A Complete guide to Freelance writing and helpful tips:
Recently I came to a striking realization about how to gain an extra push with my income. I am sure many people also question this on where and how, as in today’s job market it is a rather tedious task finding work, in the same time making a decent salary that doesn’t leave you biting your nails on month end.
Writing is actually a very enjoyable art I came to enjoy, it has given me many advantages in life, I never thought possible.
When I first started I felt a connection with the fluidity of my words onto paper, despite the trivial emotional pursuit of not being the best, I still enjoyed it.
Writing gives me a sense of righteous belonging and freedom, as I am the master of the pen and I am the one in control of these words.
I have come to notice the greatest comfort in writing is that I can do this all from home, on my own time, being my own boss and that the money I receive in doing what I enjoy is helping my budget.
Instead of throwing my future money away on student loans that will leave me financially crippled for a few years to come, writing serves to aid my financial situation, here and now.
Once I started writing I realized it wasn’t an easy pursuit, it was all trial and error, and also a long time to accomplish or at least master the art of writing.
But it is a step everyone should take to climb on the financial ladder. I would say that once you start don’t invest yourself to too many tasks or assignments, take a slow pace and learn your strength and weakness as it can leave you overflown with too many things to get to.
I have compiled a list of helpful tips that could help you push you in the journey of writing:
How to be a Freelance Writer and Make Money From the Internet
- Pace yourself slowly once you start your career in writing work.
People often make the mistake in thinking they can handle a giant load of work once starting in the industry, people think it is too an easy feat that they can accomplish in a bundle of assignments.
Correction, once you start writing and assuming you never did before, you need to give yourself a gap to open your mind to words and let words flow from your mind like a stream, and I assure you it takes time to get yourself levelled to this.
Start by researching on blogs or websites that you would like to write for. Start your tasks little by little or one at a time, determine the frequency of your writing if you would commit to monthly or weekly. So before you overload yourself and not making deadlines, makes sure you are comfortable with the general work flow.
Once I started I over exhausted myself and my work lacked quality because I tried to overload myself. Pacing yourself correctly, you give yourself enough time and freedom to perfect yourself before your commit yourself to a job you can’t handle. I can guarantee you won’t be able handle a deadline fast enough without experience.
- Uncover your interests when start your freelance journey.
There is so much variety to choose from, from online blogs, websites or magazines to printed magazines and possibly a lot more.
The possibilities are virtually endless. With each place you can write for each delivers its own unique flavour of topics. An easy and reasonable start, I would suggest to start with your own interests, as you can surely invoke more feeling into your own writing with things you are passionate about.
You can choose from personal financing, technology, how to guides, home living, personal blogging right up to gaming. Literally anything you want.
Do know that not everyone is well versed in certain topics and that is ok, it is good to know your strengths and weaknesses, so you can surely know what to focus more on.
I would suggest to try a different topic each assignment, maybe you discover that you are better writing about a certain topic than you thought, which gives you a window of opportunity as to be able to write more once you are ready.
Challenge yourself as well by writing about topics you have no interests in as it will allow you to improve your writing quality on future assignments regarding topics you have no interest on, which in the long run could benefit you because as a freelancer sometimes you will be given topics that are not your interests. Explore your options.
- Advertise yourself, search for work in freelance writing.
Best things to do to get yourself in the industry is to advertise yourself as it is the most effective way to get a message across.
Send out emails requesting to be part of a blog, but the best way for people to find you and see your work is to also starting your own blog. Start of by sending emails to websites that you have picked out, and based on their topics etc.
Getting yourself out there will give you a lot of experience as well. If you have your own blog show that you want to be hired, let people be able to get hold of you and don’t be scared of an opportunity. Many websites also state they are looking to appoint more writers and that’s even better.
Social media’s such as Facebook, Tumblr and other sites is a great way to share your work, as this allows your friends and family to view and give opinions, and if it’s good they will share it. If you have your own blog set up these social media’s are a great sharing tool to share your articles and direct people to your page.
- Ensure that your articles are of best calibre, securing yourself a better chance for work.
There are countless and numerous reasons one must always be sure that your advertised work is to the best of your ability, as people enjoy a well written article that is concise and grammatically correct.
Increase the size of your library, keep writing on as many topics as possible, take note of possible ideas that you can write about, and surely you will have a variety of work you can select which is most suitable to advertise.
A good article takes time and also extensive research and referencing, but it is all determined by the topic itself and the research you put into it. A lot of people prefer articles that have research put in to them because people want to read facts, facts they can understand.
- Create your own blog if you are searching for work.
Same principle follows here as well; make sure your work that you post are of the highest standard.If the quality ofthe articles are good, people will get a good impression of you and maybe even start seeking out articles you have written. This will also increase your chances of work.
Having your own blog also allows people to see your writing style and the quality of your work, from here people can decide if you would be beneficial to them as a staff freelancer.
You get to have full access on what goes on the blog; you get to choose your topics as you wish. Blogs also get in a lot of viewers which is very convenient as many people will read it and share it with a friend and so it will continue until you have copious amount of viewers giving you even more of a chance to get yourself work.
Owners of other blogs can see your work and direct it to even better places which will really help you increase your chances.
The best thing about creating your own blog is that most websites offer this for free, with an added benefit of editing the look of your blog which makes it more eye catching or more fitting to your selection of topics.
- Don’t under value yourself when looking for work.
Most websites have different rates of payments or starting rates.Establish what your rates are and stay fixed on you rates otherwise people can push you over and just walk over you taking advantage where they see fit. Understand that writing takes time,your time, and this must be paid for in order to make a liveable income.
Establish your rates based upon hours spent, research done, and the word count.There are many things one must factor in when you want to determine your rates, so keep all factors in mind and know your worth, under valuing yourself is not an option when you want to get yourself ahead
- Never give up
Finding work isn’t always easy, even more so if you are yet to make a name for yourself. It will not always be easy, but hang in there.
Finally, if you discover that writing is definitely not for you, there are a lot of other ways to make it as a freelancer online. All you need to do is find your comfort zone.
