5 popular freelance writing gigs
Getting Started

5 popular freelance writing gigs and how much money they pay

by Dusten Carlson
December 21, 2020

Most freelance writing gigs fall into these 5 buckets. Here’s what you need to know to get higher-paying jobs and what you can expect to earn.

Are you looking for ways to get more money out of freelance writing?

You’re not alone. We talk to a lot of writers at different levels of experience. Whether you’ve only just started doing some research on becoming a freelance writer, or have been at it a while and feel stuck in a rut, the feeling of “where are the good jobs?” is extremely common.

So why is this the case?

Two main reasons.

One, payouts in freelancing don’t really follow any form of comprehensible logic we’re aware of.

Some employers go by cost-per-word (CPW), some by unit, (i.e. $100 for one blog post), or other payout schemes that are less on the up-and-up.

This leads writers, especially those earlier in their careers, to have a pretty poor sense of what their time and talent is actually worth.

Two, a lot of writers we’ve talked to aren’t always sure what they’re qualified to do, or what kinds of skills they need for specific projects.

Some writers definitely have that rugged “how hard can it be?” approach to life. But there are a lot of writers who pass up jobs they could actually probably get just because they feel unqualified.

That’s why I wanted to put together this article.

As a former freelance writer, editor, and ultimately, director of a content agency, I have a pretty good sense of:

  • the size of the freelance writing industry,
  • what employers are actually looking for in a writer,
  • what’s common in terms of pay, and,
  • the skills required to get the good-paying gigs.

One of ProWriter’s goals is to create more transparency into the often opaque and confusing freelance writer market.

In that spirit, this article is designed to help writers like you understand the most common types of writing gigs available, the skills required to get them, and how much money you can expect to make.

Let’s dive in!

No. 1 Content Mills

“Content mill” is a slang term used by freelancers to describe platforms, agencies, or publishers that push out a lot of low-depth content.

Some hallmarks of a content mill content include:

  • Minimal research required
  • News aggregation
  • Emphasis on “clickbait”
  • Limited editorial support
  • Volume (lots of articles per day)
  • Listicles meant to “trend”
  • Short “SEO” pages
  • Low pay

What to expect: Pay at content mills

At a content mill, you can expect between $0.03 CPW and $0.05 CPW. Depending on length, you can expect about $10-$20 per article.

Some employers pay out traffic bonuses for articles that get a lot of pageviews. But be very wary of being paid based on traffic numbers alone.

Base pay per article or per word plus a traffic incentive might be a good deal for some entry-level writers. I once wrote an article for a popular entertainment website that trended, and my bonus paid my rent that month.

Note that a lot of content mill work is not bylined; this means it has limited strategic value to a freelance writer, since it’s not easy to build a portfolio on ghostwritten content. When employers like me get applications with portfolios full of ghostwritten content, it usually sends up a red flag.

A lot of more experienced freelance writers knock content mill work since it tends to be low-pay, low-quality, and demanding. It’s definitely more entry-level work that you want to try and grow out of over time, especially as you learn more skills and pick up more experience.

What to know: Content mill skills

As far as skills needed for content mill work, they are pretty minimal. Employers might place emphasis on keeping readers “hooked,” and writing good headlines.

But honestly, any entry-level writer should be able secure this kind of work.

Be warned that content mill work can encourage bad writing habits (e.g., writing quickly to earn as much money as possible, sloppy research).

Most new writers start with content mill work to build up their portfolios. There’s no shame in that. But look for bylined opportunities and make sure those bad habits don’t follow you to higher-paying work.

No. 2 Blogging 

Once you’ve reached the level of paid blogger, you’ve officially graduated.

You’re not quite in the captain’s lounge of freelancers yet, but you’re in a class of serious professionals with real skills that businesses are looking for. Congrats!

Put that champagne away, we’re not there yet.

Blogging is probably the widest field within freelance writing.

It has, by far, the most opportunities available, tons of topic and niche diversity, decent pay rates, and a very doable learning curve. Unlike content mill work, many of the skills bloggers develop translate into other kinds of freelance writing.

For these reasons, blogging is a well that professional freelancers often draw from throughout their careers between large projects.

In blogging, your primary clients will be businesses. Their goal is to publish content that is competitive in Google Search results (also called SERP), promote their brand on social media, or showcase their thought leadership within their industry.

When businesses regularly publish good content, they attract more customers. Simple as that.

Business blogging is a wide field. Big brands like Apple and Disney have their own blogs, and local businesses in your own backyard have them as well.

Because of this, most writers will “niche down,” or pick a couple of industries to focus on. The narrower you can focus your niche(s), the better money you can make (as long as there’s demand for content in that niche).

What to expect: Pay for bloggers

As far as pay, don’t accept less than $0.10 CPW for this kind of work. Most writers will charge more than this (up to $1.00 per word) but that will be tough to justify when you’re starting out. You also may end up settling for lower CPWs if you secure blogging work through an agency, since they are doing the client acquisition and management part of the relationship.

Becoming an authoritative writer in a particular niche, or exploiting a popular/growing niche where there isn’t much competition can help you sweeten the pot.

You may want to scope out a project cost or a contract with businesses if you expect to be doing recurring work for them, instead of calculating by CPW.

For instance, if you’re doing keyword research, topic ideation, and content strategy, that’s something you should charge extra for.

What to know: Blogging skills

Content mill skills will serve you very poorly in blogging. Good blogging takes time, careful research, and thoughtful organization to be successful.

You should know the best practices of SEO, particularly in the context of writing, and what a writer is responsible for.

Beyond that, you should be good at writing creative titles optimized for search, web formatting (e.g., using headings, readability), and make sure you’re always up-to-date on best practices in blogging.

Like we’ve mentioned, blogging techniques are valuable and crossover to other forms of writing. It’s a real skill set that can be built on as you grow in your career.

No. 3 Copywriting

Now you’re looking at writing like a professional! Writers at the copywriter level of skill are elites within the industry, and charge accordingly.

A copywriter is like a blogger who gets a booster shot of human psychology, persuasion, and sales technique.

You’ll still use all of the skills you learned as a blogger. But don’t assume that being a good blogger makes you a good copywriter automatically.

Copywriting requires more finesse and a real understanding of what drives people to take action through content.

We’re not talking about clickbait, here — those content mill skills will not carry over well to copywriting.

Copywriting is a craft. The principles of copywriting are those defined, honed, and practiced by the likes of the legendary David Ogilvy, or modern gurus like Joanna Wiebe.

Copywriting is about conversion — it’s about using your skills as a writer to drive a reader to take an action. In Ogilvy’s time, that action was something like, “buy this expensive car.” In Weibe’s context, it’s “click on this page, fill out this form, become a sales lead for this business.”

Copywriting vs blogging

Let’s compare and contrast copywriting with blogging.

Blogging contributes to the overall brand recognition of a business, and drives sales over time.  Someone might have Googled a question about a problem they were having, found one of many blog posts you wrote for your client, read it, and then become a sale for your client months later.

It’s difficult to establish a connection between one blog post and a sale. But the more high-quality content a business publishes, the more sales increase over time.

It’s not as ambiguous with copywriting. Copywriting is as close to the “sale” as it gets.

You’ll be writing landing pages, ad copy, advertorials, and other content assets that are designed to make a reader take an action, often called a “call to action” or CTA (e.g., click a button, fill out a form with your name and email).

Success or failure is measured by a click-through rate (CTR) of some kind (i.e., how many people who clicked on your page and then completed the CTA instead of leaving).

If one blog post doesn’t rank on Google, it’s not that big of a deal. But if a sales page doesn’t convert users, it’s a failure. The writer might not be solely responsible for that failure (the web page design might not be user friendly, or maybe the product is just not interesting), but the onus is definitely more on you to do a good job.

What to expect: Pay for copywriters

Because you’re close to the sale, you can make a lot more money. Whoever is hiring you is likely expecting to make thousands of dollars in sales from your asset over time, so you can easily charge a substantial fee.

If you’re just starting out and a client is willing to pay you a few hundred bucks for 1,000 words, it might be worth taking the gig to get some experience. But once you get the hang of things and can boast a strong CTR rate with new clients, you can charge $1,000, even $2,000+ per asset, easily.

We’d recommend staying off CPW and going per-project on this one, maybe with an hourly consulting component if the client expects you to revise and optimize the page over the course of a campaign.

What to know: Copywriting skills

The hard part about copywriting is that you need to up your writing skills by a significant factor.

In terms of craft, you’re moving from the kiddie pool to an Olympic-sized model. You’re going to need to do some research, read some books, attend some webinars, take some courses, all of it.

You need to know about human psychology, sales triggers, persuasive copywriting, and a heck of a lot more. Your blogging skills will help you get off to the right start, but don’t expect to pick it up over time just by “trying it out.”

You’ll also want to up your networking game as well. These kinds of jobs aren’t exactly posted on ProBlogger for just anyone to apply to.

To get started in this world, it might be a good idea to partner up with digital marketing agencies that hire freelancers for their campaigns.

If you take to copywriting, full-time positions are abundant. They also pay well at around $58,000 a year.

No. 3 Technical Writing

If you’ve spent some time searching for writing jobs, you’ve inevitably run into a dearth of “technical writing” gigs at jobs boards like Indeed.

But what are they, can you get them, and what do they pay?

We won’t spend a whole lot of time on this one for now (we may update this post later with more information). But for the most part, these are highly, highly specialized writing jobs.

Not because they require some arcane writing skill you don’t possess or can’t learn; but because they usually require deep subject matter knowledge and expertise in highly-technical industries, like engineering.

It’s not uncommon to see technical writing jobs requiring applicants to that have PhDs. Seriously.

However, as you develop your niches, it is worth keeping an eye on these gigs, especially if you are exploring more technical fields.

Your path in

Lots of businesses and organizations in fields like tech or medical will put out “white papers,” which are basically long-form ebooks or presentations designed to educate industry peers about a new product or breakthrough.

White papers are not written for a general audience, not just anyone can write them. But you don’t necessarily need a PhD to write one, either.

If you have industry knowledge above the public average, and could write a white paper that would be helpful to other knowledgeable non-experts like you (e.g. journalists, investors), then these are good gigs to keep an eye out for.

Why?

Because they come at a pretty penny. At the low, low end, a white paper might earn you $1,500 minimum. The truth is that most white papers pay out an average of $3,000-$4,500. At the higher end? $7,000 to $10,000. 

But again, these jobs are rare and do require more experience and expertise on the part of the writer. As you grow in your career, keep an eye out for these gems.

No. 5 Marketing writing

One way professional freelance writers keep the bills paid as they bounce between bigger gigs is by providing marketing content to businesses, non-profits, publishers, and other organizations.

Side gigs writing a newsletter or social media content can pay between $15-$80 per hour depending on your experience level and what’s involved.

If you’re charting a career path toward copywriting, marketing writing is a good stepping stone. This kind of content will require a more conversion-oriented writer, but the pressure won’t be as high as it is for a typical sales campaign.

It’s rare to find gigs where you simply write the copy for social media or newsletters. These days, employers are looking for content creators who can do it all.

That means if you take on a part-time gig as a social media manager, an employer will likely want you to have skills in graphic asset creation (even if that just means you’re a Canva pro) as well as some expectation of channel monitoring, or content strategy development.

The good news is, the more that’s involved with social media management, the more you can charge. It’s not a bad side gig for freelancers, and a lot of small businesses need this kind of help.

Takeaways

If you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, you might be working a lot of content mill gigs to pay the bills. That’s fine, but don’t get stuck there. Most importantly, don’t develop bad habits that you can’t use in higher-paying work.

Some content mills are better than others, but for the most part, get your bylines, build your portfolio, spend your off-time learning new skills, and get out.

As you can see from the other freelance writing gigs we detailed below, if you start with blogging, you’ll have more pathways into different kinds of higher-paying work. That’s why ProWriter resources for new writers emphasize hard skills for bloggers. It really is the foundation for most forms of writing you’ll end up pursuing.

ProWriter is developing a course that covers the hard skills today’s bloggers need to master. The lessons will cover topics like titlecraft, formatting, and copywriting in more depth than any other resource on the web.

You can check out the course details and sign up to be notified as soon as the course is available here.

Freelance writer frustrated
Getting Started

Frustrated with ‘how to become a freelance writer’ articles? Try this

by Dusten Carlson
July 6, 2020

There’s a lot of advice online about how to become a freelance writer, but how much of it actually helps writers when they’re starting out?

Writers figuring out how to start freelance writing with no experience should keep a tight focus on two things.

If you made it here, it means you’ve decided to take your first steps toward becoming a freelance writer.

Maybe you’re in school looking to build up some experience. Or you’re a stay-at-home parent ready to get back to work now that the kids are a little older. Maybe you have a job and are looking for some extra cash.

Whatever your story, your first step was probably Googling something like “how to become a freelance writer” or “how to start freelance writing with no experience” and we’re one of a dozen or so tabs you have open in your browser.

That you?

It’s okay, we’re friends here.

Maybe you’ve already read some of those articles before you clicked on ours. Did they leave you with questions like:

“What the heck does this mean?”

“How does this help me when I’m just starting out?”

It’s understandable. We’ve read most or all of the other tabs you have open, too. We work with freelance writers for a living, so we’re always looking to test new pieces of advice and turn them over to our community if they’re awesome.

But I’ll be honest — I wonder if a lot of the advice out there is actually helpful for writers just starting out.

Most of the resources out there for writers range from generic common sense (i.e., “just sit down and write!”) to too good to be true (i.e., “I make $10,000 a month working from my porch in Costa Rica and so can you!”).

The point is, most advice is not very goals-focused.

And if you want to be a freelance writer, your first goals are pretty simple:

  • Find out what it takes to be successful.
  • Find jobs and start making money.

Sounds like you?

Keep reading.

Learn to spot and avoid bad writing advice

I want to offer a bit of free dad logic that applies to everything in life, including learning how to become a freelance writer:

Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t make it true.

Like I said above, most advice for becoming a freelance writer seems to fall into two camps.

  • “Write every day.”
  • “Read constantly.”
  • “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Does this sound familiar?

Creating a discipline of writing even when you don’t feel like it is important. And reading is key to developing communication skills that you transition over into your craft. It’s also true that a successful freelance writing career is like Rome — not built in a day.

But how does this advice help you land your first paying job? What if you want to make money sooner, not later?

Then you’ve probably run into the other camp.

  • “Start a blog and monetize it!”
  • “Learn a niche!”
  • “Grow your social media presence!”

Again, not bad advice on its face.

Starting a blog and monetizing it is a strategy for long-term recurring revenue that freelance writers should explore. Learning a niche can arguably help you stand out if you want more specialized jobs with less competition. Growing your social media presence certainly can’t hurt.

But if these all sound like long-term commitments, that’s because they are.

What about right now?

“I want to know how to start freelance writing. What are the first steps?”

Again, none of the above is bad advice. But it’s light on detail, isn’t it? It doesn’t help with your immediate goals, does it?

Maybe a more specific version of that free dad logic is this:

Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t mean it will help you.

What do you need to know that will actually help you when you’re just starting out?

Here’s the rub.

You’re not going to find all of the answers in a single blog post.

I know. But before you rage-quit the window, hear me out.

There are tons of successful freelance writers out there. Many of them do make really good money (six figures-good), and some of them really might write from the breezy porch of their Costa Rican estate.

But almost all of them learned their craft through hard work, resourcefulness, time, and networking.

They’re also a shrewd group. Now that they’ve made it to the Captain’s Lounge, they’re not likely to share their secrets freely.

So be skeptical of promises that sound too good to be true:

  • Unlimited income potential!
  • Get paid to write what you’re passionate about!
  • Take off as much time as you want!

BS, BS, BS.

Freelance writing is a craft. It’s tough to learn it, because most of what you need to know is learned on the job. Trial and error.

This means that a lot of new freelancers spend a long time doing bad jobs and not getting paid or not getting paid what they think they’re worth.

Sounds like a real drag, huh?

Still want to become a freelance writer? Keep reading.

Two main things a new freelance writer should focus on

It took a long time getting here, yes, but instead of trying to offer you an “ultimate guide” of some kind with every last detail you need to become a freelance writer, we’re going to do something else.

Because, if you haven’t figured it out by now, there is no complete, ultimate guide to becoming a freelance writer, and it takes some time to unpack a lot of the unhelpful advice out there.

But it was worth doing because it cleared the runway to focus on what really matters:

  • What it takes to be successful
  • Finding jobs and making money.

The theme of this article, and really ProWriter’s entire blog, is first steps.

  • What should you expect from your first 12-18 months as a freelance writer?
  • How do you avoid getting trapped in low-pay Upwork jobs?
  • What do you need to do right now to set yourself up for higher-quality, higher-paying jobs down the line?

The two things you need to focus on at the expense of almost everything else are simple.

  • Become what employers are looking for.
  • Broadcast it strategically.

“Uh oh, this sounds like more generic advice.”

Don’t worry, we won’t leave you there. Stay with me.

How to BECOME what employers are looking for

No. 1 thing new freelance writers should focus on: learning the skills that show an employer you’re right for their job.

One of the biggest hurdles to success in freelance writing is developing the skills that show an employer you can handle their job and then making it easy for the employer to pick you over other applicants.

Writing is not as simple as just sitting down and “using your voice” or waiting for inspiration to kick. It’s a creative pursuit, but that doesn’t mean employers want to pay for an unorganized stream of consciousness.

Whether you’re writing press releases for tech startups, blog posts for brands, email copy for a marketing campaign, a technical manual, an opinion column, or listicles about TV shows from the 80s —

Every piece of copy needs to have a purpose and a goal.

In order to execute on that purpose, you need to learn what makes content tick.

  • What’s the format of a press release?
  • What kind of email subject line makes people want to open the message?
  • What makes prose easy and enjoyable to read?

Each piece of content has a purpose and a goal.

Executing on that goal means successfully guiding readers through the content.

Freelance writers need to have the skills to execute on that goal.

This might sound daunting, but honestly, you can do a pretty deep Google dive on most of the skills you need over the course of a week.

Of course, you’ll get better over time when you actually put these skills into practice, but do some targeted research into the fundamentals.

Some topics to research to BECOME a well-rounded writer are:

  • SEO and keyword use (stay away from freelance writer blogs; try marketing blogs)
  • Readability (learn what the Flesh Kincaid test is and what it likes)
  • Titles (CoSchedule and Buzzsumo have good resources)

Go down the rabbit hole on each of these and you’ll be surprised how many resources you come out with.

Once you have those skills and start putting them to work in your first gigs, you need to figure out how to spread the word about what you can do and help employers find you faster.

That leads us to No. 2…

How to BROADCAST it

No. 2 thing new freelance writers should focus on: making it easy for an employer to pick you from a stack of 500 applications.

As someone who used to be a freelance writer and later became someone who has hired hundreds of them, I can say at least one thing with total confidence:

Both freelancers and employers have a hard time finding what they want.

As a freelancer, it’s a grind pitching and applying for every job listing you can find. It’s dispiriting to get so few emails back, especially when you’re just starting out.

As an employer, it’s utterly overwhelming to be bombarded with 500 applications from bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freelance writers. Many of which you will never read because you have deadlines of your own.

More than likely, you’re going to settle on the first 2-3 writers that just seem like they can do the job and then take your chances.

Broadcasting is all about putting yourself into an employer’s shoes, and making it easy for them to pick you.

This means being smart and strategic about how you present the information the employer needs, which includes:

  • I have the skills you need for this job
  • I can demonstrate it

Some of the ways you can BROADCAST you’re right for the job:

  •  A brief, friendly cover letter that focuses on the skills you have. Tailor them to the job described to help the employer “connect the dots.”
  • Skip saying things like “I’m willing to learn” or “I’m deadline-driven.” Employers don’t have the time to teach you anything, and meeting a deadline is an expectation, not a skill.
  • Include relevant writing samples. Quality over quantity, and organized neatly on a professional website or writer profile.

“Okay, good tips, but what if I literally don’t have any experience yet?”

You’re not going to like this, but it’s true: You’re going to need to spend some time creating some portfolio pieces.

These should not be Word Documents uploaded to a Google Drive, either. Your samples need to be organized on a professional website, or a professional writer portfolio (the easier route unless you have experience building websites).

If you don’t have experience yet, you need to treat getting your first gig like an American Idol audition, and not the kind that makes Katy go —

WUT

Try to make your samples look as close to what would be published as possible. Include relevant fair use images from a site like Pixabay if they fit the topic. There are numerous self-publishing platforms out there, including:

  • Medium, where you can write about anything.
  • Thought Catalog, for more creative or lifestyle content.
  • BoredPanda, really nice if you’re also a photographer.

You can also try to pitch Huffington Post of Buzzfeed Community. You wouldn’t be able to say you’re a HuffPo or Buzzfeed staff writer, but it would give you a URL with your name on it that will get an employer’s attention.

If you’re looking for something more specialized, you can search for websites in the niches you’re interested in and ask if you can guest post on their blog in exchange for a byline.

I would only pitch concepts here, not finished pieces. But if you go this route, you should have some self-published work on the topic as well that the editor can review.

The point is, you need to be able to broadcast your ability to do the job you’re applying for, and the best way is to show them that you’ve already done it, even if it’s just a portfolio piece.

Key takeaways and more resources for freelance writers

The TL;DR is this:

Instead of focusing on BS advice, focus on two things becoming the kind of writer employers want to hire (this means not skipping out on learning the hard skills), and broadcasting it strategically.

If you’re new to this, there are only two tips for how to become a freelance writer that should guide your first 12-18 months:

  • You need to have the skills to stand out from 500 applications and pitches the employer is looking at.
  • You need an easy, all-in-one solution for showcasing your portfolio and experience.

Don’t worry about the mansion in Costa Rica yet. Focus on these two points and give it 12-18 months. By then, you’ll know whether you want to stick with this or not.

If you’re looking for more resources to help you get started, ProWriter has a free SEO skills resource here, and if you want an attractive portfolio designed to emphasize your skills and experience over time, you can sign up for a free ProWriter writer portfolio at our homepage.

If you have any questions for me, or feedback about this blog post, I’d love to hear it! Find me on LinkedIn.

ProWriter is building a community that helps freelance writers launch, grow, and go pro. Come and join us.

ProWriter online writing portfolio tips
Getting Started

3 things employers want to see in your online writing portfolio

by Dusten Carlson
June 8, 2020

Trying to figure out how to become a freelance writer? Start by building your online writing portfolio.

But be warned — freelance writing is competitive.

In this post, we’ll cover what you need to know to stand out, including:

  • Why ‘social proofing’ matters to employers
  • How to show proficiency and experience in a freelance writing niche
  • Some free (or cheap) resources to help you close writing skill gaps

Anyone can become a freelance writer.

There’s no college degree or special certification required. If you have good communication skills, the bar to entry is practically nonexistent.

Let’s say you’re a college student looking for experience, a stay-at-home mom seeking to enter the workforce, or a 9-5 professional who wants to make some extra cash on the weekends.

As long as you have a solid internet connection, you can start picking up gigs and making money.

But there’s a problem.

Because freelance writing is easy to get into, the market is overrun. It’s extremely competitive.

So what can you do to stand out? What gives you a competitive edge over other freelancers vying for the same jobs as you?

Aim for the 1 percent pool of qualified applicants

Let’s take a moment to talk about the employer side of this equation. We work with employers of freelance writers, and hire writers for our own projects all the time.

To be perfectly honest, most applications are automatically disqualified.

Why?

They lack a professional website or online writing portfolio.

Despite earnest cover letters from well-intentioned applicants who seem like genuinely awesome people, when you don’t include any examples of your writing, you won’t get very far with employers.

The second tier up attaches an original sample in a Word doc or a link to a Google folder containing sample files. Better, but still a little slapdash.

If you want to be a successful freelance writer, it’s all about the portfolio. You won’t even get a ticket to the table without it.

The top 10 percent tier of applications contain a well-written cover letter (nothing formal, just an email introduction of 300 words or so) detailing who the applicant is and why they’re right for the job.

They also include some kind of professional portfolio, whether that’s a link to a personal content writer website, a list of relevant links, or even a well-organized LinkedIn profile.

But even 10 percent of 250 or more applications (not that uncommon, believe me) is a big pool of competition. Even if you skate past the 225 other applicants, how do you get past the 25 semi-finalists and into the final 3?

How do you get into the 1 percent pool?

Let’s say you’re still in that 225 group. If we’ve impressed anything upon you, hopefully, it’s that if you want to be a successful freelance writer, it’s all about the portfolio.

You won’t even get a ticket to the table without it.

Once that’s taken care of, you need to figure out how to stand out from what is still a pretty competitive lineup.

Employers are busy. It can be really easy to get lost in an application pool of a dozen or more. And you have to consider the fact that the top 10 percent of applicants are the cream of the crop.

So what do employers look for in the top 10 percent of applications to move their hiring decision to the final few candidates?

One of the biggest parts of my work with clients is to try and help them find the right talent for their projects. They share many of the same headaches when it comes to finding and vetting freelance writers.

I’ve personally pored over thousands — thousands — of applications and spent countless hours trying to figure out which applicants are the right fit for a job.

With all of that experience, I feel pretty confident when I say that applications that ultimately lead to a job offer have 3 main things in common.

If you’re looking into how to become a freelance writer, or just looking for ways to stand out and get closer to that final shortlist of applications, these tips will set you up for more successes down the road.

No. 1: You are who you say you are

Do you remember the MTV show Catfish? The one where a couple of filmmakers use simple Google searches to determine whether or not someone’s online significant other is actually who they say they are?

Employers can also do that.

And they do! It helps them eliminate unqualified applicants.

People are leading increasingly online lives, and our digital footprints matter in everything from college admissions to rental applications.

While you don’t necessarily need to have your own professional website, you should show up in a Google search in some of the expected places: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

This is called “social proofing” and you’d be surprised how many applicants leave it out.

Here’s a hypothetical example: Say a guy named Joe Anderson applies for a job, includes a well-written cover letter, and a dozen links to articles he has “ghostwritten”. He doesn’t include a link to a website, online writing portfolio, any social media, or anything else that would help us verify his identity.

He doesn’t even have a photo of himself attached to his Gmail account.

It’s absolutely critical to know who you’re hiring. It’s one of the reasons ProWriter requires social proofing in its online writing portfolios.

So we go searching on Google for “Joe Anderson writer.” Because he has such a common name, we don’t find anything that obviously would belong to him. Maybe he doesn’t have much of an online presence at all.

In any case, we’re about at the end of the time we’re going to spend trying to figure this out. After all, we have 250 applications to get through.

Can you see the problem here?

How do I know he wrote his ghostwritten samples? What if he just grabbed random links off the internet?

That’s not to say you should never include ghostwritten examples. Just help the employer verify that they’re actually yours.

Include them in your online writing portfolio, or LinkedIn. Use a clear photo of your face online. Make sure that the photos of you on your various profiles clearly belong to the same person.

It’s absolutely critical to know who you’re hiring. It’s one of the reasons ProWriter requires social proofing in its online writing portfolios.

Make it easy for employers to find you online. That, and verify with confidence that you are who you say you are.

You’d be surprised how often we get catfished.

No. 2: You can do what you say you can do

Part of establishing that you’re the real deal is demonstrating that you’re the right fit for the job.

It’s something you have or you don’t.

You either have relevant experience writing in a particular freelance writing niche, or you don’t. That simple.

If you DO have that experience:

  • Where have you written on the topic before?
  • Can you include samples and links?
  • If they’re ghostwritten, can you provide a reference we can verify?

If you DON’T have that experience, you might be asking the question we’ve all asked ourselves at the beginning of our careers: Every job I’m looking at requires experience, so where do I get experience?

By playing to your strengths.

Let’s say you have a professional or educational background in a particular industry. You’re just starting to try your hand at freelance writing for some extra cash.

Play to your strengths. Follow your skill, not your passion. Click To Tweet

Your subject matter expertise can be a major asset. If you have a degree in finance or have done work as an accountant, that can catch the eye of an employer. Depending on the industry and job, it might actually matter more than writing experience.

A good writer who doesn’t know anything about gardening won’t do a very convincing job providing blog posts for a home and garden blog. If you did landscaping for a few summers in college, you might have an edge!

As entrepreneur Scott Galloway puts it, follow your skill, not your passion.

What if you’re attempting a career shift?

If you want to use freelance writing as an opportunity to shift into a different career, you might have some trouble. If you want to pivot out of finance into something like sports writing, you might need to build up writing experience taking finance writing jobs while pitching sports outlets.

And if you’re brand new at all of this and have no experience whatsoever, it’s going to be tough. It’s not the answer you’ll want to hear, but you need to spend some time building up your portfolio.

After you learn the ropes, it will be easier to compete for the jobs you really want.

Now, if you’ve demonstrated you are who you say you are and have relevant experience for the job, an employer like me is still looking for one more thing…

No. 3: Do you know how to write?

Anyone applying for a writing job would already know how to write, right?

Wrong!

As with any skill, there are plenty of people who think they can write who simply can’t. That’s not usually who employers run into.

Instead, employers often run into applicants who are good writers. They’re just not good at writing for the internet.

They don’t understand SEO, they don’t know how to optimize a headline, and they don’t know how to increase the depth of experience on a web page.

(if that sounds like you, skip ahead to the Resources section).

Complicating matters, there’s good writing for blog posts, as well as good writing for sales copy, for press releases, for email campaigns, for ads, for websites, and more.

Every form has its own skill set and best practices. One good writer can’t automatically take on any writing job.

You need to make sure you have the raw writing skills for the jobs you are applying for. Prove you can “walk the walk.”

What if you don’t have samples yet?

Let’s say you’re looking for jobs doing press releases. Do you have a relevant degree, internship, or job experience in public relations? Did you take a course online you can produce certification for? Surely you have a sample.

Maybe you want a job writing SEO webpage copy for websites. If you don’t have the experience, what online courses have you taken? Do you have certifications? Failing that, do you spend a lot of time reading SEO blogs? Can you produce a sample?

Make sure you can demonstrate that you have the writing skills to competently handle every job you apply for.

Key takeaways

These might sound like obvious points. But because of how oversaturated and competitive the freelancing industry is, a lot of writers will apply for every job they see.

Naturally, this overwhelms employers with unqualified applicants. It makes their job search harder. It’s more unlikely that they’ll find who they need.

I can tell you this because I am one of those employers.

Again, here are the top three things that make the difference and move job applicants into the final 1 percent pool:

  1. Strong social proofing 
  2. Relevant experience
  3. Solid writing skills

If you focus on these three points and continue to strengthen them with experience and education, you’ll be much more successful than 90% of the people you’re competing with.

Resources that might help

Right now, Ahrefs is offering its blogging school for free. It’s more tailored to business owners who use their SEO tool, but it has a lot of great insights for writers that can help you understand the purpose of writing for the web, as well as talk the talk with potential clients.

ProWriter also put together a complete guide on SEO writing specifically tailored to what writers need to know. You can check that out for free here.

Lastly, we also recommend setting up and completing a ProWriter online writing portfolio. ProWriter makes it easy to demonstrate social proofing, relevant work experience, and writing skill to your potential employers. Also free!

 

Getting Started

These Tips Will Make You Better at Landing Blogging Jobs

by Dave Polykoff
February 3, 2020

You’re focused on earning a bigger paycheck as a freelancer, but you can’t find clients. Or when you apply for jobs, someone else is selected for the position.

Those situations aren’t fun, but they don’t have to bring an end to your writing efforts.

While finding clients can feel overwhelming, there’s no reason to panic. We’ve got a brief list of things that successful bloggers do to land more work. Some of them may work for you.

Engage in job boards

In order to apply to jobs, you’ve got to know who is hiring. That’s where job boards come in. They offer an indispensable service for writers because they collect a list of potential clients all in one place.

As another bonus, most of the listings on job boards clearly state the details of the job including the focus area, the word count, and what they’re paying. That makes things more efficient for everyone.

If you see the perfect job, act fast.

There’s a lot of competition for the best jobs on a job board. If you see one that’s a good fit, don’t sit on it.

It means something to a potential client that you’re eager enough to be one of the first respondents to their ad.

In addition, sometimes they receive so many answers to a job post that the first ones they read make the biggest impression on them. Everything else is a blur.

If you get in early, you’ll have a better chance of being considered.

Put your best foot forward in your application

There are a few ways to make a stellar impression on your application. For starters, when you’re responding to an ad remember that everything you write for your application is a sample of your work. Be sure that these are clearly written and error-free.

Secondly, when you’re writing your cover letter, don’t shy away from showing off all your expertise.

Are you great with SEO? Do you have a working knowledge of WordPress? Do you have a track record of creating engaging content with metrics that back up your claim? Mention it.

Include samples

You also want to make sure that each application includes samples of your work and/or a link to your portfolio. Don’t skip this step. It shows you’re experienced, capable, and ready to take on their job.

Before you know it, you’ll be developing your blogging client list and you’ll have just the amount of work you were hoping for.

Getting Started

How To Earn Your First High-Paying Writing Client

by Dave Polykoff
December 2, 2019

Freelance writing can be one of the most lucrative ways to earn money online, but getting started can feel super intimidating.

There’s no need to fear though.

Even if you have no prior experience, following these steps will help you find your first high-paying client soon.

Choosing Your Niche

Although being willing to write for everyone may sound like a good idea, it can actually backfire on you.

A better idea is to choose one or two niches and position yourself as a specialist.

Here are some factors you should consider when choosing a freelance writing niche:

  • Does it have a high return on investment?
  • Is it in high-demand?
  • Most importantly, does it interest you?

The reason the last one is the most important is because you don’t want to write about things you hate.

That’s like working a job you hate, just because it pays well.

It may seem like it’s worth it at first, but it’s only going to make you miserable in the long run.

Plus, choosing a niche that you enjoy means you’re probably already pretty knowledgeable about it.

Creating Your Portfolio

Once you’ve decided on your niches, the next step is to create your portfolio.

Because there’s no point in applying for jobs if you can’t send them writing samples.

Any legitimate writing job is going to expect them.

Don’t worry though, your samples don’t need to be real.

You can always write fake ones if you don’t have any real ones yet.

What matters most is making sure the client can see your skills.

Where To Find Your First Jobs

Once you’ve gained some freelance writing experience, you’ll probably start to have clients reach out to you.

But in the beginning, you’ll need to pitch them.

The best place to start is on freelance job boards, like UpWork and PeoplePerHour.

All you have to do is search for the keywords for your niche, and then send out pitches to jobs that resemble your portfolio samples.

That will increase your odds of getting hired.

Many freelancers make the mistake of sending out the same generic pitches to everyone though, so the key is showing that you read the job description and that your work aligns with what they’re looking for.

Another option is to cold pitch companies you’re interested in working with, by searching for the contact person on LinkedIn and sending them an email.

Jobs found this way can be better-paying compared to the ones posted on job boards.

Conclusion

If you follow all of the above steps, you’ll have your first freelance writing client soon.

But even if it takes you a while, don’t give up! Keep sending out pitches every day and eventually someone will decide to hire you.

Getting Started

How Much Money Do Freelance Writers Make?

by Dave Polykoff
November 18, 2019

The Surprising New Trend with High Earning Potential

It’s becoming more and more popular to be a freelance writer in the gig economy. The industry is being flooded with potential. From stay-at-home-moms to young professionals to travelers, the freedom that freelance writing provides is endless.

But how much does a freelance writer actually make a month and/or year? You may be surprised at the writer earnings potential. Take a look at some of the information provided below to see if you should leave your office job and start freelance writing.

The Writer Salary Facts and Figures You Need to See

In a study conducted in 2015, most freelance writers were making over $50,000 annually. Many facts and figures have been released to provide freelance writers an idea of rates and market value. Some of the most successful freelance writers had very consistent marketing of their talents and skills.

The potential for higher writer earnings all depends on what you want to accomplish as a freelance writer. If your goal is to escape office life, travel the world, and write during your free time, then you may take a bit longer to receive a higher writer salary. However, if you want to build a brand and take on more difficult writing pieces, you may climb that freelance salary ladder a bit faster. In 2017, more technical writers have reported a writer salary over $70,000 annually.

How to Stand Out Amongst the Freelance Writers

Clients looking to hire a potential freelance writer for their project are looking for experts. In order to earn more, you have to stand out as the best. This will support higher rates and increased business. In addition, as a freelance writer, you will need to invest time, energy, and some money into yourself. You will need to treat your freelance writing career as a business whose success is dependent upon the dedication of its owner.

A writer’s salary is not earned overnight. However, if you choose to leave your full-time office job to follow a more flexible career doing something you enjoy, then fully dedicate yourself to that decision. The more effort you contribute to your freelance writing the more benefits you will reap in writer earning potential.

 

Getting Started

Three Proven Tips To Help You Start A Freelance Writing Career With No Experience

by Deborah Cameron
September 18, 2019

Are you looking to write professionally but don’t have formal, paid experience? Believe it or not, there are proven steps that beginning writers can take in order to build their client base.

Freelance careers aren’t created overnight. They’re made with determination and a willingness to use feedback to hone their craft and serve clients better. Here are some of the first steps you can take to get going.

Develop A Regular Writing Schedule

If you’re planning to earn serious money from freelance writing it is best to treat it like a regular job with consistent hours. The choice for the hours can depend entirely on your schedule and work habits. If you have more time to work on weekends then go for it. If early mornings are your thing, do that instead. You get the idea.

The key isn’t when you write, it is working at it regularly and communicating with clients reliably. Ultimately, that kind of writing discipline will go a long way towards building solid, lucrative client relationships.

Build And Prove Your Skills

Identify outlets for your writing that will help you improve your skills and show others what you can do. Initially, if these outlets pay anything at all it won’t be much. And they’re not likely to have a byline. But they will help establish your solid reputation.

Ideas for places to prove yourself are plentiful. They include starting your own personal blog, participating in a writing internship, looking for beginning writer jobs on online job websites, and offering to barter your services to other small businesses.

Once you have solid examples of your work, add them into an online portfolio so you can show off the experience you’ve gained.

Pay Attention To Feedback On Your Work

Wherever possible, try to get unbiased feedback on your work. Some websites for beginning writers may even have formal feedback processes. Thoroughly consider any feedback you receive, especially if the person providing it has professional writing experience. This will help you build your skills and serve clients better as you grow your freelance business.