If you love writing and would like to make some money out of it, but can’t afford to spend a lot of time on building blogs to monetize it, we have a solution for you!
We present you with freelance writing!
Freelance writing is a great way of making money without all the unnecessary hard work that comes with it. However, if you truly want to make a decent amount of money through this, you will have to follow a few strategies and steps.
The below-mentioned route to a great freelance career is going to make your freelance writing journey have an incredibly smooth sail!
1- Start with the basics
If you want to become a successful freelance writer in a short time, you need to follow the 3 steps that are mentioned below. These basic steps are actually a key to making money online from any freelance jobs.
Don’t worry; these steps are not going to take up much of your time!
Determine your area of expertise
The first step to any freelance job is always determining the niche. Especially if you are a freelance writer, you must find the niche where you can outshine other writers.
Most of the time when potential clients look for freelance writers, they try to find ones that specifically write about the niche they are in. even if you are a beginner, being in a specialty niche can make you appear like a pro from the beginning itself.
Determining the niche is going to let you put your best foot forward. It will help you produce great content which is the most important thing for any writer.
However, there are exceptions to this too. Many freelance writers do not focus on a specific niche. Instead, they follow the niche that’s in most demand. Better the niche, more the money!
Still, it’s a choice that you will have to make.
Put together relevant samples of your work for a portfolio
No matter how fast of a solution you want, building your portfolio is a step that cannot be avoided at all.
No one is going to give you work if you don’t carry credibility. Clients who are looking for freelance writers want someone who can deliver quality content to them. If you want your potential clients to trust you and give you work, you need to build a portfolio that you can showcase to them.
To build a portfolio of your work, you can submit your articles to various blogs or websites for free. You can enter writing contests and see if your articles get published. If you are a student then, you can even add your well-written college essays or articles written for college magazines into your portfolio.
Set up a payment method
After all, you are freelance writing to make money, so how you’ll get paid must be your biggest concern!
In the beginning, it’s quite worrying as there really isn’t much assurance that you won’t be cheated. This is why you should always focus on working with credible clients and authentic websites.
As a freelance writer, there are quite a few payment methods that you can rely on. Online payments are the most used method of payment. In fact, PayPal is the most popular online payments provider for freelancers around the world.
Other than that, transferring money through banks or giving physical cheques is also done. You can choose the payment method that’s most comfortable for you.
2- Promote yourself
As a freelance writer, you need to put yourself out there. You will have to hustle if you desire to make some decent money through writing.
You can’t expect people to come to you if they aren’t even aware of your existence. To achieve this, you will have to adopt a few marketing strategies and keep at it. Don’t stop promoting yourself, no matter how big of a name you become!
Cold emailing
Yes, I know cold marketing sounds like a nightmare. But, if you really want some writing work as fast as possible, cold emailing potential clients is the best way to grab their attention.
There can be times when your requests are rejected or you are straight up ignored. But, it’s undeniable that there’s still a possibility that you can get a few high paying clients out of that.
The best part about cold emailing is the fact that you don’t need to have any sort of online presence, to begin with. You could be just starting out and cold emailing right away!
Use Social media
Today, most marketers are using social media as a means to promote themselves as it’s the fastest way to reach the masses. So as a freelance writer, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity either.
Try to promote your written content on Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc. But, in order to reach as many people as possible, you are going to have to build an online presence. And this is going to require some time and patience from your end.
However, once you have built an online presence you can gain great credibility on your work. And this, in turn, is going to be very beneficial for you in the long run.
Guest posting
There might be writers in your niche with an already established blog and a devoted audience base. You can post valuable content on their blogs to gain credibility for yourself.
However, guest posting on an already established site isn’t as easy as it sounds especially if you are new to the writing world. To secure a guest post you could be asked to pitch your ideas to see if your articles worth their blog standards. To ensure a credible guest post, make sure your writing skills are on point and your written material provides a great value to their website.
3- Search for freelance websites
Believe it or not, there are many freelance websites that are a godsend to most writers. Most writers, who have just entered the writing scene, register themselves with freelance websites. Freelance website act as the bridge between freelance writers and potential clients.
However, if you want to get gigs through freelance websites, you will have to establish a strong portfolio to make you stand out among the thousands of other writers.
The best part of freelance websites is that you get to decide your charges. But, don’t be greedy if you do not want your potential client to go with some other writer with lower costs.
You need to always remember that, even though earning through freelance writing gigs is easier than building a blog from the scratch, it’s still going to require patience and perseverance to be successful at it.
Keep working at it and you are going to have a great freelance writing career without a doubt!