Tag Archives: Freelance Writing Jobs

3 Things I Don’t Want To Hear When Hiring Writers

By on May 13th, 2013

If you read my previous blog post, you’ll know that over the past few years I’ve gone from being a part time freelance writer, regularly pitching for projects, to working in a full time role, hiring freelance writers for content production on an array of different topics. When I was freelance writing myself full time, I thought I had a good idea of just what those people hiring writers were looking for.  While I’m not saying I had a perfect success record when it came to applying for gigs – far from it – I liked to think I knew …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business |

3 Freelance Fiction Writing Jobs to Explore

By on February 18th, 2013

When we talk about freelance writing jobs, we usually focus on nonfiction writing like magazine features or business documents. We talk about that side of freelance writing more for two reasons. First, it’s where most of the jobs are. It’s also where most of the money will come from for the bulk of us. But there’s another side of freelance writing — writing fiction on a freelance basis. If freelance fiction writing is something you want to pursue, here are three freelance writing job sources you should look into. Literary Journals These are publications (in print, and in more recent …

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Posted in Fiction, Freelance Writing Jobs |

When to Seek New Freelance Writing Opportunities

By on February 13th, 2013

It can be easy to get comfortable in a routine as a freelance writer. And sometimes that means we don’t continue to market our services as much as we should — something we should do even when our schedules are full. So today let’s look at some signs that you should seek out new freelance writing opportunities. Some are signs that you’ve waited too long and need to kick your marketing into high gear, and some are simply signs that you might be due for a change. You lost a client. I know this one is obvious, but it doesn’t …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs, Marketing |

Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners: Where to Start

By on February 12th, 2013

I’m a big fan of query-free freelancing. That means I don’t generally pursue freelance writing jobs. I do things that attract clients to me instead. For example, I run blogs that keep me fresh in prospects’ minds and I make sure my business site is well-optimized for search engines so I’m one of the first writers prospects find when they search for someone. While the query-free freelancing approach works very well for most types of freelance writing, and it can work fairly quickly if you work hard at it up front, I know it doesn’t suit everyone — especially beginner freelance writers …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |

When Clients Attack: An Elance Story

By on October 31st, 2012

By: Genevieve Coates I had just finished graduate school and needed a job. The problem with getting a Master’s in English with emphasis in Creative Writing is that there is no career development course in the curriculum. There may not be one in any other major either, but with this particular course of study, it seems to be completely necessary.  If you’re really interested in being a teacher, you’ve got it made. Otherwise, you’re SOL. But, I had to do what I know how to do best, so I set out to write. First, I started by writing and pitching …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |

How to Handle Overbooking Freelance Writing Work

By on October 16th, 2012

By: Megan Harris I previously talked about why it’s a good idea to pursue too many freelance writing jobs. However, what should you do if you overbook yourself as a result of your marketing, pitching and prospecting? You’re at a point other freelance writers would envy, so congratulations! The work is coming in and your marketing efforts are paying off. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not still difficult to manage when you have numerous projects on your plate. Here are some ideas you can implement today to prepare for the days you can’t juggle it all. While these three suggestions …

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Posted in Productivity & Organization |

Why You Should Pursue Too Many Jobs in Freelance Writing

By on October 10th, 2012

By Megan Harris Freelancing can be a difficult job. You work long hours, sometimes after a full-time job and other responsibilities, and have to deal with the feast and famine cycle that is common with contracting work. A good way to combat this is to pursue more jobs than you can take on each month. Here’s why you should do it and a few ways this will help you battle feast or famine and keep business consistent. What’s With This Crazy Idea? If you’re reading this and think I’m crazy, just hear me out. Freelancers worry all of the time …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |

Should Freelance Writers Work Overtime?

By on September 26th, 2012

Do you ever put in long hours, working overtime? Are you strictly against working overtime as a freelance writer? There are good cases both for and against these late nights, working weekends, or whatever kind of overtime schedule you might have. Today I’d like to share a few thoughts on when I work overtime, when I think it’s smart to work extra hours, and why I think overtime for client work is usually a bad idea. New Freelance Writers When you’re just getting started in your freelance writing career, it’s not uncommon to put in long hours. And this is one of …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business |

Why I Gave up an $18k Writing Gig Over Professional Ethics

By on September 18th, 2012

What do you value more as a freelance writer — money or your reputation and professional ethics? For me, it’s the latter without a doubt. It’s not uncommon for me to turn down new prospects for ethical reasons. There are some niches I won’t touch. And there are clients with histories I wouldn’t want to associate myself with. They include anything from sponsorships from content mills that exploit my colleagues to shadier marketing firms that have no respect for their clients’ customers or readers. What is uncommon is for a long-time client’s business to suddenly cross that ethical line. And that’s what …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business |

Applying For Your First Writing Gig: What to Include

By on May 9th, 2012

By: Shadab Mahbub When you are starting your freelance writing career, finding new clients always seems like a daunting task. How does a writer find new potential clients and how do we approach them once we do? Do we send them an e-mail or do we call them? Do we attach our CV’s or do we just concentrate on sending our best samples? I was always confused as to how to approach a potential client and the kind of language I should address them in. Do I be outright professional or should I be a bit informal and emphasize on …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |