment. Anyways, good job.
Yes, you definitely need to commit to freelance writing if you hope to make a career out of it. It’s certainly worth it. 🙂
Thanks for the list! I’d love to see a more in-depth course on this. Finding freelance writing jobs is the hardest thing…
I have just started to write. Even trying for some freelance writing jobs. But was a bit confused about the new things, but I think this will help me a lot to proceed further.
Writing is the king this days because contents the king, however, most writers find difficulties to do freelancing work because they are not aware of the proper platform. Thanks for this article, I love to write and I will try definitely for freelancing.
I was wondering how could i spend time in this pandemic. i came across this article, it gave me lot of strength.
Thanks a lot for this wonderful article
Thanks for this information KEVIN.
Previously, we had bad experience with freelance writer. Therefore now we have our own professional content writer team, serving exceptionally great services to all our In-House clients. We believe that fresh & good content also help us to rank better on Google SERP.
It’s a wonderful post for a starter like me. I have started a blog just a month over and I am very much confused about how I can take this further as my career, but thanks Kevin you have resolved lots of my confusion. But still, I am worried about one thing is that I am not a seasoned writer. I used to be a programmer and I just started writing. Before starting to write, the one thing that comes in my mind is that what I will write and how I will write. Can you give any guidance on how to resolve that fear?
Hi Kevin, Absolutely amazing article. I really appreciate that you put on a great effort to bring out such outstanding content. As a freelance writer I find all these tips very helpful for finding more clients for me. My favorite tip was “Twitter’s advanced search engine”. It worked like magic for me.
Hello Kevin,
It’s a valuable post especially in these days of COVID-19 when everybody is looking to work from home and looking for freelance work. Thanks for your contribution.
Regards, Ovais Mirza
The article has a bunch of useful information and resources for freelancing writers who are struggling for finding writing jobs. You have done a great job 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing this! I just started a blog recently but I’m very much new to the writing space and figuring out these sort of things. So this was very helpful thank you!
Great Post. It tells me that where is the opportunity as the freelance writing jobs in this pandemic time. Thanks for sharing this. This post helps the writing community very much because you share useful information in this blog. Thanks for sharing. and keep sharing this type of content.
Great job on this article Kevin.
It has been a crazy year on so many levels. Your tips are dead on. Especially the tips on the bio and testimonials. Love the Quora tip too.
Hope you and your family are safe and sound.
Sincerely – Bill
Hey Kevin! As a freelance writer, I’m always looking for new ways to snag the next gig, and this list is FANTASTIC. Particularly love the reverse-engineer Twitter job search. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?! Thank you so much! -Neal
Kevin, you have written such a great article! It’s just amazing! You tips are accurate for writing content. Love it absolutely!
It was an impressive article. Thanks for sharing. Perfect 🙂
Very nice posts, I have started a blog and I am very much confused about how I can take this further as my career, but thanks Kevin you have resolved lots of my confusion. But still, I am worried about one thing is that I am not a seasoned writer. thanks a lot for this article.
I came back to this article in the year 2021 to say thank you. The tactics here worked for me like magic.
I’m as of now a freelancer but definitely however certainly this article going to help me even besides. thank you very much for this! Thank you and keep posting awesome articles!
Greetings Kevin, It’s good to know that you have done a thorough and deep level of brainstorming blog topic on freelancing content writing tasks. This will make beginner-level content writers grow in this field and make it advanced level. Amazing & thank you.
Haha this is another amazing article from you Kevin! You always have amazing tips with you to give!
This is one of the most in-depth and helpful guides for freelance content writers. I am going to try and implement a lot of tips mentioned in this blog.
Thank you so much for this incredible guide
Thanks, Kevin, It’s quite informative and motivational for me, Literally, I was scared before reading this article from content writing. now it’s quite helpful for me to do so. thanks again. ‘ll proceed with my work from now.
Good job Kevin, That’s an amazing article, but most of these sites usually looking for professional writers. There is very little chance for newbies.
A nice and well descriptive article ever I seen. In this corona time many people like me are finding online works. Your article is helpful for them and me too. Thank you for these special tips.
This is another amazing article from you Kevin. It’s good to know that you have done a thorough and deep level of brainstorming blog topic on freelancing content writing tasks.
Very useful tips for freelancers. I love this post and your work. Now a days content is the king.
some of the best talented writers have a bad habit of missing deadline and it is very bad habit that we cant ignore
you are 100% right about the freelancing jobs and great tips like quora and having knowledge on SEO is a must
I have been writing for quite some time and now I am quite better but to get a job is the hardest part. 🙁
Very informative post, really liked this post… Thanks for sharing.
Hey Kevin I have been reading your blogs for quite some time and every single one gives a lot of information as compared to others. Thank u so much for that 🙂
This has been super helpful. I’m going to implement it and hope to see good results. I don’t suppose you have an article on finding topics that you can point me to? One of my fears right now isn’t pitching, it’s how do I come up with a topic that’s as good or even better than what’s already on their site?
Hey Kevin. There are a lot of people interested in doing freelance jobs compared to previous years. With the pandemic going on, some people are choosing to work from home.
I like the testimonial and Quora tip. I think it’s simple yet effective way to promote yourself. Thanks!
I like the testimonial and Quora tip. I think it’s a simple yet effective way to promote yourself. Thanks!
I just have started working as a freelancer and these are wonderful tips to become a successful writer.
I have just started as a freelance writer, i have idea about direct dealing but not a perfect, i ll surely use this tips to grow and enhance my skills.
Awesome piece. with the pandemic’s experience online freelancing has gained more popularity. Reading this will help many individuals
Thank you for the post. I feel smarter and more intelligent by going through this blog post.
Your content is Very impressive, looks like you are also blessed with sharp writing skills. I liked the fact that it was easy to understand. Guys keep visiting Here..
You are doing a great job, and up to date with technology.
Very nice blog, good to see nice content keep posting more like this.
Wow! What an in-depth post you have created Kevin. Freelance writing has evolved with time and is still one of the best freelance gigs out there. This post is super helpful for beginners as well as seasoned writers, I only wish I had seen such a post when I first got started as a writer. I like the fact that you have made emphasis on the legal side of freelancers as I have been duped by many people in the past by not paying or paying only a part of the agreed upon fees after completion of the project. I’m sure this is something freelancers would be struggling with even now. Thanks for sharing such a detailed guide, I will be sharing this with anyone who asks me advice on how to get started as a freelance writer.
I have just started as a freelance writer, i have idea about direct dealing but not a perfect, i ll surely use this tips to grow and enhance my skills. Thank you for the post.
Hello, Thank you so much for sharing this very informative article. This will help me and many others also. thanks a lot.
hello, Thank you so much for providing this really useful post. This will benefit both me and many others. Thank you very much.
Hey Kevin I have been reading your blogs for quite some time and every single one gives a lot of information as compared to others. Thank u so much for that
That reverse-engineering blogging work on Twitter is clever. I enjoyed my freelance writing days before I decided to go with passive income. Fun way to profit online. Excellent post.
Hi Kevin, I try to read most of your blogs. Your writing is very much informative and helpful. This one also goes in the same way and it would certainly help freshers who want to earn by freelancing. Yes here I agree with you that for freelancing, a strong portfolio is a must, and after that one has to show his skill to earn more through freelancing. It would be a bonus if have any testomonial.
Greetings Kevin! I loved reading your post. It was helpful for me in such a different way that I am not able to explain in words. I have been writing content for a number of years, but just for local companies. When I heard about online freelancing, I was thrilled. And, throughout my journey, Smart Blogger has really helped me from polishing my skills to connect with international websites. Thanks a Lot.
Leave a Comment Cancel reply
Latest from the blog.
Landing Page: A Rookies Guide to Amplifying Your Leads in 2023
A Beginner’s Guide to CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) in 2023
ClickBank: The Brutally Honest, Must-Read Guide for 2023
With over 300k subscribers and 4 million readers, Smart Blogger is one of the world's largest websites dedicated to writing and blogging.
Best of the Blog
© 2012-2023 Smart Blogger — Boost Blog Traffic, Inc.
Terms | Privacy Policy | Refund Policy | Affiliate Disclosure
How to Become a Freelance Writer From Scratch (2023 Complete Guide)
So, you want to learn how to become a freelance writer?
I get a lot of emails from people asking me how to get started as a freelance writer and no matter where you are in the world, the steps to take to becoming a freelance writer are the same.
It’s a great way to earn extra cash and actually make a living from it, so I thought I’d write a guide to help new freelance writers jumpstart their business.
Because there’s a lot of wrong advice out there – like how you need formal training to write online.
Anyone can be a freelance writer. You don’t need any experience or degree.
It’s the perfect business for bloggers, stay-at-home moms or those just fed up with their 9-5 job.
How to Become a Freelance Writer – My Story
If you want to learn how to become a freelance writer with no experience then check out my story.
It’s been several years since I started freelance writing .
When I first learned how to become a freelance writer, I made the mistake of finding work on iWriter, which is a content mill.
Content mills provide cheap content jobs and they usually batch orders. Their goal is to get a lot of content for cheap. After I earned a measly $2 from my first writing job, I gave up.
This wasn’t for me.
My time wasn’t worth that. I had twins to take care of and a house to run. I almost quit for good back then.
But, I didn’t. I re-grouped and started fresh. I started a writer website , searched for freelance writing jobs and over time was able to land high-paying clients. Okay, I glided over the important parts, but I’ll break it down for you in a moment.
*Check out my super simple, tech-free step-by-step tutorial to start a blog for your business (there’s even a video to show you how to start your website).
With persistence, motivation and hard work I now am able to have freelance writing jobs from home!
Learning how to become a freelance writer and get paid doesn’t have to take a thousand steps.
If you want that for yourself, here are the steps on how to become a freelance writer you need to get started.
1. Research About Freelance Writing
When I first started freelance writing I did a lot of research.
I found other freelance writers, read their blogs and looked at their writer website and learned as much as I could about this business.
I had no clue how to write a blog post or what kinds of jobs there are for freelance writers. I sometimes emailed them and asked questions like how to set my rate .
To get started visit these websites to learn more about online writing:
- FreelancerFAQs
- Be a Freelance Blogger
- The Write Life
And here are some posts on my blog to help you learn more about freelance writing:
- What is Freelance Writing (And How Do I Become a Freelance Writer)?
- 53 Places to Land Freelance Writing Gigs Online
- How to Make Money Freelance Writing
- 20 Ways to Find Freelance Writing Jobs (As a Beginner)
Let me be the first to tell you, learning about being a freelance writer and the business of freelance writing is something you’ll continually learn more about.
I started all of this in 2014 and I’m still learning about writing trends and new writing niches that make money!
So, don’t feel overwhelmed by all that you NEED to learn. Take it one day at a time!
I’m here to help you too! 🙂
2. Become Familiar With the Writing Skills and Tools Required
Now I know I said you can become a freelance writer without a degree (from scratch). This is absolutely true, but if you want a better chance of succeeding, it’s probably a good thing to learn a few skills and tools.
Some skills you should definitely have for freelance writing are:
Organizational Skills
You’ll have to keep track of all your projects , billing information, client information, pitches sent and content schedule for your blog and sometimes for your client’s blog.
You’ll also need to develop a writing routine to organize your articles or blog posts. What are the steps to gather research for your pieces? How do you outline your blog post?
Having a system in place for your projects is key to growing your business. You don’t want to make a mistake or forget to do something.
For me, I have a couple of notebooks to jot down content ideas for my blogs and a task list of what I need to do right away.
Blogging Skills
I primarily write blog posts or digital marketing material – like a lead magnet. When I first started, I had no clue how to blog.
I read tons of blog posts but never looked at the formatting. It wasn’t until I started this blog that I actually paid attention to subheadings and creating white space.
Writing for an online audience is different than writing a term paper for your college professor.
You need to know how to captivate a reader with your headline and introduction. You also need to back up your claims and facts with reputable sources.
And you need to include subheadings, bullet lists or numbered lists and above all, provide actionable tips.
For more help, check out these three posts:
- 9 Simple Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills
- 6 Writing Mistakes Freelance Writers Are Making
- Be a Freelance Writer: How to Write a Blog Post Your Client Will Love
Content Marketing
If you want to become a paid freelance writer then you need to know content marketing.
This means understanding how a business uses content to market their products or services.
They may use white papers, a lead magnet, case studies and an email list to help them gain leads.
When you become a freelance writer knowing this marketing strategy can help you land writing projects like white paper writing for businesses.
Putting yourself out there and trying to land writing gigs is tough. You’ll get rejected, turned down or you may have a client walk all over you.
To be a successful freelance writer you really need confidence and lose the fear of pitching . I know you may not have it right away.
That’s okay. But, eventually, you’re going to have to take action.
This might mean applying to jobs even though you aren’t that qualified for. It might mean sending off a pitch that isn’t perfect.
The point is, is you have to just go and do it.
Besides these basic skills, you also need to know the tools of the trade.
Task Management Program
Since you’re running your business on your own, you need to keep track of everything.
I personally use Google Sheets and the Productivity Planner for Freelance Writers to keep track of my projects and income. I also use Trello to keep track of my to-do list for the week.
You might find Asana is a better fit for you or even Microsoft Excel. Find a program that you like and start creating a system for your projects, finances and if you want, your blog content or pitches you send.
Image Editing Program
Some of your freelance clients may want you to do images for your content. Or, you may want to offer that as part of your services when you learn how to be a freelance writer.
Knowing how to add text to blog images is important to know as a freelance writer. It shows prospective clients you know how to blog.
Many people use a free editing program like Canva or PicMonkey. I personally use Photoshop for all my images.
What’s great about learning how to design images is that you can offer this to your clients or you might find prospects are asking you to do their images.
I actually have four freelance writing jobs that I do images for and all of them asked me since I’m not advertising this service.
Editing App
It’s a good idea to have your work edited with Grammarly or Hemingway or some other editing app.
You can see how I use Grammarly in this video .
For me, I go through an in-depth editing process before I submit my work to my clients. You might have to invest in a subscription, but it’s well worth it if you plan on making freelance writing a business.
3. Practice Writing
Now, you don’t have to be the best writer to be a successful one. But, learning how to become a freelance content writer, you do need to know how to write sentences and get your thoughts across!
What if English isn’t your first language?
There are many freelance writers who don’t have English as their primary language and they are making a living freelance writing .
So, it is possible but it might just mean you have to work a little harder showing prospects you are more than capable of writing for them.
If, though, you are a fairly good writer, work on improving your writing.
Practice adding sensory details , eliminating filler words, and honing your craft. You can do this by starting your own blog .
Make sure to know the difference between blogging and content writing .
Not only will this help you become a better writer, but it will also help you market your freelance writing business. I have landed many clients from my blog and I know my blog only makes me more credible as a professional writer.
Reading is also a great way to improve your vocabulary and world knowledge.
I try to read blogs in my niche and when I can, I actually pick up a real book or two to read on my downtime!
4. Create a Writing Portfolio of Your Work
Most job ads you’ll apply for will ask to see your work. They want to see samples of published work.
If you’re new, you won’t have any published work – unless you already have a blog.
So, when you become a freelance writer from home, how do you show prospects you can actually write
Besides starting a blog, you can create writing samples.
Draft up a few pieces and either upload them as a Google Doc or publish them on Medium .
Check out this post on how to create samples from scratch .
Another way to create writing samples is with guest posting. These are blogs that accept guest writers . Get posted on these blogs means you will have a link to show prospects someone thought your writing was good enough to be published.
You can quickly Google your writing niche + write for us to get blogs that accept contributors.
Here’s the result for spiritual blogs that accept guest writers.
5. Follow Other Writers in Your Niche
If you want to break into a writing niche you aren’t that experienced it, then the best way to get started is to follow other freelancers.
The perfect place to do this is on Twitter.
Freelance writer Elise mentioned that the only way to start a new writing niche is to find the people that are already doing it.
I knew the only way for me to break into that niche was to start connecting with people in it. So, I scheduled a ton of coffee chats with other freelancers in the niche—some more experienced than me, others at similar stages in our career.
These ‘coffee chats’ can be done on Twitter through DM’s or with Twitter spaces or Twitter threads.
Take the time to find the freelancers in your writing niche and follow them on Twitter to get insider perspectives!
6. Start Pitching to Jobs
Now it’s time to actively search for freelance writing jobs from home. But where do you go and how do you do it?
When I first started freelance writing, I used Problogger and Freelance Writing Jobs.
These job boards list new jobs daily and are often good quality jobs. And, job sites offer thousands of remote work opportunities, freelance writing opportunities and other freelance gigs like online editing jobs , proofreading jobs and transcription jobs !
I avoided freelance marketplaces like Upwork because the jobs weren’t high quality and I actually never landed a gig there.
When you find a job you are interested in the important thing to remember is to be one of the first few to apply (so check the boards before bed and when you wake up) and make sure your pitch stands out.
How do you do this?
Show your credibility with guest posts or testimonials. Or, you can relate a fact or story with the business in question.
To help you with pitching check out these posts:
- How to Write a Pitch – Anatomy of My Writing Pitch
- An Insanely Fast Way to Find Freelance Writing Jobs
- The Proven Pitching Process for New Freelance Writers
But, are there other ways to find freelance writing jobs?
There are tons of ways. Actually, here are 20 Ways to Find Freelance Writing Gigs (As a Beginner) .
7. You Gotta Hustle
Becoming a freelance writer online means you gotta hustle for work.
But, this doesn’t mean you ALWAYS have to hustle. The goal is for clients to come to you.
But, when you’re new, businesses or magazines don’t’ know you even exist.
So, you have to market your services and get your name out there.
How do you do this? There are many ways, but to start try these two ways:
- Get on social media – This isn’t for socializing; it’s for networking. Sign up for Twitter and LinkedIn and start connecting or following other writers and businesses you want to write for.
- Guest post – Guest posting is not only a way to build your portfolio. It’s also a way to get your name out there. For every guest post, you write and is published you receive an author bio with links back to your writer website, portfolio, or social media profiles.
When I first started, I only had a Pinterest account and Facebook page . But, I knew I had to be more social so I signed up for a Twitter and LinkedIn account and started networking my butt off.
Later, I started an Instagram account and have landed clients on this platform too !
But I can tell you from personal experience, that Twitter and LinkedIn have landed me the most work from social media.
8. Continue Learning
The best thing you can do as a new freelance writer is continue to learn.
Whether it’s writing tips, business tips or pitching tips, hone your skills by learning from those who have done it before.
This is what I did when I first started freelance writing and even today, I hone my digital marketing writing by listening to podcasts about SEO or read social media marketing tips in books.
For more help check out these resources to help you find freelance writing jobs based on your niche service:
- How to Become a Freelance Science Writer
- How to Become a Freelance Writer for Magazines
- How to Become a Freelance Travel Writer
- How to Become a Freelance Grant Writer
- How to Become a Freelance Health Writer
- How to Become a Freelance Sports Writer
- How to Become a Christian Freelance Writer
How to Become a Freelance Writer
Over to you – are you interested in freelance writing?
Remember to please pin me!
Share this post with your friends!
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
258 comments.
- Free Course
- Creative Elements Podcast
- Creator Science Newsletter
- Marketing for Freelancers
- Selling for Freelancers
- Business for Freelancers
- Course Bundle
The 15 Best Freelance Writing Sites
In Freelance Jobs , All Posts by Jay Clouse November 22, 2020 Leave a Comment
Freelance writers will often ask me for the best freelance writing sites to find paid work online.
And while there are a ton of sites that can help you find freelance work generally, you’re better served looking to freelance writing sites specifically.
Instead of playing the networking game, waiting for referrals, or playing the content creation game and hoping something comes through eventually, these freelance writing sites put thousands of online writing jobs at your fingertips today.
So let’s jump into my favorites!
Table of Contents
The 15 best freelance sites for writers
Contena is a premium freelance writing website that aims to be more than “just another job board.”
It’s one of my best recommendations for freelance writing sites.
First, they have what they call their “writing job finder” that automatically collects the best freelance writing gigs from around the web.
Then you can search and sort through them to find the best opportunities – whether that’s a $10,000 a month full time eBook writing gig or a one off blog post in the sports niche.
That saves you a ton of time trying to go to a bunch of different sites to find jobs.
But their Alerts emails, sent to your inbox daily, save you even more time by showing you just the jobs that meet your criteria, like rates and niche.
Some of the other features that makes this one of the best freelance writing websites for beginners and veterans alike:
- Courses – learn how to get started freelance writing in a weekend, and continue to grow afterwards
- Coaching – access to pro help in leveling up your freelance writing career
- Pro Rates – shows you the average rates writers earn so you can price your work accordingly
- Publish – lets you build your portfolio with their beautiful and easy to use tools
Even though you need to apply and pay for their platform, they provide such high-quality work that it easily pays for itself.
- Writing job finder that collects the best available from around the web
- Comes with other helpful tools and courses to get started and grow your freelancing
- Application required
- Paid service
Check Out Contena
Back in the old days of online freelancing (aka circa 2015) two of the largest freelance job sites at the time, oDesk and Elance, joined forces.
The result was Upwork , which is now home to over 12 million freelancers, 5 million clients, and 3 million freelance job listings per year.
While the marketplace features freelance jobs of all sorts, there are plenty of freelance writing jobs available – from blogging to resume writing, website copywriting to technical documentation.
They offer short-term contracts, long-term contracts, hourly work, or project-based payments.
If you’re just starting your journey as a freelance writer, you’ll have more of an uphill climb to build a portfolio and your reputation on the site (experienced freelancers can just add their existing portfolio items to get jobs and reviews more quickly).
But the availability of jobs on the site means you’ll always be able to find work if you’re willing to put in the effort to submit proposals.
The biggest downside here is the 20% fee Upwork charges for the first $500 you make with any client. You must also pay up to $0.90 per proposal that you weren’t specifically invited to apply for. So if you’re just getting started, you may have to pay-to-play in order to build your portfolio
- A seemingly bottomless supply of leads
- Payment management
- Highest fees for freelance writing sites
- Can take a while to build your reputation on the platform
Check Out Upwork
3. FlexJobs
FlexJobs is an online jobs marketplace both for freelancers and people looking for flexible full-time employment positions.
The biggest difference from the competition?
FlexJobs screens and verifies all their jobs so you won’t find any scams or low-paying gigs.
This is great for more experienced freelance writers since you won’t waste your time filtering through junk. But if you’re just starting out and need to build a portfolio, you’ll have a harder time finding jobs for that purpose.
FlexJobs also makes it easy to find the perfect gig for you with their custom job search.
This lets you select the categories of work (there are several kinds of “writing” jobs available), your preferred work schedule, experience level, and so on so you can see and apply for just the jobs you’re actually interested in.
To get access to the freelance writing jobs available on FlexJobs, you’ll have to sign up for a subscription.
Flexjobs is typically priced at $14.95/month or $49.95 for the year.
But you can try it out with our link for less than $7 .
- Job postings are screened for quality
- Jobs are remote-friendly
- Subscription membership means lower competition
- Exclusive member discounts and deals
- Requires a subscription
- Not as useful for building a portfolio
Click here to check out FlexJobs
4. Freelance Writing Jobs
Freelance Writing Jobs (FWJ) , previously Freelance Writing Gigs (hence the URL) is basically a well-curated job board for writers.
Updated Monday through Friday with gigs from around the web, they’ll save you some of the time and stress of filtering through tons of options (some of which will be bogus) on other freelance writing sites.
That being said, you’ll still need to do your own due diligence when looking to get hired.
And it’s not a platform like FlexJobs or Upwork, so the exact process for applying, landing, and getting paid for a job will vary depending on the specific opportunity.
But they offer an awesome archive of posts offering tips for beginner and expert freelance writers and are definitely worth adding to your “places to find writing jobs” checklist.
- Freelance job board specific to writing
- Includes jobs from around the web as well as their board
- Not a platform – no universal way to submit applications/get hired
- Not as many opportunities as other freelance writing websites
Check Out Freelance Writing Jobs
5. Textbroker
Textbroker is a freelance writing website that operates sort of like a large scale agency.
They vet freelance writers (like you) for quality, then give you access to the tons of product descriptions, press releases, web copy, blogs, and other writing jobs their customers post (they claim they deliver on over 100,000 content orders a month).
Signing up as a writer is completely free – just verify your U.S. citizenship and submit a writing sample. They’ll give you a 2-5 star rating and it’s off to the races!
You can get work by jumping into an open order (first come, first serve) which is nice because you don’t have to “sell” a client on hiring you first.
You can also get placed on a team of other writers to be hired together or have clients send you work directly – all while Textbroker does the heavy lifting of managing payments and project workflows.
All of this is great for beginners, though the relatively low pay means more experienced writers will probably want to look elsewhere.
- Easy to get started – just need a writing sample and you can get freelance writing jobs
- Great for building a portfolio when getting started
- Work doesn’t pay as well as other freelance writing sites
- Write up front model means you may do work without getting paid
Check Out Textbroker
6. Contently
Contently is another agency-style freelance writing site that connects freelancers with bigger brands they might otherwise have a hard time landing gigs with.
To do this, they work hard to screen new freelancers who join their platform and select the right freelancers to invite to the various job opportunities.
What does that mean?
You really have to have a solid portfolio to get started, and you won’t be able to have as active a role in searching for work as you can be on other platforms.
BUT that tradeoff comes with the opportunity to work with big brands on high paying projects.
Which means this freelance writing website is best for experienced writers looking to supplement their other work-finding efforts.
- Access to projects with big brands like Microsoft and Coca Cola
- Projects tend to pay well
- Have to wait to receive job opportunities
- Requires a solid portfolio of existing work to be approved
Check Out Contently
7. MediaBistro
MediaBistro is a solid freelance writing job board for those looking to work specifically with media companies.
Think TV channels like HBO, digital media sites like VeryWell, and old school papers like the Daily Mail.
And they offer a membership that gets you access to online courses to hone your skills, tools to help you pitch editors and showcase your work, and perks like discounts to industry events and a free LinkedIn profile evaluation.
Downsides here are that there aren’t as many freelance writing gigs as other sites because they’re so industry focused.
And because it’s more of a job board for big brands rather than a freelance writing site, you’ll have to do a lot of “resume sending” rather than making connections with clients and relying on the strength of your portfolio.
- Access to freelance writing jobs with big brands like HBO and PBS
- Focuses specifically on gigs in the PR and journalism space
- More traditional job board – “submit your resume” rather than have a killer portfolio
- Just a job board – no platform to help with landing jobs/getting payments
Check Out MediaBistro
8. ProBlogger
With the ProBlogger job board , created by blogging veteran Darren Rowse, you know two things going in: the jobs are probably solid, and they’ll likely be focused on blogging.
When you dig in, you’ll find that largely to be the case…though there are a few copywriting jobs sprinkled in the mix.
The board itself is pretty straight forward – it’s free to browse and apply for jobs as a writer.
No sign up needed, just find a job you’re interested in and apply. But if you want, they have a Candidate dashboard you can join (for free) to add your resume, manage applications and get job alerts.
Downsides here are there aren’t a ton of jobs available. I found 2-6 jobs a day when I was checking, but this is a well known site in the blogosphere so it’s a fairly competitive spot.
And the jobs aren’t screened, so you’ll have to do your own due diligence (though they have tips for that right in the applications).
- Well-known brand that attracts some solid clients
- Free to use, no sign up necessary
- Competitive (it’s a well known stop for new and veteran freelance writers)
- No screening
Check Out ProBlogger
9. Freelancer.com
er.com is an online jobs marketplace very similar to Upwork.
That means you’ll create a profile, apply to jobs, get hired and paid through their platform, rinse, and repeat.
There are thousands of jobs available at any given time (including online writing jobs), both by the hour and fixed project rate.
Freelancer also offers a third “Contest” option where clients post their job needs, freelancers create the requested content, and the client chooses and pays for their favorite(s).
This might not be very attractive for seasoned freelancers who can rely on their existing portfolios, testimonials, and sales skills. But it’s great for new freelance writers as you can build your portfolio while having a shot at getting paid – without needing a ton of experience!
The downsides here are in the fees: you’ll have to pay to apply to jobs after your first 8 bids each month.
And you’ll have to pay 10% for all the hours and project fees you bill through them.
- Fees are cheaper than Upwork
- Contests offer an interesting way to build a portfolio
- Only get 8 free bids/month
- Have to pay fees on all the work you find/bill through them
Check Out Freelancer
10. Constant Content
Constant Content is a content creation service that’s helped over 50,000 businesses find freelance writers to create all sorts of web content: from social media posts and product pages to blog posts and ebooks.
To get freelance writing jobs through Constant Content, you’ll need to create a profile to showcase your experience and skills, take a quiz, and submit a 100-250 word writing sample.
If you’re approved, you’ll be able to apply to projects that interest you, work by yourself or on a team, and build up a reputation to get clients asking to work with you!
Overall this is a great place to get started and get a baseline amount of work for yourself.
But Constant Content doesn’t allow you to contact the companies you work with at all outside of their platform. So you won’t be able to build your own relationship with clients to expand your role or get referrals.
- Potential for ongoing work with big brands like Uber and Zulily
- Build up your reputation to get clients requesting to work with you
- You must be approved to join
- Can’t contact clients outside their platform to build your own relationship
Check Out Constant Content
11. Guru.com
Guru.com is another one of the big freelance job marketplaces. You create a profile, apply to jobs, land work, and get paid through the platform just like Upwork and Freelancer.
Unique features here include their “Guru Work Rooms” to help you manage communications on all your projects and their daily job matches so you can spend less time searching for potential jobs and more time applying to, winning, and working on projects.
Guru also offers the most free bids I’ve seen on one of these platforms (10 per month) and the lowest fees on money billed through them (9%).
But, you’re still paying for the privilege of using their platform to land clients and of the big three freelancing jobs platforms (Freelancer and Upwork included), they had the fewest freelance writing gigs available when I checked.
- Daily Job Match makes it easier to find the right projects to apply to
- Lowest fees/most free matches of the big freelancer jobs marketplaces
- …still have to pay fees for all your work found/billed through them
- Fewest jobs for writers available among the big three freelancing websites
Check Out Guru
12. Writer Access
Writer Access is another one of the content creation services that offers writers access to online freelance jobs.
Companies join their platform and commission content of all sorts, from lead magnets to case studies, blog posts and direct mail letters.
To join as a freelance writer, you’ll have to live in one of the following countries:
- United States
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- United Kingdom
If that’s you, you’ll start by creating a profile and taking a writing test, which the Writer Access team will then check and give you a star rating from 2-6.
This star rating determines what kind of projects you can work on and how much you can earn through their platform, with 2-star orders paying 2 cents a word and 6-star orders paying 7 cents at minimum (up to $2).
If you don’t start with the star-rating you wanted, you’ll be able to improve it over time by doing great work that gets you great ratings from clients.
The biggest benefit here is access to steady work from big brands like Lids, Carmax, and Microsoft, but even their highest paying projects are on the low end of what you could potentially earn as a freelance writer.
Which is why I’d say this is a great place to find freelance writing jobs online for beginners, but more experienced writers will probably want to look elsewhere.
- Steady work from big brands like Lids and Carmax
- Can work your way up through their star system to earn more as you improve
- Have to be accepted onto their platform
- Lower end of the pay scale (most projects offer $25-50 for a 1000 word article)
Check Out Writer Access
13. Craigslist
OK, I know that Craigslist might not be the first place you’d think of when looking for the best freelance writing sites. It’s moreso the place you went in college to get that cheap (free?) dusty old couch grandma was giving away.
And I wouldn’t say it’s the highest quality source of freelance writing jobs, either.
BUT with some patience and perseverance, you can find some solid clients here by filtering through the lower-paying jobs and scams.
Or at the very least, this can be a good start if you’re looking for freelance writing jobs for beginners to get your portfolio going.
Definitely recommend searching in bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, etc for more opportunities than may be available in your local area.
- Very easy to search/apply for jobs
- Familiar user interface
- More junk jobs to filter through
- Have to search city by city instead of just in one place
Check Out Craigslist
14. BloggingPro
The BloggingPro is another free online job board – it’s free to browse for jobs you’re interested in based on the type of job (content writing, copywriting, etc) and type of contract (full time, freelance, etc). and apply to them.
Unlike sites like FlexJobs, there’s no client screening process, though, so you’ll have to be careful to avoid scams. And you’ll apply with potential clients directly so there’s no single process to get hired. Some might ask for a resume, some for portfolio examples, some might have a form, or ask you to email them.
As the name implies, a lot of what you’ll find here are blogging-related gigs, but there are other opportunities as well so it’s worth including on your “to check list” even if blogging isn’t what gets you going.
- Free to use, no need to sign up necessary
- Includes jobs from around the web as well as those posted to their board
- Not a platform so there’s no universal way to submit applications/get hired
- No screening of posted jobs – some might be scams
Check Out Blogging Pro
15. FreelanceWriting.com
Founded in 1997, the FreelanceWriting.com job board features journalism, content, copywriting, and blogging gigs from around the web including sites like Indeed, Craigslist, and BloggingPro!
There’s no signup needed, just browse through their handpicked list of available jobs and filter by source, skills needed, location (including remote freelance writing jobs), keyword, and date added.
One other cool thing about Freelance Writing’s site is that they also have a list of writing contests around the web
These are great for beginners wondering how to get started in freelance writing as you can build your portfolio by creating pieces for these contents. You might even win and earn some real cash doing it!
At the end of the day, the only real drawback is one you’ll find with just about any writing job board: there’s not a streamlined process for submitting an application, getting hired, and getting paid.
- Free to use and no need to sign up
- Saves you time digging for writing jobs on other job boards
- It’s a popular site so you’ll likely face a good bit of competition for jobs
- It’s just a job board – you must figure out the application and getting hired process on your own.
Check Out Freelance Writing
Tips for finding freelance writing jobs online
Obviously I couldn’t cover every last place to find freelance writing gigs in this post, but even this list of the 15 best freelance writing sites give you the sense that there are a lot of options out there.
How do you know which ones are legit or worth investing your time in?
What does it take to find success (or more success) as a freelance writer?
There’s a lot to say, but here are a few key tips.
1. Pitch and apply every day
This is especially important when you’re getting started, but I really recommend even the most experienced freelancers keep a steady schedule of submitting pitches or applications for new work.
Especially when you’re just getting starting, you’re just going to have to play the numbers game to some extent. Even the best writers in the world won’t have a perfect success rate of turning applications to jobs into work.
The more you pitch, the more the numbers are going to work in your favor, and the more you’ll build the resilience and confidence you need to keep going.
And even when you do have some client work, keep pitching and keep applying.
New jobs are posted every day, and at some point your projects will end or your clients might not need help anymore.
The more practiced you are at pitching, the more used to it you are, the better prepared you’ll be.
2. Niches can be great, but you don’t need one to start
Lots of “how to become a freelance writer” advice you’ll find online will mention picking a niche.
Do you want to write about technology or are you more interested in finance?
Do you want to write blog posts or website copy?
Niches are great, and those are good questions to ask and answer for yourself – they’ll help you sort out which jobs to apply for and where you can find the right clients.
But you don’t necessarily need to pick one to get work, and getting too specific too fast may limit the jobs you’re applying for.
For example, there are a lot of topics you could write blog posts on, and in many cases you can learn what you need to know through research – no background knowledge necessary.
By writing lots of blog posts on a variety of subjects, you might find you don’t really like blog writing but you do like writing for the medical industry.
Now you can look for other kinds of writing projects in that industry, and you have some experience to help you land jobs.
If you start by deciding you want to write email campaigns for law firms that specialize in class action lawsuits for mesothelioma sufferers…
You might find out that there just aren’t any of those jobs available, you picked too small of a niche, and are that much more likely to give up in frustration.
3. “Experience” isn’t necessarily a number of years
If you’re a new freelance writer with no experience at all, you’ll be particularly keen to notice many jobs will include some sort of “experience” criteria, often times in the form of “x years of experience required.”
If you just started freelancing two days ago, there’s no way you could get that job that requires four years of experience right?
There are a few corporate HR departments that will have strict hiring requirements where four years of experience needed literally means you better have four years or you’re not at all qualified.
Most of the time, years of experience just means “we need someone who:”
- Doesn’t need to know much about what they’re doing (“no experience necessary”)
- Needs to know something (“1-2 years”)
- Needs to know a good bit (“3-4 years”)
- Has to know a lot (“5+ years”)
The key phrases here being “needs to know” and “what they’re doing.”
If you know how to write well and can demonstrate that with portfolio pieces and, even better portfolio pieces with testimonials from past clients, you should absolutely apply for the job if you want it.
4. Freelance sites that let you create a profile are worth joining
Some of the best freelance writing sites on our list are just job boards – places you’ll find jobs you can apply to, with no signup required.
These are definitely great to have on your list of places to look for work as they’re easy to use and give you that much more opportunity to find a perfect fit.
But freelance writing sites like FlexJobs and Contena that let you create a profile are worth joining, too, for a couple of reasons.
In the case of FlexJobs, in addition to giving you access to more exclusive freelance writing jobs, you’ll also be able to build a reputation within their platform so that potential clients can find you and reach out to you specifically and directly.
Other sites like Contena do the same, and can also serve as an online home for your portfolio so you can easily share your past work with clients you find on other writer jobs sites.
5. Don’t forget about good ol’ fashioned networking
These freelance writing websites, job boards, and platforms are a great place to start (and continue) to find online writing jobs – but it’s important to also build up other channels throughout your journey!
These days, networking obviously includes social media on top of the old standard, in-person “shake hands and exchange business cards” events.
In the world of freelancing, you’ll also find forums like Reddit’s r/freelance or Freelancing School’s own community can be invaluable resources for you.
Sometimes for finding online freelance jobs, sometimes to make connections with fellow freelancers who you can collaborate with, and sometimes to just share your successes and frustrations along the way.
Freelance writing websites FAQ
What is freelance writing?
A freelance writer is someone who earns an income by writing and is paid as a 1099 misc contractor, rather than a W2 employee.
As a freelancer, you’re a self-employed independent business owner, responsible for finding clients who need help, selling them on your services, completing the work, and ensuring you and your client end the project satisfied.
Check out my what is freelancing post for more info on freelancing as a profession!
What types of freelance writing jobs are there?
Writing is probably one of the most “freelance-able” skills around.
While some companies prefer to hire full time employees, all kinds of writing are also done by freelancers.
A few examples of freelance writing jobs you can find online for inspiration:
- Blog writing: creating content for business blogs
- Copywriting: creating sales pages, landing pages, product pages, or emails designed to sell products and services
- Content writing: creating content for white papers and ebooks; overlaps with blog writing and social media writing
- SEO writing: creating blog posts and website copy focused on ranking in search engines like Google
- Web content: writing for website pages; overlaps with blog writing, copywriting, and SEO writing
- Social media writing: creating written content to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
- Video script writing: creating scripts for videos
- Email writing: creating email newsletters and sales emails
What are the highest paying freelance writing jobs?
The amount you’ll earn depends on a few factors like:
- Where you’re finding the writing job
- What type of freelance writing job you’re applying for
- What industry your potential client is in
- How much revenue your potential client’s business generates
- Your level of writing skill
- The quality of your portfolio and testimonials
- Your sales skills
That being said, I took a look through Upwork to get you some more concrete numbers.
Here are a few ranges I’d estimate for the most popular kinds of online writing jobs:
- Landing/Sales page writing: $100 – $1,000 per page
- Website content writing: $50 – $250 per page
- Blog Post writing: $25 – $250
- Ebook/white paper writing: $100 – $1,000 each
- Email writing: $25 – $250 each
- Social media writing: $1 to $10 per post
Which sites have the best freelance writing jobs for beginners?
The most important thing for beginners looking to land freelance writing jobs is to know that it’s a numbers game. You’ll have to apply to a lot of jobs before you land one, and after that it’s still going to take a lot of work.
As a reference point, you’re absolutely crushing it if you get a response to 3 out of every 10 applications you send. And if 1 of those 10 turns into a freelance writing gig, that’s a win.
It takes time and persistence to get started and keep going as a freelance writer.
While all of the freelance writing websites I included above are worth checking out, I’d most recommend:
- Contena – the additional support and resources you get on top of their online writing job board (the coaching, courses, rates tool, etc) are super valuable to help you get your freelancing legs under you.
- Textbroker – you won’t be able to earn a lot in the grand scheme of things through this site, but it can be a good place to earn your first few freelance writing dollars while you start to build a portfolio you can use to get better/higher paying work.
- Upwork – I have a few friends who have had a lot of success with this platform, even though the fees aren’t great. They’re the biggest freelancing marketplace which means there’s always plenty of work available, and the fact that you can get testimonials to build up your credibility and eventually have clients find and reach out to you is super valuable.
- FlexJobs – This is a fantastic, vetted alternative to Upwork. And the subscription will cost you less in the long-run than the cost of applying for projects. These jobs are high-quality and flexible.
How do I start freelance writing if I have no experience?
Check out my how to start freelancing article for the complete 9-step plan I recommend (tons of actionable details in there for you.
Some particular tips for how to become a freelance writer :
- Your portfolio and testimonials are two of the most important tools you’ll have for getting online writing jobs. Create a few samples for the kind of writing work you want to do, then use them to land more work. Always ask your clients for a testimonial!
- You’re going to have to pitch a lot, no matter which freelance writing website you use. Set a goal to send so many applications/proposals out every day and stick to it. Only scale back when you start to run out of time to actually do project work.
- Blog writing is probably the best/easiest type of freelance writing to start with. Plenty of people want to pay freelancers for them, they’re relatively small projects (so there’s less risk for your clients if things don’t work out – that makes them easier to sell), and they’re a good stepping stone to start client relationships, and branch off into other kinds of online writing.
- Student login
Free Course: 5 Ways in 5 Days to Make More Money Freelancing
The complete guide on how to start freelance writing
If you’ve got a way with words and love to write, you should consider looking for freelance writing work. Freelance writers are able to take on a range of projects, from a variety of different employers , which can make for an interesting side hustle, or even a varied and flexible career.
If you’re ready to take the leap, but not quite sure how to get started, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for all you need to know about getting started in freelance writing, building a portfolio, and making an income .
You’ll also learn how the Wise business account has become a lifesaver for freelancers looking to receive payments from abroad and save money along the way.
How to start your freelance writing career in 6 easy steps
For most people getting started in writing, it makes sense to choose a topic to focus on. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to have studied the subject you write about or hold any set qualifications. Often simply being passionate about a topic, and having an engaging writing style, is enough to start winning work.
Here are some simple steps to get started:
1. Choose your freelance writing specialty
Picking both the type of writing you want to do and the related niche are important for your future as a freelance writer. By choosing an area where you're hold expertise and enthusiasm, you’ll find you can write well without needing to spend hours on research - and your energy will shine through in your work. Take a look at both the areas of writing and some of their corresponding niches.
Business-to-business (B2B) writing
Though sales teams often get the glory for closing B2B deals, the content that makes their clients aware of the product is from marketing teams, who often employ freelance writers.
This area of writing isn’t going away . In fact, B2B businesses are still bringing their products and services online, so this is a place where your business skills (if you’ve got a background in it) can really shine. Another interesting aspect of B2B writing is that it takes a different tone than writing for individual consumers. As business deals take longer to close, you can expect this type of content to both inform users and offer comparisons among various products and services.
Copywriting
Copywriting gets into the nitty-gritty of making the sentences, paragraphs, and entire articles flow and produce a desired action from your readers. This area of freelance writing often occurs on landing pages, where a copywriter is used to get the perfect words and phrases on the site to close the deal. For this reason, copywriters can make the big bucks. Of course, big money also means big results, as copy also comes with thorough testing, you can expect plenty of scrutiny and measurement alongside your writing.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) writing
B2C writing is one of the most dynamic options in freelance writing, where you will write content from the top and bottom of the funnel. For example, you could be writing an article about how to get to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C or an article detailing where to buy the latest product from a famous brand. Both articles serve an essential function, but are focused on readers at different phases of the customer journey. Unlike B2B writing, you will often use a more informal tone. As strategies differ in each business’s content plan, you will find that your writing in this area can be quite dynamic.
You could choose one of these popular niches, or pick a favorite hobby or interest of your own for your personal blog :
- Fitness and diet
- Health and wellbeing
- Family, relationships, and parenting
- Yoga and meditation
- Cooking and nutrition
- Finance and budgeting
- Leadership and careers
- Crafting, knitting or other creative hobbies
Technical Writing
Freelancers often take the technical writing path if they hold niche expertise in a specific field. Some examples of fields where technical writing is flourishing are medicine, engineering, law, IT, and other STEM fields. Technical writing also offers quality pay, as experts with quality writing skills are rare. You can expect to find an array of options for technical writing, from blogs on niche issues to technical documents necessary for both internal and external use. In the end, a technical writer is typically responsible for making complex topics more digestible for their target audience.
2. Set up a website or blog
Having an online presence is essential if you want to become a freelance writer. Writing your own blog is a simple way to achieve this, and gives a space to write, share, and get feedback on your work. You can get a blog for free from Wordpress or Wix , or post on an outlet like Medium . Alternatively, you may want to set up your own website to serve both as a space for blogging and an online resume and portfolio to share with prospective customers.
3. Write great sample work
Before you can progress any further you’ll need to create sample work which becomes your portfolio. Many writers publish online on their own blogs, or as guest writers for other blogs and online magazines. Share your work with family and friends at this stage, to start to get feedback and develop a reader base.
When you start to send out pitches for paid work, you can use your sample work as a resume to show what you’re capable of.
4. Pitch yourself everywhere
You’ve now put together your portfolio and started to build your readership in your chosen subject. It’s time to start to pitch for more work. You’ll find that online and print magazines and other outlets may offer one-off paid projects, guest opportunities, or ongoing writing jobs. Some of these may not be paid - or may pay only a token amount. However, for many new freelance writers, they’re a neat way to build your portfolio further and reach a broader audience — so well worth considering.
You can also pitch companies and websites you love, to offer your services. Here are a few great ways to get your name out there:
- Develop a short, effective ‘elevator pitch’ so you’re always ready to tell someone what you do. You never know who you’ll run into who may need a writer
- Contact companies you love and offer to either write for their blog or create sponsored posts about their products for your own blog
- Join networking groups online and in person to build connections among other freelance writers. It’s common for available jobs to be shared in these communities
- Pitch online and print magazines directly, contacting the editors with ideas for specific articles you may provide
- Look at freelance marketplace sites like Fiverr , Upwork and Freelancer.com — there are often writing opportunities here, although they may not be the highest paid out there. Pick the jobs that appeal and use it as a springboard to bigger things if you need to
- If you love to blog, read and comment on other blogs in your niche. You’ll quickly get to know other writers, and may find opportunities to collaborate and share ideas
- Keep your LinkedIn and other social media pages up to date and include links to your published work for employers to see
5. Check writing job boards
Specialist job boards are a perfect source of leads if you’re looking for more high profile and paid writing work. Communities of writers may share ideas and information about sites, magazines and blogs you can connect with. Take a look at these job boards and resources as a great starting point:
- BloggingPro
- The Writer Finder
6. Collect testimonials from your clients
As you start to build a reputation, it can really help to have testimonials from previous clients . Ask for a few words about working with you, either by email after you’ve completed a job, or using the testimonial function on LinkedIn. Publish great client reviews on your website, so new customers can see what you do best.
Three tips for making more money as a freelance writer
Like any new business, it’ll take time to grow your freelance writing career and develop the connections you need to start earning money. However, once you’re up and running it can be a great second income — or a full time job if you’d like it to be.
Here are some tips on taking your freelance writing to the next level, and earning more money as you go:
The right goals for you will depend on whether you’re writing for fun, as a second stream of income to supplement your full time job, or as a future career. However, having some goals set out in writing is the best way to make sure you stay on the track that works for you . Your goals might be to write a certain number of pieces per week, to get published in a particular magazine, or to earn a fixed monthly amount, for example.
Working freelance means you’re in charge of your own time. This is an amazing perk — but also can mean that you spend longer than you realize on some pieces of work, or that you blur the lines between work time and leisure time. Tracking how you spend your time is the best way to make sure you’re charging the right amount for your work, and can help you see ways to earn more by focusing on the writing which pays best per hour.
1. Avoid content mills
Content mills offer work to freelance writers, often writing blogs and content marketing materials. However, they often offer low rates to writers, and keep a large amount of the profit from the writing for themselves . In most cases it’s better to avoid these companies if possible. Instead, create your own online presence with a blog or website, network with businesses in your niche, and pitch directly for paid writing opportunities. This may take a little longer than getting a fast fee from a content mill, but it’ll very quickly turn out more profitable.
2. Develop new business as you go
If you’re writing to earn an income you’ll need to continually pitch to new clients to win more work. A good way to do this is to set aside a fixed amount of time every week or month, to seek out new leads, build your network, pitch clients and develop new business ideas. Treat this as a crucial part of your working week, to make sure you have a continued pipeline of work on an ongoing basis.
When you first start writing you might choose to charge a relatively low fee for your work as you build your skills and your portfolio. However, you should review your prices and increase them over time, to make sure you continue to grow your business. Ask friends in the same niche, or use your online network, to get a sense for the market rates they charge, and to make sure you’re pitching at the right level.
3. Grow a global client base
Freelance writers can choose to work for employers based anywhere in the world. Don’t feel constrained by your home location, as you may be able to develop a client base overseas.
Starting to look in English speaking countries is the easiest option - try the UK, Australia, Ireland or New Zealand. However, it’s common for companies in Europe and beyond to need English language blogs, website copy and more — so it can also pay to reach out to customers based in countries where English isn’t the first language, too.
How to be a truly great freelance writer
Once you have your basic building blocks in place, it’s time to take your writing from good to great. Here’s how:
1. Research everything thoroughly
Just like with any other skill, it takes time to really get familiar with the ins and outs of freelance writing. Researching around the subject can help - read all you can about how to write great articles, copy and blog posts, what kind of jobs can you get as a freelancer, how to set your rates, and how to optimize your writing for search engines. You’ll also find a huge volume of helpful and enjoyable information out there about how to become a writer and excel in the career, from those who have already made the leap.
Here are a few good places to look for ideas and inspiration :
- Make a living writing
- Creative Revolt
- Inkwell Editorial
2. Get familiar with the skills and tools that are required
As you develop your client offering, ask what other services they may value. You’ll probably find you can also sell editing services, image sourcing or editing, and maybe search engine optimization (SEO) or social media promotion. By educating yourself on these topics you could increase your income and serve your clients even better.
Great tools and resources for writers:
- Editing products like Grammarly , and Hemingway
- Copyright free image sourcing from places like Unsplash and Pixabay
- Image editing tools like Pixlr X
- Learn SEO with Moz
- Make quality infographics, photos, and posts with Canva
3. Become a master of organization
As a freelance worker you’re in charge of your own workload - which means you’re a project manager, writer, editor, marketing manager, accountant and HR representative all in one .
Create your own systems to make sure you keep on top of the organisation, using some of the following tools:
- Make communication easier with Slack , WhatsApp or any of the other simple online solutions available
- Try task management programs such as Asana or Trello
- Manage your money on the go with a Wise business account
4. Always continue honing your writing craft
Even experienced freelance writers can get better. Continue to educate yourself and learn about the writing skills you need for the type of content you are working on. A key way to get continual professional development is to read other writers working in the same field. Follow industry magazines, sign up to blogs in the same niche as yours, and make use of social media to keep up to date by following fellow writers on Twitter, Medium and any other outlet you love.
If English isn’t your first language you can still make a career out of writing for English language publications based in your home country or in English speaking parts of the world. You’ll need to follow the same basic steps as a native speaker - and if you need some extra practice with your writing you can consider blogging or taking on lower paid work to build your portfolio.
5. Create an outstanding portfolio
Coming up with your portfolio is one of the first things you’ll do as an aspiring freelance writer — but your portfolio isn’t a static document, so you’ll need to update it and your pitch materials as your career and experience grows.
6. How to pitch for jobs
Pitching for work is intimidating when you’re first getting used to it. It’s well worth investing time in creating high-quality targeted pitches for clients you’re interested in working work. Find prospective customers on freelance marketplace websites like UpWork , Problogger , Fiverr and Textbroker , or contact companies and sites you love directly.
Your pitch should be a short and pithy introduction which gets customers interested. For example:
“I’m a freelance writer and digital nomad, specializing in creating engaging copy about the products, services and tools which make life better as a traveler and remote worker. I’d love to discuss how I can help you grow your business with compelling blog posts and articles, ad by generating energy in your social media channels”
Use it as a chance to get the reader’s attention, before providing more background, examples of your work, and your rates.
7. Just do it
Getting started is always the most difficult thing about any new endeavor. Freelance writing is a great creative outlet, which can be fun as well as providing an income. And best of all you’ll need little to no monetary investment to get going. Get yourself a free blog or website, spend a bit of time daydreaming about your favorite topics to write about, and start writing. It’s really that simple.
Give Wise a try and make your dollar go further
When you’re receiving your money from your latest freelance writing project, do you want to get the most you can out of your earnings? Wise offers 19x cheaper business prices compared to Paypal , and you can hold your money in over 50 currencies and cheaply shift money between them.
The Wise Business account offers this, and much more. Whether you need to sync bill payments with QuickBooks, pay multiple employees at once, or receive payments from abroad. Wise Business is here to make your business banking easier.
You can open a Wise account easily online - no need to waste any time.
Save money with Wise business 🚀
This publication is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content in this publication. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from TransferWise Limited or its affiliates. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
Wise is the smart, new way to send money abroad.
FlexJobs Review: A Complete Guide for 2023
FlexJobs is a tool for finding the remote work you’ve always dreamed of. Is it worth it? Let’s review it here, the types of jobs, and other alternatives.
Mike Renaldi
How do I withdraw USD from Upwork from outside the US?
Many freelancers find their work through platforms such as Upwork. This is a fantastic resource for freelance professionals who could be based anywhere on the...
Panna Kemenes
How to become a self-employed international freelancer abroad
Read this guide to discover how to become freelance self-employed abroad, including tips on how to get paid, and how to find your feet.
How to get paid on Upwork
This article will guide you through the process of how to get paid on Upwork. You can also discover cost-effective ways of withdrawing your Upwork funds.
How to sell on Etsy: An easy beginners guide
Here's a thorough beginner friendly guide on how to sell on Etsy. We've broken everything down to an easily digestable guide just for you. Read on.
Easy guidelines for a freelance writer invoice template
What should a great freelance writer invoice template include? We've got the answer for you.
Tips, news and updates for your location
Freelance Content Writers Wanted
Your Words, Your Income, Your Way
Freelance content writing jobs from home can be a great alternative source of income. They also offer a rewarding career for writers who want to expand their skills in writing quality online content. Not many freelance writers, however, receive their payment on time (or at all) for their efforts.
PayPerContent, is the leading go-to website for writers seeking freelance online writing jobs. PayPerContent makes sure to reward you for your timely output. We compensate our writers properly, because we understand that researching topics, being creative, and producing copy that wins customers and converts sales require a lot of hard work.
We accept writers from any location as long as they have good grammar and skills to write engaging and well-researched content on any topic or industry. When you become part of our team, our editors will provide you with the support and feedback you need to take your writing to the next level.
Becoming a Freelance Content Writer
There are various ways to enter the freelance writing business. One approach is to transition from full-time work to a freelance writer job once you have enough contacts who will give you work. Another is to find small online content writing jobs and building your client base from there.
The Work Involved in Freelance Writing
Freelance writers produce the article or copy requested by their client. They can specialize in one area, such as finance, or work as generalists and cover a wide range of topics. Apart from following client specifications, freelance writers need to make sure that the work they produce is clear and free of typos and grammatical issues.
Apply for These Writing Jobs
We’re in search of freelance writers who can do one of these three writing jobs:
Copywriters
We’re looking for someone who skillfully uses words to engage site visitors and convinces them to purchase a product or a service of our clients. Apart from having an excellent command of the English language, the writer must be
Article Writers
This job is for talented individuals who write informative, credible, and well-researched articles. Writers in this role should have excellent grammar and research skills, as well as the ability to write content related to the products and services of our clients.
Blog Writers
We need contributors who produce tips, listicles, how-tos, and other related content in a fun and engaging way. Our blogs must be helpful to readers and shareable to users on social media.
The Perks of Being a Freelance Writer
Even if you are only beginning in your home-based freelance content writing journey, you’ll be happy to know that taking this route offers fantastic benefits. A few of these include:
Job Satisfaction
Producing articles on your favorite subject gives you the satisfaction of working on what you love. You won’t need encouragement or motivation to get up and write if you love what you’re doing.
Flexible Schedule
As a freelance content writer, you have the freedom to choose your schedule. If you’re a night owl, schedule your work in the evening. On the other hand, you can get your work done during the day if you’re a morning person.
Flexible Earnings
You’re in control of how much work you can take on and the amount of money you want to take home.
Succeeding as a Freelance Writer
While the benefits of becoming a freelance writer are enticing, you need to put in the work to succeed. Here are a few tips you can follow:
Polish Your English Skills
Freelance article writing jobs require that you have excellent command of the English language. If your grammar is rusty, for instance, take refresher grammar courses to help you produce high-quality work for your client.
Establish a Routine
The temptation to become distracted and inefficient is a lot more likely for freelancers. You can overcome this by setting up a routine, such as getting up at a specific time, eating breakfast or dinner, and checking your emails to decide where to begin.
Find a Mentor
Succeeding on your own is difficult. Take time to look for a mentor who can help you grow as a writer.
Various Perks for Our Writers
Freelance writers who join our team to produce content for our clients will receive numerous benefits. Apart from the opportunity to work whenever and wherever you want, you’ll enjoy competitive rates, the freedom to choose your topic category based on the available writing assignments, and other incentives.
Who is PayPerContent?
We are a site dedicated to freelance writers who provide well-written content on any topic for any industry. We have hundreds of writers around the world who brilliantly produce guest blogs, informative articles, and other types of content. The output of our writers boosts our client’s online presence, increases brand awareness, and contributes to the overall SEO efforts.
The writers we seek for our talented writing team must have an excellent command of the English language, add value to our client’s products and services, and create informative articles or interesting blogs that encourages readers to share the content on social media.
We write blogs on any conceivable topic from web design to lasers, real estate to cloud computing. We may not write novels, but our wordsmiths forge brands; and our poetry is their business.
We build worlds in words. We are PayPerContent.
Join Our Team
Helpful links.
- [email protected]
Social Media
© 2020 PayPerContent. All Rights Reserved.
How to Become A Content Writer
Becoming a freelance content writer is an excellent work-at-home opportunity for professional, deadline-driven solopreneurs who want to make a living helping companies create effective digital marketing content.
This often comes in the form of blog posts, website pages, email newsletters, product descriptions, and white papers.
The increase in demand for high-quality content doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon, so it’s a good time to get started.
What You Need to Become a Content Writer
First and foremost, you need to be able to write. When presented with a blank page and little information to go on, take charge by planning a way to create brilliant, engaging content. Do this by researching the topic, organizing your thoughts into an outline, writing copy, and reviewing it to make sure it’s free from errors.
Since most content writing jobs pay a flat rate versus by the hour, wasted time means earning less money overall. Ideally, you want to complete the highest number of projects possible without sacrificing quality. If you cringe at the thought of generating loads of content on a tight schedule, then becoming a freelance content writer may not be your cup of tea.
While you can sign up for content writing classes or go to college for writing, this isn’t a requirement. Many clients simply want to work with reliable content writers who can meet deadlines, accept revisions willingly, and create good content. With that said, education and experience in writing helps prove to clients you’re capable, professional, and serious.
To get the job done, you’ll need a few provisions, such as:
- A laptop or desktop with a reliable and secure internet connection.
- Microsoft Word (for many clients, the formatting issues from downloaded Google Docs files isn’t acceptable).
- A Skype account for client calls and video conferences.
- A planner to keep track of invoice dates and project deadlines.
- A free Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). An EIN can be used on W9s for tax purposes in place of your social security number.
How to Get Content Writing Jobs
You can get content writing jobs a few different ways. It’s best to reach out to companies directly or to apply for freelance content writing positions that are advertised on websites like Indeed.com . Applying to posted calls for freelance writers can be a good way to know which companies are looking for new writers. However, companies that post these ads end up with hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants, which can make it difficult for new content writers to obtain their first clients.
Contacting marketing agencies, content writing companies, magazines, and other companies that put out a lot of content can be a more effective strategy for many writers. The editors at these companies might be too busy to put out an advertisement for new writers and there will be fewer applicants with whom to compete. Fortunately, you don’t need many clients to become a full-time freelance content writer. Many writers have enough work with only a handful of regular clients. If you’re going to charge your clients by the hour instead of per word, using freelance time trackers like Traqq can be a great way to calculate your work hours and show your clients proof of your hourly work.
Writing Niches for Beginning Content Writers
Some writing niches, such as technology, medicine, and travel, require years of experience to properly understand the market and cultivate expertise on said subjects. Brainstorm your list based on your own experiences. For instance, if you’re a parent who uses cloth diapers, it isn’t a stretch to write about parenting and eco-friendly products.
Here are some writing niches that most writers can write:
- Product reviews
Best Free Content Writing Training
To be successful as a content writer, invest your time reading and watching videos on content writing training. Below is a list of a few websites that provide professional training:
Skillshare Premium costs money, but you can watch classes through its free 14-day trial that falls under the premium category. Some libraries offer access to Skillshare. Additionally, other classes on blogging, marketing writing, and business writing are completely free.
HubSpot’s Content Marketing Certification Course
HubSpot offers 21 free certification courses; each takes several hours to complete. The one most prevalent to content writers is the content marketing certification course. At the end of each one, you’ll take a test to become certified.
Udemy offers some free and paid training about writing, marketing, and SEO. It’s one of the leading online course providers in the United States.
Best Paid Content Writing Tools
The following tools make it easy and affordable to become a freelance content writer. While there are probably ways to get by without paying for these writing tools, the alternatives may take more time and cost you clients.
Grammarly Premium
Grammarly reviews your work for spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. It’s free to use for these basic features through the browser-based system. The premium version checks for additional criteria, such as plagiarism and passive voice. Since writing errors can cost you a client relationship, this is well worth the annual fee.
Microsoft Word
You can access Google Docs for free. For some clients, this is enough. However, the industry standard is .docx files from Microsoft Word. To open client files and to properly format documents, you will need a licensed copy of Microsoft Office.
WordPress.com
Creating your writer’s website on WordPress.com is easy and affordable. Most freelance content writers don’t need to invest their money on a large custom website hosting provider. A WordPress.com page on a domain you own is enough to host your writing portfolio, biography, and contact information.
Content Writing Platforms
You can choose to apply for assignments on various content writing platforms to receive work. This isn’t the most profitable way to become a freelance content writer, but it can be less stressful and give you more time to focus on writing instead of sales. When you find your own companies for which to write content, you’ll be responsible for finding the client, organizing the contract and payment terms, and doing all the customer service tasks, including delivering the assignment and follow up. Content writing platforms take care of this for you and pay you a portion of what they charge their clients to write the work.
CopyPress pays out writing assignments per word, depending on individual campaigns. As a content writer, you’ll be assigned projects that you can accept or reject. An editor will review your work. Projects are typically blog posts in the 300- to 500-word range. While some reviews on Glassdoor suggest a net-90 payment window and low payment rates, other reviews note high work volume.
Scripted has writers bidding on client writing projects, either by pitching themselves as writers or pitching ideas based on a client request. You choose the flat rate for the project and Scripted adds on a nominal fee. There are not editors to review your writing. Instead, it goes directly to the client for feedback. For this reason, it’s important that you’re able to proofread your own assignments well.
Content Writers
ContentWriters assigns flat-rate writing assignments based on your areas of expertise. You could be asked to come up with proposed blog ideas or be offered regular writing assignments for a specific client or campaign. An editor reviews the work and an administrator is typically responsible for taking care of the customer service aspects of the project. Depending on your niche, this could translate into a moderate amount of assignments paid out twice a month through PayPal.
How to Become a Content Writer with ContentWriters.com
The process of becoming a writer for ContentWriters.com is relatively easy. You will need to apply through the writer sign up form , supply your most current resume and a few writing samples, and take an English proficiency test. If your application looks to be a good fit for the kinds of assignments that are available, a staff member from ContentWriters will conduct a brief phone interview.
No matter which company you choose to write content for, there are some best practices to keep in mind. It’s important to keep in touch with your clients while you are working on an assignment. This means letting them know you accepted an assignment, providing status updates for longer projects, and advising them about delays you anticipate. Ideally, you’ll meet each deadline without any delay.
Volunteer to assist when they need help. For instance, if a client comes to you with a last-minute assignment with which they urgently need help, it could be advantageous to take the assignment. Going out of your way to help could lead to more work.
Catch up on the rest of your content marketing news and strategy
How Wag Uses Marketing to Make You Want to Hire a Dog Walker
Wag is a mobile app-based dog walking service that pairs dog owners who need dog walking, whether immediately or in …
“No Filler or Fluff”: What Exactly Does That Mean in Content Writing?
Web designers, content writing companies, and discerning clients often add the following instruction to their guidelines: No Fluff or Filler. …
Brand Spotlight: Quip
The digital world changes and disrupts everything from hailing a cab to putting food on the table. Now, it’s even …
Get the smartest content insights…
Before you go, take a quick second to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest in marketing, SEO, digital, and content industry updates!
Pin It on Pinterest
- Print Friendly
- Search Search Please fill out this field.
- Career Planning
- Finding a Job
How Does Freelance Writing Work?
Allena Tapia has over 10 years of experience in writing, editing, and translation, including full-time, part-time, and contractual work. She is an expert in the business of freelance writing. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Michigan State University and accomplished one year of a Professional Writing Master's program with research focusing on Latino community rhetoric.
What Is Freelance Writing?
How does the freelance business work, balancing writing with looking for gigs, how do freelancers get paid, why are there freelance writers.
Kristen Curette / Stocksy United
If you're thinking of going into freelance writing, you'll obviously need to have a way with words and grammar. But there are other things to know, such as how to find work and how freelancers get paid. Read on for more details about how freelance writing works.
Key Takeaways
- Freelance writers may work in journalism, public relations, advertising, social media, technical writing, custom content, or many other fields.
- You need to not only be a good writer, but a good marketer in order to continue finding work.
- Rates may be based on word count, article, project, or retainer fee and you may need to submit an invoice for your work.
- Clients need freelance writers because they often don't have enough work for a full-time staff person, and they can save money with part-time freelance help.
Freelance writing is the practice of writing for money while working on one's own and not being employed by a company or organization. Freelance writers produce whatever written text is needed by their clients, either working from home or in a rented office space.
Writers can have many different clients, or one very large client with a lot of steady, ongoing work. You can be a generalist, covering topics as diverse as automobiles and architectural design. Or you can specialize in one area, such as the culinary arts. Specialists may find more assignments than generalists because they build a body of knowledge that allows them to work faster, and they get a track record that editors come to know.
Freelance writers are not only writers; they are also marketing themselves and their skills to potential clients. Freelance writers are often business owners because they must form a business, whether it's a solo enterprise or an LLC, to separate their personal finances from their business finances.
The successful freelance writer is often a combination of creative wordsmith and shrewd businessperson. Writing well is just the start. You must sell yourself effectively and manage your finances.
Freelance writers compose whatever text their clients need—whether it's magazine articles, website copy, press releases, blog posts, newsletters, internal corporate communications, or brochures. . That is the creative side.
But, freelance writers often approach their work like any other business, spending part of their time seeking new business and the other part of their time staying on top of record-keeping.
A Payoneer study found that 77% of freelancers working in writing and translation services spend zero to six hours a week looking for work.
If you've worked in a writing field full time, you may find freelance writing gigs from connections you made during your previous jobs. Starting from scratch requires more effort. You may want to start your own blog or writing project so that you'll have writing samples to show potential clients until you get your first paid gigs. You can search writing sites such as Media Bistro or Journalism Jobs for gigs, and network as much as possible to find out about opportunities.
Every client has its own process and payment type. For one article, a client may pay by the word or by the piece. If it's a project, they may pay an hourly rate or a flat rate for the whole project. At other times, you may be put on a retainer to provide a certain amount of work every month as needed by the client.
Sometimes a client will want the writer to send an invoice when the work is done, or they'll pay half up front and the remainder when the work is handed in. Sometimes, clients simply want a Paypal message reminding them that payment is due, and then they'll disperse a check. Other clients have intricate computer systems that tell them when it’s time to pay a writer, and no action is needed on the part of the freelancer.
Many individuals and smaller businesses like the convenience of Paypal. However, large organizations stick to the more traditional system of sending checks or direct deposit by the due date noted on submitted invoices.
Whatever kind of payment schedule is used, the writer has to be really good at budgeting and money management because the onus is on them to get paid in a timely fashion.
One reason this career exists is that people, or companies, often need only one project done at a time, such as one booklet written to launch a new product. Perhaps a business needs copy produced for its new website. Hence, there’s no reason to hire an employee.
Instead, it’s simpler to enter into an agreement or contract with an individual writer. Even if the business ends up having several projects in a year, it's still less expensive to farm out the work than hire an employee who requires benefits such as health care.
Because remote work has become much more prevalent, many companies are happy to hire individuals who can work remotely, using their own space.
The life of a freelance writer is not only an independent one with a great deal of flexibility. If you become skilled in the business side (and work hard enough) it can become a financially successful life.
What are the types of freelance writing jobs?
Freelance writers may write articles for media or a corporate newsletter or website; copy for ads, commercials, or other marketing materials; speeches for business leaders, politicians, or other speakers; or blog posts for themselves or an organization.
How much do freelance writers make?
The rate for freelance writers varies dramatically depending on the industry, type of work, and your experience level. Payscale reports that the median hourly wage for freelance writers as of June 2022 is $24.64, and that freelance writers may make anywhere from $25,000 to $115,000 a year.
Keeper Tax. " Should I Start an LLC as a Freelancer? "
Payoneer. " The Payoneer Freelancer Income Survey ." Page 14.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. " What Writers and Authors Do ."
Payscale. " Freelance Writer Hourly Pay ."
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Writing Jobs: 21 Great Places To Find Work That Pays
Finding a writing job is tough if you don’t know where to look.
Well, good news. If you want to get paid to write, you have more opportunities than ever. The days of the starving artist are over thanks to:
- Content marketing
- Copywriting
- Freelance writing online
- Self-publishing
Today you can earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month income from expressing your creative ideas, telling stories and sharing your expertise through the written word.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this article: I’ve listed 21 websites, services and platforms that offer writing jobs for all types of writers. Each section includes:
- An analysis of the website
- What kinds of jobs they offer
Keep in mind some sites offer other types of writer jobs than what I’ve included in this guide. Rates also vary widely depending on your niche, location and time of year. Writing is a diverse career that offers many different ways to earn money. Let’s get started.
Writers Work contains freelance writing opportunities for writers who want to start their career
Where Can You Find Writing Jobs That Pay?
1. problogger, 3. bloggingpro, 4. iwriter, 5. freelance writing jobs, 6. flexjobs, 7. freelance writers den, 8. freelancer, 9. craigslist, 10. constant content, 11. writers work, 12. writeraccess, 13. scripted, 14. mediabistro, 15. all freelance writing, 16. online writing jobs, 17. writerbay.com, 18. american writers and artists, inc. (awai), 19. listverse, 20. medium, 21. linkedin, how much can writers get paid, how i earn an income from writing, what to do with your writing income, diversify your writing income, writing jobs faq, need help getting paid to write.
Praise be for the internet. Now you can write from anywhere and get paid for your hard work. Be it Miami, Seattle or Dublin, online writing jobs that pay well are available without any geographic restrictions. However, smart writers know where to look.
You could write for content mills–a site or service that churns out cheap articles for other websites–but those don’t pay much.
Instead, set up job alerts on popular writing sites (I’ll give you all the details below.) and stay up-to-date on the best writing gigs available.
ProBlogger is one of the best job boards for bloggers. It’s a great place to find copywriting jobs and a fantastic way to recruit freelancers.
The site includes several resources that bloggers can use to improve their blogs and attracts some of the best writers and authors from around the world.
The job boards attract some of the highest paying and some most prestigious writing opportunities and editing jobs. Many top bloggers I know advertise here looking for part-time and full-time writers.
Types of Writing Jobs Offered
- Blog post and content writers
- Copywriters
- Ghostwriters
- Editors and proofreaders
- Journalists
- Researchers
- Content marketers
- Social media managers
- SEO consultants
Similar to Upwork, the rates of ProBlogger jobs are based on the work. Determine your price ahead of time based on average time and effort needed and make that clear to the job advertiser. Note: This job board will help you find prospects. It’s up to you to make sure they’re the right fit and meet your income requirements.
- One of the leading marketplaces for blogging jobs over the past 10 years
- No sign-up process or profile creation needed
- Job advertisers required to pay at least $70, a fee that weeds out bottom feeders
- Only five or so leads every day
- Difficult to earn full-time income right away
- Site doesn’t screen jobs
Upwork , previously known as oDesk, is a one-stop solution for all kinds of writer jobs.
BloggingPro is a free job site that classifies jobs according to type—freelance, internship, contract, part-time or temporary. Simply browse for work using these categories.
Known for freelance jobs, Upwork makes it easy and cost-effective to find, hire and work with the best professionals around the world.
Whether you are looking for creative writing jobs, greeting card writing gigs or medical writing projects, this is a good platform to start. I’ve used Upwork to source a video editor, podcast editor, designer, bookkeeper and more.
- Social media marketing
- Content writing
- Information security
- Freelance writing
Pay rates on Upwork vary, as nearly all listings in the job search are freelance. Potential workers define their payment rate (or bid) in their proposals.
Upwork charges a small fee depending on your account type. This starts at 20% for the first $500 billed and drops to 5% for lifetime billing once you exceed $10,000.
Novice freelancers might find it hard to make good money at first because of the complicated bidding system.
You’ll also need to take on some low-paying work at first until you’ve built a reputable Upwork profile.
Fortunately, you can take expert skill tests for freelancers. Once you pass the criteria, you can display it on your profile and show your expertise to clients.
- Long-term contracts
- Opportunity to earn bonuses
- Ability to build long-term relationships with clients
- Return and referral clients
- Free to join
- A lot of spam jobs
- 20% commission for the first $500 billed with a client (higher than other platforms)
- Low-paying jobs
- A lot of competition
- Takes time to build a profile that stands out on Upwork
The BloggingPro job board caters mostly to bloggers. Online freelancers can find the latest jobs offered, like blogging, content writing, creative writing, journalism or working as a content strategist. BloggingPro is a free job site that classifies jobs according to type—freelance, internship, contract, part-time or temporary. Simply browse for work using these categories.
Once you find a job you like, send an application. Most employers require a resume and previous work as a reference.
On that last point, no matter where you look for work as a writer, it’s a good idea to start your own site and capture client testimonials.
- Content strategy
BloggingPro recommends that employers pay a minimum of $15 per hour or 500 words; however, rates on the site vary like on most other writing job boards.
- BloggingPro job board updated daily
- Job searching done for you
- Free for job seekers
- BloggingPro charges $30 for 30 days to those looking to hire writers.
- Writer job descriptions do not indicate compensation.
iWriter is an easy-to-use place to find online writing jobs.
To start, sign in and take a short writing test. Once you pass the test, you can pick articles and start writing.
As you receive positive reviews, your writer level increases and makes you more desirable to those hiring.
- Article rewrites
- Product descriptions
Writers receive 65% of the price of each article from the general writing queue. The actual dollar amounts vary based on your writer “level,” i.e., standard, premium, elite or elite plus) and the length of the article.
For example, an experienced writer can earn $80 for a 500-word article.
Writers get paid via PayPal and must have a valid PayPal account. Unfortunately, that means some additional fees and a lousy exchange rate.
Building trust by consistently delivering high-quality work will result in the highest pay on iWriter.
Job advertisers can send you special requests once you have established yourself. Moreover, writers receive 70% of the article cost for these special requests.
- Large variety of writing niches
- Freedom to choose how much you want to write each day
- Ability to earn up to $80 per 500 words once established
- Opportunity to build a client base and receive special requests
- Can write only basic articles when starting on iWriter
- Pay discussed above requires elite writer status on iWriter
Freelance Writing Jobs , also known as Freelance Writing Gigs, helps writers and authors find jobs that pay well.
The site hand-picks work from job sites, classified ads and company websites i.e. more than just remote writing jobs . They include positions that might not directly involve writing but are still writer- and editor- related.
- Remote writing
- Short story writing
- Freelance copywriting
- Editing and proofreading
- Paid internships
The job ads on this site don’t include compensation rates. You negotiate compensation with the person/company that hires you or you learn the payment rate after they hire you.
- Jobs updated Monday through Friday
- Multiple posts about job sightings and helpful freelance writing articles
- Site doesn’t accept low-paying jobs
- Doesn’t include rates in job postings
- Job seekers limited to the jobs the blog chooses to feature
FlexJobs is a career site geared toward people looking for flexibility in a job. They focus on work-at-home, part-time and freelance jobs. FlexJobs promises that each job they list is flexible and scam-free.
- Content manager
- Managing editor
- News writer
- Technical writer
Wages vary based on word counts, kind of work, level of expertise and the advertiser. Anyone who wants a job with some flexibility such as telecommuting, freelance or flexitime jobs should use FlexJobs. If you are searching specifically for telecommuting jobs, check out Virtual Vocations .
- One of the most accredited resources for job seekers
- Scam screening
- No advertisements
- More than 50 categories and subcategories
- Offers a money-back guarantee
- A 10-year track record of providing freelance jobs
- Membership costs $14.95 per month (There are also options for yearly or 3-month memberships and coupon codes are regularly available.)
- Some writing jobs not exclusive to FlexJobs.
The Freelance Writers Den is a well-known community for part-time and full-time freelance writers. It claims more than 1,400 members and is run by well-known blogger Carol Tice, for whom I’ve written guest blog posts .
This membership-based website and community is dedicated to helping good writers make more money. You can get help from other motivated freelance writers from around the world on the Den’s 24/7 forums, saving you time and helping you achieve your writing goals .
- Health writing
- Technical writing
- Creative writing
This website doesn’t indicate publicly the average pay you can earn. You can get paid per hour, per month or per project.
I found one listing that offered $40 per hour and another that offered up to $1,000 per month. The Den job board is known as the “junk-free job board,” in that it doesn’t accept any jobs below $50 per blog post or $100 per article.
- Provides more than 300 hours of mini-courses on different aspects of freelance writing
- Offers access to an informative forum where members can discuss boot camp material and ask for advice about freelance writing
- Includes collection of useful resources
- Features only jobs paying decent rates
- Posts one live event and one prerecorded podcast monthly that features experts discussing topics related to freelance writing
- Contains a collection of all of the Freelance Writers Den’s podcasts and webinars
- Most job ads cater to U.S. writers and authors.
- Membership in Freelance Writers Den costs $25/month.
- Membership opens twice per year rather than whenever you want. (Get on the waiting list to be notified if a seat opens up sooner.)
Freelancer is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace, determined by the total number of jobs and users.
Freelancer is a job board that offers different types of job listings and work opportunities. If you’re a copywriter, editor, grant writer, content strategist or creative writer, you’re sure to find a suitable writing job. You can get work in three easy steps:
- Browse jobs matching your niche and skills
- Apply for the job
- Newsletters
- Grant writing
- Resume writing
You’ll define your payment rate (which is your bid) in your proposal.
- Flexible hours
- Lots of writing job offers
- Organized tech support
- Regularly refreshed writing opportunities available
- Free sign-up
- Withdrawing money takes a while (14 days to receive your payment after the withdrawal request).
- Offers are not sorted according to the area of expertise, though there is a keyword search.
There’s more to Craigslist than buying and selling. It’s also a popular place for people to find job openings at businesses in their area. It’s a good source of freelance writing and editing jobs.
If you’re searching for a more permanent writing opportunity or even a part-time job, Craigslist offers a variety of permanent positions, including staff writer, content lead and SEO specialist.
Search for writing jobs under the “Writing/Editing” category of the job listings. Unfortunately, you’ll have to browse through each city’s listings first.
- Column writing
- Magazine work
- Guest post writing
Rates vary based on jobs and employers
- Established classified ads site
- Good source of freelance jobs
- Classifieds for specific cities and metro areas
- Variety of jobs in many niches
- Employers can post jobs anonymously, so you don’t know who is hiring.
- Writing jobs are not verified.
- You need to browse each city first to look for a specific job.
- Listings are very general, meaning it takes time to find a good part time job .
Constant Content is one of the largest and most established marketplaces for ready-made content.
Essentially, this content marketing service connects top writers with large companies like Uber, Walgreens and eBay.
Constant Content helps writers and authors feature and sell their work, while editors and proofreaders on the site give detailed feedback and support to writers.
However, like many premium writing jobs sites, acceptance criteria is stringent.
- Freelance writing
- Custom content writing service
- Press releases
Set your price. Their top writers earn thousands of dollars per year.
- Established platform
- Flexible schedule and workload
- Can build long-term relationships with clients
- Ability to work alone, on a team or in an expert group
- Every content writer must pass a quiz and provide a writing sample.
- Only a fraction of applicants is accepted.
- Constant Content takes a commission from your client free.
Writers Work connects writers with companies that need an expert in the written word.
It’s an all-in-one platform for landing paid writing gigs. They’ll offer career training, writing tools, an online portfolio, portfolio assessment, and more.
Writers Work positions include part-time, full time, and contract positions that are remote gigs or freelance projects. The site provides training through videos, courses, and live support.
Writers Work minimizes time spent searching for jobs by curating writing job listings from many sources. If you want to learn more about Writers Work, read our review.
- General content
- Social media posts
Freelance writers can earn from $20-$65/hour. Payment varies depending on skill level and average time spent on each job.
- Distraction-free text editor with readability functions
- A variety of places to pitch writing work
- Effective training videos
- Easy to navigate
- Membership requires one-time fee of $47.
- You can’t filter older opportunities.
- The goals feature needs far more options.
WriterAccess is an award-winning online marketplace connecting thousands of customers, writers, copy editors, proofreaders, and translators.
Their platform makes it easy for companies and agencies to find good writers and translators in any industry.
I often use Writer’s Access to hire other people who have a skillset like copywriting or understand a particular niche.
A platform like Writers Access is good if you have expert knowledge in specific areas like healthcare, the law, security, and so on.
To stand out on Writers Access, it’s a good idea to upload a writing sample for your profile. You may also want to identify your niche (e.g. healthcare, personal finance, etc.) and specialisms (e.g. copywriting).
Many editors and owners of popular B2B websites and blogs use Writers Access to hire writers for short-term gigs e.g. Write 1,000 words about the latest healthcare trends in XX.
If you want to stand out from the pool of writers on Writer Access, I’d recommend honing your SEO skills. The job listings are varied and even include poetry submissions.
Services include everything from public relations tasks to editing jobs.
- Whitepapers
- Translating
- Website copy
You are paid based on your rankings and ratings.
Ratings are determined by the number of stars your writing skills earn, proficiency, and years of experience. Your star rating sets the per-word payment you’ll receive. Writers get 70% of the order price.
Ranking System
The ranking or rating system pays in accordance with ability. Currently, the levels and their minimum per word pay is as follows:
- The most basic payment level offers 2.8 cents per word.
- The most advanced payment level offers $1.40 per word or $105 per hour.
The higher your star level, the more you’re paid for writing projects, ranging from 1.4 cents to more than 7 cents per word.
However, if you are an elite writer who is part of the Pro Marketplace tier, you negotiate a price leveraging your certifications, awards, and verified pay rates.
- Can match your writing skills and interests with brands and agencies
- A higher star rating yields a higher expected rate per word
- Most communication occurs between client and writer.
- In many cases, writers compete for articles.
- Entry-level writers rarely get to choose which articles to write.
- New writers may find the payment system complex.
Scripted is an online marketplace that connects companies with freelance writers who can fulfill different writing gigs like blogs, articles, and even bulk social media posts.
On Scripted, you write as a ghostwriter for clients who need fresh content. Your name will not be published on what you create, and all rights to the content belong to the client when they accept the article.
Scripted considers writers in the U.S. and other countries, including Canada, Australia and in Europe.
- Digital marketing
- Consumer reports
How much you earn varies according to the type of content, article length, and topic. You can set your own prices. Some assignments pay about $20 apiece, while other writers claim they’ve earned four figures a month.
Writers are automatically paid five days after their work is accepted. They can also qualify for partial payment on any rejected assignment.
- Opportunity for clients to “favorite” your writing, which gives you first dibs on assignments from those clients
- More than 158 writing niches to choose from
- Quick payments
- Work isn’t often available.
- Writers must pass tests to gain acceptance on the site.
- Reviews are mixed
Mediabistro is a well-known freelance writing job board and career destination for savvy media professionals.
This site will be of help if you’re searching for new online writing opportunities or want to improve your skills. The job search board is primarily for finding work in media in the U.S. They also offer freelance work and remote jobs from time to time.
Mediabistro serves as a network to connect you with other media professionals.
- Graphic design
- Digital production
Rates vary, however, these are a few of their recent writer job descriptions:
- Freelance research analyst – remote – $15–18 per hour
- Copywriters/Researchers for magazine database – $100+ per post
- Freelance Fiction Writer – $50 per 1,500 words
Note: Premium members gain access to full-length articles that provide advice for newbie freelance writers. You’ll also learn how to make a compelling pitch and format content properly.
- Easy-to-navigate website
- Free basic offering
- Lots of opportunities to sort through. You’ll need a good idea of what you want.
All Freelance Writing has helped freelance writers build their writing careers since 2006.
It’s a job board for novice writers who are looking for new writing gigs.
The site displays pay rates upfront, so you know what to expect before even deciding to write a cover letter. All Freelance Writing includes a writer’s market or jobs board for print jobs and writing opportunities.
It also offers a collection of resources and tips for advancing your professional writing career. All Freelance Writing is an excellent site for mastering the business side of freelancing.
The job listings are varied and even include poetry submissions.
- Ghostwriting
- Guest posts
- Blog writing
- Web content
- Prose/Poetry
- Business writing
- Healthcare or medical writing
- Magazine writing
Rates vary. The site categorizes between low pay and pro-rate. Some of the advertised writing jobs go up to $500 or more. Here is how jobs are categorized:
- Very low: $1–35 e.g. for a 400-word blog post
- Low: $25–$50
- Semi-pro: $50–$100
- Pro: $250–$500+
- Free service for job seekers
- Includes only freelance writing jobs and rate information
- Limited number of writing jobs
- Smaller jobs board than other sites in this guide
Online Writing Jobs , previously known as QualityGal.com, is a free website for U.S. freelance writers. It offers writing opportunities for those at any skill level, including entry-level writers.
You will need to know SEO (search engine optimization) to work on this site, as the clients usually want to increase website visits.
- SEO content writers
Pay for most articles ranges between $10 and $50. Several factors can influence your remuneration, including your authority within given writing niches.
- Writers paid weekly
- Helpful resources available to writers
- Available to U.S. freelance writers only
WriterBay.com is a supplier of freelance writing jobs. They’re looking for writers who are proficient in their respective fields and who can deliver high-quality articles or papers on time.
There are 4 simple steps to join:
- Fill out the application form.
- Pass a test that will assess your grammar and formatting skills.
- Write from a brief prompt and upload a sample essay.
- Find and scan your higher education certificate for uploading to their site.
Other than writing skills and a strong desire to make money, all you need to begin working with them is an internet connection..
- Freelance writing jobs, both academic and nonacademic
Though the site does not indicate specific rates, WriterBay.com lists the top ten writers’ profit for the past 30 days. At the time of this writing, the highest listing was $6,563.
- No registration fees and free lifetime membership
- Competitive rates
- Wide variety of exciting projects and assignments
- Room for personal growth
- 24/7 writer support team
- Freelance work can be demanding and often lacks a reasonable time frame.
- Writerbay.com seems to prefer writers who are always online on their system.
- Your level of education should be a bachelor’s degree or above.
American Writers and Artists, Inc. , teaches nonfiction writers how to earn thousands of dollars through copywriting (writing words that sell products or services).
This type of writing gig is quite profitable. For example, a B2B company may hire a copywriter to produce copy for a series of landing pages . Instead of getting paid per word, the copywriter may receive a commission based on the number of conversions that the landing page generates.
They’re one of the more established providers of writing training in the industry today. They also teach content marketing and direct response. One of their courses even specializes in teaching writers how to work at home and earn a living.
AWAI offers a “ten thousand” challenge that allows you to build your portfolio (and earn some decent cash) before you finish the program. I’ve taken some AWAI copywriting courses, and their materials are first-rate.
- Direct response writing
- Banner ads and text ads
Rates vary, however, AWAI provides a free pricing guide to the work their website offers. Here are some of the examples from the guide:
- Home Page Content: SEO and Sales-conversion Copywriting: $1,500–$3,000
- Product Page Update: SEO and Sales-conversion Copy: $50–$100 per page
- Article of 1,200–2,000 words with SEO: $250–$500
- E-book: $2,000–$7,000
- E-newsletter/E-zine: $800 – $1,500
- Lots of online writing opportunities for freelance work
- Translates to other types of writing, e.g., blogging
- AWAI requires a joining fee. Their basic copywriting programme costs $497.
- Copywriting and direct response writing require specific skills and training.
- Building a name for yourself and acquiring high-profile clients takes time.
Listverse is a popular site featuring list articles. It will pay you $100 for writing a 10-item “listicle.” Typically, you’ll need excellent English, knowledge of pop-culture, and a sense of humor.
- Writing list posts or listicles
$100 per approved listicle
- Listicles are fast to write
- Relatively modest pay
- Supports only Paypal, so you’ll face fees
- They might reject your listicle
Medium places much of its content behind a paywall for premium readers. They allocate some of this fee toward paying writers who are part of the partner program based on the post’s member rating.
The Medium partner program enables any member of Medium to get paid for writing stories for members each month. I’m a member and receive more or less than one hundred dollars each month depending on what I wrote.
That doesn’t sound like much, but I don’t focus too much on this platform.
I’m also in a Medium group and members in that group receive five figures a month from writing on Medium. They usually cover topics like entrepreneurship or personal development and work from home.
You can write about whatever you like in Medium. The trick is finding an audience who will read it!
You don’t need to worry too much writing long-winded writing to get paid by Medium. The platform is less about landing a writing gig and more about attracting traffic and readers to your published articles. Because anyone can press publish.
That said, top Medium writers publish on publications. If you want to write for those, build a relationship with the editor on Medium, or look for submission guidelines.
Medium copy editors and proofreaders will work with top writers on their stories and even promote them.
- Self-help advice
- Entrepreneurship advice
Here’s an update from the Medium partner program team for June 2019:
- 55% of writers who wrote at least one story earned something.
- 7.8% of active writers made more than $100 in a month.
- $13,577.33 was the most collected by a writer for June, and $3,913.74 was the most received for a single story at time of writing.
- Great for building a name for yourself
- Easy to use
- Contains a built-in readership
- Relatively easy to earn a modest amount each month (approximately one hundred dollars)
- Only top Medium writers earn four- or five-figures a month.
- You might not get any feedback on your work if people don’t read it.
- Medium, like any social media network, takes a few months to master.
LinkedIn is a relatively useful social media network for writers and editors looking for work.
Firstly, if you’re a freelance writer, you can reach out to your connections and pitch them relevant ideas. You’ll need a LinkedIn premium membership to get the most out of this InMail service.
Secondly, many LinkedIn users share updates when their company has a vacancy. So it’s worth checking your feeds for updates once or twice a week if you’re looking for part-time or full-time work.
Finally, reputable companies all have dedicated pages on LinkedIn. These pages feature high-quality vacancies and will appear in your feed provided you’ve set your interests accordingly. These vacancies cover a range of disciplines from copywriting to content marketing.
- High-quality writing jobs and vacancies from reputable companies.
- Competition is high.
- You will probably have to go through a standard recruitment process with an HR team or interviewer.
- Not specific to just writing
Rates for writers vary depending on what you write and where you sell your work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), writers and editors in America earn up to $98,840 per year.
I asked my editor about this salary and she said it sounded too high. Salary reports for writers vary a lot. Therefore, here are five more sources that provide detailed data regarding how much writers are paid for their work.
Salaries and Rates for Writers
Like most online jobs , these rates and salaries vary by time of year, location, and industry.
I’ve captured the rates at the time of writing this article (August 2019). If you’d like me to update a figure, leave a comment below.
1. Glassdoor
According to Glassdoor, freelance writers earn an average of €48,252 per year in the United States. You can earn more if you specialize in an area like copywriting or content writing. Source
2. PayScale
A freelance writer can expect to earn $21.59 per hour, excluding commissions and bonus sharing. They can also expect an average salary of $40,148 depending on their industry and experience.
My takeaway?
This industry rate is on the low-side and covers too many specialisms.
Freelance copywriters, for example, regularly earn over six figures.
(Just take any of the AWAI courses !)
You can also earn a lot more by providing additional services like SEO, consulting, or even coaching.
Alternatively, consider turning your work into a book or course that you sell for a higher price-point. Source
3. Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA)
Similar to PayScale, the EFA provides salary data for subcategories of writing.
Here is the data from their 2019 report: Source
- $40–50/hour; 20–25 cents/word
- $50–60/hour; 26–50cents/word
- $50–60/hour; 30–95cents/word
- $40–50/hour; 26–50cents/word
- $60–70/hour; 80–95cents/word
- $40–100/hour; 20cents–$2/word
- $50–60/hour; 45–55cents/word
4. The Irish Times
Much of the data provided above concerns, American writers and authors.
However, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco aren’t the only hubs for earning money as a writer. Just ask me. I’m an Irish writer!
The Irish Times says many new authors struggle to sell more than 100 copies of their book in a single year and earn less than $500 .
However, writers can earn more money by investing in a good book and advertising their books. Amazon pays writers as follows:
- Books sold for $2.98 or under: 35% of the price
- Books sold for $2.99 to $9.99: up to 70% of the price
If a writer sells a thousand copies of a book for $9.99 in year one, they can earn up to $7,000 for one book. If a writer self-publishes multiple versions of their book (Kindle, print, large print, audio, etc.), this is achievable.
5. The Society of Authors
In a 2015 survey of 317 writers, the Society of Authors found average earnings for British authors are £12,500, or $15,000, per year.
The report states, “This figure is just 55% of average earnings in the U.K., coming in below the minimum wage for a full-time job at £18,000 and well below the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s minimum income standard of £17,100.”
That’s a social policy research and development charity in the U.K. Source
I’ve always loved to write, so after graduation from secondary or high school, I trained as a journalist between 2000 and 2004.
I worked as a print, news, and technology journalist for Irish newspapers and radio stations. I earned an income from writing in the traditional sense—getting paid by an employer for my work.
During the recession in 2008, many freelance journalists were let go, and some prominent Irish media publications went out of business, including a few I worked for.
I worked in social care (or in a residential care facility) for a few years, and I wrote mostly fiction as a hobby. I entered my stories into writing competitions that paid winners a small amount, but I didn’t have much luck.
So while out of work, I decided to start a blog about technology, thinking I could start the Irish version of popular US technology and productivity blog Lifehacker.
I called it WorkReadPlay, which was a terrible name for a site.
Eventually, I realized I’m more interested in topics like creativity, writing, and productivity. So in 2014, I relaunched my site as Become a Writer Today .
After I relaunched my site, I wrote articles that no one read. Wondering how I could find readers, I started reading articles and then taking courses in blogging.
I also worked with the owner of a successful site who later became a mentor, Jon Morrow of Smart Blogger. His articles and courses laid out the path to earning a living from writing online.
After I’d found some readers, I faced extra costs like website hosting and my email service provider.
Next, I wondered how I could pay for these. So I studied how other online writers earn an income from their work on my own time.
Today, I earn money from writing through self-publishing books, freelance writing and creating courses.
I also earn money as a copywriter and content marketer in the B2B industry. I spend about 10-15 hours a week on freelance writing activities.
I earn money from recommending courses, software, and services that writers on my email list find beneficial. I
In some cases, I review these services for writers, and in other cases, I simply explain how I use them in my business via a video, email, or article.
I’ve taken dozens of courses in online business, entrepreneurship, and self-publishing.
They all recommend variations of the same business model: Figure out your ideal audience, create content that helps your audience then create or recommend relevant products, services or even books.
Invest in your education as a writer.
When you start earning an income from writing, my best tip is to set aside a small amount for learning each month.
At first, that might simply be a budget for buying business books. As your income grows, set aside a larger budget for taking online writing classes or MasterClasses online classes that help improve your craft.
The first time I spent a thousand plus dollars on an online course, I worried that I was being scammed and giving my money to a random person on the internet.
That person later became my mentor and taught me a lot about online business, over the course of five years.
Almost every course I have taken paid dividends directly in revenue or indirectly in soft skills.
I also recommend gaining expertise in areas like content marketing and diversifying your writing skillset.
Your path to getting paid to write might look different than mine, but most successful online writers earn more by diversifying their income streams.
Most successful nonfiction authors, for example, earn more money by offering additional services like courses or consulting.
Getting paid to write is easier than ever once you figure out your niche and who your ideal reader is. Lots of new jobs come online every day for writers. The question is do you have the right skill set?
Your niche could be creative writing jobs, greeting card writing, writing jobs for beginners, targeted ads, technical writing, content marketing, or academic writing. More writing jobs are online now than ever. You just have to know where to look.
How do I turn my writing into a career?
Combine your ability to write about a particular topic with a secondary skill set. For example, learning the basics of SEO means you can write articles that rank in search on Google. Companies will hire your for this combination of unique skills.
What jobs are in creative writing?
Consider studying content marketing. This type of work combines creative thinking and ideas with traditional writing and marketing. Content marketers are also in high-demand as the internet thrives on content.
Is writing a good career choice?
Writing is a fantastic career choice. Thanks to the internet, writers have more opportunities than ever today. Even if you don’t earn a full-time living from writing, the ability to think clearly by writing is a secondary skillset useful for most professions.
What jobs can you do as a writer?
Traditional writing jobs include working as a journalist, magazine writer or editor. Some better options today include freelance writing, working as a digital copywriter or in content marketing. Employers are looking for writers with skillsets in all of these areas as the internet thrives in content. You could also write and self-publish a book or start a blog.
What writing jobs are in demand?
Writing is a universal skill that can be useful in almost all careers. However, if you are looking for a job where writing is a central element of your daily tasks, then there are many jobs out there for you right now. They include the likes of online content, as well as technical writing jobs, not forgetting all the work currently available within both the marketing and communications industries.
What jobs require a lot of writing?
If you love writing, then you should know that these are just some of the jobs that require a lot of writing: communications executive, marketing executive, technical writer, PR executive, copywriter, and researcher.
What writing jobs pay the most?
You can make excellent money working as a content marketing manager, with the average salary of this role about $70k per year. However, if you want to become a millionaire, you may need to succeed in your creative writing pursuits and have a lot of luck too!
What jobs can you get with a PhD in Creative Writing
Your PhD in Creative Writing could help you get a job as a reporter, copywriter, editor or within marketing. In fact, your PhD could help you in any job hunting scenario, as it proves that you have an ability to work independently and creatively and shows you are a hard worker.
What are entry-level writing jobs?
Entry-level writing jobs include junior copywriter, junior reporter, proofreader, and content executive. That is not an exhaustive list. New writing jobs emerge as the tools and platforms for writers evolve. For example, the title of e-commerce copywriter didn’t exist in the early 2000s.
What 4 jobs in writing did Edgar Allan Poe have?
Edgar Allan Poe was a short-story writer, a poet, a critic, and an editor. He was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts and died on October 7, 1849. Poe is famous for his macabre storytelling.
Do you want an intensive course in non-fiction writing for fun or profit, plus the help you need to succeed as a blogger, freelance writer or non-fiction author? The Savvy Non-Fiction Writers Club will help you get paid to write fast. It’s the only resource you need if you want to become more prolific, earn more money or make an impact .
Where to find easy part-time jobs
The best side hustle ideas for creatives
Top freelance job ideas
Writers Work review
Best freelance writing websites
Join over 15,000 writers today
Get a FREE book of writing prompts and learn how to make more money from your writing.
Success! Now check your email to claim your prompts.
There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.
Bryan Collins runs things around here. He's also a non-fiction writer and author.
View all posts
40 Best Freelance Writing Jobs and Proofreading Jobs (2023)
Freelancing is considered to be the fastest-growing job trends in the world.
With more and more people choosing to be part of the gig economy, it’s safe to say that the future of working from home is here to stay.
Research indicates that the population of full-time freelancers has doubled in the last 10 years, showing a growth projection of 3.5% annually .
If you’re a freelance writer, there are a ton of online proofreading jobs – the key is finding the high-end offers.
Freelancers also wear many hats.
When you start a freelance writing job, you need to market yourself, manage your contracts online , collect payments, email clients, and more.
In this article, I ranked and reviewed the best freelance writing jobs (and sites) so that you can start earning today.
Whether you want to start freelancing part-time, learn how to start a blog for your personal brand, or want to make more money online , this guide is for you.
Let’s get started.
Best Websites for Online Writing and Proofreading Jobs
Being one of the first freelance writing job websites, ProBlogger hosts a wide range of contract, full-time, part-time, and freelance jobs in the writing and proofreading space.
If you’re a freelance copywriter or have experience with WordPress and web content, check out their job postings to see what’s available.
Candidates also get access to a free dashboard wherein they can create an online resume, manage their job applications, and set up free writer job alerts.
BloggingPro
Similar to ProBlogger, BloggingPro is a free service for content writers and technical writers seeking jobs related to starting a blog, content writing, copywriting, proofreading, blogging, editing, and technical writing.
The website is updated daily with new jobs and claims to have a response time of 24-48 hours.
Mediabistro
If you’re looking for freelance writing jobs online, particularly in the PR, journalism, and marketing space, Mediabistro is a good option for you.
It features job posts from leading media companies like CNN, Bloomberg, and NBC Universal among others.
You also get to create your own freelance profile to highlight your freelance writing work and stand out to potential recruiters.
Writers Per Hour
With students turning to writing services for help with their essays, assignments, and research papers, there is an increase in the demand for academic writers.
So, if you have a background in academic writing or are a subject-matter expert, you can apply to Writers Per Hour as a writing expert.
If you make the cut, you’re sure to receive a steady stream of work.
All Freelance Writing
From newspapers and magazines to blogs and technical writing, All Freelance Writing hosts a wide gamut of writing jobs.
Interestingly, this website also features the pay rate range making it easier for a successful freelance writer to decide whether they want to spend time applying for freelance writing gigs.
You’ll also find publishers frequently posting calls for submissions across various genres.
Contently is a content marketing platform that connects successful freelance writers with brands. You need to first create an account and showcase your portfolio.
Once you make it through the screening process, you will be eligible to receive job opportunities.
Contently works with some of the most successful brands such as GM, Walmart, Google, GE, and Coca Cola, and offers impressive pay.
This site is best if you have years of experience and are looking for a staff writer position.
Similar to Contently, Ebyline also requires freelance writers to submit their profiles for consideration.
Once you gain the ‘Ebyline Approved’ status, you will have access to the pitch board.
Ebyline mostly works with journalism publishers and brands looking for writers with newsroom experience.
They have a lot of strong testimonials and you could even turn this into a full-time job.
Proofreading Services
Proofreading Services hires part-time and full-time proofreaders from across the globe.
With flexible hours and competitive pay, they accept those who demonstrate exceptional proofreading and editing skills.
You could be editing blog posts, landing pages , case studies, long-form social media posts, and more.
All you need to do to apply is to take their 20-minute quiz.
Formerly known as Crowdsource when it was focused on being a crowdsourcing platform , OneSpace works with individuals and businesses who are looking to outsource writing and editing jobs.
Apart from creating an account and an online resume, you will have to take a qualification test.
Once you pass it, you will have access to jobs that best suit your credentials.
This site is great for ghostwriters to improve your writing skills.
Book Editing
Book Editing Associates is a book editing service that keeps looking for copy editors, ghostwriters, proofreaders, and publishing consultants with traditional and self-publishing experience.
The only catch is that you need to be based in the US with at least five years of editing experience.
If you want to start ghostwriting and don’t know where to look, this is a good option.
We Work Remotely
Even though We Work Remotely does not only cater to writers and proofreaders, it houses plenty of content writing, blogging, copywriting, and editing jobs.
As companies need to pay $299 to post a job, you can expect to find quality and trustworthy clients on this platform.
As a newbie freelancer, Remote.co can prove to be your go-to source for online writing and proofreading jobs.
It curates a list of remote job opportunities across various categories and has a fairly simple and straightforward application process.
Contena is a paid membership site that consolidates remote writing, editing, and proofreading jobs for freelance writers to choose from.
Their membership fee starts from $42 per month and gives you access to Contena Academy and Contena Scout which is a search tool to find writing gigs.
They also guarantee to give your money back if you’re not impressed after trying their service for 30 days.
Compose.ly is a writing platform that specializes in content marketing.
They work with businesses that are looking to outsource content creation.
Compose.ly offers one of the highest rates in the market.
However, they have a rigorous screening process and are known to accept less than 1% of their applicants.
Featuring a list of high-quality remote-jobs, Jobspresso is home to writing, editing and proofreading jobs that are hand-picked and reviewed by experts.
They have worked with companies like Microsoft, InVision, Github and Amazon among others.
Apart from manually searching, Jobspresso also gives you the option to upload your resume and be found by potential employers.
From product descriptions, press releases , web copy and blogs to technical article writing, white papers, and news stories, Textbroker claims to execute over 100,000 content orders every month.
To be eligible to work with them, you need to create a profile and submit writing samples.
You will then be given an author rating (between 2 to 5 stars) and start receiving projects accordingly.
Scribe Media
Scribe Media is a company that helps people write and publish books.
They offer full-time and freelance opportunities to writers and editors.
Candidates are required to have excellent writing and editing skills, have a high-level book experience (eg. book agent, editor in a publishing house, etc.) and be good at interviewing people.
Freelance Writing
Founded in 1997, Freelance Writing is considered to be the most comprehensive website for freelance writers looking for high-paying opportunities.
This platform also hosts essay writing, poetry, screenwriting , and short story writing contests wherein the winners are rewarded monetarily.
You can also subscribe to their Morning Coffee Newsletter and receive job updates in your inbox every morning.
Workew is a freelance writing job board designed for remote workers and digital nomads.
With the most popular jobs being copywriting, blogging, content editor and proofreading, you’re sure to find something that suits your skillset.
You can either choose to become a member for free or pay a one-time fee of $9 and have your resume show up at the top of the list of applicants.
Outsourcely
Outsourcely works with startups across industries and sizes who are looking to hire freelance writers and remote workers.
All you have to do is create an enticing profile, apply for remote jobs and wait for startups to directly reach out to you with the project details.
Outsourcely is ideal for someone who’s looking for a reliable, long-term remote job.
PubLoft helps startups, small and mid-sized companies scale their content marketing.
They have a writing platform that connects their clients with suitable freelance writers.
In order to be eligible, you need to fill out a form and pass a proficiency test.
They guarantee good and consistent pay. That’s not all, the longer you work with them, the more your base pay increases.
An ‘elite creative community’, Skyword connects writers and other creative professionals with top-tier brands.
They work with clients from a vast array of verticals and pay on a per assignment basis.
While creating a profile on Skyword, it’s important to showcase the depth of your experience and area of expertise in order to be noticed and considered.
Constant Content
Another content creation service that serves as a link between businesses and freelance writers, Constant Content lets you find new freelance writing opportunities and scale your freelance writing career.
The registration process includes a quiz and a 100-250 word writing sample.
Once you get accepted, you can start applying to jobs and receive requests from clients directly.
The Writer Finder
The Writer Finder is Growth Machine’s match-making service that pairs clients with the right writers.
They’re expanding rapidly and are looking for SEO-focussed writers across the writing niche.
All you have to do is fill out a form and wait to be matched with a client.
The Writer Finder claims to offer ‘good pay for good writing’ along with a steady stream of projects.
This is a great option for ghostwriting and their database is expanding quickly.
Journalism Jobs
As the name suggests, Journalism Jobs displays jobs in the field of journalism including TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, government, and trade publications among others.
From full-time and part-time to freelance and internships – this website offers all kinds of job types.
So, if you’re specifically looking for online writing and proofreading jobs, remember to filter by ‘telecommute’ or ‘freelance’.
Virtual Locations
Virtual Locations is a job service that provides job seekers with a host of telecommuting jobs.
You can choose to create a free account and apply to jobs or opt for a premium subscription (starting at $15.99 monthly).
Premium membership gives you access to free resources and delivers new job alerts to you on priority.
Kirkus Media
A reputable book reviewing company, Kirkus Media offers freelancing and telecommuting opportunities to experienced writers.
Your job will involve reviewing English and Spanish book titles from self-published authors after which you’ll have to write a 350-word review.
There are a ton of different apps you can use to learn English and other languages to improve your multilingual writing skills.
To apply, you’ll need to submit your resume, writing samples and a list of your reviewing specialties.
WriterAccess
WriterAccess works with experienced writers in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
They connect writers, editors, and translators with clients.
You’ll need to start with building a profile and taking a proficiency test.
Once your expertise is verified, WriterAccess will start matching you with brands and agencies on the basis of your skills and experience.
Canadian Freelance Writing
Don’t worry – you don’t have to be a Canadian to apply for these jobs. Canadian Freelance Writing regularly publishes blog posts, enlisting a list of new freelance and remote writing jobs.
From writing for reality TV and quizzes to technical writing – you will find all kinds of genres here.
Apart from remote writing jobs, Canadian Freelance Writing also has a separate section that’s only applicable for writers based in Canada.
Best Freelance Marketplaces for Online Writing and Proofreading Jobs
FlexJobs has one of the largest databases of remote and flexible jobs.
They offer a smooth job search experience by letting you sort by company name, location or newest jobs and not having to deal with distracting ads.
Even though you’re required to pay a monthly fee of $14.95, you can completely trust FlexJobs with legitimate and scam-free jobs.
Get started with FlexJobs .
Fiverr is another marketplace that’s great for those who are new to the world of freelancing.
Interestingly, you can sell any service that’s legal and in compliance with Fiverr’s terms.
It’s very easy to get started – sign up for free, create a portfolio, set a price and wait for clients to reach out to you.
Get started with Fiverr .
If you have been doing research on paid freelance writing jobs, you’re bound to have come across Upwork .
A marketplace for freelancers across various categories such as writing, blogging, digital marketing, designing, accounting and web development among others, Upwork is good for beginners and those who want to gain some experience writing articles.
Start with creating a robust profile after which you can start submitting proposals to potential clients.
Just like the other marketplaces, Guru requires you to set up a profile, submit quotes and get hired.
You can filter the job search by experience level, payment type, job duration, and hours per week to find the ones best suited for you.
Guru also has a feature called WorkRooms which lets you collaborate with your team members and communicate with clients.
Freelancer claims to connect over 39,621,660 employers and freelancers globally from over 247 countries, regions and territories.
Be it small or large jobs, fixed price or hourly projects and international or local jobs, Freelancer houses any and every kind of job.
All you need to do is complete your profile, browse jobs and send in your best bids.
CloudPeeps is a marketplace that mainly focuses on marketing and copywriting jobs.
While it’s not as easy to get accepted, once you do manage to make the cut, you will start receiving projects frequently.
The only downside is that you need to be operating out of the 25 countries that CloudPeeps currently serves in.
Best Job Boards for Online Writing and Proofreading Jobs
Linkedin profinder.
We’re all aware of LinkedIn Jobs but did you know that LinkedIn ProFinder is a more effective tool for connecting freelancers like you with potential clients?
Having over 575 million users , LinkedIn is a goldmine for your freelance professionals.
The first step is to optimize your LinkedIn profile and apply for LinkedIn ProFinder.
Once they feel you’re a good fit, you’ll be added to their database of freelancers.
Every time a client creates a project request that matches your profile, you’ll be invited to send a proposal. If your offer fits, the client will directly reach out to you.
Indeed is one of the most popular job boards for finding remote or freelance writing jobs.
Featuring a simple interface, the job search on Indeed is fairly straightforward.
While searching for online writing and proofreading jobs, remember to enter ‘remote’ in the ‘Where’ search bar.
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is an American job search engine that features a comprehensive list of jobs across categories and job types.
As you’re looking for freelance or flexible work, you can specifically look under the categories such as ‘Work from Home’, ‘Telecommute’, or ‘Virtual’,
Glassdoor is no ordinary job board.
Apart from a job search engine, it also has useful information such as company reviews and interview questions to help you find the right companies to work for.
Just type ‘remote’ or ‘telecommute’ in the search bar along with writing, editing or proofreading, and Glassdoor will display all the relevant job ads in a matter of seconds.
AngelList is home to over 35,603 of the world’s best tech companies and startups who are looking to hire.
You will need to create a profile in order to apply for jobs and get paid via credit card, bank transfer, or PayPal.
The best part about AngelList is that there are no middlemen involved – it’s just you and the founder/hiring manager.
You’re likely to find marketing-related writing jobs on this platform.
Freelance Writing Jobs – FAQ
Do you need a bachelor’s degree to be a freelance writer.
While it is not necessary to have a degree to be a freelance writer, having one can give you an edge over the competition.
What are some examples of entry-level freelance writing jobs?
Entry-level freelance writing jobs can include content writing, copywriting, and social media writing.
That said, using AI copywriting tools can really help you break into the field without a lot of experience.
Does a freelance writer job include health insurance?
Some freelance writing jobs may offer health insurance as a benefit, but it is not guaranteed.
Does being a medical writer require a license?
There is no licensing required to be a medical writer. However, if you plan to write prescriptions or provide other health-related services, you may need to be licensed in your state.
How do you hone your skills as a new freelance writer?
Start by building a portfolio of your work, and join online communities and groups for new freelance writers. You can also look for online or in-person writing workshops in your area.
More freelance writing jobs are appearing every day as businesses shift to a remote workforce.
How do you get more freelance writing jobs?
Many writers in the freelance writing niche find work by pitching their services to businesses and individuals. You can also look for writing jobs on job boards and through social media.
A successful freelance writing business begins with a well-crafted and researched proposal.
Having your own writer’s blog is also a great way to showcase your writing skills and create credibility in the industry.
Are there any tools that can help me with writing?
AI writing tools can help improve your writing by catching grammar mistakes, suggesting style improvements, and even giving you ideas for what to write about.
My #1 favorite tool to help my writing is Jasper.AI . It helps people to write more clearly, come up with better ideas, and helps eliminate writer’s block.
Find Online Writing and Proofreading Jobs
While it’s great that there is no short supply of online writing and proofreading jobs; the flip side is that with demand comes competition.
While you no longer have to work for a publisher in New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles to get your writing out there, there are more freelancers looking for work than ever before.
Therefore, in order to truly stand out and land well-paying projects, you need to build a credible portfolio of work and learn how to market yourself as a freelance writer or proofreader.
Whether you just want some extra side writing gig money, want to make a living writing, or become a major business journalist like Carol Tice , your options are endless.
So, check out these 40 best websites for online writing and proofreading jobs, start gaining experience and you never know how this could grow into a freelance writing business someday.
Guest Author: Adela Belin is a content marketer and blogger at Writers Per Hour . She is passionate about sharing stories with the hope to make a difference in people’s lives and contribute to their personal and professional growth. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn .
Disclosure: I may receive affiliate compensation for some of the links below at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. You can read our affiliate disclosure in our privacy policy . This site is not intending to provide financial advice. This is for entertainment only.
Adam Enfroy
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which can provide compensation to me at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. These are products I’ve personally used and stand behind. This site is not intended to provide financial advice and is for entertainment only. You can read our affiliate disclosure in our privacy policy .
#ezw_tco-3 .ez-toc-widget-container ul.ez-toc-list li.active{ background-color: #ededed; } Table of Contents
Related Articles
9 Ways to Take a Screenshot on a Mac (Updated Guide for 2023)
The Ultimate List of Project Management Statistics for 2023
How To Make Money on OnlyFans (Options in 2023)
7+ Benefits of ERP in 2023 (Ultimate Guide)
Such a amazing blog thanks for sharing this blog
Very comprehensive and informative. Thank you!
Great insights here especially during this Covid19 period, I believe the world requires more of this so as to make humanity feel each other’s presence irrespective of distance.
It’s a great source of knowledge; I think it will be helpful for a lot of people who are looking for learning more about the freelance writing jobs. Thank you very much for sharing this article was really looking forward for something like this.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .
COACHING + PUBLISHING
FORMATTING + DESIGN
FREELANCE COMMUNITY
20 Online Gold Mines for Finding Freelance Writing Jobs
by Kelly Gurnett | Feb 21, 2022
Writing is awesome. And getting paid for writing? Well, getting freelance writing jobs is the dream.
Of course, making it happen isn’t always easy. Finding good freelance writing jobs can be challenging even for experienced writers, and breaking into the business is downright difficult.
One of the biggest obstacles for writers attempting to get paid for their work is finding legitimate, paid, online writing jobs. It’s all too easy to stumble across freelance writing “gigs” that offer little more than exposure — which doesn’t put money in the bank.
So where should you look for online writing jobs?
Fortunately, some reliable resources for finding online writing jobs do actually pay.
In this post, we’ll share a few of our favorites. Here are some of the best places to find freelance writing jobs online.
1. Freelance Writers Den
A great resource for freelancers, this membership site is so much more than a job board. For $40/month, you get access to more than 300 hours of “bootcamps” that teach you how to make money as a freelance writer and hundreds of forums where you can get any question answered. Whether you want to listen to the expert guests on their podcast, access the 24/7 community of writers, or check out video and audio training materials, the Den has everything a freelancer needs to grow their career — all in one place. Plus, they have direct job referrals to quality writing gigs in the Den 2x program .
If you’re serious about freelancing, this is worth considering. You can join at the links above, or read our full Freelance Writers Den review for more details.
2. FlexJobs
One of the top job boards for freelance writing jobs and remote work, FlexJobs enables you to create a custom job search profile to meet your specific needs. Select your categories (there are several under “Writing”), your preferred work schedule, your experience level and more to hone down your search results to those that best fit the freelance writer job you’re looking for. You can also set alerts so you’re notified when new jobs matching your search criteria are posted.
A subscription is $9.95/week, $24.95/month, $39.95 for three months or $59.95/year. Here’s a search for “writer” jobs if you want to try it.
3. SolidGigs
SolidGigs is part job board, part productivity tool. Why? Because their team literally saves you hours of scouring job boards. They hand-pick the best gigs from around the web and compile them into a weekly email, including remote opportunities.
It’s $21/month to subscribe, and they offer a free seven-day trial . Along with curated job opportunities, you’ll also get access to business training courses and hundreds of lessons on freelancing and interviews with successful freelancers .
4. Opportunities of the Week
Sonia Weiser’s bi-weekly newsletter has become a must-have for freelance writers. She gathers dozens of calls for pitches from Twitter and emails them to her community twice a week. She offers the service through Patreon, where she asks for a membership contribution of up to $10 (and also offers sponsorships for those who can’t afford it). If you can only make a one-time contribution, she provides an option for that, too.
In addition to freelance writing jobs, she includes career advice, resources on how much different outlets pay, and other helpful links.
5. Working In Content
A platform that’s still in its beta phase, Working In Content aims to connect organizations with passionate content professionals. As a bonus, it values diversity, equity and inclusion, and it encourages the employers it works with to do the same.
Whether you’re a UX writer or a content strategist, this site is a great option to find work in content design, marketing, management and more. It offers full-time and contract roles that are either remote or in cities like Seattle, New York City and San Francisco.
Be sure to subscribe to its free newsletter that shares expert interviews, resources and job opportunities once a week.
6. ProBlogger Job Board
Created by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, an authority site on blogging, the ProBlogger job board features part- and full-time, contract and freelance writer jobs across a wide variety of locations, industries and writing specialties.
Plus, given ProBlogger’s high profile in the blogosphere, it’s likely you can often find jobs posted by some big-time blogs and employers who have an idea what good writing is really worth. Besides content writing, it also lists a healthy dose of copywriting jobs.
7. Content Writing Jobs
This site content writing job board includes remote, freelance, contract and full-time jobs. To peruse these hand-picked writing opportunities, visit the site online, sign up for daily job alerts or subscribe to its paid newsletter that shares brand new openings once per week for $10/month.
Another good resource: This site offers a content writing blog that features long-form interviews with prolific content writers, authors and founders who share tips of the trade.
8. Behance Creative Jobs
Powered by Adobe, Behance is an online platform for creative professionals to showcase their work, find inspiration and connect with companies looking to hire.
Behance allows you to upload your past projects to quickly create a visually-pleasing online portfolio, making it a great resource for writers without a website . It has its own job board which you can browse to find your next career move or freelance writing job!
9. MediaBistro
MediaBistro is a great resource for media freelancers of all stripes, offering online courses, tools and information that can help you navigate your career.
Be sure to check out the freelance job board section of the site, as well, for a wide range of jobs for all experience levels from industries like TV, PR/marketing, magazine and book publishing and social media — a little something for everyone.
10. Morning Coffee Newsletter
This weekly e-newsletter from FreelanceWriting.com provides a nice compendium of freelance writing and editing jobs with competitive pay rates.
With exclusive job opportunities as well as posts pulled from sites like Indeed and Craigslist, the job board consolidates a variety of gigs for everyone from newbie to seasoned freelancers. Save yourself the time of scouring numerous sites and let this newsletter bring the decent jobs right to your inbox.
11. Who Pays Writers?
Who Pays Writers? is a crowd-sourced list of publications that pay freelance writers — and it’s a gold mine. The list has hundreds of publications to explore; it not only shows you which publications are accepting submissions, it also tells you how much they pay per word.
The site primarily offers writers a good research opportunity to learn how much different publications pay, but there are some online blogging opportunities as well (depending on the publication). Maintained by an anonymous volunteer collective, the list is updated monthly.
12. The Ultimate List of Better-Paid Blogging Gigs
Freelancer Sophie Lizard compiled a free ebook listing 75 blogs that pay $50 to $2,000 per post, broken down into sections like Writing Blogs, Food Blogs, etc. She also includes some good tips on how to approach these blogs, how to promote yourself once you’ve landed a post, and more.
To get the ebook, add your email address to her newsletter list — you’ll also get free access to her money-making toolkit and more.
13. LinkedIn Jobs
If you’ve already got a LinkedIn profile (and you really should to attract new clients ), don’t let it just sit there. Networking goes a long way in the freelance world, and LinkedIn is a great resource to do some networking through common connections.
While you’re doing that networking, check out the Job s section and sign up for email alerts when jobs are posted that match your interests. Many will be location-based, but who’s to say you can’t approach these employers with a proposal for freelance writing services ? Maybe they need someone to fill the gap in the hiring interim, or maybe the job could just as easily be done remotely but they hadn’t considered that. Talk about a different kind of pitch!
14. Freelance Writing Jobs (FWJ)
This invaluable resource updates daily with online writing jobs scooped from around the ‘net. It’s also got a rich archive filled with posts offering all kinds of tips and insight for beginning and experienced freelancers alike.
Along with the daily blog posts, you can also check out the Freelance Writing Jobs Board , where those in need of copy services of all sorts post jobs on the regular.
Although Upwork has a bit of a reputation for offering low-rate jobs, it’s definitely possible to find postings offering livable wages for writing jobs online. When this article was published, a job to write a finance/trading article for $500 and a ghostwriter gig for $600 were both listed.
Plus, you get the added benefit of rate transparency: You know exactly what you’re going to get before you even put in the effort to read the full job description! If you’re curious about this platform, here’s a longer post on why one writer says U pwork is legit .
16. Where to Pitch
This last one takes a little bit of forethought and footwork; instead of simply listing online writing jobs, Where to Pitch offers a list of potential venues when you type in a topic you’re interested in working on. If you’re willing to put in that effort, you’re bound to find some new publications to pitch.
You can also sign up for the Where to Pitch newsletter, which gets you access to five real pitches that snagged the writer bylines in the New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, and other large publications.
17. Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners
If this list is helpful, you’ll get even more out of The Write Life’s ebook: 71 Ways to Earn as a Freelance Writer . We suggest dozens of different ways to earn income online as a writer, including information on how much each gig pays and tips for how to land those freelance writing jobs. The bulk of the jobs we suggest are ones you can do from home.
18. JournalismJobs.com
Offering full-time, freelance and remote jobs opportunities, JournalismJobs.com can help you find writing, editing, reporting or copy editor gigs. You can also find jobs across a wide range on industries like non-profit, technology and TV, so you’ll never get bored with this website’s selections.
Plus, while you’re here, be sure to set job alerts to know right away about new freelance writer jobs, check out its section of career advice or even peruse the fellowship listings.
Okay — but how do you run a freelance writing business, anyway?
Even with tons of resources for finding online writing jobs, it can be hard to know exactly what it takes to get your foot in the door with those editors. After all, you don’t just fall into a job (usually); you’ve got to prove to someone that you’re the right fit.
All of that to say nothing of the fact that running a freelance writing business is its own job, once you get started. You’ll have to negotiate pay raises, deal with editorial disagreements, and even — perish the thought — figure out self-employment taxes .
If you’re eager to learn about any of those topics, check out some of these helpful posts, created to help freelancers tackle every part of the writing-for-a-living experience.
- How to Become a Freelance Writer
- How to Pitch a Story
- Tips for Raising Your Freelance Writing Rates
- Portfolio Website Options for Freelancers
- Avoid Freelance Writing Scams
We never said it was easy, but the writing life certainly is a rewarding one.
Ready to take the next step in your freelancing career? Check out our friends at the Freelance Writers Den.
This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.
This post contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you’re supporting The Write Life — and we thank you for that!
Want to write a book, but no idea where to start?
Grab our free book outline template!
Memoir Writing Masterclass
Taught by a 6-Time Bestselling Author
Learn the 3 Core Elements of Every Memorable Memoir That You Need to Get Right
20 Websites for Finding Paid Writing Gigs
How to start a blog: a guide for writers, how to write a synopsis for your book: a guide for fiction and nonfiction writers, a complete guide to understanding, obtaining and using an isbn for your book, write about your furry friends: 18 pet publications that want your stories.
TOOLS FOR WRITERS
Tools, ebooks and courses, all vetted by our team
CHECK 'EM OUT
Find Your Next Freelance Content Writing Job
Join a proven platform used by thousands of writers to find freelance writing assignments.
Whether you're looking for some extra money, or you're a full-time freelancer and want consistent income, our marketplace has opportunities for you.
Or, contact us to learn more
Who Can Work on Our Online Writing Platform?
Professional Content Writers
Writers and editors who are native English speakers and from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can make money on our freelance writing platform. We have clients looking for content marketing work at all skill levels, which means a part-time writer looking to learn a new trade will find relevant opportunities, as will a professional content writer or editor who makes their living freelancing.
Work at your own pace, in your own time and only on the jobs you want to complete. Flexibility is one of the best perks we offer our freelance writers.
What Types of Remote Writing Jobs Are Available?
We have thousands of active clients and a huge selection of assignments. As a freelancer, you never have to write content that isn’t in your wheelhouse or of interest to you – you’re in charge of what work you do and how much you earn.
We also offer two great ways to earn
- Work directly with hundreds of clients on a wide variety of assignments.
- Do a great job and get rated up by clients or added to their favourites lists.
- Many writers develop relationships with clients in the marketplace, which leads to more assignments in the future.
- Build experience as you work on interesting projects. Our Content Manager team works with writers of all skill levels, so you can easily get valuable Managed Services experience.
- Tackle a variety of content types including articles, blog posts, eCommerce content, metadata, and city pages.
- Work with industry-leading companies like Lowe’s, 3M and Bloomingdale’s.
What Type of Websites Want to Hire Writers?
Our clients come from all types of industries and websites hiring writers covering a wide array of niches.
Whether you’re looking to put your own experience and knowledge to work or you want to work on exciting travel content writing projects, you can often find a suitable writing job on the boards of our freelance writing platform.
Outdoors & sports
Travel & leisure
Health & fitness
Real estate
Growing as a Writer with Crowd Content
The support offered by Crowd Content staff and other writers and editors makes our platform one of the best freelance writer websites available.
We value every worker, and you’ll benefit from:
- Direct chat with Crowd Content staff
- An active (and positive) forum that includes staff and project manager involvement
- Less than 24-hour turnaround time on support tickets
- A staff that wants you to succeed and is willing to recognize top talent and coach writers who put in the work
- Exposure to Managed Services clients and different types of work to help you grow your skills and your career
What Types of Content Can You Write?
At Crowd Content, you’ll have an opportunity to work on a wide range of content types, including:
Technical writing
SEO Content
Product Descriptions
Copywriting
Ghost Written Content
Meta Descriptions
Copy Editing
And various other projects for clients
How Easy Is It to Get Access to These Freelance Content Writing Jobs?
One of the reasons so many clients come to Crowd Content for their online writing needs is our consistent quality. To maintain that quality, we can’t let everyone have access to the work, so you do have to complete a quick application process.
Sign up for an account
Account creation only takes a few minutes; you'll upload a headshot, enter a pen name and answer a few questions about your experience, background, and writing skill.
Start applying for work
You can apply to specific projects or to the marketplace, where you'll have access to all open writing work posted by clients at your particular writing level.
Your application is accepted
Now you're provided with a rating between one and four stars based on the quality of your application. That rating determines what type of writing work you have access to. Providing consistent, high-quality work can help you move up in ratings and access higher-paying tasks.
All of our applications are designed to take a minimal amount of time to complete and tend to require you to write between 50 and 200 words (depending on the application type) to show your writing capability.
How Does the Online Writing Platform Work?
We find you work, work with clients and handle all payments so you can focus on writing.
Once your application is approved, you’ll have access to work. You only pick up the writing jobs you want to complete, and once a client approves your work, you’ll be paid the following payday.
Pay comes twice a week at Crowd Content, so you’re never left waiting weeks or months for your money.
Get started now
1. Claim Work
Choose from a wide variety of available assignments
Create your content with our easy-to-use editor
3. Clients Approve
Clients have a short period to review your work, request revisions, and accept your work
4. Get Paid
Get paid directly every Tuesday and Friday
Create your free account to start working with industry-leading clients today
I joined Crowd Content over five years ago and it's been my standout favorite content platform ever since. The features, pay rates, and order availability supersede anywhere else I've ever written, and I'm consistently impressed with the support and resources available. The order variety alone, from open and team orders to managed opportunities, creates a level of flexibility unavailable anywhere else.
Rachel Elle, United States
Take Your Freelance Writing Career to the Next Level
Join our platform to connect with great clients and a supportive team of editors and project managers. Sign up for an account today and hone your skills and experience as a freelance writer. Got questions about our platform and job board? Feel free to contact us, anytime.
Privacy Overview
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Top 12 Websites for Freelance Content Writers to Make More Money
Are you looking for the best sites for freelance content writers? You’re in the right place.
You’ll discover 12 of the best websites for freelancer content writers where you can find content writing gigs to make money as a freelancer.
Having started a career as a freelance writer, you have all the reasons to rejoice because this is the type of profession that puts you on the driving seat of your life. While you can hope to keep a perfect work-life balance as a freelancer, there are a lot of other exciting facets associated with it.
Content writing for the web is a great and very popular way to earn money online . A lot of college students have found a good source of income in the work of content writing. There are many such people who have made content writing their full-time work. Anyone who has good writing skills and a good hold on English language can get into the work of content writing.
If you wish to be a content writer then it is important for you to know those websites which offer work to freelance content writers. Following are some of the best freelance websites for content writers.
Top 12 Best Freelance Websites for Writers
Table of Contents
2. Flexjobs
4. people per hour, 7. textbroker, 8. problogger job board, 9. freelancer, 10. freelance writing, 11. crowd content, 12. content writers, faqs | websites for freelance content writers, final thoughts about top websites for freelance content writers.
Fiverr is best known as the biggest marketplace for freelancers. You get everything for $5 (so cheap, right?). That’s why it became so popular.
If you are just starting out and looking for quick ways to make money online as a freelance writer, Fiverr is for you.
How to get started as a freelancer on Fiverr?
Step 1: Sign up for free by using this link . Sign up for free, set up your Gig, and offer your work to our global audience.
Step 2: Set up your gig (you can start offering your writing services, pick a price)
Step 3: Start earning money as you go. Here also just like Upwork, you need positive feedback in form of reviews to attract more clients. You can also use Fiverr to upsell.
How much do they charge?
It’s free to join Fiverr. There is no subscription required or fees to list your services. You keep 80% of each transaction and the rest 20% goes to Fiverr pockets. For instance, if you made $100 from a client, you get $80 and the rest goes to Fiverr as a service fee.
Recommended: Fiverr Best Alternatives Worth Trying in 2023 Read: Fiverr Reviews 2023: Is Fiverr Legit & Safe?
Are you looking for remote work as a freelance writer? Then, you should try Flexjobs as it is one of the best platforms for freelance content writers since 2007. You’ll find full-time and part-time jobs in over 50 career categories.
How to get started as a freelancer on Flexjobs?
Visit this page to register for an account on Flexjobs. You can get started as a freelance writer by paying as little as $6.95 to start finding writing projects.
How much do they charge on Flexjobs?
If you’re a freelance content writer who’s searching for jobs on Flexjobs, you should subscribe to Flexijobs to get unlimited access to every job you find on the platform.
Here are their subscription plan details.
- For 1 week subscription, it costs you $6.95
- For 1 month subscription, it costs you $14.95
- For 3 months subscription, it costs you $29.95
- For 1 year subscription, it costs you $49.95 (best value)
The best part? Their premium subscription plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. So if you’re not happy with their platform, you’ll get a refund!
With their premium subscription, you’ll get the following benefits as a job seeker;
- Unlimited access to every job
- Access to email alerts when new jobs are posted on their platform
- Access to a personalized portfolio where you can upload resumes and work samples to attract high-paying clients
Let me tell you one thing: finding best freelance website for writers is hard. There are so many freelance sites out there that don’t even pay well or ditch you. That’s the reason why most freelance writers are afraid of taking up jobs online.
If you’re one among them, don’t worry, Upwork is one of the best freelance websites for writers. Not only for writers, it can also be used by designers, marketers and everyone else who are looking for freelance work.
Upwork formerly Elance is a popular online freelance platform that’s used by millions of people worldwide.
How to get started as a freelancer on Upwork?
Step 1: Click here to sign up for Upwork as a freelancer for free.
Step 2: Start picking the topics that you’re interested in. But before that make sure to fill your profile with your name, description, experience, photo etc. This makes it easy for you to find clients quickly.
Step 3: Start earning money (ask your friends and family to hire you when you’re just starting out and ask them to give a positive feedback so you get better work in the long run).
If you’re someone who wants to start using Upwork as a freelance writer, here are some quick tips for you.
1. Always make sure to ensure that the clients’ payment methods are verified. You’ll see a “verified payment” tick for every client.
2. If you’re starting out, make sure to use Upwork’s desktop app and work diary that tracks your time and takes snapshots of your screen to avoid any conflict at payment stage. This is a must if you want to avoid headaches later.
How much does Upwork charge for freelancers?
Freelancers pay a service fee of 5% to 20% based on their lifetime billings with a specific client. Here’s the breakdown of how Upwork charges for those who are doing freelancing on their platform.
- You pay 20% for the first $500 billed with the client across all contracts
- 10% for total billings between $500.01 and $10,000
- And when total billings with the client exceed $10,000, a 5% fee is charged
Yes, 20% is a lot of service fee but mind you, it eliminates a lot of competition by giving you a great edge of getting high paying clients.
People per hour is another great site for freelance writers to find writing jobs online.
There are 3 multiple ways to use this site to find freelance work as a writer. You can use Browse Hourlies, fixed price offers ready to start immediately, post a job and let people find you.
How to get started as a freelancer on People Per Hour?
Step 1: Click here to sign up for free.
Step 2: Once you create an account, start browsing jobs. You can pick anything from designing to writing to SEO.
Step 3: Send proposals or accept proposals from those who already have posted jobs relevant to your choice. Finish their work and get paid!
0% commission fee for life. You can also freely use Escrow and invoicing system and all of your messaging, invoices and statements in one place.
Guru is an incredible platform for freelance writers to find thousands of content writing jobs.
This platform is extremely easy to use and businesses can search for freelancers or post a job and receive proposals straight from the homepage without any hassle.
How to get started as a freelancer on Guru?
Step 1: Click here to sign up for free and create an account to start finding freelance writing jobs.
Step 2: Click on Find a job to search for content writing jobs and click on any job offer that interests you.
Step 3: Send a proposal, start working on your job posting to get paid.
Quick tip: Always make sure to carefully analyse the buyers profile. Check if they are using Guru for the first time. If they look fishy, never accept their jobs as you might not get any money!
The only fee you are responsible for is a 2.5% handling fee when paying an invoice. However, Guru offers 3.5% Cash Back when you pay using check, e-check or wire transfer to help offset this fee.
Freelancers usually pay between a 4.95%-8.95% transaction fee, deducted from their earnings. So let’s say if you’re making $100 from a client, you usually get around $90 (better than Upwork!).
FreeUp is an incredible platform which is used by more than 15,000 businesses all around the world to get professional writing services. So if you’re a freelance writer and looking for better projects around freelance writing, you should definitely check out FreeUp.
Here’s how you can get started with FreeUp as a freelance writer
Step 1: Click on this link to visit their home page and click on “Apply as a freelancer” button to continue. Here’s how it looks like;
Step 2: Once you’re on “Apply to be a freelancer” page, you’ll see a start button where you need to enter your details such as name, email, your resume and so on (which hardly takes 15 to 20 minutes and it doesn’t save your answers automatically, so you need to do it in one go).
Step 3: Once you’re done with your answers, click on Submit button to finish the process. After you have submitted your application successfully, the Freelancer Success Team from FreeUp will review your answers and call for an interview if you’re eligible.
If you are invited to the interview, you will get an email outlining the interview process where they’ll ask you to schedule a time for your interview (Skype interview). You’ll be given access to their client projects once you’ve successfully selected.
TextBroker is highly targeted freelance website. For example, it doesn’t operate in India. Textbroker ensures that authors come from the target countries for each platform to provide high quality content to its customers.
For example, textbroker.com only permits U.S. based authors (they have to verify their US citizenship while signing up to create an account).
How to get started as a freelancer on TextBroker?
Step 1: Click here to register for TextBroker (it’s free to join) and make sure to verify your country’s citizenship.
Step 2: You need to submit a writing sample of 200 words (then you’ll get a rating out of 5 stars based on your writing).
Step 3: You can start accepting writing gigs based on your rating. Level 5 star rating gives you around $70 per 1000 word article and level 1 star rating gives you around $13 for the same article.
The great thing about using Textbroker is, it pays you for your articles as soon as the client accepts them. You can request a weekly payoff as soon as you’ve earned $10 or more.
Unlike other freelance websites, TextBroker has fixed pricing for various ratings (ranging from 1 to 5) which you can find on their site. Apart from that, you’ll have to pay a nominal 0.35% as a service fee for every dollar you make. That means you pay $3.5 to TextBroker if you get a client to pay you $100. It’s as simple as that.
Last but not least, Problogger job board is an excellent community where you can find hundreds of writing gigs to make money as a freelance writer.
The best part is, you get quality leads and you don’t have to pay anything (no Problogger commission or monthly fee). You can also subscribe to their email list with the job alerts by mentioning the keywords that you want.
How to get started as a freelancer on Problogger job board?
Step 1: Click here to start looking for writing gigs on Problogger job board.
Step 2: Pick the projects that you really like. Search for the job search form with the keywords that are relevant to your skills for better results.
Step 3: Read the instructions and start pitching the job creators to start making money from writing gigs.
If you’re a freelance writer, you don’t have to pay even a penny. It’s completely free. Incredible, isn’t it? Just go to their job board, find a job that you like and follow the instructions that the job creator gives you. Mostly they tell you to fill a form to submit your details (such as showing your previous work and discussing what you would like to get paid for the project).
This website is not only meant for freelance writers but for freelance web developers, designers etc. Though, it does not specialize in writing field, you can get a lot of writing projects on this website. People who wish to get projects from this website need to make an account here and bid for the projects they are interested in. Writers who bid lowest and offer to do the work in least time often get the projects.
How to get started?
Step 1: Click here to sign up for Freelancer
Step 2: Find projects that you are most interested in and apply for them
Step 3: You need respond to buyers bids by placing bids in terms of completion time, bid value, experience and through a sample of their writing. If you have placed a bid and the buyers find you competitive for their kind of writing project, they contact you through freelancer’s message box.
This is another great website for those people who wish to get writing work. It is very easy to use for all the people. Here, you can expect to get writing assignments from buyers living in different parts of the world. It is easy to register on this website and it takes very small time. Due to great opportunities for writers and loads of writing assignments, this website has become very popular among writers.
Crowd Content is one of the best platforms where you can get access to thousands of great freelance writing jobs with twice-weekly payouts. You can offer a ton of content writing services ranging from article writing to ebooks to ghostwriting, newsletters, and so on.
How to get started as a freelancer on Crowd Content?
There are just 3 steps involved in getting started as a freelance content writer for Crowd Content.
Step 1: Firstly, you need to create an account. Visit this link to find instructions on creating your account. If you’re seeing a waiting list, you can also mail them at [email protected]
Step 2: Once your application is approved, you’ll get access to work. Then, you’re required to write between 50 and 200 words (depending on the application type) to show your writing skills.
Step 3: Then, you’ll be provided with a rating between one and four stars based on the quality of your application. Once a client approves your work, you’ll be paid the following payday (payment comes twice a week).
How much do they charge on Crowd Content?
They don’t charge anything as it’s completely free to join and become a freelance writer on their platform. That being said, writers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand (or similar countries) will have better chances to get approved as a freelance writer.
If you’re looking for paid writing assignments, ContentWriters is one of the best platforms for freelance content writers. You can pick writing projects from various industries ranging from travel to finance to technology, sports, and more.
How to get started as a freelancer on Content Writers?
You can visit this page to sign up for a writer account. If you see a “not accepting new applicants right now” message, you can alternatively, you can also email at [email protected] or give a call at 800-891-0553 to speak with their Writer Team.
How much do they charge on Content Writers?
It’s completely free to sign up as a freelance content writer and your payments for completed assignments will be sent directly to your PayPal account on the 15th and 30th of each month.
Recommended resources around making money:
- Websites that pay in 2023: 10+ websites for getting paid online
- How to make money online as a student in 2023
- Top list of get paid to blog sites for writing guest posts
- Best fiverr gigs to make money from home as a student
- Top real online jobs for earning quick money
I have applied my 10 years of blogging experience to conclude the top 12 websites for freelance content writers. So explore the above-mentioned sites, I am pretty much sure you will get the work you have been looking for.
Though this is the well-researched list of freelance content writing websites, for a beginner, I would highly recommend you to start with Fiverr.
For me, the best practice is to check out the top 10 links on Google and then come up with the best version of content covering all the aspects in the best way.
In most cases, you will be paid per word via a suitable payment channel like PayPal.
Though it all depends on your capabilities and the pace you can write at. Still, if you are a beginner you can earn around INR 9000 – 1000. And if you’re an experienced freelance writer you can earn from INR 20000 to 30000.
Most of the websites I mentioned above work in both ways. You can either sign up as a freelancer or employer. So simply create an account as an employer and start finding a content writer for you.
Kick start a writing career in style.Even if you are an established professional, there is a lot yet to be explored with these best freelance websites for writers. Get in and see which of these works for you!
Fortunate you are if you have found some good and professional clients at the beginning of your writing career because that anyways leads to a constant flow of work and assured income. This is something that is bit challenging for many newbie writers or those who are yet at the entry level. Nobody starts a business to fail and so it is with freelance writing. Therefore, it makes sense ending up with high paying clients, consistent assignments and projects that improve you as a writer.
Let us also know which of the top websites for freelancer content writers are best for people in the comments below.
- Facebook 279
Reader Comments (19)
I am a newcomer to the content writing game. Came across your blog while looking for good sites to try out freelancing work. Thanks for your valuable insights to each site. I will be trying them soon. Cheers!
Hello, I am a content writer who opened my blogging career on freelancer.
Definitely, a thorough list of some of the best and most useful websites for freelancers.
Thanks Yatin Dhiman
I am a big fan of Upwork and found it very easy to manage and start making money from it. eastsidewriters.com is also a good site to look out for some content writing projects?
Thanks for sharing these great lists of freelance sites.
Which is your primary and favorite place to outsource content writing.
and How much it cost for 2000k words.
finally how you optimize it..
I started my blogging career as a content writer on freelancer.
Indeed, a well-researched list of some of the amazing websites that help freelancers to get work and paid well.
Thanks Amit Garg
Thank you, thank you so much. This is detailed blog – actually I was looking for this as I have started doing full time freelancing and it’s been so tedious and tempting altogether to search for everything related to content writing services in freelancing (remote). Recently, someone suggested me Upwork and Freelancer but that’s not it – I needed to find few more sites too – just to compare and know the difference between these all. Wow, article. Have been in my bookmark now. 🙂
These websites are extremely competitive and it would be difficult for writers in their initial phases to earn money consistently. A good place to start would be websites like
1) Content-Kart.com 2) Constant-content.com 3) godotmedia.com
Maybe you should add a section for websites that are not very competitive
Hi Shilpa, glad you added few websites to the list, I’ll definitely check them out and if they are really useful for our audience, I’ll consider adding them in the future. Again, thanks for listing out!
These are the top sites which are flooded by all kinds of freelancers from around the globe and their popularity means nothing if you can’t earn. I`d rather advice new low competitive freelancing platform for beginners. Beesy.pro and Craigslist are totally free, partimerz has a symbolic charge and all of them are good if you want to work, not only search for it.
Thanks for sharing these great list of freelance sites. I am a big fan of upwork and found it very easy to manage and start making money from it. Textbroker is also a good site to look out for some content writing projects.
Hi Mahendra, glad to know that you’re already using few of the sites listed above for freelancing work. Remember one thing while the above mentioned sites, just because a skill has a higher demand or pays well than the others doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best path to follow because there are so many people who are offering $5 services, so you need to really hone your skills to be able to find high paying clients.
Great websites for freelance work!
I like upwork and fiverr. I like all of them, to be honest. You can always find new clients anywhere.
The key is presenting yourself and your portfolio in a professional way. You also have to be quick witted and also work to become a smart marketer to sell your services.
Thanks for sharing this list man!
Hi Freddy, glad to see you around here, one thing I like about most freelancing sites mentioned above is that, they all provide you a ton of customers list that you can use to quickly make money by offering your services. Upwork is definitely a great source for freelancers to find great customers and yes as you said, you need to work smarter if you want to find high paying gigs. Thanks for stopping by.
Hello Anil, Thanks for sharing these great list of freelance sites. I am a big fan of upwork and found it very easy to manage and start making money from it. Textbroker is also a good site to look out for some content writing projects. Thanks for sharing these great tools.
Yes agree that Upwork is a top notch site for freelancers and way better than most of the other platforms such as Fiverr where there’s just too much noise. The good thing about using Upwork is that you can choose the Free or Pro Membership options, depending on how often you plan on using the website. Free is upto 60 “Connects”/month, currency you pay to submit proposals to potential clients. For $10, Pro is 70 “Connects” and you get a personalized url, as well as some average insight into how much people are offering to charge on each job, so you can use those plans smartly to make more money through upwork.
Great Post! Thank you for compiling this.You can add Text-Writers as good source of earning for writers.It is an online platform that bring freelancers writers and business under one roof.
I haven’t yet heard about and thank you for the suggestion, I’ll definitely have a look at it and if it sounds like a great deal for freelancers of all kinds, I’ll definitely include it to the list. Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you’ve any more suggestions.
I am a career coach. Recently I worked with a few clients who were looking for mid life career change. After six to eight month effort, they established themselves as a freelancer in content writing, drawing categories. I found Fiverr.com is the best way to establish as freelancers.
Hey Alta, Fiverr is a great place if you know how to approach clients with your gigs and if you’re just starting out, you can find thousands of customers who are interested in your services as Fiverr is one of the biggest online platforms where people find cheap services. That being said, it usually don’t provide you much profits when compared to other sites like UpWork. You can also check out the remaining site mentioned above for finding the freedom to work when you want, from where you want. All the best.
Leave a Comment Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .
I'm Anil Agarwal, the founder of BloggersPassion. Here, I teach beginners how to get more search traffic and increase their affiliate sales. I make a full-time income from blogging as the blog currently you’re reading makes me over $10,000 per month. Want to know more?
Recent Reviews
- Semrush Review
- Serpstat Review
- Rank Math SEO Review
- HostArmada Review
- WPX Hosting Review
- ConvertKit Review
Live Coupons
- Semrush Coupon Code
- Serpstat Coupon Code
- WPX Hosting Coupon
- Hostinger Coupon
- Cloudways Coupon Code
- ChemiCloud Coupon
Recent Articles
- Top 9 Side Hustle Ideas in 2023 to Make Over $1000+ a Month from Home
- Bloggers Income Report 2023: How Much Money Do Top Bloggers Make
- How Much Do YouTubers Earn? Interesting Figures & Stats for 2023
- How to Use Google Trends to Make Money in 2023
- 11 Online Business Ideas for 2023 With Zero Or Minimal Investment
- How to Start a Pet Blog and Make Money from Pet Blogging in 2023
- 11 Best Google AdSense Alternatives for Bloggers [2023 Edition With Income Proofs!]
- How to Make Money Online for Beginners in India: 10 Easy Ways for 2023
Popular Articles
- Best Real Online Jobs
- Websites for Freelance Writers
- Bloggers Income Report 2022
- How to Use Google Trends
- How to Start a Pet Blog?
- How To Earn First $100 for Blogging
- How to Make Money Online in India
- Best Google AdSense Alternatives
- Best Fiverr Alternatives
- Top Passive Income Streams
- Make First $1000 As A Blogger
- How to Make Money Blogging in 2023
- Weight Loss Blogging
- How to Make Money from a Food Blog?
- BloggersPassion Income Reports
- How Much Money Do YouTubers Make
© 2010-2023 BloggersPassion - All rights reserved.
Designed with GeneratePress and hosted on WPX Hosting
Some of the links to products on this blog are affiliate links. It simply means, at no additional cost to you, we’ll earn a commission if you click through and buy any product. Our Disclosure
- Privacy Policy
- 279 Facebook
- Freelancing
Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Location Rebel. We'll respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time.
How to Become a Freelance Writer in 2023 (Make $5k/Month!)
Updated in December 2022.
A freelance writer is someone who is paid to write.
A person hires you to create content for them or their brand; you write the content, send it off to them, and get paid.
It’s that simple.
The cool thing about freelance writing is there are so many possibilities for you to get started. That’s not only because there are so many different styles of writing, but there are so many niches to write in too.
There’s more opportunity than ever to get started with freelance writing.
Here’s what you need to know.
Table of Contents
Step by Step: How to Become a Freelance Writer in 2023
All the information you need to become a freelance writer is here.
Read through this post, and then reread it.
Start slow. Go through each step. And, most importantly, take action.
The first thing you need to know is that any potential client will want to see a few writing samples.
If you don’t have writing samples, no one will hire you.
So, you need two things:
- A website (or a place to put your writing samples).
- 3-5 samples on that site that you can include in your job applications and the emails you send to potential clients introducing yourself.
Set aside two weeks to take care of this part.
Step 1: Create a Freelance Writing Portfolio Website
First, get a website up and running. Here’s how to do that.
Your freelance writing website is your home base. It’s a way for potential clients to learn a little bit more about you, check your writing samples, and hire you.
Make your site as simple as possible.
You don’t need sliders, fancy themes, and stuff with tons of customization. Instead, a one-page theme will give you exactly what you need.
Step 2: Write 3-5 Samples
Once on your site, the first thing potential clients look at is your writing samples. This is the thing that makes or breaks you at the start.
If they like the way you write, they’ll hire you.
Take some time to go through some sites you read and admire. See how posts are formatted and the flow of the content. Then, use these posts as inspiration to create your posts.
Here are some tips to get started with this part:
- Have 3-5 samples on your site. You need this amount at the minimum, ideally more if you can.
- Spend time on your samples. Don’t slap something up there that you put zero energy into. This will probably be one of the more time-consuming parts of getting started. Here’s how to write a blog post.
- Have a variety of samples. For example, make a long-form blog post (over 1500 words), a list post, and a few medium-length blog posts (700-1000 words). That will cover a lot of potential clients’ needs.
- Write to your niche. If you have a topic you want to get into, like finance or home improvement, make sure all of your samples are about that topic. The same goes for the type of writing. For example, if you want to write long-form content, have all your samples be long-form.
- Update your samples. You can always add new pieces and remove old ones, especially if you change or switch niches.
- Use your blog. You can use the blog feature on your website to write samples.
Learn how to think about a freelance portfolio right here.
Action step: Start building your freelance writing website.
If you don’t have the funds to get a website up right now or know you’re going to get lost and frustrated, a quick fix is setting up an online portfolio.
The following sites let you put up free portfolios (some of them will limit the number of pieces you can put up for free):
- Journoportfolio
- Pressfolios
Each of these can show your work professionally.
Looking for a good checklist of everything to include on your portfolio website?
Here you go:
Reading more your thing? Here’s our 17 Point Freelance Portfolio Site Checklist.
Step 3: Market Your Freelance Writing Business (It’s not as hard as it sounds)
This is the part of freelancing that people don’t like. But without a doubt, it is the most important part.
If you do not market your business, making any money is incredibly difficult.
That’s the truth.
When you are a new freelancer, you have one priority (after your samples are written and posted online) let brands and sites know you exist. This step should devote 95% of your time until you start landing clients consistently.
Don’t tweak your website endlessly, watch a million YouTube channels, read blog posts, or panic about a niche.
Market yourself.
Because that will solve 85% of your problems.
When you work for yourself, you are in the sales business. You must sell yourself and your skills all the damn time. Then, hopefully, you’ll start getting more people who come to you through referrals and word of mouth, and you won’t have to sell quite as much.
But at the end of the day, remember this: no one, and I mean this, no one, is going to market for you.
You have to do it yourself.
What Goes into Your Marketing Mix
Ed Gandia has a great concept called a Marketing Mix. He lists a bunch of tasks that fall under marketing, including:
- Sending follow-up emails
- Sending letters of introduction (LOIs)
- Updating LinkedIn
- Tapping into your network to ask for work
- Connecting with other freelancers
- Content marketing
- Going to conferences/meetups
- Connecting with agencies
- Word-of-mouth marketing
Learn to Love Cold Emails
The most important of these is sending cold emails . You must get comfortable with this because you will send hundreds of cold letters of introduction (LOIs) and cold pitches to potential clients.
Sometimes people use “pitch” and “LOI” interchangeably, but they’re different things.
A pitch asks for a specific job or assignment, like sending a proposal to a magazine to write an article or a website to do a guest post.
On the other hand, an LOI is introducing yourself and getting on someone’s radar, whether it’s a potential client, an agency, a job board listing, or even an editor.
An LOI is just letting them know you’re available and interested in potentially working together, while a pitch is asking them to hire you right now.
We recommend sending lots of LOIs and adding some pitches to the mix.
Here’s an example of an LOI to a local content marketing agency.
Hi Potential Client, I’m a freelance content [use your niche instead of the word content if you have one] writer [copywriter, social media writer]. I’ve worked with marketing firms [companies] like [biz] and [biz] to create content that helps their clients reach their target audience [get clicks, and conversions, educate readers, create engaging content, get more email sign-ups, grow their social media profile, etc.]. [If you haven’t written for clients you can say something like: I have experience in xyz industry/I’ve been involved in xyz hobby for x years/I’m a generalist content writer with incredible reserach skills] Do you work with freelance writers? You can find recent samples of my writing here: [link to your website’s portfolio page, if you don’t have a site, link to 2-3 RELEVANT posts/samples you’ve written] I’d love to chat about your content [copywriting, newsletter, social media, etc.] needs and where I can help. Thanks!
This type of email is called a letter of introduction or LOI. It’s a simple 3-5 sentence that says who you are and the kind of writing you do and asks if they work with freelancers.
Read more about LOIs here.
Get used to LOIs, because you are going to send out thousands of these over your career.
After a few days, if you haven’t heard anything back, send a follow-up email. And repeat your follow-up emails every week or two.
It looks something like this:
Hi potential client, I’m following up on my last email. I know you’re busy so wanted to get back to the top of your inbox about potentially working together. Here are a few recently published articles in the investing and banking verticals that I’ve recently published: 1 <– Link to a new article 2 Happy to chat more if you think I could be a good fit for the site. Thanks!
Again, personalize where you can, but keep it to a sentence at the top.
If you haven’t written anything new or don’t have new links to share, say you’re following up per your last email, and you’d love to chat more.
Start sending.
Making Time for Marketing
What you need to do is block out time daily and do a combination of these marketing tactics. If you have an hour every day, then use it to send as many LOIs, cold emails, and follow-ups as possible. Use additional free time to connect with brands and freelancers on social media.
As you start, use a spreadsheet to create lists of potential clients to target or sites you want to write for. Do this at night when you’re watching tv and don’t have to think.
Spend all your free time adding to this list.
Then when it’s time to start doing your marketing tasks, and you’re squeezed for time, you can work off of that and get results vs. wasting your time searching for emails or info.
Here’s an example of some target sites I might pitch.
So when I say marketing, do this:
- Create a spreadsheet for marketing tasks. The way you do it doesn’t matter. Airtable, Streak for Gmail , Excel, gdocs, whatever works for you.
- Schedule time in your calendar marketing. This is your sacred time, and you need to make it clear no one can bother you.
- Pick your marketing mix for the day. Then, send out whatever combo of the marketing mix you’re working on that day and note it in your spreadsheet.
- Send emails. Start at the top of your spreadsheet and send LOIs. Do the same if you have pitches if you want to send new story ideas to a blog you love.
- Send follow ups. If a few days have gone by and you haven’t heard anything, follow up to your original email by replying to it. Keep following up until you get a gig or are told to stop.
You are going to do this endlessly over the next few months. The more you do this, the closer you are to getting a job. The people who send out 50 LOIs a week tend to get work a lot faster than the people who send out 2.
Once you have a system set to track your outreach, it’s so much easier to send follow-ups and get a rhythm going.
A big part of freelancing success is figuring out repeatable systems for outreach.
Action step: Set time aside each week, put it in your calendar, and devote it to marketing yourself until it becomes second nature and just what you do.
Your marketing block is for activities that can directly result in getting clients. Reading a blog post about how you should be marketing does not count as marketing outreach. You actually have to do stuff.
One last thing to discuss on this: rejection.
Here’s the hard and fast truth. You are going to get rejected constantly. It’s a part of the business. The best freelancers get rejected. It happens. So you need to let go of that fear of rejection. The sooner you do it, the better off you’ll be over the long term.
Where Do You Find Freelance Writing Jobs?
There are a couple of places to start to get freelance writing jobs. Here they are:
Content Marketing Agencies
You can work directly with content marketing agencies. In this case, they do most of the marketing and finding the client and leave you to do the writing.
You won’t get a full fee like you do if you’re out on your own. But for a lot of people, the tradeoff is worth it. Working with an agency means you can try out a bunch of different types of work and get some good clients under your belt.
A lot of successful freelancers will have a couple of agencies they work with on a regular basis. And if you’re good at content repurposing? There may be even more opportunities for you.
Hop on Google and do a search for agencies and send them LOIs.
I like to start with local agencies, which give you a bit of an automatic connection. Start an email like this with one personal sentence versus copying and pasting the same thing to everyone.
Once you have contacted the agencies in your city or town, spread out to your region and then the country.
There are tens of thousands of agencies out there that hire writers. So you have no excuse to say you can’t find places to start sending emails.
Social Media Can be a Goldmine of Freelance Work (If you know where to look)
For freelance writers, Twitter is an amazing tool for getting work, making connections, and befriending other freelancers. Check out a few examples of how Twitter works for freelancers in this post .
When you’re on Twitter, be on the lookout for posts like this:
My quarterly (yearly?) reminder that we're always looking for new pitches/writers at @BusinessInsider . If you love tackling topics like retail, tech, transportation, careers, entrepreneurship, economy, and more, and have a story to tell, email me at akalish[at]insider[dot]com. https://t.co/2RFqNSMonX — Alyse Kalish (@Alyslice) December 7, 2022
You’ll see posts like these on social media every day.
Lots of freelancers can tap into social media and use it to connect directly with editors, so that is probably something you might want to explore too.
Tapping into LinkedIn
However, there is one social media site I really love for finding potential clients, and that’s LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is my go-to social media channel for prospecting new freelance writing clients. Here’s how to get started with LinkedIn.
Once you’ve created a LinkedIn profile, here’s how to use it:
- Find a company that would be a good target in your niche.
- Check out their blog and website.
- Pop over to LinkedIn and then click on ‘jobs.’ Sometimes you’ll get lucky, and they might be looking for a freelancer if not…
- Click ‘people.’ This gives you a list of all the people who work at that company
- Do a quick scan for anyone who has marketing or content in their title
- Click to connect, and then in the note, send an introduction
Here’s an example:
Hi X, I was reading the “Company name” blog and came across your name. Would love to connect, I’m a freelance writer and have been working with some finance and insurance brands like Client 1 [Again if you have no clients yet use personalization here instead]. I thought I’d reach out and say hello. Have a great weekend. [If you have space here add your email or website URL to make it really easy to connect]
That is it.
It’s all about building connections over time.
You do that by saying hello first, not immediately asking for a job.
Action step: Create a LinkedIn profile and get on Twitter.
Professional content marketing companies.
Contently , Skyword , ClearVoice , and nDash are some of the most popular sites that hire writers.
We’ve written quite a bit about Contently; you can read more about it here.
These sites are great for beginners because you don’t have to do any marketing. The clients are connected with you. And you’ll typically have an editor who is the middleman between you and the client.
The negative with these sites (besides nDash) is you have to wait to be found. There is no feature for you to go in and search for available jobs.
Create a profile and make sure you have keywords about your niche in it. Then post up your samples. Set time in your calendar every month to go in and add more samples or update the descriptions of your posts and profile.
Freelancer’s Friend Newsletter
Don’t have time to spend searching through social media or job boards? We’ve got you covered.
The Freelancer’s Friend Newsletter is just that — your best friend for finding a source of good freelance writing jobs.
Every week, you’ll get an email with between 15-20 gigs we’ve sourced online. That will give you an automatic head start, both on time and with jobs delivered right to your inbox.
We know where to look, so we’ve saved you hours trying to find this stuff.
Interested? Learn more about Freelancer’s Friend here.
Another place for beginner freelancers to find writing jobs are job boards.
There are a million of these places. So the quality varies.
But job boards have one big thing going for them: you know these companies are hiring.
So make sure to add these into your marketing mix.
Here’s a huge list featuring some quality freelance job boards .
And this is a list of our five favorite freelance writing boards .
Remember, you can use your LOI writing skills here too. Whenever you apply for a gig from a job board, include a note just like an LOI introducing yourself and your skills.
Most people skip this part, so it can set you ahead of others.
A Freelance Writing Business is a Business. Treat it Like One.
Getting into the right mindset about running a six-figure freelance writing business can take a long time.
This is what you need to do, too. One of the biggest keys to success in growing your business is to stop thinking of yourself as ‘just’ a blogger and instead as a small business owner.
When you think like a business, you start to run things like a business. And that means getting a focus, attracting the right clients in that area, and getting them to pay you real dollars (not $.03 a word) for the content you create.
In reality, becoming a paid freelance writer is not rocket science. It just takes focus and consistency. It is not difficult, but it takes a lot of hard work.
Once you start making money from freelance writing, it helps you shift your mindset.
The me who was making $.05 a word and the me who makes $1+ a word are in two different mental places. A big part of that hinged on building the confidence that I could be a writer and make real money.
To do that, bust out of your shell, get focused, and start marketing yourself as a serious business owner.
To make it in this business, you need to do the same.
Will AI Make Freelance Writers Obsolete?
I’ve received the same question over and over again for about two years:
“Will freelance writers become obsolete because of AI?”
And the short answer is no.
Yes, AI writing services are popping up everywhere.
Yes, they’re getting better.
But even the very best AI tool I’ve used, Content at Scale , is still not capable of coming close to a high-quality human writer.
Yes, I could see it taking some of the super low-level SEO writing jobs, but for anything super meaningful and well-paid, we still have a long ways to go.
That said, these tools are most beneficial in the hands of a competent blogger or freelance writer. If you get good at using a tool like Content at Scale or Jasper, you can use it as a base to create content that you can edit yourself. It will give you a draft, and you can then add personality and personal details to make it extremely high quality.
When using a tool like this, you can double or triple the amount of content you can create in any given session.
But will it replace you? No.
Here are more of my thoughts on the future of freelance writing.
How to Become a Freelance Writer in 2023: Final Thoughts
Alright, you made it!
Yes, that was a lot of information, but if you’ve gotten this far, you should have an excellent idea of how to become a freelance writer. And you can start right now.
Go through each of the steps and follow the tips and advice. You can get your freelance writing business up and running in no time.
Check out our 6 day FREE COURSE on starting a freelance writing business.
Get our FREE 6 day email course all about how to build a lifestyle business that lets you spend more time doing the stuff you love to do in life.
This page contains affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and buy one of the products on this page, I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you!) This doesn’t affect our opinions or reviews. Everything we do is to benefit you as the reader, so all of our reviews are as honest and unbiased as possible.
Keep Reading
How to Make $3,000 in Two Months with SEO Writing
SEO writing is one of the easiest ways to start building an online business and to improve your writing skills. While the term "seo writer" is kind of dead in 2018, that type of work? Still very much in demand. Check this post to learn EXACTLY how to get started TODAY.
How To Make $150+ Per Hour as a Freelance Blogger
Want to learn how to make money as a freelance blogger and find high paying freelance writing jobs? We show you exactly how to do it.
How to Get Freelance Clients by Story Selling (Trust us, it Works)
One of the best ways to get new freelance clients is to learn how to tell a story. Story selling is one of the most effective ways to grow a business.
Seeking a Content Writer for 2000 Word Article
- Posted: 2 days ago
- Proposals: 105
- Open for Proposals
Description
New Proposal
Create an account now and send a proposal now to get this project.
Clarification Board Ask a Question
Is this an expert or entry job? The fee doesn't match the stated experience level. Please clarify. Thanks.
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Check out a sample of the 6,751 Content Writers jobs posted on Upwork Find Freelance Jobs (Current) Looking for Japanese to carry out the mission New Fixed-price ‐ Posted 11 minutes ago $10 Fixed Price Entry Experience Level Task 1: Recording audio A simple task that can be done at home using your mobile phone. Read 3 words, 25 times each.
Here are six steps to get you started on this new career path. 1. Study the field of writing and content There's a lot to research when it comes to starting your freelance writing career. First and foremost, you'll want to look at the field in general and see what kinds of things people are writing.
Unless you want to spend your freelance writing career slumming through content mill after content, and getting paid peanuts, you need to level up your content creation skills. Because those high-paying freelance content jobs you lay awake dreaming about? Companies don't hand them to just anyone.
You'll get the latest freelance writing jobs in your inbox. This is a simple way for beginning writing jobs since it's free and you don't need a website to start. 4 Use Your Website The best way to attract high-paying clients is to have a professional looking website.
If you want to become a paid freelance writer then you need to know content marketing. This means understanding how a business uses content to market their products or services. They may use white papers, a lead magnet, case studies and an email list to help them gain leads.
Freelance Writing Jobs 5. Textbroker 6. Contently 7. MediaBistro 8. ProBlogger 9. Freelancer.com 10. Constant Content 11. Guru.com 12. Writer Access 13. Craigslist 14. BloggingPro 15. FreelanceWriting.com Tips for finding freelance writing jobs online 1. Pitch and apply every day 2. Niches can be great, but you don't need one to start 3.
Often simply being passionate about a topic, and having an engaging writing style, is enough to start winning work. Here are some simple steps to get started: 1. Choose your freelance writing specialty Picking both the type of writing you want to do and the related niche are important for your future as a freelance writer.
Here are 10 places you can begin to look for content writing jobs. 1. Investigate Writer Job Boards Companies that need the services of a freelancer often post to writer job boards. Some examples of these boards include: Problogger All Freelance Writing Job Board Blogging Pro
Freelance writers who join our team to produce content for our clients will receive numerous benefits. Apart from the opportunity to work whenever and wherever you want, you'll enjoy competitive rates, the freedom to choose your topic category based on the available writing assignments, and other incentives. Apply as a Writer Today.
You can get content writing jobs a few different ways. It's best to reach out to companies directly or to apply for freelance content writing positions that are advertised on websites like Indeed.com. Applying to posted calls for freelance writers can be a good way to know which companies are looking for new writers.
Freelance writing is the practice of writing for money while working on one's own and not being employed by a company or organization. Freelance writers produce whatever written text is needed by their clients, either working from home or in a rented office space.
14. Mediabistro. Mediabistro is a well-known freelance writing job board and career destination for savvy media professionals. This site will be of help if you're searching for new online writing opportunities or want to improve your skills. The job search board is primarily for finding work in media in the U.S.
ProBlogger. Being one of the first freelance writing job websites, ProBlogger hosts a wide range of contract, full-time, part-time, and freelance jobs in the writing and proofreading space. If you're a freelance copywriter or have experience with WordPress and web content, check out their job postings to see what's available.
One of the top job boards for freelance writing jobs and remote work, FlexJobs enables you to create a custom job search profile to meet your specific needs. Select your categories ... This site content writing job board includes remote, freelance, contract and full-time jobs. To peruse these hand-picked writing opportunities, visit the site ...
Freelance Writer. Humu. Remote in Mountain View, CA. $70 - $85 an hour. Contract. Bonus: Experience with human resources; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and/or behavioral change content. This is a contract role and pay is $70-$85/hr. Posted.
Growing as a Writer with Crowd Content. The support offered by Crowd Content staff and other writers and editors makes our platform one of the best freelance writer websites available. We value every worker, and you'll benefit from: Direct chat with Crowd Content staff. An active (and positive) forum that includes staff and project manager ...
How to become a freelance writer Here are the steps you can take if you are interested in becoming a freelance writer: 1. Research the freelance writing industry Before you start writing as a freelancer, it is essential to find out everything you can about the industry.
Step 1: Click here to sign up for free and create an account to start finding freelance writing jobs. Step 2: Click on Find a job to search for content writing jobs and click on any job offer that interests you. Step 3: Send a proposal, start working on your job posting to get paid.
You could even link up with other freelancers to offer a more comprehensive solution to a client, such as a writer-designer team that can tackle both the content and look of an annual report....
In conclusion, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for finding freelance gigs as a content writer. By optimizing your profile, joining relevant groups, using job search and ProFinder, reaching out to ...
Step by Step: How to Become a Freelance Writer in 2023. Step 1: Create a Freelance Writing Portfolio Website. Step 2: Write 3-5 Samples. Step 3: Market Your Freelance Writing Business (It's not as hard as it sounds) What Goes into Your Marketing Mix. Learn to Love Cold Emails. Making Time for Marketing.
The following are 32 writing jobs you can do from home: 1. Freelance writing. Freelance writing means working independently, often on a contract basis, and taking projects from clients you find yourself. Many freelance writing jobs pay by the word, but some might pay a stipend for each completed project.
Experience Level: Expert. I am looking for a content writer to write articles for the initial launch of our magazine. We are looking for a feature article that is around 2000 words. The article topics we are looking for are: - How to increase productivity. - Mental Health.