Freelance Writing Jobs Online - How to get started

Author:
Rema T V
Updated:
Aug 5, 2017

Establishing your online presence as a freelance writer

Today, writing has become a profession that helps us make some extra money from the comfort of our own home. With the ever-increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, it is possible for anyone and everyone who possesses good language skills to make a successful career online.

This is because communication between any two remote corners of the world has become easier now and work gets done faster, so opportunities keep increasing too. This is so helpful to people who are losing their jobs due to the poor economy prevailing everywhere. It also adds up to your regular income that would help you take up a vacation or give your children college education etc.

freelance-writing-jobs-online-how-to-get-started — commons.wikimedia.org

Online writing jobs

The most obvious service you will be offering as a writer is of course writing. You could write web content, ad copy, landing page copy, articles for article directories and blog posts. Web content would differ with the kind of website you are writing for. You should be proficient in researching the topic and delivering quality content for the web page. Once you do this your client would willingly give you more work or recommend you to his connections.

As a writer, you write for people who have the resources to build a website or create a product but not enough time to promote them. There are others who have the money and the time but are either not interested in writing content or not efficient enough to write it themselves. So they require the assistance of freelance writers by hiring whom they save a lot of money by avoiding the overhead costs of running an office.

Getting started as a freelance writer

You can start off with writing simple articles and blog posts and then specialize in SEO to write landing pages and optimized content for the web pages.

Create your own blogs

If you have language skills but don’t know how to get a job as a freelance writer, it would be a good idea to have a blog of your own before starting to write for others. There are several free websites that would help you better your writing skills such as Blogger, Word Press, Weebly, HubPages, Squidoo, Gather and many more. Here there is no one to tell you what to write about. You simply search the Internet for popular search terms in a topic that interests you most and start writing. You not only develop healthy friendships through your pages but also a great writing experience. Practice makes a man perfect, right? This is exactly what you get by writing on these websites.

Websites you can join as a freelance writer

There are thousands of websites offering online writing work by connecting the employers and writers. They charge the job posters a small fee for this. The pay offered through these websites is often low to start with. iwriter.com is an example of this.

Sites such as freelancer.com, elance.com and others also offer writing jobs. Here, you will have to register and update your profile with all the relevant information. The biggest hurdle in getting writing assignments through these websites is that the lowest bid or the most experience gets the assignment.

Sometimes, the employer goes through your profile and if they find it suitable and your bid is reasonable, gives you work. You then complete the work within the specified time and if the employer is happy, he gives you more work in future. So, going up to this step is the most difficult part. Again, if you live up to their expectations, you are sure to get more work.

There are other websites that require you to write as many articles as possible without having a single person asking for a particular article. The articles are then purchased by people who require them. The pay you so get is quite a decent one but you need to wait for the article to be sold to get the money. Sites such as Constant Content where you can put up your articles for sale fall under this category.

Moreover, there are websites that act as revenue-sharing sites by sharing with you the AdSense revenue they get through your article pages. This continues so long as your article remains published on the website. The following are a few such sites that you should be a part of to make money online:

Where do you start as a new writer?

The best place to get started with an online writing career is to register on LinkedIn.com. Sign up; verify your email and you have immediate access to the website. Login and add all your skills to your profile. Start connecting with people. Then there are a number of different groups on this website.

Choose the one that you think is appropriate for your profession. For instance, there are writers’ groups – choose one or two to start with. Too many will take a lot of your time and you will not be able to reach your goal that is mainly to get writing offers. There will be discussions on these groups about the various aspects of a writing career including the fees charged by writers, how they are exploited for low fees etc.

You will also find job postings on these groups. Communicate with the people who want to hire writers. It is a good idea to keep one or two (the more the better) articles ready as samples of your work. By showcasing your skills as a writer, you stand a good chance of getting the assignment.

Once you start writing, you’ll start understanding the field better. If you write for a single client, ask them for a recommendation after completing a few projects. This recommendation that is displayed on your LinkedIn profile will help you secure better or more jobs. This way you can widen your horizon and become a favorite writer to many of your clients.

Freelance writing jobs online maybe a little difficult to get started with but once you get into the groove of writing, you’ll find it very easy to improve your client base and become successful as an online freelance writing professional.

Comments

Kamleshbhai Parmar from banaskantha on October 15, 2020:

Scroll to Continue

what-strategic-failures-led-to-israel-falling-short-against-hamas

synth-single-review-lost-within-this-time-by-restless-mosaic-anji-bee

Nice

Manjushree Biswas Maity from Kolkata on October 09, 2020:

your article was an informative insight for a newbie who wants to be a freelance writer .

Hifza Ishtiaq from Islamabad,Pakistan on April 03, 2020:

Hi Hifza here....

I wanna get information that first step is to email editor regarding article idea.so where is editor email adress?

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 05, 2013:

Hi Joan,

I wish you all the very best in your freelancing career. If you want to know anything more about freelance writing online than stated here, please email me. I will share with you whatever information I know.

I have shared whatever I know but I would love to help more if you need it. Thanks for the visit and the positive feedback. Cheers, Rema.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 05, 2013:

Glad that you found this hub useful Deepak. If you want to know anything else related to freelance writing online, please email me. I will share with you whatever information I know. Thanks for the visit. Cheers, Rema.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 05, 2013:

Hi web923,

Thank you very much for the appreciative comment. I am very happy that you found it helpful. I hope to share some more information related to online writing in my upcoming hubs.

Cheers, Rema.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 05, 2013:

Thanks old albion. I am glad you found it useful. I wish you good luck if you are going to venture into this amazing field. Cheers, Rema.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 05, 2013:

Hi Julie,

I too joined LinkedIn a long time ago but started using it only recently. I have my hands full with writing assignments now (not from LinkedIn) but I have noted down all the information that is being passed on to members on various groups especially writers' groups. Make sure you start using it soon as to benefit from the information found there, the only downside being that you tend to spend a lot of time on groups like 'make money online'.

But if you are focused and have your choices decided and only look for info that you need, then you are going to be rewarded. Good luck and thanks very much for the comment. Cheers, Rema.

Joan Veronica Robertson from Concepcion, Chile on January 05, 2013:

Hi Rema, very good article! I intend to really get into freelance in 2013, so this was a good read for me. Thanks for the information.- Voted up, useful and interesting. Have a good day!

Deepak Chaturvedi from New Delhi, India on January 05, 2013:

I would like to come again to read your article cause its worth a lot for my kind of person.

Bill Blackburn from Twentynine Palms, California on January 05, 2013:

Hi Reema, This was an excellent article! Being a newbie to both the world of freelance writing and Hubpages, I find this sort of content very useful and enlightening. Thank you very much for providing this information!

Graham Lee from Lancashire. England. on January 05, 2013:

Hi Reema. Thank you for your informative hub. I find it helpful as many more will I am sure.

Graham.

Jools Hogg from North-East UK on January 05, 2013:

Rema, great article, well written, straightforward and easy to understand. I joined linkedin a year ago and have never, ever used it! I will need to go back now after your recommendation. Shared, voted up etc.

Aldene Fredenburg from Southwestern New Hampshire on January 02, 2013:

teaches12345: If you're thinking of going freelance fulltime, make sure you've got some money stashed away to tide you over if you get slow times or late payments from clients. Having a few months' cash reserve can make a big difference.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on January 02, 2013:

That is great Dianna. I thought you were already into freelancing. I wish you all the very best in realizing your goals. I will be posting some more hubs related to freelance writing online. Please be on the look out.

Thanks for the visit and the votes. Cheers, Rema.

Dianna Mendez on January 01, 2013:

I am considering freelance in 2013 and your advice is very helpful to me in this respect. Thanks for posting and sharing. Voted up.

Michelle Liew from Singapore on December 30, 2012:

A useful article, Rema. I will check out Xomba, have been meaning to for a while! Thanks for sharing!!

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on December 30, 2012:

Thank you very much Mary. Glad you found it useful. Thanks for the votes too. Cheers, Rema.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on December 30, 2012:

Thank you very much Linda for the encouraging comment. Cheers, Rema.

Mary Hyatt from Florida on December 29, 2012:

This is very interesting and informative. I'd like to do freelance writing, so I'm bookmarking this article.

I voted this UP, etc.

Linda Bilyeu from Orlando, FL on December 29, 2012:

Excellent hub Rema! I'm sure many freelance writers will find this information very useful.

Aldene Fredenburg from Southwestern New Hampshire on December 29, 2012:

Hi, Rema,

Yes, it does. Thanks!

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on December 29, 2012:

Glad you found it helpful Nithya. Thanks for the feedback and share.

Cheers, Rema.

Nithya Venkat from Dubai on December 29, 2012:

Reema thank you for sharing this information. Very useful and informative. Voted up and shared.

Rema T V (author) from Chennai, India on December 29, 2012:

Hi Music-and-Art-45,

Thanks for the comment. I am glad you found this hub helpful. Please register on LinkedIn;it is very useful in several ways two of them being increase in knowledge and job offers depending on your profile. Good luck!

Cheers, Rema.

Aldene Fredenburg from Southwestern New Hampshire on December 28, 2012:

Lots of good info; thank you. The whole conventional editorial process is definitely lengthy and an "iffy" proposition.

I am wondering how Hubbers feel about whether it's better to have a few irons in the fire or focus on getting a body of work on one site before starting with the next. Anyone have some experience with this?

Music-and-Art-45 from USA, Illinois on December 28, 2012:

That diagram is great, and your article is helpful. I'm going to be getting on to LinkedIn or at least fixing my profile dramatically.