How To Become A Freelance Writer And Get Paid
The freelance writing industry is booming. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most obvious is because it provides the convenience of working from home and setting one's own hours. If you're interested in becoming a freelance writer, you should take some key steps to ensure success. In this blog post, we'll discuss how to become a freelance writer and get paid.
What Is A Freelance Writer?
A freelance writer is someone who engages in freelance writing work, crafting a variety of writing samples for different freelance writing clients, often found on a job board. They often secure freelance writing jobs on a contract basis through content marketing agencies and online businesses, serving both corporate clients and individual consumers.
A freelance writer typically produces promotional content, whether it is an article that mentions a company and its products for a marketing blog, an article that ghostwrites for an affiliate program, or a review post (ex: recommending books or products).
Freelance writers are commonly paid writing fees per word, and their freelance writing income can vary greatly depending on the clients, which influences how they pay freelance writers.
The job of a freelance writer involves researching a topic, providing insight, and then creating long form content to captivate and engage readers, leveraging search engine optimization to boost visibility. They may also be tasked with editing or proofreading other people's work, often participating in freelance copywriter groups to enhance their skills in "copyediting."
Freelance writing can develop into a full-time profession, or it can supplement your freelance writing business, helping you earn good money writing on the side. These writers typically manage their own freelance writing business, setting their own schedules and choosing which writing jobs or social media posts they want to craft for clients.
Should you start your own writing business?
How to become a freelance writer? You must first choose why you want to work as a freelance writer. Making your idea a reality might be challenging if you don't have a compelling cause to keep you motivated throughout the hard hours. The advantages of working as a freelance writer can be incredible.
You have the chance to start your own freelance writing business from scratch and decide not only your workload but also navigate the financial benefits of money writing, when you can work, where you work, and how much you want to charge for your services. However, you must decide why these advantages are significant to you, especially when building a writing portfolio and engaging with fellow writers in the writing community.
Would you spend more time with your children if you had more free time and will not work for free? Or perhaps use your spare time earned from efficient freelance writing work to pursue new passions, such as guest posting on social media platforms or writing short stories? Or would you rather leverage the flexibility of your freelance business to choose your own schedule and explore the world, while still engaging with new freelance writers and securing first clients? You must comprehend how these advantages will affect your life.
Find a secure object to grip onto. You'll probably have to work long hours on top of your current employment as your firm grows. The more hours you invest in writing articles and technical writing, the closer you'll get to achieving sufficient freelance writing income to consider quitting your day job. To find the self-discipline needed for freelance write activities, reflect on your motivations, whether it's to enjoy writing, love writing, or to create compelling academic essays and video scripts.
Benefits Of Being A Freelance Writer
There are many benefits to being a freelance writer. One of the major pieces of freelance writing advice is that you have total control over your time and schedule, a freelance writing niche that can be empowering for fellow freelance writers. You can also write articles from home or create content while on vacation, a dream for many in freelance writer groups.
There is no need to commute every day, allowing you to focus on how to write blog posts and interact with fellow freelance writers through social media accounts.
Freelance writing is perfect for new writers who seek experience across various industries but are still exploring their freelance writing niche. You can choose to specialize in a particular field such as health, finance, the arts, or media.
How To Become A Freelance Writer
The first step is finding clients or freelance writers, which can be achieved by placing advertisements on platforms like Craigslist or through digital marketing strategies, writing blogs for others (either as part of your contract or by taking requests), or providing articles through services such as Textbroker.
Many online platforms provide opportunities for small business owners and freelance writers to find work, like Upwork and Fiverr, making them key places for freelance writer groups. These enable freelance writers to post their qualifications to be contacted by others who need content written. How much you charge is up to you. Some may offer a single article for $30, while others do it in bulk for $0.05 per word.
Freelance writers are responsible for their own social media marketing, including updating their writer website and networking in freelance writer groups to find prospective clients. The more skilled you are in your area of expertise, the better chance you will secure clients.
PaystubsNow Freelance Writer Story
I knew I wanted to pursue freelance writing as soon as I learned about it. I yearned for the independence that writing may provide me. How to become a freelance writer? To be honest, I wasn't quite confident that I could fulfill this desire. After all, earning a living using my outdated laptop from the comfort of my home sounded too wonderful to be true.
But I made the decision to try it. At first, I used job boards to secure a few projects and was learning that many employers won't pay more than a penny per word, a common challenge discussed in freelance writer groups and at writer website forums. I was, needless to say, discouraged and I made the decision to enroll in a course on freelancing at that time.
By investing in myself, I was able to grow my freelance writing career from a few hundred dollars per month to more than $6,000 per month. With earnings from writing guest posts and managing social media accounts, I've been able to fund significant financial goals, proving that you can make good money in this field. In addition, I have more control over my income and my time. Anyone can undergo this career transformation.
Trust me when I say that if I can transition from a novice to securing work with an insurance company, you can too. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication, particularly in mastering digital marketing and learning to pay taxes as a small business owner, but success is possible with effort. Don't be concerned that you're not a good writer! With each article, you'll improve as a writer. The important thing is to open your laptop and get started. So, let's get started.
Tips For Getting Paid As A Freelancer
Freelancing is a great way to make money, but it takes more than just having an idea or good writing.
Here are some tips for getting paid as a freelance writer:
Find A Niche
How can you best contribute to the world? What passions and talents make you unique? This could be finding an area of interest like cooking or parenting and getting articles published in magazines or newspapers for freelance writers.
Create A Portfolio
Make a portfolio so that prospective employers can see examples of your writing.
Creating a portfolio may seem difficult if you are beginning from scratch. It doesn't have to be that way! You can begin building your portfolio piece by piece. If you are having difficulty getting published, consider launching a blog to display your writing skills. This will allow you to notonly grow your portfolio but also hone your writing talents.
Once you've published a few items, start looking for guest post opportunities. How to become a freelance writer? Bloggers in your niche will usually be delighted to share a good story. You'll get a byline and they'll get content, so it's a win-win situation. Choosing to give your writing skills for free at the start can pay off in the long run.
Future clients must realize that you are capable of producing standout content. However, you should not continue to provide your writing services for free indefinitely. Start charging for your talent once you've gained some experience and have a portfolio to show potential clients. Creating a portfolio is how to get started as a freelance writer with no experience!
Apply To Jobs
Find a freelance writing job opening that interests you and apply to it. How do you find freelance work? You can search for jobs on websites like Indeed, Craigslist, or Upwork.
Make Use Of Pay Stubs
A pay stub is a form that documents the pay you earn for your work. It includes how much money you earned, how many hours were worked, and what taxes are owed. For employees to get paid correctly at the end of each month, it's essential to have one ready in advance. This is especially important for freelance writers.
You can create your own pay stubs using online tools like Paystubsnow, which also offers easy generation of other financial documents like W-2 or 1099 forms.
How Long Does It Take To Start Making Money As A Freelance Writer?
Freelance writers start making money the moment they send their first invoice. Textbroker, for example, can get you started making money within a few days of using their platform. There is, of course, the "testing phase," which typically takes ten days.
Final Words
Becoming a freelance writer is not as hard as you might think. It does take some time and patience, but the rewards are worth it. We hope these tips can help you become a successful freelance writer someday soon.