If you’re merely thinking about starting a freelance writing career, save this page and come back to it when you’re ready. So that you know, these are the twenty ways I used to find freelance writing jobs when I first started as a freelance writer. So these are proven strategies for newcomers who wish to become freelance writers and obtain some writing gigs online.
1. Pitch
Do you realize that cold pitching is a great strategy to get recurring work? There is significantly less competition when you approach customers directly, and you have a higher chance of winning a job.
What is cold pitching?
It’s when you approach bloggers, entrepreneurs, corporations, small businesses, or startups and explain how you, as a freelance writer, can assist them in growing their company.
Yes, that does seem complicated (and frightening), doesn’t it? Especially if you’re just starting as a freelance writer. What’s more, you know what?
It’s a piece of cake.
You must first identify firms to whom you would make a cold pitch. Perhaps you’ve observed that they don’t have a blog, but they should. Alternatively, you may see on Twitter that they are attempting to expand their online profile, and you believe your material may assist them.
You can even do a Google search to find online writing gigs.
Spend time investigating these locations after you’ve found them.
Some firms are well-known, making it difficult for a novice freelance writer to acquire work there. So obtain a Gsheet and mark several organisations, but then narrow down your search to smaller businesses that might need your writing assistance. Here are some examples:
- Beauty goods that aren’t tested on animals
- Beauty products that are good for the environment
- Luxury beauty goods
Find the relevant person to speak with (an editor, a content manager, or the owner) and prepare a cold pitch!
It is the most time-consuming and challenging stage, but in the end, you’ll have a list of companies to pitch and their contact information.
In your proposal, be sure to include:
- How you learn about them
- Who you are
- What you can do to assist them
2. Make A Pitch To A Job Posting On A Job Board.
Responding to job advertising is your best chance if you’re new to freelance writing and want to locate excellent gigs.
It’s also the primary means that novice authors obtain continuous employment.
It’s something I encourage since it helps them acquire confidence as new freelancers.
There is no bidding when utilizing job boards instead of a freelancing marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr to obtain a writing job.
Entrepreneurs, small companies, and start-ups publish job advertising on freelance writing job networks, which you pitch.
You may be requested to provide your rate, or the job posting may offer a beginning charge for material.
You may utilize premium job boards, but I recommend starting with free job sites first.
Here are several employment boards where you can start pitching:
- Problogger
- MediaBistro
- Job Board for All Freelance Writers
- Content
3. Job Board Tweets To Follow
Did you know that social media can help you land gigs? I didn’t realize it until it happened several times to me.
Twitter is a great place to find freelance writing jobs quickly and build relationships with potential clients.
You’ll also find it easier to get work during a dry time if you subscribe to particular freelance writing job forums. For instance, I recently came across the following tweet:
tweet-job
If you’re curious about the employment boards I use, here’s a list:
- @Write Jobs
- @WhoPaysWriters
- @JJobs tweets
4. Make The Most of Your Website
A professional-looking website is an ideal method to attract high-paying customers.
However, if you are just getting started, this may not be a possibility for you right now.
Perhaps you have a personal blog that you started in your leisure time. You may undoubtedly utilize your website to market your freelance writing services at least first.
To properly scale your career, you’ll need to invest in a self-hosted WordPress site and construct a professional-looking writer website at some point.
*For step-by-step instruction on how to build a blog for your company (with a video), see my straightforward, tech-free step-by-step tutorial.
Think a brand-new writer won’t be able to achieve it?
Take a peek at the websites of my course participants who completed my comprehensive freelance writing course:
And if you want to stop churning out 500-word posts for a pittance, this is the path to take.
In my training, I go through the specific pages you should have on your site and the text that will attract prospects since I know how vital a great writing website is to a successful company.
5. Hand Out A Business Card
Yes, I understand that you will find most of your freelance writing assignments online, but I highly advise you to look for work locally.
It’s critical to be prepared at all times for potential writing gigs in your day-to-day life before diving into freelance writing.
It entails making business cards that you may hand out to local companies while shopping or at the salon.
It was one of the first things I created, and it allowed me to work with a printing firm and perhaps a newspaper!
As a beginning writer, this may help you acquire your first samples.
You could even meet another writer in your area! Where I reside, I’ve met two independent authors, one of whom I see daily!
Notify your boss and colleagues that you intend to leave your 9-to-5 job and pursue freelance writing full-time. They might be your first customer, and they can give you your first testimonial!
Start looking for local writing gigs once your community is aware.
6. Guest Post (For Free!)
What? How can free writing pay off?
The fastest response is that when you guest post on prominent sites, your work will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.
One of those viewers, you can guarantee, is a prospective customer. This is how I grew my portfolio and then acquired additional customers initially.
Pitching to job advertising is fantastic, but if you don’t have a decent collection of examples – particularly from works published on other people’s sites – it will be challenging to attract a quality client, but not impossible.
When I got my first quality writing job, I didn’t have any published articles or samples, so it is possible but challenging.
So, where do you publish your guest posts? It’s up to you. You may conduct a fast Google search, “niche + write for us,” and see what appears.
It is the result of searching for “parent blog + write for us.”
There are lists of all parenting blogs that welcome guest posts and lists of simply the websites that accept guest authors.
Visit their guest post rules to submit your idea for an article!
Also, don’t forget to write your author bio in a few minutes.
It is the most delicate piece of text you have to persuade people to visit your website. Depending on where I’m guest blogging, I utilize a variety of author profiles. Here’s an example of a bio that has been optimized.
7. Network With Other Freelancers
Networking with other freelancers such as other writers, virtual assistants, coaches, and others is the most pleasing thing you can do for your new freelance writer business.
It’s important to remember that we’re all in this together, and it’s not a race!
On
I approached a few freelance writers (who I was following at the time!) for their thoughts on a beginning wage when I first began. While most people advised following your instinct, I appreciated their engagement and tolerance with my various queries.
I was referred for employment by freelance writers a few months later! How fantastic was that? I can’t thank one writer enough for introducing me to my perfect customer!
I then started networking with other VAs and bloggers, and as a result, I was able to get blog writing employment!
Now, when I’m overloaded and can’t take on any more freelance writing work, I give my course students first dibs on any positions! When you network, it’s a win-win situation.
So, if you’ve been following a freelance writer – ahem, me! – you’ve come to the right place. – Feel free to contact them.
8. Begin Warm-up Pitching
Please hold your horses! I told you to cold pitch at the beginning of this post, and now I want you to warm pitch. What went wrong?
To increase your chances of finding a good writing job, you’ll need to work both sides of the spectrum – indirect and direct approaches.
Warm pitching, on the other hand, is a more indirect and slower method of obtaining business than cold pitching.
It’s all about building partnerships with brands and companies.
For example, when I locate a company in my industry, I follow them and Like their Facebook fan page. That way, I can keep an eye on them and participate in their postings when I can.
So, if they tweet a blog article, I’ll read it and then comment in the hopes of catching a prospect’s attention:
I could easily find a freelance writing job if I develop this connection over time.
This strategy also plays nicely on Instagram. I began using Instagram for my email copywriting business, and it has proven to be effective in attracting customers by engaging with them.
As you can see from my Instagram DM, I was live-streaming this coach, and she inquired about my email writing service. Oh, that’s fantastic! That one item resulted in a slew of email writing assignments!
9. Say You’re For Hire
How simple is this? If you have a social media profile (which you should! ), you should use it! – Make it known that you’re available for employment. Although it may seem simple, many new freelance writers fail to specify whether or not they are available for work.
Prospects won’t know whether you have time to take on additional customers, so telling them you’re available for hiring just encourages them to consider you.
It also alerts other freelance writers that you are accessible for writing assignments.
10. Pay A Visit To A Local Printing And Design Company
Contacting local printing and web design companies is another great way to find consistent work. Sure, you could go to your local business area and inform the local doctor or pet store owner that you’re a freelance writer, but it would take a significant amount of time out of your day.
To get around this, go to solely web design businesses and inform them that you have a writer accessible. These firms have a comprehensive list of customers who require online content.
I started early on in my freelance writing career, and it has helped me get steady employment.
11. Tell Us About Your Story
When print journalists and writers decide to freelance online, they often limit themselves to writing for magazines and selling their tales.
While this may be pretty profitable (you can earn up to $1 or more per word for publishing), it is highly unreliable, and payment might take months.
However, it is still a fantastic alternative for authors. All Freelance Writing contains a list of magazines that accept submissions and pay for them.
Many websites will also pay for your tale! Type “publication pay submission” or “magazine pay submission” into Google for suggestions. In most cases, you’ll need to cold pitch your tale concept first and then pitch each following narrative once again.
12. Participate In Facebook Groups
On Facebook, there are a lot of possibilities for writing engagements and online employment. You should have no trouble getting steady work if you know which organizations to join.
However, since you’re creating connections with prospective prospects, this method takes time. For example, I am a member of several entrepreneurial Facebook groups and do my best to participate in the discussions.
I may also pose a query to see if there are entrepreneurs in need of assistance or overworked.
“What’s the one thing you wish was simpler in your business?” I could ask.
From there, I’ll check through people’s responses and, if the content is mentioned, I’ll say something like, “if you ever need any writing, I’m your gal!”
It’s never a bad idea to try something new and put yourself out there!
Many businesses aren’t aware of employment boards or simply don’t have the time to comb through hundreds of proposals.
If you put yourself out there in a Facebook group, you could just get a job that day.
13. Request A Referral
Okay, this method requires that you already have a customer, so this may not be the best option for you if you don’t.
If you’ve already acquired a few customers, now is a perfect moment to ask for a reference.
I understand how frightening it may be! When I initially began, it was for myself, but I reasoned that the worst anyone could say is no, or they couldn’t.
You may ask a customer by email, or you can utilize social media, as I did in the past:
Using this method has brought me hundreds of dollars in freelance writing revenue, and when I have a slot available for another customer, I always first contact my current clients to ask if they have someone in mind.
And because most of my customers are great clients, I know they will suggest me to another quality client with certainty.
By the way, I did get that customer, and I like writing for them.
14. Journalism Jobs to Try
Check out Cision jobs if you’re looking for a freelance writing career conducting journalism for news reporting sites. Cision is also HARO (Help a Reporter Out), which connects journalists with sources; however, they support Gorkana Jobs.
Large budgets are typical, however, insignificant city businesses. So, perform a fast search in each of these cities a couple of times a week and start pitching!
15. LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn has a job board, in case you didn’t know.
All you have to do is go to their job board and type in your work title (“writer”) to see what comes up.
From here, you can choose whether to contact these companies with a warm or chilly pitch. I would employ a friendly pitch technique if you have the time to connect and have customers. But, if you are desperate to land a job today, go ahead and add these businesses to your list to cold pitch.
What’s more, guess what? Is there any way to utilise LinkedIn to obtain additional freelance writing opportunities? Do you want to find out what it is?
16. Work With A Content Agency
Okay, I’m not referring to any content marketing firm. The major ones usually don’t pay much, and the job isn’t the finest. Instead, you want to hunt for smaller content firms.
Working with a small content firm has the following benefits:
- Better pay is usually the case.
- Improved education
- 1:1 assistance
17. Make Use Of A Freelance Writer Database
Were you aware that they existed? Yes, they do! I only know of one, but it’s a good one, and you never know.
The idea is that you need to put yourself out there when you’re just starting as a freelance writer.
So, through guest blogging, pitching, being on social media, and being included in directories, you’re always visible. It improves the likelihood that a prospect will discover you and hire you!
You may develop your online freelance writing CV using ProBlogger’s free Candidate Dashboard.
Reddit is another social networking platform where you may locate possible writing jobs and post that you are a freelance writer searching for gigs.
