Working from home is something that most people wish they could do, but most don't know where to start or what their options are. Working at home is convenient for all kinds of reasons. A Freelance Content Writing Business is just one of the many opportunities available to you.
As a web content writer, you have the ability to control your pay rate. You can write for webmasters that are looking for quality and well-researched content for their websites. Ezine and newsletter publishers are always in need of good content. A freelance writer can choose the types of writing assignments that they want. If you choose to be a writer for web content, you should have some writing skills and have the basic knowledge of the English language and grammar. You don't have to be a superb writer, but being able to write clearly and concisely will get you a good reputation.
Besides writing for clients, a freelance writer can write content for him or herself and publish it on one of the many websites that pay for page views or pay residual earning for page views and Google AdSense. And of course you can create content and resell it to various membership sites. The opportunities for a freelance content writer are endless.
Although, writing for the internet is a little different from writing for magazines and other publications, a writer has to have some experience with writing in order to provide quality content. Most people will want to take a free online writing course that is offered by many different organizations. There are writers that offer classes to those that are interested in becoming a freelance writer for web content.
As a home business owner, you'll have the ability to choose the hours that you work. Although you'll be working from home, a freelance writing career is just like any other job, you have to do the work and meet deadlines. A writer that works at home must have dedication and commitment to the work. If you have a problem with procrastination, you are going to fall behind and miss important deadlines that could ruin a career quickly.
How Do You Find Clients
How do you find clients to write for on the internet? How much do you charge for writing an article? New writers often ask these legitimate questions and seek answers from veteran writers. The answers vary depending on the type of writing you want to do. New writers can use bidding sites to find work or they can offer their services by making a website of their own and advertising.
Sites for Freelancers
If you decide to become a freelance writer, there are two important sites you should join: www.odesk.com and www.elance.com. These sites allow freelancers to post bids on tens of thousands of writing, translation, graphic design, programming, and administrative assistant projects.
Although you can join both sites for free, you will quickly see why it is a good idea to upgrade your account for at least one of the sites. Upgrading will enable you to bid on more categories of projects and also to bid on more projects within each category. It will also demonstrate your credibility to project posters. If your budget only allows for one upgrade, at present, I would recommend ODesk. I personally use this site and can verify that they pay.
When using Elance and oDesk, it's important to note that individuals with good reputations tend to receive the most projects. And there’s a good reason for this: they have the most credibility; and this is what project posters want in freelancers.
When you first start off, there’s little you can do to immediately project credibility. So, if you want to compete, you'll have to find a different angle —namely, price and completion time. If you can offer low prices and fast delivery times, there’s a good chance you’ll get selected every once in a while.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you won't be selected for most of the projects you bid on. In fact, when you start, you can expect to get rejected at least 75% of the time. Don’t use this as a an excuse to give up. Instead, continue to post on all projects that seem reasonable, given your skills; and get comfortable with the idea that you won’t always be selected. As you complete more projects and get more feedback, your acceptance rate will improve.
As a final note, it is always a good idea spend some time sorting through projects before you settle on any one in particular. Personally, I would recommend browsing through all relevant projects closing within 2-3 days. Each time you find one that looks good to you, add it to your watch list. When you have completed this process, go back and look at each project carefully. Take a look at the high and low bids, the promised completion times of the other bidders, and the work involved. Decide whether it’s something you can do well; and, if so, whether you could complete it at a competitive price and within a reasonable amount of time.
If you decide that all of your criteria are satisfied, then bid on the project. By the end of the process, you will probably bid on multiple projects at the same time, but keep in mind that most will reject you, anyway, so this is unlikely to be a problem.
If you want to ensure that your bids have a high chance of being successful, then you should spend time reading the project description and writing a good, detail-oriented proposal. Most project posters won’t selected a generic proposal, but instead will opt for a proposal that demonstrates that the bidder was paying attention to the project, has the relevant skills, and can make a case for his being able to do the work described.
Other Job Sources
Craigslist.org
There’s no need for a detailed description here. Finding freelancing jobs on Craigslist is relatively simple, since there’s no way to receive feedback or develop a reputation through the site. All you have to do is search in the “jobs” and “gigs” sections. Whenever you see something that lines up with your skills, email the poster with a copy of your resume and a brief, but detailed proposal. Try to make a strong case for why you would be the best candidate for the position.
Internet Marketing Forums
Since good marketing involves a lot of writing, Internet marketers often hire freelance writers to complete projects. These projects include things such as ebooks, reports, articles, salesletters, text ads, and site content.
There are a number of places where you can connect with Internet marketers to find projects; however, one of the better places is probably on nternet marketing forums, such as http://www.warriorforum.com. There, you will find tens of thousands of internet marketers, many of whom need writing done.
Of course, simply showing up and posting on the forum won’t necessarily result in your getting jobs. Instead, you will need to make a reputation for yourself, so that marketers begin to actively seek you out as a source for content.
For starters, a good way to get your name out there and circulating among internet marketers is to demonstrate that you can produce high-quality work in a way that doesn’t cost them anything. One way you can do this is to post a special offer in the trade/sales portion of the IM forum. Instead of simply posting a “good deal,” offer something that is truly irresistible. For instance, you might offer to write articles for half the going market rate for a limited period of time. This will probably flood you with work, but will be worth it in the long run, as you may gain may new clients.
Finally, remember that your success will be heavily dependent on word-of-mouth advertising among Internet marketers. This means that if you do a poor job on projects, you could permanently damage your reputation; and make it exceedingly hard to get new projects. And, on the other hand, if you do good work, it could reap dividends for years to come.
The Issue Of Money
Rates are a hot topic among freelance writers. The main point is, you can earn money, and it can be a decent living for you. However, like any career, you need to be willing to put in the time, commitment and years of service to develop your craft, hone your skills, sell your work, and make valuable conections.
As well, if writers are creative, motivated and inspired to write, they can land great writing assignments with very lucrative fees. Writers have the advantage of using their writing style and knowledge to get the work done.
Inevitably the prices you charge are up to you, but you want to make it worth your time to write. Writing a 500-word article with research for five dollars is not going to add up quickly. If you need to make ten dollars an hour, you could charge ten dollars per 500-word articles. Some freelance writers make up to fifty dollars for a 500-word article, but you have to have some experience before you make this amount of money per article.
The Drawbacks of A Freelance Content Writing Business
The life of a freelance writer isn’t all glitz and glamour. Before you take the plunge into freelance writing at your work-at home career choice, there are a few things to consider. While you can work from home earning money in your pajamas, there are negatives to this career choice. Here’s a list of ten of the common drawbacks of freelance writing.
1. No sick days. Sometimes you have to work while you’re sick. If you don’t, you lose money and maybe a client. Clients aren’t very forgiving unless you have a solid relationship with them and even then, sometimes their deadline is more important to them than your health and well being.
2. No medical benefits, a 401K or even a guaranteed income. You have to pay your own taxes too. This can make budgeting tricky when you take the plunge into freelance writing for a living, especially if you’re the main breadwinner in your house.
3. Pay day is not guaranteed. You may go from famine to feast and then famine again regularly and payday doesn’t come every second Friday so it can be a tricky balancing act, especially in the early days.
4. Juggling deadlines and family responsibilities can be challenging at times. You may have to give certain parties and events a miss because you have a deadline. You may feel conflicted at times when you have to let the laundry or dirty dishes pile up so you can finish an assignment. You may have to learn write with a crying baby on your lap.
5. Chasing payments isn’t fun. There are customers who aren’t as eager to pay you as they are to take your hard work. Sometimes people don’t pay on time or try to short pay or not pay at all. You have to develop skills to protect yourself and may have to act as your own collections agent part-time.
6. Freelancers can have regular work, one-off gigs and can have a great paying regular deal that might suddenly disappear. The well can dry up regularly so you have to keep a constant lookout for work.
7. Reworking and multiple edits. You can slave over something for a client and they might hate it. You have to take criticism and might have to deliver work you don’t think is as well written after your client asks for changes. You need to develop a tough skin in this business.
8. Projects can be difficult to estimate. You can underestimate prep time and working time for a project and find that it has lost you money in the end. This can be difficult but until you’re very experienced, it will probably happen.
9. Sploggers, spammers and scrapers are rampant in online markets and want to steal your work and benefit from it! Be prepared to be plagiarized.
10. You have to have a really good eye for scams. When trying to establish yourself, it’s a learning process and many new writers are scammed a few times before they become wise to all the tricks and signs of a scam.
A Final Word
Regardless of the negatives listed above, freelance writing, of any kind, can also be a great business that can earn you money, offer a flexible schedule and can be personally fulfilling if you love to write. With time and experience, you’ll find you're able to better deal with the downsides of writing for a living.
If you want to work at home and do something exciting, freelance writing is exciting and rewarding. You can choose your own hours and if there is something you need to do during the day with the kids, you can schedule your work around it. All you need is some ideas to get started and once you make your first paycheck, you will be thrilled.
Additional Resources
Wishing you the greatest success with your freelance content writing business.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
