Work at Home and Get Paid for writing, blogging, reading & building websites. Learn how to make money online from Freelance and home business Opportunities.
So, you want to be a freelance writer. You've scoured the Internet for the best paying writing jobs, and now you're ready to apply for some of them. There's just one problem: so are a few hundred other freelance writers, many of whom have a lot more experience than you do. How on earth are you supposed to make sure you stand out from the crowd?
Here's how:
1. Make sure you read the advert properly
This is an easy way to make your query stand out, because amazingly, the vast majority of queries we receive are from people who haven't read our requirements properly. We get proofreaders applying for copywriting jobs, people with no writing experience applying for projects which state "experience required" - you name it, we get it. An email from a writer who has read our requirements and taken the time to explain how they can meet them is a rarity - and will always get a response.
2. Check your spelling
This should go without saying, but all applications for freelance writing jobs which contain less than perfect spelling and grammar, go straight to the recycle bin. Make sure yours isn't one of them.
3. Get personal
My name is all over my website, and is included on every job advert I write. It's very rarely used. Most freelancers who contact me refer to me as "Dear Sir". I'm female. An email which addresses me by name makes me stop in my tracks as it shows that the person has taken the time to find out a little bit about me and my business, and to send me a personalised email, rather than a form letter. That person will get a response in kind.
4. Show, don't tell
Fiction writers have heard this one before. It applies to freelance writing too, though: rather than telling employers how great your writing is, show them. Even if you don't have any published clips to attach, send a sample of something you've written, and written well. It will speak louder than all of your words of explanation.
5. Don't be flashy
Yes, fancy fonts and multicolored text stand out, but for all the wrong reasons. Writing is a creative endeavor, but when you apply for a freelance writing job it's important to let your words do the talking. On a practical level, not all email clients will display html emails, so what looks to you to like a pretty snazzy email may appear to your prospective client as a big old mess.
6. Show them your references
When you write for a living, it's important to collect testimonials from clients you've worked for before. You can put them on your website, print them in your brochures, and, of course, paste them into your quotes and queries. When it comes to winning clients, there's almost nothing more effective than a personal recommendation. As you close your letter, then, add a short line saying, something like, "My previous clients include X, Y and Z – I've attached some of the comments they've made about my work." If those comments are good enough, I can almost guarantee you'll get a response.
We are looking for a Technical Writer that can create procedural documentation and that may also help customers by email This includes user manuals online help files and installation and support guides it may also include training presentations and student training guides When performing Customer Support you’ll... (Budget $300-$1000, Required Skills: Content Writing, News Articles, Personal Assistant, Web Research, Writing)
Translation Of Website
Hello We are developing a multi lingual website for our college An english version dummy can be found at futurearth org aipe1 index htmlWe are looking at getting the following language translations of the website Chinese Simplified South Korean Japanese ThailandIndonesia bahasa... (Budget $100-$300, Required Skills: Content Writing, Editing Proofreading, Translation, Writing)
Write Provisional Patent Write a provisional patent complete with drawings We will file it ourselves We expect the provisional patent will be around 10 pages of text with 2 3 drawings Please only bid if you have experience The ideas are confidential and cannot be disclosed until the project... (Budget $100-$300, Required Skills: Legal, Patents, Writing)
Scientific Text Editing EN We’re looking for someone who can proofread and edit a high profile academic management text in English The job requires a native speaker with outstanding writing skills who can both deliver a proofreading and an editing job The text is about 50 000 words... (Budget $100-$300, Required Skills: Editing Proofreading, Writing)
Sales Letter I Need some one two write me a sales letter like this but on a differnt topichttp cgi ebay co uk ws eBayISAPI dll ViewItem Item 320157529508 Category 47103 trksid p3907 m29i dont need any images just the words... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Writing)
Translation Into 6 Languages Translation of text related to forex is required from English into 6 languages Spanish Portuguese Arabic Turkish Italian and Russian ONLY NATIVES PLEASE BIDBidders must do a sample translation first NO MACHINE SOFTWARE TRANSLATION ALLOWED MANUAL ONLY NO PAYMENT FOR MACHINE SOFTWARE TRANSLATIONS Please give... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Translation)
Language File Translation DescriptionTranslation of a language file see attachment from English to Spanish Italian Portuguese and Dutch required within 5 days of confirmation and awarding of project You can also bit for a single language VERY SIMPLE TEXT MACHINE SOFTWARE GOOGLE translation is not allowed NO PAYMENT FOR... (Budget $300-$1000, Required Skills: Translation, Writing)
Mass Targeted Marketing Need very experienced link builder who knows how to check that links are good and need to check robots txt make sure not dynamic links javascript flash links graphic nofollow etc Experienced link builders only Please do not bid if you have... (Budget $300-$1000, Required Skills: Creative Writing, Marketing Promotion, News Articles, Press Releases, Writing)
Physics Project Hello I have to do a presentation on a topic in my school The topic can be any related to physics I am looking for a person who can make some good presentation slides and can come up with great ideas on Physics While you make a bid... (Budget $100-$300, Required Skills:
Miscellaneous, Writing) Csv Upload To Oscommerce Hi we have a e commerce oscommerce site that needs the products to be uploaded through feeds not live but csv the oscomerce has installed easy populate EP vers 2 76e we have the csv files ready but... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Data Entry, Database Development, Ecommerce Website, Other Database , Other Writing )
re Loaded Re Design Hello We have a project with a deadline which has a deadline to be meet We are looking for someone to re design our web site with a new home page front with images for online shoe store Your bid should be based on making a template delivered with... (Budget $300-$1000, Required Skills: Content Writing, Ecommerce Website, Web Design Development, Website Design, Website Development)
DNS Digital Nervous System We have a Back Office written totally in VB6 and SQLServer 2005 We would like convert this project into VB Web developer 2005 2005 SQL Server We would like to add a Business Intelligence using SQLServer 2005 Analysis Service Time frame is 90 days ... (Budget $ >3000, Required Skills: SQL Server, Technical Writing, Visual Basic Net, Website Programming) Creative Articles For Jewellery
SEO Content friendly Articles for Costume jewellery website ONLY APPLY IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL AND EXPERIENCED AT WRITING FOR WEB CONTENT CREATIVELY Articles should be creative and a pleasure to read not obviously written for SEO this is the art Good at new idea generation... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Content Writing, Creative Writing, Newsletters, Press Releases, Writing)
Translation Translation of a doc about 1 000 words from English to French Italian and Portuguese required within 12 24 hours of confirmation and awarding of project VERY SIMPLE TEXT MACHINE SOFTWARE GOOGLE translation not allowed NO PAYMENT FOR THESE TYPES OF TRANSLATIONS Only manual needed Only NATIVES should bid... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Translation)
15 Spanish SEO Articles 15 Spanish SEO articles about tragamonedas The articles should be good a unique and relevant for tragamonedas en linea The list of the keywords for every article will be given in private message The writer should do research and write good and unique content Every... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Content Writing, Writing)
Sales Letter Copy Writing I need someone with internet marketing copy writing to redo my sales letter for maximum draw or sales conversions Here is the site http ultimateresalemembership ThanksChris Peterson... (Budget $100-$300, Required Skills: Copy Writing, Writing)
Help Write Site Content We have a small website around 6 pages and we need some assistance writing the site content we are looking for each page to have around 200 words We have written an outline to how the content should flow the we require someone to actually write the service... (Budget $20-$100, Required Skills: Content Writing, Creative Writing, Editing Proofreading, Marketing Promotion, Writing)
there are many more freelance categories at getacoder.com
also look further down this page for more information.
A good place to start if you are serious about getting paid to write, is to put together a Portfolio of your writing work, either published or ready to go, and keep it handy.
If you have not been published before online, it is a good idea to join up with Helium and/or Associated Content, and/or Constant Content so that you can publish some articles and get feedback on your writing style. Both will pay you in different ways, but there is a lot of money to be made on the Helium Marketplace and Competitions, for a good writer.
Helium is very useful in other ways too as the community is supportive, and it runs a free mentor programme which well help you to develop your writing style.
Another place worth joining up with, is Digital Journal. You can be a community journalist on there, and earn money at the same time. Writing on these places will enable you to present your own published work to a prospective Freelance Client.
Once you have collected your portfolio together, you can think about applying for Freelance jobs on any number of free sites. You have to provide examples of your writing, and apply for the job by bidding on it.
There is a huge list of Freelance Writing resources here
Also remember to watch out for scams, you should never pay for work. If a job asks you to pay up front it is probably a scam.
I am definately having much success at Helium now.
This week I sold several of my articles in the Marketplace to a magazine and got paid immediately. I found this really inspiring to continue writing over there.
Additionally, the payments for my other articles are starting to increase exponentially. I also got some extra Freelance work and used Helium as part of my portfolio.
If you want a free invitation to write at Helium, contact me by leaving a comment.
At first when I joined it, I thought the the payment was low, but now I have realised that it is accumulative. The more articles you write, the more you get paid, and they will continue to pay out for a long time if they are interesting and useful articles.
I realised this because I only wrote a few articles and I had a couple of months away but they had made more money even though I had not posted any new articles in a while.
Helium is also very addictive. It can help you improve your writing skills and is a good way to start out as a freelance writer. I also got some other work as a result of it, so it is worth doing!
If you want an invite, contact me with your email address.
