How Writers Make Money - Find Freelance Writing Jobs and Make A Full-Time Living: Freelance Writing Success, #4

By Louise Lloyd-Thomas

Are you struggling with your freelance writing business? Is it hard to find new clients and better-paying writing jobs?

 

You read about other freelance writers making over $100,000 a year and you wonder what do they know that you don't.

 

How Writers Make Money shows you where the high-paying writing jobs are and how to get them. It provides strategies to get you all the writing work you can handle, so you're booked solid.

 

This book offers life-changing and surprising information. You'll learn what prevents you from earning six-figures a year and how to stop competing for low-paying jobs.

 

In this book you'll learn:

• A little-known way to get lucrative writing projects with very little competition
• The fastest way to create a writing sample if you don't have one
• The writing assignments that pay $1,500 to $15,000 per assignment
• The one occasion you should write for free
• Where and how to make $1+ a word
• How to write short letters that get companies to hire you

 

Good-paying jobs are actually easy to find once you know where to look.

 

Businesses of all sizes are desperate for ongoing content and the demand continues to climb, especially for good writers.

 

Within 30 - 60 days of reading this book, you'll join the elite group of truly successful freelance writers. 

 

How Writers Make Money is your guide to earning a full-time living working part-time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Prism 3 Books
• Release date: Mar 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393203285

Louise Lloyd-Thomas

Louise Lloyd-Thomas achieved her dream of becoming a professional freelance writer in 2004 when she moved to the Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in English, she previously worked for publishing companies in both the editorial and marketing departments. Her last job was as a staff writer at a Fortune 500 corporation, an experience that compelled her to end the cubicle like and work from home. As a copywriter and ghostwriter for small businesses and well-known brands, she has written content and marketing materials for a variety of industries. Louise is an award-winning essayist and also writes fiction. She created the Freelance Writing Success book series for both aspiring and established writers. How Writers Make Money is the second in the series. To learn about the best resources for writers, sign up now for the Writers’ Quick Tips email list. 

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Introduction

When I first decided to become a freelance writer, I looked for jobs on sites such as Career Builder and Monster. I found one that I could do from home. I wrote long reports on consumer products and never had a deadline.

My average rate was $20 to $50 an hour. This freelance position lasted four years. When this job suddenly ended, I was lost. That is when I discovered writer’s forums and learned about content mils.

But content mills weren’t the answer for me. I hated working for low-paying sites just to pay my bills. I resented having to do so much research and spending so much time to earn $15 per article or less.

I had been trained to do in-depth research and was used to spending several hours on one long-form article, in some cases up to 8,000 words. However, this approach wasn’t practical for 500-word keyword articles.

I knew there had to be a better way to earn a full-time living as a freelance writer.

Why I Wrote This Book

As I learned to find more good-paying writing jobs and clients willing to pay my rates, I knew that other writers weren’t having as much luck. Some writers struggle to find writing jobs.

Others struggle to get well-paying work. Still, other writers hate marketing or don’t know how to market their services.

Which category are you in?

I wrote this book because I wished this information had been available (in one place) when I first started freelance writing. This information certainly wasn’t on the writer’s forums I frequented.

And reading blog posts about how one writer went from $40 an article to $400 an article or got $2000 worth of work from one client didn’t help much because these success stories were usually one-offs rather than ongoing gigs.

I knew that writers are in huge demand. I knew that if you weren’t doing the type of work you enjoyed at the prices you deserved, that the problem stemmed from not looking for assignments in the right places.

Well-paying freelance writing opportunities are everywhere. This book tells you how to find them and how to get hired.

Whether you are new to writing and have never been paid for your work, or a professional writer looking for more clients, this book is for you.

How Writers Make Money lists over 200 websites, platforms and strategies for finding writing assignments. By experimenting, you can find the methods and sites that keep work flowing in so you can earn a full-time living working part-time as a freelance writer.

This won’t happen in a week, but it will happen in time if you persevere and commit to becoming a successful freelance writer on your terms.

So let’s get started. But first, learn what you need to start your job hunting.

Chapter 1

Everything You Need to Know for Writing Success

You don’t need a lot to get started as a freelance writer. The first things you need are the desire and the commitment to earn money as a writer.

You don’t even need to be a great writer, but it helps if you are willing to hone your craft and learn as much as you can to improve your skills.

Below are a few other items you need to get work as a freelance writer.

Computer and Internet

Access to a computer and the Internet are necessary. If you don’t have a computer or laptop, you can use the desktops in public libraries, at Internet cafes, and in community centers.

Email Account

You need a professional email address to contact potential clients and apply to jobs. A free account is fine. An email address with your name is best. Try to avoid cutesy emails like [e-mail] or [e-mail].

Payment Method

As a freelancer, you need a way to receive payments. Having a bank account or a Paypal or Stripe account will suffice. Most companies use Paypal to send payments, so it’s a good idea to set up a free account with this service.

If you hate Paypal, then consider alternative online payment options such as Stripe.

Word Processing Software

A word processing program such as Microsoft Word or the free Open Office is useful. Google Docs is another option for writing and sharing your assignments.

That’s it. These four things are all you need to start looking for freelance writing jobs.

However, writing samples, cover letter and a resume are nice to have on hand, in case you need them.

Writing Sample or Portfolio

There are a few occasions when a writing sample is not required to get hired. But with some content mills, you have to provide a writing sample to claim paid assignments.

In the vast majority of professional job descriptions, you need at least one writing sample when applying for jobs.

Most job ads request two or three writing samples. If you have been writing for a while you probably have a large portfolio of work.

If you are new to writing, you may not have any samples. But this is easy to remedy.

Start writing an article on a topic you know very well. This can be on shopping with coupons, gardening tricks, cooking your favorite food, or improving your golf swing.

There are probably a few topics you know well enough to write about without research even if you don’t consider yourself an expert.

By writing about something you are passionate about, you will create an engaging, informative, and easy-to-read article. The trick is to write the article as if you were talking to a friend.

For writers who have blogs, you can select the best post from your blog and use it as a writing sample. If you don’t have a blog, you can set up a free one with WordPress.

If you have a LinkedIn profile you can write and submit articles to LinkedIn Pulse, an online publication.

There is also the option of posting your samples on your Facebook account. Signing up with Medium is another way to create and post samples of your work that you can link to.

Your samples don’t have to be published online for people to take you seriously as a writer. PDFs, Microsoft Word documents or Google Docs will also work.

The important thing is to have a good sample that proves you can write.

Newbie Tip for Students

College or high school research papers aren’t good samples unless you’re applying for an academic writing job.

Cover Letter

When contacting a potential client about a writing job, you will usually need a cover letter, although some jobs have application forms.

A cover letter is an overview of your background as a writer. Some job ads ask for a short bio of no more than four or five sentences.

In any cover letter, you want to present a professional and well-written introduction about who you are and what you can do for a company.

In

Reviews for How Writers Make Money - Find Freelance Writing Jobs and Make A Full-Time Living

[Chriss Ben · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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