So we’re already almost out of February and onto the blustery winds of March. My resolution this year was to find more freelance writing jobs. How about you? Need a little help? I found a nice selection of them this week!
The Freelance Writing Jobs
- Freelance journalist – if you are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, then you ought to check this out. If you have a strong interest in journalism and have reliable transportation, then this is the gig for you. If you are interested, I would suggest sending clips of your strongest work along with a resume and cover letter. This gig pays $100 – $150 per article.
- Blogger/SEO writer – an internet company seeks a copywriter to run their blog and create SEO content. This job requires well-written original content, so submit a resume with some samples of your best SEO work. This gig pays $300 per week–be sure it’s 3,000 words or less.
- Resume writer – I normally skip these because the rate of compensation is so laughably low, but this is a very decent payout for a resume writing service. You need to submit two great examples of resumes you have written and don’t forget to include the word freelancer in the subject line! This gig pays $70 to $150 per resume/cover letter.
- Script writer – if you are a script writer and you have a business background, this is a great gig for you. This company produces videos for customers and your talents would be needed. For a strong application, be sure to submit your demo reel along with a resume and clips. This gig pays $75 to $100 per script.
- Rapper/songwriter – a rapper is looking for rights to a song that you could potentially write (lyrics only). You of course would need a background in song writing as well as familiarity with R&B/rap. This gig pays $1,000 for full rights to the song.
- LA scene writer – a new magazine based in LA is looking for writers in fashion, culture, food, and art. If you are interested in this, be sure to submit some of your best related samples. This gig pays $.10 per word.
- Science lesson writer – if you have a knack for science writing and can create lessons for elementary school students, then you should check this out! This company is looking for someone with a fresh perspective to inject new life into the curriculum on science. If you are interested, submit a sample lesson plan along with an email of interest. This gig pays $200 per lesson.
- Tech writer – do you have IT experience? This could be a beautiful job for you. A company currently needs their infrastructure documentation brought up to speed, so if you have five or more years’ experience doing that, then this should be great for you. To apply, I would suggest sending a cover letter, resume, and relevant samples. This job pays $45 – $60 per hour.
- 501(k) writer – if you’re familiar with what this is or if you have a background with grant/applications with the government, then you should definitely try for this gig. For a strong application, I would recommend including pertinent past work. This gig pays $45-$50 per hour, depending on your bid on Elance.
Freelance Writing Job Tip of the Week/Worst Gig of the Week
I’m coming at you with a double-header this week. See, while I was searching, I found a few curious things.
Do you enjoy writing ? Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually get paid for doing something you love to do anyway !?! xxxxxx may be the answer you’ve been looking for to help you earn a little extra cash in your spare time while sharpening your writing & editing skills. If you like to write about just about anything under the sun, then why not get paid to share your opinions and views with the rest of the world !?! Upfront payments as well as PPV’s (pay per view ) helps keep the cash flowing in… no matter what the economy is ! Once an article is published, there is no limit to the amount of profit that may be gained from page views alone ! Sign up today and see just how simple it is to become a published writer and start earning cash for what you love to do anyway !!!
Hopefully, between the post I made on how I search for gigs and reading these job lists regularly, you know that this is crap. Why is my pay tied to how well your article does? Any employer worth his salt pays for your work–period. If this site is so damn good, why do they need to advertise their stuff free of charge on Kijiji? I’m a little skeptical on the supposed visibility of a website that has to troll free sites to post listings in multiple cities–which, by the way, is against the terms of agreement on Kijiji.
Are you looking for an opportunity to start or advance your writing career? Put your talents to work at xxxxx with a network of over 8,000 writers and 24 million monthly readers. Established in 1996, xxxxx was recently rated by comScore as one of web’s fastest growing properties with sites in English, German, Spanish and French. In response to increasing reader demand xxxxx is recruiting new nonfiction writers to join their team. As a writer for xxxx you will:
- Receive competitive pay with added bonuses and incentives
- Set your own hours and work from home (or anywhere with internet access)
- Work one-on-one with an editor
- Build your online profile and promote your existing work
- Receive free, comprehensive training on writing for the web
- Gain access to a vibrant online writing community and forum
xxxx allows you to write about (almost) anything you want – with thousands of unique topics to choose from, you are sure to find a few that you are passionate about.
8,000 writers? Wow! With that many writers, it makes me wonder why you need to advertise on JournalismJobs for more. Is it, perhaps, that you don’t really give a damn about what people are writing? No, you said that you can write about (almost) anything I want, so surely this isn’t just a site geared towards creating tons of content without any strict or consistent editorial guidelines. I don’t even think major media corporations hire 8,000 writers. And those that do? Well, you can’t just write whatever you please. I’d say skip this one too.
xxxxx is an online community for freelance writers filled with daily lists of job leads, informative articles and community discussions. Stop by and look for work or chat with your fellow freelancers.
This one, for me, is convoluted. Not only was this posted on multiple cities (again, violating Craigslist terms of agreement) but follow me on this one: this online community actually goes to Craigslist to find jobs, then posts them on their community. Then, they advertise on Craigslist that you can get these same jobs you were already searching for on their blog. Not only do they spam the ad on multiple cities, but they advertise in a section reserved for actual gigs. Does that make sense to you? Seriously, spam your sites elsewhere.
Any employer who has to advertise on a free site when they’re supposedly huge enough to buy their own banner ads should immediately be on your suspect list. That means that either their revenue is fictitious or their respect for their contractors is (do you really want to work for someone who treats you as replaceable from day one?).
If you’d like to look through longer aggregated lists of freelance writing jobs to help you save time in your job search, All Freelance Writing recommends Anne Wayman’s freelance writing jobs at AboutFreelanceWriting.com.
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Krysha Thayer
Brie Wallace
CJ McKinney
Crystal
Lori
Clint, I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that advertisers on Craigslist are not worth checking out. I landed my best paying article with a local magazine by dilligently searching Craigslist’s RSS feed. Granted, that magazine was a startup, not a huge content mill, and it wasn’t spamming multiple cities, but by the time I was done writing articles for them, I had taken in a few thousand dollars.
For me, that makes Craigslist a viable market to search, though it certainly is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Stace, let me be clear. There’s no way to get a job without it being advertised if you’re starting out unless you network, which is usually the way to find the best jobs. But yes, Craigslist is a great place to start.
However.
You have to watch out, and any site that’s making promises like the ones above are ones to skip. You clearly have a finely-tuned Spidey sense, but others do not. That’s why I decided to bring it up today. Does that make better sense?
Agreed, you have to be careful with CL jobs, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the Spidey sense comment. Only by scanning the CL entries on a regular basis and spotting the occasional anomaly can one become familiar with the patterns and know which are the good opportunities and which aren’t.
I’ve found CL to be well nigh useless. Either the folks send you information, you get back to them, and crickets chirp, or you email them and tumbleweeds blow past. I’m pretty good at cover notes, so I don’t think the problem is with me.
I suspect that they just get soooo many responses, which is why I no longer bother applying, unless the gig looks exceptional. I’ve had much better luck looking for work locally.
Probably the fact that I’m in NZ counts against me too, but more fool them, because our time difference allows me to work through the US night and in a lot of cases have stuff back the following morning. HA!
As much I believe that there are some absolute gems available on Craigslist, I’m unfortunately in the same boat as Lucy. Whenever I seem to apply for a gig that I find on Craigslist, I’ll generally hear back from the person after the initial e-mail, but then nothing, even after following up.
Kudos to everyone who does manage to secure a gig through the site, though and I do believe that Craigslist should continue to be checked regularly for that reason – people do often secure some great gigs through the site.
I love, love, love CL. That’s really all I have to say here :)
I will say this. As I have gotten more experienced and have a more impressive resume, I have noticed that I have fewer Craigslist leads than when I was starting out. I don’t know if I’ve gotten sloppier in applying to them or what, but it still sustained me for my first few months of freelancing.
I approached CL as a generalist in the very beginning of my career. I left it alone for a long while and then, while doing one of the blog posts for Jenn, I tried CL again and applied for only financial writing gigs. It worked out really well and I’ve actually applied for (and gotten) a few more since then. Not sure how that translates to general writers or those with a more broad specialty (like entertainment or business), but with a very focused specialty it seems to be a great resource.
That’s a good point, actually. I’m still something of a generalist, and I’d like to get more specific. I’ve noticed that I have better success with comedy-based gigs than if I just try some random thing that sounds interesting to me. Thanks Yo :)
CL is actually the place I find the most comedy-based gig listings, so don’t give up on it Clint. Just like the real world, the blogosphere, social media, etc, you sometimes have to wade through an awful lot of crap to find the good stuff. But it’s there.