Freelance Writing Jobs for May 20, 2009
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So I guess I know how you all feel about bidding sites now!
So while recuperating yesterday, I began the monumental task of going through thousands of emails received last weekend. Many of them were questions related to freelance writing and blogging. I think it’s time to put together a static FAQ page so folks can refer to than for the answers to their questions. Half the people who write want to know how to get started as a freelance writer. That would take days to answer. Getting started as a writer involves tons of research and, after that, the ability to spend hours search for suitable opportunities. What is your best advice to a brand new freelance writer?
Leads…
- Blogger for Business Card Company in Melbourne
- Publishing Consultant
- Contract Investigative Journalist – Civil Liberties – Los Angeles
- Freelance Copywriter – Corporate Communications – NYC
- Freelance News Writer - Appox. $180/week
- SEO Article Writers - $10 – $15/article
- Wikipedia Article
- Writing/Editing/Proofreading
- Freelance News Writer – Woodbury NY
- Restaurant Equipment Writer – Atlanta
- Product Description Writer
- Freelance Bilingual Copywriter – Spanish/English
- Experienced Grant Writer – Long Beach
- Writer with Education or Parenting Experience - San Francisco
- Technology Editor -Online Social Network – Telecommute OK
- Freelance Internet Resesarch - $10/hour
- Chinese Fashion Writer
- Author Needed for Historical Pictorial of San Francisco Crime
- Business Plan Writing
>
Sorry so short and so late. I’m not 100% but should be fine tomorrow, I think!
Some great leads here.
My suggestions for a newbie:
Be patient and start off slowly. It takes time to feel your way around. Quality and not quantity is the key.
Read forums and blogs on writing by other writers. They are invaluable and you can learn from other’s mistakes and gain knowledge from their experience.
Develop your niche but do not be afraid to diversify in other genres.
Don’t quit your day job until you have…
your credit cards paid off
enough cash to keep body and soul together for a solid year
a good handful of high quality clips in areas that truly interest you
a nice collection of existing gigs that pay at least half of your present salary
a reasonable expectation that some or all of those gigs will be ongoing
a plan for what you’ll do if freelancing doesn’t pan out for you.
Lisa
Lisa hit it on the head.
I would ad it would be good to learn about this blogging thingy….I’m a geezer who learned on a manual typewriter and pasted up copy for print with wax. The death of print, which I’m afraid is closer every day, saddens me. Still haven’t figured out monetization of new media.
My advice?
Don’t listen to the writers who try and tell you what you should or shouldn’t be working for, rates-wise. Everyone starts at the bottom, and you have to be willing to work for peanuts before you can work for dough. Also, everyone has their own, unique version of what is or isn’t acceptable based purely upon their choices in life that make up their living expenses. You are the one in control of your life, your living conditions and expenses, and YOU are the one who should choose how much you are willing to work for.
Remember, every person out there started out getting their hands dirty at one time or another, so don’t be afraid to get yours dirty.
Be patient. This is not a get-rich-quick industry. It will take you 1-2 years before you are making decent money. I’m at the 15th or 16th month mark and I’m average 25-30 dollars an hour, which is higher than the national average. There are other writers who are in their 3rd year or beyond who make double what I make. Have realistic expectations. You are NOT going to be able to walk into this industry and make 50 cents per word/100 dollars per hour like some of the veterans would have you believe, unless you happen to have an EXTREMELY specialized market that you are highly knowledgeable about.
Understand the market. The global market. You are not only competing with people in your area, or even in your country. Anyone with an Internet connection in any part of the world is your competition. And just because someone in India is willing to do the work for pennies compared to what you need to make does not automatically make them “hack” writers, as so many people here would have you believe. Understand that there are qualified professionals in all corners of the globe, and do not let yourself be naive in thinking you are somehow “special” or “the only one with the capabilities”. This is not so. There are millions of qualified candidates around the world, and as more and more people in developing countries begin to get Internet, the employee pool becomes larger and larger.
Never stop writing. Have a business plan. Contact professionals. Get consultations, even if you have to pay for them. A professional writer who is doing this for a living can and will help you, but many of them, myself included, do not have time to give more than a brief series of tips. If you want a truly one-on-one consultation that is guaranteed to have results, be prepared to pay. You pay for college classes to learn specific knowledge regarding a career, and this is no different. If you want specific knowledge right off the bat, the best choice is to invest a little money up front in “classes”, or consultations.
But the single most important lesson you can learn is NEVER GIVE UP! And never, ever let other writers tell you what you can or cannot do, what you are or aren’t capable of, or let them dictate your quality. I’ve been in business a long time, and the number one rule I’ve always stood by is “money talks”. If your paychecks are rolling in and you are satisfied with the amounts, then you are successful. It doesn’t matter if a select group of arrogant few stand upon a podium and denounce all those beneath them. Wave your bank statement in their face and feel proud that you, and you alone, are exactly what got you here in the first place. They are just jealous because you are proving them wrong.
Put your money where your mouth is
Honestly, you can read the tips here, but do what you know you have to do to for your situation.
That’s the key. It all depends on your situation. In my case, I actually think it’s time to return to work outside the home, but for now, I can’t. They dropped high school bus service in my community-budget cuts and all that-so parents must get their high schoolers to school on time and pick them up within 30 minutes of the end of the school day. For me that means making sure my son is to the high school (10 miles away) by 7:45 and having him picked up no later than 3:30. Due to drug problems in the city, they no longer allow students to wait on the school grounds until their ride arrives.
The morning works well, I race to the high school and then rush back to get my daughter on her bus. If I worked outside the home, I still think it would work out. But afternoons… I have five people who call me frequently to pick their kids up because they simply cannot hold a full-time job and pick up high schoolers at 3:00. Next year will be worse. Kids have to be dropped off at 7:15 and then picked up at 2:30. A number of parents are talking about pulling their kids from this high school and transferring them, but I’ll see what happens.
Until my kids are through high school or my son makes it into a driver’s ed course so that he can get his license (another big issue because of the wait list, they only allow juniors and seniors to take the course), I have to work from home. There really isn’t another option.
I’ll second Veronica’s advice and add this:
Work on your portfolio. If you don’t have published articles, give yourself assignments and write them up. Having the “right” clips to send with your cover letter or email is critical to being able to answer posts and queries without spending gobs of time.
Good luck to all the newbies out there!
I have to disagree with Lisa–her advice is good, but it may not work for everyone. I was trying to build up my freelance business while working full time so that I could get to the point where I could comfortably quit. It was difficult to devote the time I needed to searching leads and writing and balance work, home and play obligations at the same time. Eventually, I moved and since I didn’t have a full-time job anyway, I was able to focus on writing full time and found it much easier to land jobs and write when I was able to focus all my attention on it. So the “wait it out while working full time” may not be for everyone, though it’s a worthwhile thing to consider. I will say that I have a wife who works full time, so I was able to build up slowly without having to fear that I wouldn’t be able to make rent or buy groceries, so it really depends on your own circumstances. But don’t feel that you have to have it set-up before quitting your day job, especially if you don’t yet have a day job.
I liked what another poster said about quality vs. quantity. It’s easy to get caught up writing 20 articles a day for $5 a piece, but I think it’s more important to focus on things long term and be sure that you’re working toward your writing goals. I don’t think anyone gets into writing to write $5 articles on credit cards, so while it might pay the bills at the time, don’t forget to keep working toward bigger things. Also, look at freelancing as a business rather than a job–it’s going to take time and hard work to build up and you probably won’t be making the same salary that you were used to right away. Keep working hard, applying for new work and putting your best work out and you’ll be building your business in no time.
Chris – of course you’re right that every situation is different! I was single when I got started, so didn’t have a back-up other than move back in with mom and dad… not an ideal option.
Another thing to consider: folks who have an in-demand specialty (legal or financial writing, sales writing, or in my case grant writing) may find it easier to get up and running more quickly. If you’re depending on general feature and blog writing, it’s gonna be tougher.
Lisa
If a young writer can refrain from writing, he shouldn’t hesitate to do so. (Andre Gide)
I get emails asking this ALL the time. It`s so common, in fact, that I`m actually working on an e-course to help people get started in freelance writing.
My advice would be to apply to as many jobs as you can, every single day. It`s easy to get discouraged when you don`t hear back from anyone after the first three days, but just keep going. If you apply to 10 jobs a day, I guarantee you`ll hear something by the end of the month!
Writing takes persistence and sometimes you have to get creative in your approach to finding work.