Almost three years ago, I published a list of some of the most lucrative writing markets I had found. At the time I listed the following places which had proven useful for me as a writer:
- Exquisite Writing – an international copywriting agency
- Blogitive – a blog advertising company
- Lifetips – a site with mini sites about thousands of topics
- Freelance Writing Gigs – a site which provided great job leads
My Client List
Three years on, the picture looks very different. My client list looks like this:
- two online monthly trade magazines for which I source news and write feature articles, going back to my roots as a journalist
- a travel blog where I post twice weekly for an offsite airport parking firm
- a tech blog, where I post roughly ten times a month
- a review blog, where I post batches of reviews of of new websites at intervals
- a business consultant, for whom I write article marketing articles
- a musical entertainment provider, for whom I write environmental articles for his local website and occasional travel articles on the destinations where he operates
- a management consultant, for whom I write website materials as well as helping with other projects
- two copywriting agencies
- an education firm, for whom I do proofreading
- a European bimonthly magazine which deals with development issues, for whom I do proofreading
I also do occasional guest blogs on topics such as parenting and finance, among others.
Great Places To Find Jobs
The places where I look for work include:
I also get a lot of work from referrals.
Places which have not provided much include Elance, Guru, Odesk – and let’s not even talk about GetAFreelancer. However, I would still recommend that new writers give Exquisite Writing a try.
Why This Matters
There are three points to make with this list. First, that having a varied client list will help insure you against ruin if one client disappears. (I have a couple of big clients in there and admittedly it would hurt if I lost their business, but I’d still have something to keep me going while I looked for a replacement).
Second, that you probably have a wide range of abilities – the more of them you use the more varied and interesting your writing career will be. At the moment, my current client list represents a good balance.
Third, that persistence is one of the keys to freelancing success. When I started freelancing, I took certain jobs just for the experience – the pay wasn’t worth writing home about – so I could build my skill level. That paid off by bringing me better paid opportunities and referrals from satisfied clients. Wherever you are starting from, you can do this too.
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{ 24 comments }
I took a look at Exquisite Writing at your suggestion. Turns out they discriminate against people not born in an English speaking country.
We use American, Canadian, Australian and UK copywriting experts, and only writers who have English as their first language.
I have taught college here in the US and given writing advice to fellow professors as well as students. Ugh. What a stupid statement.
I will look at some of the other places you mention. See if they are any less short sighted.
Niels´s last blog post..Do you have Activists or Donors
What a helpful post, giving the real goods on writing jobs. I’m going to link to this post at my blog and would love to publish an excerpt, with your permission. Well done!
Athlyn´s last blog post..Latest News on Susan Boyle: Susan Boyle’s Recovery
Really interesting article which gives me food for thought. While I can see the issue for Niels above I thought Exquisite Writing might be the most accessible for me at my stage of development. This is to a large degree based on my strong sense of not fitting in when the sites are primarily American. I would like to write an e book based on American-English background and this for instance looks the place where it might welcome such a piece of writing. Is it that people overinflate themselves. I just cant put my finger on why I am put off. I have personal drive but clearly I must have a missing ingredient I think.
I may well follow this one through. Thanks Sharon for some great ideas – again.
Susan Bearder´s last blog post..In Praise of the Caper Plant
Hello!
I am curious to learn more about RentACoder.
I was going to sign-up but then they asked for my SSN which made me nervous. I did some research and many reviews out there seem to say that the company is biased towards the companies listing work and very difficult or unfair towards the coders.
What has your experience been? Do you feel the pay is fair for the amount of work (someone compared it to slavery)?
I don’t mind working for cheap if it gets me exposure and some practice, but I am a little concerned that they ask for my SSN right up front.
Any thoughts on the matter are welcome.
Best and keep up the awesome work, Sharon. I love your blog and tweets!
Dawn
Writing CAN take a lot of time. I plan out my week’s work during what I call DPS Time – Dreaming, Planning, Scheming, which I do at least once a week for 3 hours or so on Tuesday morning. I write for 4 of my own blogs each Monday AM plus create a news letter for my Ultimate Dads Success Ezine. So, any help people can get, the easier it will be. And the sources you listed seem good to me too. Thanks.
Best,
Charles Seymour Jr
twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads
Say It So They Buy It´s last blog post..Copywriting For Profit – Turning Your Words Into Gold
I’d like to share my favorite writing site that pays: StoryMash.com
I only receive a few bucks per month, but it’s steadily increasing as I gain new readers. Money isn’t everything tho, StoryMash is a great place to practice telling stories collaboratively, and it’s a blast!
First time here.. Thanks for the info. Very interesting and helpful
Sharon,
This is a really relevant site to anyone looking for legit work. Thanks for putting the time and effort into compiling all of this useful information!
Question – I’m a complete newbie to freelance work. I haven’t even bid on a job yet and I was actually looking for advice – - can you please tell me what a good bid is for (example) posting 5 – 10 blog posts each month? Or what is an acceptable bid for writing 2 -5 articles each month?
I want to come across as professional without all the water spilling from behind my ears
Any advice is most appreciated!
Hi Connie, bidding is one of the most difficult aspects of launching a freelance writing career. What you bid depends on the time the work will take you, your experience, what the market will bear and how quickly you can write. Payment for a 500 word article that is fairly straightforward can range between $10 and $30 apiece, or even more. For blog posts, the rate can be between $10 and $60 a post. It’s difficult to be more specific.
Exquisite writing is a great place to write! I loved the time I spent as part of the team. It’s amazing how our lists change over the years!
It is, Katherine – but some companies stay the course.
They sure do.
Sharon, you hit on some really great points. Diversifying your client list is so important. I’m brand new in the blogging/freelance world, however, I used to own a home-based advertising agency, Blazic Design, Inc., in Las Vegas.
My former wife and I looked at our business like a table. If you have four big clients and one crashed, your table would topple. I had a goal to build ten core clients and then to accumulate a cadre of nickel and dime clients. If the core clients slowed down, invariably, one of the little ones would call with a small project. Our cash flow remained steady because we were so diversified.
I’ve seen many agencies or small businesses implode when their whale slipped off the hook.
Great advice, you jogged a few marbles in my head to think about as I work toward a freelance career that buys more than coffee.
Roger Blazic´s last blog ..Publishing Schedule Shaping Up
You have way with words, Roger. I like the images of the table crashing and the whale slipping off the hook. One thing we must never stop doing is looking out for new work. It’s always useful to have a couple of extra jobs just in case.
This is a great little post. I have yet to step foot on elance, odesk or any other edesk combination – nor do I plan to.
I’ve always found the best way to find solid, repeat business as a freelance writer is to put yourself out there. Keep an ear to the street.
When you’re starting off, work isn’t going to find you. You have to get out there, follow your passions and find that next gig. Do your best and they will come back for more.
I know it sounds simple, but it’s what has worked for me!
Elijah´s last blog ..WordBoo.com Is Officially Open For Business!
Once you have some work, it’s much easier to get more, Elijah, but sometimes there are hidden gems on those sites. Rentacoder is the only one where I’ve had a couple of decent gigs. The job lists I mentioned are much more useful.
Sound advice–and I am happy to see you’ve moved up the success ladder since the initial post about your markets. Congratulations!
Hello,
I have always enjoyed writting and I came across your page it was the third one i clicked on. I am glad I didnt give up! I am interested in writing articles and so on, but was unsure where to go. I found one site today and started writing away. It was called Article Income. After writting two articles i began looking around the site for specifics. Looking for how much they pay and so on. I cant seem to find anything. So finally I gave up and started looking around. The first two was a waste and mind you, it must of been 20 pages long! Thankfully I scrolled all the way to the bottom and saw a picture of a book that had a buy now icon. It was a whole page set up to look like it was the place to submit work, but all along it was a website selling a book on a “how to of making money writing.” The one before your was links where you had to pay to join then you would earn money….maybe…who knows. I may or may not have things published from years ago. Truth of the matter is this, I wrote some poems and short stories. After i sent them in I recieved a letter saying they wanted me to come to an award ceremony and pay to fly and stay. Or they wanted me to buy the book they were going to publish it in. I wrote all of them back giving them permission to publish and never bought any books or took any trips. Truth or the matter is I dont even know if I am any good compared to alot of writers I adore. I am beginning to think maybe I am just chatty. Which doesn’t mean anyone would listen. ANYHOW! Thank you for the information on your site. This is what I think I was looking for. I have never beleived in paying someone else to publish my work. I want to find who to do it the other way around.
I hope you find success with the other markets, Niels. I have similarly strong feelings about Associated Content, which is a great market if you’re American, but otherwise doesn’t pay.
Hope this works well for you, Susan. Exquisite Writing has proved a great place to get started for many writers.
Hi Dawn
As I’m not American I didn’t have to input a SSN so thanks for bringing that to my attention. I assume that is needed to comply with tax regulations but perhaps you can contact them to ask.
With most of these sites, the trick is in setting the price right. RAC takes a hefty chunk of your fee, but if you take that into account in your bid, then you can make a decent amount. It’s also best to avoid bidding for projects where people want 100 articles for $100. With a little caution, you can earn a decent amount on some projects.
Wow, you certainly are busy, Charles. Sounds like you have a well planned schedule, though.
Go right ahead, Athlyn.
Thanks for sharing, Chris; this was one I didn’t know about.
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