Freelance Writing Jobs
Do you like to spend your day wiggling your toes in the sand and working on your tan? What if you could ski all day and then go home and sit in front of a cozy fire? How about traveling through South America with your backpack? What if your day consisted of hanging out with your kids? Or you could spend your days volunteering your time in the wildlife refuge in your community?
Well what if you could do whatever you want? Never have to go to an office. Never be tied down to meetings. Never work with people you didn’t like.
Never have to work the 9 to 5 grind. Well it’s all possible, as long as you have access to the Internet, you can be a freelance writer, which includes the ever popular blogging (yeah, that’s writing too).
Freelance writing is possibly one of the best jobs in the world. You can work from anywhere there is an Internet connection and you can make really good money. Plus you can work the hours you want. You may choose to work from 4 pm to midnight so you can ski all day or maybe you like working in the morning so you can get to your buddy’s lacrosse game. There is so much writing to be done and pretty much anyone can find work. The Internet is an amazing resource for finding and doing work.
You may find yourself writing for blogs, popular magazines, ghostwriting people’s biography’s, working on user manuals for popular video games, analyzing scientific reports, writing sales letters, or working on advertising campaigns. Any type of writing you like to do, you can find an abundance of work that you’ll be eager to complete – science writing, technical writing, business writing, ghostwriting, web writing, article writing, speech writing, copywriting, grant writing, or book writing. Good places to look for work online are Guru.com or Elance.com. You may also want to contact companies and magazines directly with emails and query letters.
Before you just jump into this fantasy blogging or writing job, you need to know several things. First, you must be able to write. And write well. This is important because writing is your livelihood. Second, you need to be extremely motivated. It’s easy to call yourself a writer, but it’s harder to be a writer. Writing means sending out query letters, responding to ads, advertising your services, and facing rejection. You will be rejected a lot, but you can’t let it get you down. Once you do land a project you need to complete it to the best of your abilities. You may often be working project to project, and it may be hard to find consistent work.
You should expect to paid for your work. Plan on writing on a per-word basis. About 4 cents a word is a decent place to start. Writing projects can be small or huge. They can range from 200 words to 200 pages.
Before you know it, you can be writing more than you ever imagined possible. During your first year you may only make $5,000. Don’t be discouraged, there are freelance writers making $150,000 a year, easily. Those are the elite, but most freelancers live their dream lives and make about $30,000 a year.
The great thing about writing is that if you do write well, meet your client’s deadlines, and consistently do a quality job that pleases your customer and your customer’s audience, then you’ll be a success.
Becoming a freelance writer or blogger is an amazing opportunity, but it’s like a hot tub. Start with just getting your toes wet before you jump right in. Don’t quit your day job until you’re established. Be ready to work hard to find work and work even harder to complete quality work. And once you have some client’s then you can write full time. And maybe if you’re an awesome writer, you can ride your bike or surf for half a day, and write when you’re done. Now that’s the life.