Before we get into this one, it’s important to keep in mind that
freelance writing is not for everyone. If, today, you don’t feel comfortable
with your writing skills, then using them to make money is perhaps not the best
way to go. Even if you work very hard, it is unlikely that you will be able to
transform your skills significantly enough to make money with your writing in
the short run. In the long run, however, this might be a viable strategy.
On the other hand, if you feel comfortable with your writing, then freelancing
is an excellent way to make money fast online. With that said, let’s take at
your two major options when it comes to sources of freelance writing jobs.
Sites for Freelancers
If you decide to become a freelance writer, there are two important
sites you
should join: www.guru.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 you decide to upgrade your Elance account, you may want to
consider adding the “writing and translation” category, as well as the “marketing
and advertising” category. Even though “marketing and advertising” includes
many non-writing projects, it includes things such as special report-writing,
sales-letter-writing, and ad-writing. If you’re a good writer and have a
background in IM, you’ll be especially well suited to these types of jobs.
When using Elance and Guru, it is 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 will have to do it along
other margins—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 will not 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 reason 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.
Of course, there’s a lot more you can do with freelancing sites, but for
now, I will leave it at that. If you want to make cash with them fast, you
should immediately begin implementing the steps I’ve mentioned above.
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, sales-letters, 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 Internet
marketing forums, such as 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
.
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| monney from freelance writer |