If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably here to learn how to become a freelance writer in 2023.
Or maybe you are tired of searching for actionable steps to help you get started as a freelance writer.
Well, I have great news!
My goal over the following few thousand words is to take you from being confused about “How to start a freelance writing career” to knowing the actionable steps you need to start your freelance writing career immediately.
So let’s get right into it!
Table of Contents
Who Is a Freelance Writer?
A freelance writer is an experienced writer who acts as a freelancer rather than working full-time with the company and usually offers several writing services to clients and businesses.
A freelance writer can choose their niche to work, whether they sell their stories to publications, articles to magazines, or work as a copywriter and a website content creator for companies.
What does a Freelance Writer Do?
There are many roles that a freelance writer can take on- and each one pays differently and may require some specific skills. Depending on your writing niche in which you’re interested, you could do anything from writing travel blog articles for a blog to writing grants for a finance company.
Here are some of the most common types of freelance writing-
- Article writing
- Blog writing
- Technical Writing
- WordPress Content Uploader
- Grant writing
- Proofreading and Editing
- Product Description Service
- Social Media Management
- Ghostwriting
1. Freelance Blogging
Most companies with a web presence have a blog. It helps connect businesses with their potential audience in a way that shows more personality and expertise than another method.
However, blogging is an umbrella term that applies to various types of writing. Content writing and SEO writing can be blogging, but not all blogging is considered SEO or content marketing writing.
The blog post provides a flexible platform to share information about the company’s services that may be more difficult to communicate with other methods and has a relatively low barrier to entry.
Here are some of the top websites where you can find the Best Freelance Blogging or Writing Gigs to fund your website.
2. SEO Writing
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the science behind improving a website’s organic traffic and search ranking. Many companies hire Freelance SEO writers to help them redo their pre-existing or create new blog content to upgrade their search ranking and drive more traffic to the website.
Several factors search engines look for in a blog post to determine its ranking. SEO writers focus on those factors and create SEO-rich content to drive more traffic.
SEO writing can be different, from website blog posts to web copy and advertisements. You need to understand your audience and be able to address their goals and challenges. Writing SEO in mind isn’t that complicated, but it does take some skill set to perform it properly.
3. Copywriting
When you’re looking for easy ways to become a freelance writer, you’ll come across a lot of information about copywriters. These writing Profesionales are designed to sell something, also called adverting or marketing writers. Copywriters use their creative flair to craft website copy, brochure copy, email newsletters, and much more that compels, convinces, and ultimately archives a purpose.
Organizations of various kinds – fashion brands, local coffee shops, and tech startups- need experienced copywriters.
Whether it’s about selling products, engaging with customers, or promoting brand services, copywriters wear various hats!
To become a successful copywriter, you should have practical writing skills and basic sales tactics knowledge.
4. Technical Writing
Technical writing describes the technical features and abilities or processes of a product, software, or device. It is a bit broader writing type, covering reports, summaries, and sometimes white papers.
Generally, technical writing comes in a user manual, software guides, or sometimes white papers requiring technical writing.
So, it might be the best freelancing opportunity if you have good technical experience and attention to detail.
5. Content Marketing Writing
Content marketing writing, also called content writing, is a kind of editorial writing used for marketing purposes. Writing like reported articles, blog posts, web content, how-to tutorials, white papers, ebooks, infographics, thought leadership articles, and video scripts can take writing.
Some clients may ask for B2C content writing, written from the business’s perspective to the potential customers. Others want B2B writing when a company speaks directly to other companies.
How to Become a Freelance Writer With No Experience
1. Explore Freelance writing niches
Choosing what you want to write about is essential in starting your freelance writing career. By picking a writing niche, you’re interested in or an area of your expertise; you’ll find you can write well without spending hours researching.
So the easiest way to start your freelance writing is to write what you already know.
Think like, what are you obsessed about the most? What do you love reading about the most? Are there any skills from your day job that can translate into a writing job?
Answer these simple questions, and you’ll be one step closer to finding your freelance writing niche.
If you are currently a nutritionist, writing about health and nutrition shouldn’t be a giant leap for you. You can quickly start your health and wellness website, where you can share your valuable knowledge with your readers.
For example, you could write:
- Top 10 tips for a healthy lifestyle.
- The beginner guide to Vegan diet
- How to determine your protein needs
Any nutritionist should be able to write something along those lines.
That’s freelance writing.
If you still cannot figure out what you want to write about, here are some of the most profitable blogging niches you can start exploring –
- Personal Finance
- Food and Drink
- Healthcare
- Parenting
2. Build a Writing Portfolio or Sample Articles
Before progressing any further, you’ll need to create sample work that becomes your writing portfolio. It’s hard to get any writing job as a beginner when you dont have a portfolio, yet you cannot build a portfolio without writing jobs.
If you have your blog or website, you can put your content there. If not, it’s quick and easy to publish them on other blogging platforms like medium.
Most of the time, you can start building your portfolio by guest posting for free.
Dont know where to guest post? The simplest way to get a guest post opportunity is to reach out to bloggers in your niche.
And when you start to send out pitches for paid writing work, you can use those sample works as a resume to show your writing capabilities.
3. Start Pitching
You’ve now put together your portfolio and started to build your reader base in your chosen niche. It’s time to begin searching for freelance writing jobs from home. But where to start and where to find paid freelance writing jobs online? You can start by pitching companies or websites you follow to offer writing services.
When I started my freelance writing journey, I used Problogger to find paid writing jobs. These job boards list new and good-quality employment daily. They also offer thousands of remote work opportunities, freelance writing opportunities, and other writing-related jobs like proofreading, editing, and transcription.
Not sure where to start when finding legit paid jobs? Check out these online gold mines for finding freelance writing jobs.
4. Take a Few Freelance Writing Courses
Now you’re all set for the next step- you have chosen a writing niche for you, you’ve created a compelling writing portfolio, you’ve been applying for freelance writing jobs and started pitching to some websites for guest postings, and maybe you’ve already landed a couple of paid gigs too.
This is the right time to start focusing on refining yourself as a freelance writer.
That means you need to boost your skills to grow your freelance business and ensure a smooth experience that will surprise your clients every time and, of course, quickly turn freelance writing into a full-time career.
So how do you improve your writing skills? The most obvious method is to take a freelance writing course- you can start with the free writing course online and then to the paid ones.
But you might be thinking about why you should take the writing course now and not before.
I suggest you wait until this point because you dont want to spend your time and energy finding freelance writing courses ahead of getting started as a freelance writer.
Now, you have picked up momentum and the only place going from here is toward the top.
And the right freelance writing course will provide you with a path to improve your skills and grow your writing business. Here are a few freelance writing courses you can start with.
5. Market Your Freelance Writing Business
This is the part of freelancing that everybody hates, even me (but only in my initial days of freelancing!).
When starting your freelance writing business, you need to market your skills and services. At first, landing a freelance gig is a game of luck and touches. Most newbies will see a response rate under 15% to 10% to their job applications and pitches.
So if you are applying for 20 freelance writing jobs, you may only get a reply from 2. If you only send out 5 to 7 applications a month, it will take a while before you can find a stable writing job. But if you send 40 to 50 carefully drafted job applications a month, chances are much higher that you’ll land something better.
I know marketing is challenging. But it’s an essential part of freelancing.
So, the second you post your writing portfolio and samples, your priority needs to be marketing.
Consistent marketing is the key to your success as a freelance writer.
Ready to take the next step?
That’s all, your top five steps to becoming a freelance writer in 2023. That wasn’t difficult.
By now, you should have a clearer image of how to start your freelance writing career.
