6 Ways to Become a Freelance Writer in 2022

Due to COVID, work-from-home is no longer a privilege but has become a necessity. More and more people are willing to work from their home rather than going out for a 9 to 5 job.

Among many other options available at their disposal, freelance writing is one of the best work-from-home job opportunities.

You can build your freelance career right from scratch and scale it up to a level where you can be financially free and stable.

In this article, you will learn 6 easy ways to establish yourself as a successful freelance writer in 2021 and coming years.  

You need minimum to zero investment to get started.  

Six Easy Ways to Make Money With Freelance writing

1. Staff Job

Although initially you won’t be working from home a staff writer job is a great way to start your freelancing career.

As a newcomer, you will get to work closely with editors and other experienced writers that will make you a better writer.

A staff job will help you in discovering the right niche for your writing and you need to stick to it to hone your writing skills.  

You will also get a lot of exposure to technical aspects like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), marketing, and designing, which will help you later to thrive in the freelance industry.

There is no replacement for hands-on education.    

I know that finding a writer’s job is easier said than done. But many good freelancer websites and online publications with fewer readers do hire writers to write for them. You can definitely find such jobs in your city.  

2. Content Writing

Once you have gained some experience writing offline, you can switch to writing content online.

You can say goodbye to your staff job and start writing online for websites like Upwork, Contena, Flexjobs, Fiverr etc.

Content writing is a diverse job and you have to choose a writing style that suits you the most. Some of these arelegitimate websites to find freelance content writing jobs. 

Guest Posting

Here you write 800 to 1000 word articles for various blogs and personal websites. The blog owner will provide you with the topics and all the necessary keywords and you have to write accordingly.

Copywriting

Copywriting is a more creative form of writing than guest posting. You have to create persuasive content for marketing and sales purposes.

Ghostwriting

Here you write online content, columns, nonfiction books, memoirs on the client’s behalf without getting any credit. The audience will read your content but never get to know who the actual writer is.  

Technical Writing

A technical writer produces content like How-To guides, instructions manuals, FAQs etc.

Script Writing      

A scriptwriter creates video scripts, podcast scripts, short film scripts, chatbots etc.

These were 5 different content writing formats, choose any one and work on it.

Want to learn how to become a freelance writer? Book a 1-on-1 consultation with Freelance Writer Mike Pietrzak.

3. Blogging

Online content writing would give you the confidence and technical know-how to start your own blog.

You don’t have to worry about any technical stuff like the hosting and designing aspects of a blog. Just buy a domain name, a hosting service and integrate it with WordPress CMS.

What you need to focus on is creating great content for your niche and beating your competition. Great content combined with smart SEO will help your blog to reach out to a wider audience.

You can generate revenue by integrating with contextual ad platforms like Google Adsense, media.net, PropellerAds etc.    

Blogging will give a whole new direction to your freelance writing career.

4. Online Publishing

Once you have established yourself as a successful blogger you can further capitalize on this and start direct selling.

You can write eBooks and publish it on Amazon Kindle and other similar platforms. Each time someone buys your eBook you get 60% - 70% in royalties.

To write an eBook that people find useful and worth buying you need a lot of creativity and expertise. You will gain it by years of writing in a particular niche for your blog.

Online publishing can be a much better option for freelance writers than traditional publishing where you have to wait at least a couple of years to get published.    

5. Columnist

You can submit an op-ed or a column to traditional media outlets that accept stories by local, state or national level from the contributors.

Most of the traditional media like newspapers have shifted online hence you write an opinion piece for e-version rather than print.

In addition to monetary gains, freelance writing for traditional media also gives you exposure to a much broader audience.

Freelance writers who have a background in social sciences, arts and humanities must write and submit their op-ed as a final draft to traditional media outlets.   

6. Networking

By now it is evident that freelance writing is a great online job. If you want to excel in this line of business then you have to do a lot of networking online.

By networking on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn you will connect yourself to other professionals in your area.

A whole market of consumers is out there and you just have to sell your freelancing work to these clients.

Your career as a freelance writer hinges on social media networking. Right now it is the most powerful and cost-effective tool to find freelance writing work.

Conclusion

Rome was not built in a day. It took centuries!

Similarly, a successful career in freelance writing could take some time. Initially, you have to be patient enough to learn all the necessary skills required to thrive as a freelance writer.

Once the ball starts rolling there is no shortage of clients that would be willing to pay you on your terms.

Just hang in there – the freelance writing career will reward you tremendously.

Want to learn how to become a freelance writer? Book a 1-on-1 consultation with Freelance Writer Mike Pietrzak.

 

Photo by Peggy Anke on Unsplash