Do You Need A Freelance Writing Gig?
Freelance writing gigs are a great way to create instant cash flow in times of financial strife. More and more people struggle to pay their bills because of job losses, illness or right now, when everyone rushes around like mad to stock up on Christmas presents.
Freelance writing gigs allow you to earn some extra income from the comfort of your home. They are relatively easy to get and once you have your first gig, you will never be afraid to apply for more.
The biggest mistake aspiring freelance writers make when they apply for jobs is not to read the application correctly. Please do not make the same mistake. I admit I am a little rusty myself when it comes to applications because I hardly applied to jobs since the beginning of this year. That is the power of branding and blogging. Clients come to me instead and I’m perfectly happy with this.
But from memory, when I first started out as a freelance writer I had to apply for freelance writing gigs just like everybody else. To get jobs I used the following tips myself and I hope they help some of you in the process too.
1.) Dare to be different
When you apply for writing jobs you can almost guarantee that others will too. Unfortunately we of the western world fight the undercut prices Indian suppliers are only too happy to offer.
It is because in India, a writer can quite comfortably live with $1,000/month. Therefore, mainstream service providers from India are content with being paid $4/article or less.
Imagine you had to work for this kind of money? I know, shock horror!
But believe me, I did exactly the same for at least 4 months when I started out.
So when you apply for better paying writing jobs you will want to be different than the rest and stand out with your sheer brilliance and style without being arrogant.
2.) Become a master seller
To apply for a writing job requires your skills as a master seller. You have to SELL yourself to your clients. If you don’t, how can you ever expect them to appreciate your genius.
Never forget that some of the weight we digest by reading disappears. Therefore a writer needs to embellish their abilities and paint a colorful picture in order to leave a lasting impression.
It is time you painted yours.
3.) A portfolio site is a must
I’ve said it before and I say it again. If you want to be noticed, you need a portfolio site. It’s all about branding your very own brand. Your portfolio site will serve as justification about your work and should include several client testimonials.
When you apply for freelance writing gigs, it is a very powerful weapon to have as it sell you all by itself.
Build your site early and grow it from there. Alternatively you can write a blog and my personal preference is to have both as it will further help to brand your name.
4.) Write short copy email application
No potential client will want to read your 20 page application form. Keep your email short and to the point. Ideally you have between 3-7 sentences. The less words you need to describe your strength’ and qualifications for the job, the higher the chances are that your email gets read.
5.) Be yourself
This might be obvious, but never pretend to be anybody you are not, especially when applying for writing jobs. It is important your potential client connects with you on a personal level.
This connection often happens within the first two sentences of your application email.
Freelance writing gigs
If you haven’t already noticed, I have added a new writing job board to my site. It will allow you to find paying writing jobs right from this blog. Just click on the freelance writing gigs link and it will take you there.
Monika
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Brett Legree | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
This is a great piece of advice, and thank you for the job board too! I’ll be keeping my eye on it for sure.
As you know, I’ve just started my journey into this realm and I’m quite excited about it. Right now, it is supplementary income, but someday it won’t be, I imagine!
Tumblemoose | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
Hi Monika,
Thanks for the inclusion of a job board. It’ll get added to my jobs bookmarks.
Also, You’ve given some pretty realistic beginners info here. It should get new folks headed down the right path.
George
PW | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
People think they’re getting a great deal by hiring Indian writers for that price, but bad copy is bad copy- even if it’s cheap. I wish clients understood how bad most of that copy looks.
Monika | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Brett: I know how you feel, despite having been doing this I’m still excited about my business. I’m sure you will rock your world and be so busy you don’t know how to get it all done.
@ George: I hope so. As you know, my aim is always to help new freelancers find their ways. The same advice worked for me, so it will work for anyone.
@ PW: I totally agree with you. I actually hired an Indian writer myself to give him a chance to get started in the industry a little way back, but upon closer inspection his articles mostly suck. It’s just a repeat wording of the same old and I had to go over each one and re-write the whole lot.
I suppose I can only blame myself for not checking before I paid him (yeah, I was that stupid!). But I’ve learned yet another thing through that experience.
To be fair though, there are some web writers who are Indian and they are very good. I happen to know a couple of them myself.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jim Carroll | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
> “Freelance writing gigs are a great way to create instant cash flow in times of financial strive. ”
No. Not “strive”. “Strife”.
Normally, I don’t correct people, but we’re all writers here.
Sorry my first post was truncated somehow.
Jim
cyramiles | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
Hi Monika,
I stumbled on your site and I really appreciate your tips and posts.
Keep it up.. Will be tailing your blogs soon..
Cheers,
Miles
lissie | Dec 1, 2008 | Reply
I think the other thing is to take anything to start off with with a new client. I took a poorly paying gig with someone because I knew she had on-going work. I now have on-going reasonably paid work from her just because I did the first one well and on-time! Making the effort to build the relationship will normally work out better in the longer term.
Monika | Dec 1, 2008 | Reply
@ Jim: Thanks for that, I missed this obviously and have now rectified it. I only got one comment from you though, so not sure what happened. Anyway, it is nice to have you here.
@ Miles: You are welcome. BTW, your pic is very much Jolie.
@ Lissie: Agreed, I had the same experience too. My oldest clients are those who initially paid me a pittance, now I can name my price which shows that they are happy with my services and think I provide value for money.
Edie | Dec 2, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
I always enjoy reading your articles. You provide good, common sense information for new writers. I agree about the low bids from overseas, and also see the wisdom provided by Lissie. Once clients see our work ethics and results, they are much more willing to pay the higher cost of doing business with us.
Thanks again. I look forward to reading your future posts.
Kathy - Virtual Impax | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
Great resource!!! Great advice and great value for your readers!!! Obviously your new “healthy living” commitment is going well!
Monika | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
@ Edie: It’s great to have you here and getting feedback like yours is essential for me to know I’m writing about the right kind of stuff for you guys. So thank you for being so generous.
I have some things planned for the intermediate future which might be of interest to you too.
@ Kathy: How are you my fiend, long time no seen. Oh yeah, I feel AMAZING! I have already changed my health totally around and the new lifestyle is doing wonders for me and my body.
Plus, I’m hooked on the new lifestyle too. Might have to blog about that as well.
Ricardo Bueno | Dec 10, 2008 | Reply
Well, I definitely agree that a portfolio page (or a testimonial) page is a must. But what about someone who’s just starting out and doesn’t have much to add to that page? Well, like you said, start building that page early bit by bit…
I work part-time as a freelance social media consultant and offer custom blog designs via The Real Estate Tomato (custom blogs for the Real Estate space). In the beginning, I wasn’t billing very many hours nor was I selling very many sites. So what I did was I reached out to some of my most loyal readers and offered to give them some free hours in return for feedback on building my services and a testimonial. I also reached out to some graduate student groups at a local business school and offered to build a free website for them in exchange for free membership and access to all of their industry and networking events. Then one day I picked up a speaking gig at a large conference and then another… Next thing you know, I started billing more hours and closing some sales on custom sites.
But it all started by offering some discounted prices and doing some free work to build up that portfolio. I got some good word-of-mouth out of the free work that I did.