How To Earn Your First Dollar As A Freelance Writer
So you’ve decided that you want to get paid to write online — where do you start? More specifically, how do freelance writers move from empty coffers to money in the bank? There are lots of ways to approach this and get that all important first pay cheque — here are some of the methods that have worked for me.
Use your contacts
When you get started, let people know that you are available for writing work. This is not just about creating a web presence but about using the contacts you already have who might have something to offer you. In my case, one of my first freelance writing jobs came from a former student who didn’t yet have the confidence to write a story about a charity event he was spearheading. That paid me around $25 — not much, but boy did it feel sweet!
Network
Networking is your best friend as a new freelance writer. It’s up to you how you do it. I hooked up with potential clients (passed on by other writers) through blogging. Those writers could see my writing style and because we had communicated they felt confident in recommending me for jobs that required similar skills. Other places to find those first jobs and make those contacts include social media sites, business networking sites and forums. Promotion is essential for new writers.
Apply for everything
Sometimes getting paid to write is a numbers game — the more bids, queries and applications you send out, the more likely it is that someone will pay you for your writing. As a new freelancer I didn’t have money to spend so I signed up for the free levels on several bidding sites and submitted as many bids as I was allowed to. Although I didn’t eventually get many jobs through those sites I made contacts who later became clients.
Just ask
Okay, I don’t know how realistic this is but I was lucky enough to hook up with someone who believed in giving new writers a chance (and I’ve since tried to pay it forward). There is no harm in asking someone to give you a try but you only get one chance to make a good impression so you really have to give it your best shot. That first piece must be polished to within an inch of its life before you submit it.
That’s pretty much it — you need a lot of persistence to get that first job. Every job after that will be much easier to obtain.
Even if you have no experience and no clips it doesn’t have to be a problem. You just have to do a bit more legwork. Learn about web content writing and search engine optimisation. Search the bidding sites for jobs that attract you and look at examples of excellent web content writing. Then write and post similar articles on your blog. That will give you examples to show off and the confidence to know that you are a writer and you will soon get paid.
As you can see there’s a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work involved in getting that first pay cheque. I know other writers have strategies they used to get their first commission – care to share?
(See my Freelance Writing Questions and Making It as a Freelance Writer series for more tips on getting started.)
You might also enjoy:
- Freelance Writing: Trading Pennies For Dollars
- Freelance Writing Questions: How To Bid Successfully
- Setting Freelance Writing Goals
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Get Paid To Write Online by Sharon Hurley Hall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Copyright for posts written by guest authors remains with them.Useful info
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Also, don’t be afraid to write on speculation. Doing so allows your writing to do the selling! I find that so much more enjoyable than bidding for jobs and trying to convince a potential customer that I’m qualified.
Celeste Stewart´s last blog ..Online Writing Workbook Beginner’s Edition Update
Yes, Celeste, and you can use that writing to raise your profile. But be careful of scammers who are asking dozens of writers to write on spec so they can get the job done without paying.
Thank you for this great advice! I was feeling a bit discouraged, I’ve just started my freelance business, and I’ve been bidding and bidding for projects on elance.com and so far only received one job. But I’m going to take your advice, keep bidding, and try other sites as well.
Thanks! BTW, I receive your posts via email, and I always enjoy reading them, thank you for sharing your experience with us.
You’re welcome, Suzanne, and don’t feel discouraged. You can always contact me if you have questions.
I recently started freelancing, and Elance has been a great help in getting started. By charging a low price, and making sure my proposals are compelling, I’ve been able to get that important initial positive feedback. Since then, getting work is slowly becoming easier and easier, and I’m slowly learning how this freelance malarky works.
While marketing yourself well helps a great deal, if you’re a good writer with great customer service, your feedback will do the selling for you.
My advice to others who are trying to get started: patience and diligence. And keep learning. Improve your proposals. Improve your writing. Improve your customer service. Strive to give your clients outstanding value. It’s working for me, and I’m sure it’ll work for others.
As someone once said, Mark, it takes years to become an overnight success.
I’m glad Elance is working well for you. I haven’t got much from it, but I know it’s helped a lot of writers build thriving careers.
The thrill of getting started is unbelievable.Hope Elance would be a great help in getting me off the blocks.
Thank you for the lovely tips, Sharon.
However, I am sure most of the readers on this blog and elsewhere in the world will almost certainly agree with me here: We are always looking for specific advice, phone numbers, agencies, websites…anything that is less than an ambiguous path to success.
Do not get me wrong. I appreciate your intent to help. Perhaps, you may take a cue at how to better help people through your blog.
Will keep reading your blog in hope and anticipation
Cheers!
Sunny´s last blog ..Teaser- Ayush & Kashish – Chapter One
In that case, Sunny, check out my updated list of Where I Get Paid to Write.