Starting Out as a Freelance Writer

Freelance writing makes a great job for bloggers, single mothers and others who want to work from home. If you're a really good writer and find out where to search for writing work, it is possible to earn a decent amount of money from your writing. Here are a few pointers to help you get started as a writer.

Steer Clear of Job Bidding Services

Elance, Freelancer, oDesk, and other sites for freelancers that make you bid for writing assignments have something in common: these sites all seem to be crowded with foreign laborers who are able to write articles for extremely low prices. If you bid for work on these websites, place your bids based on what you feel you're worthy of, and refuse to get caught up in a price war. If you find yourself working for three dollars an hour, you will just wind up feeling stressed and you'll get burned out quickly.

Content Broker Sites Are Great for Getting Money Quickly

Everyone endures a situation in which the budget is tight from time to time, and for those times, websites specializing in content brokering are often the perfect choice. The Content Authority pays weekly, and Textbroker pays twice per month. The amount that these sites pay is not great, but there's almost always work to be found and the revenue will prove useful until you are able to find writing jobs that pay more.

Webmasters Constantly Need Articles

There are countless sites online that are looking for fresh content. Many Internet marketers write their own content, but quite a few of them outsource the task to writers. If you've got good writing skills, you can probably get more money for the content you write by promoting your article writing service in forums where website owners spend time.

Magazines

If getting your articles published in magazines seems unrealistic, let me assure you that it really isn't. You don't have to have a college degree to get your articles published in a magazine or newspaper. The only thing you really need is the ability to write query letters pitching article ideas to magazine editors in a convincing way, along with the ability to do the research and craft the articles in a timely manner. It is much easier to sell yourself when you have two or three publishing credits to list as experience, but quite a few freelance writers have sold magazine articles with no prior publications. Get the Writer's Market book for the writer's guidelines of magazines that accept articles from freelance writers.