Freelance Writing and Research

If you can write reasonably well and can do some basic research on the internet then  you can make money by writing articles.

There are many websites where the webmaster either doesn't have the time, or isn't confident writing their own text, and they may be willing to pay you to write it for them. A lot of the jobs that are available on freelance bidding sites want someone to write their articles. Many of the jobs listed are very low paying 1cent a word or less, but you do get the occasional one that is offering a more reasonable amount for this service.

Starting out as a freelancer and offering to write articles for webmasters is much easier if you have a blog or website because you can put samples of your work up there for people to see. When clients have some idea of your writing style they are more likely to accept your bid. Writing articles for websites can be fun as you learn about the different subjects that you are writing about. Have you tried writing articles as part of your freelancing lifestyle? 

Is Freelancing For Everyone?

An increasing number of people do make at least some money from freelance writing, whether that is for print or for the web. Success in the freelance world is largely a matter of attitude and of course some level of writing skills.

If you think that freelancing will make you rich over night, forget it. You can certainly make a tolerable living as a freelance writer, but it takes time, and it takes a lot of work with little return. If you love writing these things won't matter much because you will keep going until you break through. 

Freelancing is not an easy way of life but it can be very satisfyong and a lot of fun - providing you put in the work first. If you think freelancing is for everyone then I would have to disagree, but if you're serious and you love writing then you might want to look at the tips below.

Five Winning Ways to Kickstart Your Freelance Writing Business

Whether you're a stay at home mum who needs to add something to the family budget, or you have a full time job that you are looking to give up and get on with writing, there are a number of things that will help you to get started on what you really want to do.

• Get Yourself a Blog

   

  If you don't already have a blog, then get on over to blogger and start a free one. A blog helps you to get into the habit of writing on a regular basis, and it's a way of getting your writing noticed. When you post something to your blog then get it on feedburner, this publisizes your blog and makes it available to a wider audience.

  Read other people's blogs and if you enjoyed the post then leave a comment, not just like the blog, but something related to what you have read. When you comment leave a link back to your own blog. Once you have a number of posts up, then you have somewhere that prospective clients may go to see your writing style.

  • Submit Your Work To Article Directories

     

    Whether you write about writing or you have some other reasonably defined niche such as parenting or computer problems, write some articles and submit them to article directories with a link back to your blog and a sentence or so offering your services. Try to submit at least one or two articles a week to three or four directories. Some people may click on your link and want to know more about what you are offering; many won't.

    Article writing and submission has three major benefits, people clicking on your link and visiting your blog, a more visible web presence because these things may come up if they relate to a person's search terms, you will have some work that you can point prospective clients to when they ask to see some work - don't ever write free samples, a lot of writers get scammed with that one. Some people will take the article that you have written, along with any written by others and they've got most of their project work for free. 

  • Join a Writer's Forum 

     

    Head on over to digital point which is a forum for webmasters, bloggers, and freelance writers. Get engaged with some of the topics, once your profile gets known you can look at some of the 'writers wanted' posts. Many of these will only be offering 1cent a word, sometimes less, but the 1 cent a word stuff is ok when you are trying to get started. 

    • Guest Blogging

       

      There are plenty of people on the web wbo ask for other people to write a guest blog. Off your services when you see this, you don't get paid but you do get a lot more exposure. 

       

  • Networking

     

    Join some of the social networks such as blog catalog and blogsvine. You submit your blogs and other people can read them, you can read and comment on the work of others. You can get a fair bit of traffic that way, which gives your blog a higher profile, and more likely to be read by people who want someone to write for them. 

  Once you have done all of the above you will have made some useful contacts, got your work known, and hopefully have found a paying job or two. When the work starts to come in this will give you a lot of satisfaction, but you can't rest on your laurels if you're trying to kickstart your freelance writing business. The final thing that you should do is join something like Get a Freelancer, where freelancers bid for work, most of the jobs on offer are very low paying, but you do find them with reasonable pay. I have found that Digital Point is a good source. If people are happy with the writing you do for them, not only will they give you a visible rating, they may recommend you to others on the forum.

  There are any number of winning ways to kickstart your freelance writing business, make a start with these five and let me know a few I might have missed.
  

   

   
  

Keep Paragraphs Short

Keeping your paragraphs short when it comes to freelance web writing should be obvious, however, some of us get so used to reading and writing academic tomes that short paragraphs make us scratch our heads a bit. What I have noticed is that the easiest blogs to read are those with short paragraphs.

Why Use a Short Word When a Long One Will Do?

Says she. I often write long words without thinking about it, not because I'm clever but because I have grown too used to it in the academic world - where people I know do look for longer words. When it comes to web writing, the opposite is true. Keep it short.

Getting stuck in the muddy waters of long words is just like getting stuck with your time, try to avoid it.Writing for the web is a great way to earn your living - or at least a good part of it, but you'll do a lot better if you keep it short and simple - and I am still learning this art.
 

Wahm Timewasters

When you work from home the majority of the time there are all kinds of distractions that can have you wasting time instead of getting on with your writing. I don't know about you but there are days when even though I love writing, I keep finding other things to do. Here are some of my time wasters, see whether they ring a bell with you

• Surfing
• Gazing at the tv if it is on
• Hunting for dirty dishes
• Washing up
• Clearing out my bag
• Organizing my diary, paper and pens

• Making unimportant calls

Dump The Dirty Dishes

If you are anything like me then with every day that dawns you make new resolutions not to get sidetracked by yourself or anything around you, and although there are days when I manage to ignore the fact that there's a pile of washing up in the kitchen and the dishwasher is broken, there are others when I give into the lure of gravy covered plates and coffee stained cups. How on earth can they be more attractive than writing?