Freelance is the most up-to-date direction in terms of the latest technologies, internet, and even lockdowns. Everyone browses the Internet, reads posts on social media and different blogs. Naturally, someone writes all of that and, as you can imagine, not for free.
If you wonder how to make money writing, this post is exactly for you. No matter whether you are a complete newbie or have some writing experience already, the information below will be extremely helpful for you.
1. Pick a reliable platform for freelancers
You need to start somewhere, right? It’s impossible to just sit and get your first order. No one knows about your wishes and skills.
Such platforms as Smartcat or Upwork are a golden mine for people like you. You should create a profile on as many platforms as you find because this increases your chances to get your first customer.
First of all, you can see all of your competitors there. Check their reviews, experience, and even the examples of their writings. It will help you get an idea of what they like or dislike about writers and their work.
Secondly, don’t exaggerate the costs. Newbies on such platforms often take their first orders for free and even offer that themselves. Why? Your customer is going to leave a good review for you, and here you go — your rankings start going up.
As soon as you have some reputation on the platform and become competitive, you start writing for money and allow yourself to set a competitive cost for your work.
2. Find your niche
Of course, when you just start, it is normal to write about everything and nothing at a time. No matter what they offer, you agree because you need to boost your rankings and reputation among other proficient writers.
However, this cannot last long. You cannot write about the Open source databases and Diapers for kids at the same time. Even if you are a versatile author, you should find your niche. When you have some experience and a good reputation, you can afford to choose writing on anything you are good at and really like.
Remember when you had to write essays at college or university? “I need someone to help me.” — this is what all students usually say when getting their writing assignments. Professors always recommend writing on the topic you are interested in. Only then will it be really interesting for your reader.
The same is with freelance writing. You need to write about something you are excited about. If you are good at electronics, write on electronics; if you adore foreign languages, write in those languages or give tips on how to learn them, etc. If you are a humanitarian, don’t accept writing articles in nuclear physics. Such a post will not be interesting for your readers if you have no idea what you are writing about.
3. Forget about inspiration
Unfortunately, the work of a writer is creative. It means that we write only when we are inspired. However, if you are not a famous writer who is working on his own book but you want to get paid for freelance writing, you should forget about the word “inspiration” and recall the word “obligation.”
If you have your customers, they have deadlines. As a rule, deadlines are tough. No one is going to wait for your inspiration, unfortunately. Sticking to deadlines is the only rule here. Of course, you don’t have to sacrifice the quality of your paper if you have tough deadlines. Always keep the quality on the top level.
However, remember that to make money, inspiration is not enough. You must write no matter what. Otherwise, you are not paid.
4. Set up your priorities properly
Quite often, when newbies want to start their writing career, they take each order they are offered. Of course, first of all, you need experience. Secondly, you need money, and last but not least, you need a reputation.
You will not get any of these if you grab all of your orders simultaneously. Definitely, each of your customers has deadlines. As was mentioned, deadlines are always tough. Now imagine if you take five orders with the same deadline. You will start bouncing between different texts, spend sleepless nights, and the result won’t be good.
Remember — better, less but quality orders. It is much better to earn less but get a better reputation than fail all at once. Set up your priorities and let your customers know about them. If you cannot write an article for tomorrow, you can always tell it before accepting the order. The result will be much better than when you miss the deadline.
