Everyone enters the world of freelance writing differently. Some of us start by blogging about an area of interest and then decide to go look for paid work in that field; others come in looking for any kind of freelance work and discover that they love to write. No matter how you enter the field, it can be hard to get yourself established to the point where you make a reasonable income doing work that you enjoy. In addition, many of us have been burned by a client who refused to pay or ended up being a scammer of some sort. To optimize your time, we’ve reviewed three different lists of great freelance websites (from thewriterfinder.com, freelancing. school, and moneymozart.com) to give you a summary of the highlights.
Top Recommended Websites For Freelance Writing Jobs
While career-focused sites can still connect you with writing work, it’s nice to use a site focused on writing or freelancing jobs to help narrow down your search. With content writing becoming a growing field, it’s best to start on a few reliable sites and see what you can get.
●Upwork: All three sites mentioned Upwork as a one-stop shop for online freelancers. Their marketplace isn’t limited to writing work, either — you may find work for coding and graphic design work right alongside writing assignments. The mechanism here is bidding; jobs are posted by employers, and freelance candidates submit a bid including your payment rate and some examples to prove you can do the work requested. It can be hard to get going for beginners, since past works completed through the site are included in long-term expert profiles. In addition, Upwork takes a percentage of your fee for each job to pay for the site. The site is free to use, however, and if you’re persistent with applications, you’ll make headway at some point.
●iWriter: This site has you start by completing two small writing sample tests, to obtain a measure of your skill level. Depending on your results, you should be able to choose from a collection of available jobs; as you increase your writing skill and your portfolio, the amount of money you’ll make on writing jobs will improve. The site is free to use, and if you show consistency, you’ll be able to score higher-paying jobs in no time.
●Freelancer: Freelancer.com also shows up on all three lists, and it functions similar to Upwork, with a bidding platform you can use to apply for listed work. The site also offers ‘contests’ where freelancers create work for a client based on set specifications, and the client only pays for the content they want. This can be helpful for beginner writers, since the exercise alone will help you understand what clients are looking for, and you can use any pieces that aren’t chosen in your portfolio.
●BloggingPro: A service focused mostly on blog pieces, BloggingPro provides a job board you can browse and search looking for writing work that interests you. Clients post ads for up to 30 days, and the application process will probably be different for each client; the benefit here is that the site is focused mainly on blogging, if that’s the kind of writing you enjoy. Keep in mind BloggingPro doesn’t have a client screening process, so you’ll want to double-check an employer before submitting an application.
What You’ll Need For Every Website
When you’re looking for freelance writing work, you’ll want to have a few things handy in your back pocket to help show your credentials. You’ll want a resume, of course, but make sure you’ve targeted the resume to highlight previous experience with writing work, if you have any. You’ll also want to start building a portfolio — a collection of samples showing off your writing on a number of topics and in a number of styles. If you have no idea where to start with a portfolio, you can build one as you apply; many clients will ask you for an example of writing similar to what they’re looking for. Keep in mind that even if you don’t land the job, you can use the piece you’ve written as part of your portfolio; you aren’t going to improve if you don’t practice!
For sites that require bids, you’re going to need to take some time to determine how you’ll charge for your work. Freelance technical writers can charge by the word or hourly, so this may take a few practice runs to determine how fast you can type and what a reasonable rate might be. You’re also going to want to understand how to write a good cover letter; a lot of bid jobs will be looking at the quality of your writing and how quickly you can establish yourself in a cover letter on top of your experience and portfolio. Some applications will let you include a small blurb about yourself and your writing, so you may want to create this ahead of time and edit it carefully.