Your Turn: Where Do YOU Find Freelance Writing Jobs?

I often talk about how I find freelance writing jobs, but one thing we don’t really discuss is where YOU find freelance writing jobs. I know most members of this community come to the job lists here and at other blogs and websites. However, I was wndering… do you do anything else to find work?

Do you:

Attend networking events?
Attend conferences?
Cold call?
Wait for clients to call you?
Work primarily via word of mouth recommendations?
Find clients via the social networks?

My assumption has always been that the Freelance Writing Jobs network community uses mostly online tools to search for work, but I haven’t really asked that question in a while.

What do you do to find freelance writing gigs? Where do you find the most success?

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Posted

March 17, 2010

Freelance Job Options

david

Tags:

freelance, freelance writer, freelance writers, Freelance Writing, freelance writing gigs, freelance writing jobs

Comments

12 responses

Sharon Hurley Hall

March 17, 2010

As well as this site, I use a service called The Writer’s Bridge which sorts through opportunities from various sources. It’s run by Darrell Laurant.
.-= Sharon Hurley Hall´s last blog ..How To Earn Your First Dollar As A Freelance Writer =-.

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Diana

March 17, 2010

Besides this site’s lovely listings, I look forward to Anne Wayman’s e-mails and may hang out on Elance a little, depending on my work load.

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1. Cristy
  
  March 17, 2010
  
  This question is for Diana or those with any knowledge, But for a novice freelancer, which do you recommend? Elance or Odesk? I was trying to figure out which of these would be the easiest and best choice to join.
  
  Thank you.
  .-= Cristy´s last blog ..The Essence of Grant Writing =-.
  
  Reply
Christy

March 17, 2010

I have found some great writing and blogging jobs at Problogger.net. If you visit the Absolute Write forums you can find the occasional decent writing opportunity. I ended up selling a couple of short stories from information I found on the Absolute Write forums. But of course nothing beats Deb’s site!
.-= Christy´s last blog ..Oprah Magazine Cookbook Review =-.

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Steph Auteri

March 17, 2010

I receive e-mail alerts from mediabistro, and have Ed2010’s job ads feed through to my Google Reader but, other than that, most of the job opportunities I’ve come across have been via the professional contacts I’ve cultivated over the years. Colleagues from previous jobs have hired me and/or sent me work. A regular copy editing gig came from an ad a former writing group member sent along. A blogging gig came from someone I met through my blog. Another one followed naturally from an internship. And it seems that, now, work is coming my way from people I don’t even know, simply because they’ve been following my blog and my Twitter feed and my career and like what they see. I have to say, it’s a nice position to be in. 🙂
.-= Steph Auteri´s last blog ..I Skipped SXSW. Am I An Idiot? =-.

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Wendy Sullivan

March 17, 2010

Social networking is a big one for me. Most of the people I know I’ve met through blogging. Plus – and you’ll get a kick out of this – some spammer sent me a link on Twitter. I sent back a 140char critique and included my email address. I scored a gig to re-write 3 pages of their content!

Wendy
.-= Wendy Sullivan´s last blog ..Blogging Idol =-.

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Kevin Freeman

March 19, 2010

I have found a good Google Ad Campaign to be very effective in rustling up clients who are looking to pay real money for real writing. Of course, there are plenty of spam inquiries, but where do you not find spam these days? Unfortunately, I have never received a legitimate response from job boards, and have rather slacked off in active job seeking as a result.

I wonder if anyone would care to divulge their success rates through active job board hunting and similar activities?
.-= Kevin Freeman´s last blog ..Why Use Freeman Writing Services? =-.

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Kevin Freeman

March 19, 2010

P.S., any/all critique is more than welcome, both of my job hunting strategies and website structure (which is how I convert interested clients on the web into interested clients on the phone) – we are all here to improve, after all! Of course, the favor would be returned if desired.
.-= Kevin Freeman´s last blog ..Why Use Freeman Writing Services? =-.

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Susan Johnston

March 19, 2010

I get a lot of my projects through word of mouth and referrals. I also get the email newsletter from FreelanceDaily.net and send out lots and lots of queries! Once editors have worked with me, they’re a lot more likely to respond to my emails and use me again.
.-= Susan Johnston´s last blog ..Open Thread: What Are Your Must-Read Blogs? =-.

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Derek Thompson

March 20, 2010

I use this site and http://www.beablacksheep.com as well as word of mouth. Craigslist has been a mixed bag – I’ve made some strong contacts but also seen pay rates that would be laughable were they not serious about it. And I’ve also been ripped off by a Craigslist ad client when it came time to pay me.

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Miko Holt

March 20, 2010

This is such a great post Deb. Well, for me I have this weird way of searching for new gigs. I use google vs. bing vs. aol vs. yahoo. and spend an hour or two sifting through search results. After typing in “writers wanted, freelance writing, writing jobs” etc. I also start from the back and work my way up the search engine pages. I’ve landed on valuable leads using this method. And, I love to read writing blogs. They are candy-coated with information! 🙂

On the local level I partner with other small businesses to gain name recognition. And most of my clients I’ve landed via referral. I send out quarterly cards and special discounts for repeat business.

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RS

March 23, 2010

Hello…

I had writing job outsourced to me but no nothing..would anyone of you tell me which sites to you to..some sites pay very low..so please give me your ideas and guide me..

new comer

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