Would you believe me if I told you that freelance writers today have a better chance at career success than they did 20 years ago?
Since you’re reading this blog post, I’m going to assume you already know this, but just in case there’s any confusion–it’s because of the internet. The ‘net is chock full of decent-paying freelance writing jobs, but if you’re new to the whole freelance game, you might feel a little overwhelmed by the whole job search process.
It’s kind of like shopping in a discount store and digging through racks and bins to find the one perfect piece you need to complete the perfect outfit. You have to pick through all the crap to get to the good stuff. You know it’s there somewhere, but you’re not sure if it’s worth the time and trouble it will take to find it.
So how do you get better-paying online writing jobs and avoid digging through all the low-paying crap?
1. Give Up the Content Mills
Regardless of the fact that there will be at least one writer who insists that I am completely full of it because he supports his family of 15 on the dough he brings in from his favorite mill, the fact of the matter is that you won’t get rich writing for one. Not only that, but you’ll spend a lot of time writing a lot of articles for $1 to $15–and you won’t have time to pound the virtual pavement in search of better paying jobs.
Work smarter, not harder, I always say. And before you call me a gig-snob, let me tell you: I did the content mill thing early in my career. I don’t believe in regrets, so I’ll just tell you that I learned my lesson pretty quickly.
2. Pound the Virtual Pavement
Speaking of the virtual pavement, it helps to know where to find the good paying jobs. One place you can look is in our weekly Writer’s Aid column, where we list new paying gigs every Monday. You can also use social networking sites to find clients, referrals from friends, family and business associates, and more. The possibilities are endless.
In fact, I’m doing a webinar with Make a Living Writing author Carol Tice on May 24 called How to Make Good Money Writing Online that will cover many of those possibilities, in case you’re interested.
3. Learn How to Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Properly
Not every online writing job requires you to use SEO, but it’s a marketable skill you need in today’s freelance market. Of course, there’s a difference between an amateur writer who stuffs his work with excessive keywords and a professional SEO writer. A good rule of thumb: if the writing sounds stilted and unnatural, you’ve gone a little crazy with the keywords. Good SEO writing is undetectable to the human eye, but super sexy to the search engines.
Our own Alyssa Ast wrote an entire book on how to use SEO. Check it out at our bookstore.
4. Keep Working On Your Author Site
Whether you’re a writer newbie or you’re a seasoned veteran, your author website could probably use a little tweak now and then. I literally wrote the book on author websites for freelance writers, and I still find things that could be improved on my author site pretty often.
Try setting up a monthly appointment with yourself to go through the pages on your author site and make appropriate updates and to check for errors. I’ll guarantee you that each time you do this, you’ll find something to improve.
5. Keep Writing, Keep Learning and Work Hard
It’s tempting to throw in the towel and dump the whole writing career idea, especially at the beginning of your freelance career. But I’m here to tell you that it can be done, and quite successfully, if you’re willing to work for it. Freelancing is most definitely not the easiest job out there–in fact, it takes a lot of patience, persistence and plain old hard work.
Whether you want to freelance forever or you hope to use your experiences to boost you into another job, you can succeed if you’re willing to work hard and keep learning. The industry changes every day (Google Panda update, anyone?), so it’s important to stay in the game. Keep up with the latest industry news and network with your fellow writers.
And don’t forget, subscribing to our free email updates will get you a free ebook on how to market yourself and your writing online.
What challenges do you face when it comes to finding good-paying online writing jobs? Tell us in the comments!
Check out our new writing jobs board, updated daily! Free to search, free to apply for jobs, no registration required. What are you waiting for?
Thanks so much for this post.
No problem, Diana, I hope you found it helpful! Thanks for your comment.
good advice thank you.
I am just starting out as a technical writer and assume there are online writing gigs out there. Are there any other tips specific to technical writing?
Bernadette,
I’m glad you found the post helpful. There are of course some additional tips that are specific to tech writing. Maybe we can do a post on that in the near future, but until then, I found this site that might be interesting for you! http://www.docsymmetry.com/technical-writing-jobs.html
Thanks for your comment!
Great fundamental tips, again, Angie!
Will pass this link onto others as the links are so useful to know about, too.
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Thanks Patricia! I appreciate the support.
I saw a post offering $15 for a 350- to 500-word article. That’s not very long and I can write fast, but at $.03-.04/word I’d have to achieve lightning speed to make it worth my while. Then I found a company hiring freelancers that looks very professional, top-of-the-line, but based on just their website, how do I know? I’m hoping your webinar will help me sift through such things on more than a haphazard basis.
Stephanie,
We are going to discuss how to spot a scam in the webinar, for sure! Also how to find better paying gigs online. Thanks for your comment!
Looking forward to connecting with you at the webinar.
Angie, total truth, the ‘net can be a goldmine for writers provided they don’t sell themselves short.
An additional approach to finding that work is the telephone. I’ve had good luck simply calling local companies and asking who handles their writing and going from there. It’s surprising how often a dozen or so calls will result in an assignment or two.
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Great suggestion on using the phone Anne! You can definitely find great clients that way. Thanks for your comment!
Great tips!
One challenge I face is getting ‘sucked into’ social media (Facebook) and checking my email accounts. I try to update my Facebook Fan Pages as quickly as possible before my relatives see I’m online and want to ‘chat.’ I wish Facebook would let you create a ‘Fan Page’ account without having to have a business or personal page. It would make my lifer a heck of a lot easier and more peaceful
Another challenge I’ve been tackling is figuring out what I really want to write and who I want to write for. I realized I prefer working with medium to large businesses and ethical, established magazines. I enjoy certain industries compared to others. Plus, I’m enjoying creative writing and would like to find markets where I can write and or sell my ideas. I have a lot of ideas and sometimes I prefer to be the visionary and allow others to do the work.
Rebecca,
I have that same challenge, getting sucked into social media a bit too often. For the record, FB has recently made it possible to have only a fan page. And, you can set your chat to appear offline if you want.
I can also understand what you mean with enjoying some markets more than others. I think most writers find themselves leaning toward one or two specific niches–and that’s actually a good thing, if you ask me!
Excellent tips Angela!
When I first decided to freelance I thought content mills were the answer. So much opportunity and a chance for steady income. Now I realize how poor they are for professional writers. We won’t be respected if we don’t respect ourselves. My question for you is do you maintain your author site alone or do you hire professional help? Again, great post.
Hi Wade,
Couldn’t agree with you more! And yes, I maintain my author site alone. I built the template and handle everything myself. I do pay for a hosting plan, but they don’t help maintain the site, just host it on their servers. I’ll admit that I learned to do all of this mostly because I’m a cheapskate, but it has come in quite handy for both my own sites and as an addon service for my clients.
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Angela–I’m one of those still making $7.50 for a 500-word article (and that’s a Direct Order price), and so far have not found anything that pays better. The author’s page is something that I’ve just started working on, and I’m excited about that. My blog has nearly a thousand subscribers, so I know my writing is marketable, even if I am a bit clueless about finding better ways to get paid for it! The Writer’s Aid column is interesting, but I’m wondering if I’d be better off writing essays than other kinds of writing–and if so, where do I begin to look for such gigs?
Meg,
That all depends on the types of essays you want to write. For example, Alyssa Ast, one of our co-founders, writes for the Chicken Soup series and gets paid around $200 per essay.
And with nearly a thousand subscribers, are you monetizing your blog? That would be another excellent way to bring in some income.
We are going to discuss a wide variety of ways to get high-paying online writing jobs during our webinar on May 24 as well. Here’s the link, if you’re interested: http://angelaatkinson.com/freelance-writers-how-to-find-good-paying-online-writing-jobs/
Thanks for your comment!
This is a well written and comprehensive post on making money online. Better than those attributes, it is honest. There are so many people publishing either here on HubPages or elsewhere on the web who claim that it is possible to ‘get rich quick’. Our experience is that it is constant imaginative thought, research, writing and working on publicity that gets results. We are in awe of your rate of quality production!
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