Freelance Writing: Top Tips I Wish I Knew When Starting Out
By Nicholas Rubright
Freelance writing can be a rewarding job for those who love to write, but it can also be grueling and difficult. On the one hand, you have an opportunity to truly make an impact through your content, especially if you have the ability to write for causes or organizations you care about.
On the other hand, working as a freelance writer and running your own business requires sacrifice and lots of hard work. For your first few years, you may or may not have a lot of business—and you will be tested and tried again and again.
What is freelance writing?
So who exactly qualifies as a freelance writer? A freelance writer is a person who writes content on a contract basis. That content can include blog posts, press materials, eBooks, nonfiction or news articles, web copy, and other online and offline copy.
There’s no limit to the scope of content you can find as a freelance writer.
Freelance writers are self-employed, and they will often write for a number of different clients or publications at the same time to ensure a steady flow of income.
How can you get started as a freelance writer?
Many freelance writers get their start by either taking an online class or going to a university. Online classes that teach you how to write can be a great way to get some firsthand experience to start your freelance writing journey.
Other freelance writers may come into the field with communications or journalism degrees and will find clients through third-party platforms like Freelancer or Upwork. Some writers will pitch clients directly. It all depends on the writer and their comfort level!
My top tips for new freelance writers just starting out
Starting out as a freelance writer can be tricky and difficult. No one tells you what to do, or how to do it. Where do you find clients? How should you navigate the field? Here’s what I wish someone had told me when I was first starting out.
1. Always look for new opportunities
For most freelance writers, work will be difficult to find—and clients almost certainly won’t come knocking on your door. When you work for yourself, you alone will be responsible for finding new clients. To keep making money, and avoid useless downtime, it’s crucial to keep constantly searching for new work, even when you don’t necessarily need new work.
Most new freelance writers think that when they find one solid gig, they can take a break from finding new jobs. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case when you run your own online business.
The industry is tough: in the U.S. alone, there are more than 82,000 self-employed writers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. You need to keep searching for online job boards and emailing potential clients, because you never know when your current gig will end—or when your client will decide they no longer need your help.
2. Don’t be afraid to pitch
Pitching stories and content to new clients is an art in itself, and it’s key to your success as a freelance writer. You need to learn and understand how to pitch content to clients that fits their brand and their site, even when you may not necessarily have any ideas.
How do you pitch? Well, first you need to identify potential clients (think about any niches or specialties you may have, to start) and then brainstorm relevant story ideas. Once you have relevant stories published and bylines under your name, you will find it much easier to successfully pitch content to other publications.
3. Don’t quit your day job just yet
New writers shouldn’t plan on working as a full-time freelancer right away. Start off by working part-time and freelancing on the side before you go full-time. One survey found that around half of writers actually work part-time, so it’s not uncommon to keep your side hustle as a side hustle.
It’s only for your own benefit: you can figure out how you work as a freelancer writer, learn about your turnaround time, and find clients. After all, as a freelance writer, you’re running your own small business. It’s not as easy as everyone thinks!
Once you have a steady base of clients, then you can consider quitting your day job and making the leap.
4. Ensure you turn in clean, error-free content
There’s nothing more important, especially when you’re first starting out as a freelancer writer, than to turn in error-free and clean content that can pass a plagiarism check. Your writing is your reputation, and that’s everything. Grammar checkers and plagiarism checkers will be your best friend. Use all the online tools you can find to make sure your copy is as flawless as possible when you turn it in. Plus, don’t forget to proofread and self-edit as well.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels
5. Learn starter SEO skills
There’s no getting around it: as a freelancer writer, you will need to learn some basic SEO. You may be able to avoid it at first, but many clients will prefer you write content that fulfills at least basic SEO guidelines and best practices to help their content rank higher.
6. Find a niche
When you first start out, you should be thinking about how your freelance writing career might progress a year or two down the line. Many high-paying clients are looking for specialists in a certain field, and most freelance writers are looking for high-paying clients. You should try to narrow down certain topics you have a strong background in and work up experience writing about those topics.
7. Learn different style guides
Many clients will ask for work written according to specific style guides. The most common ones include the Associated Press Stylebook or the Chicago Manual of Style, so it's important to become familiar with both of the different types of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
8. Don’t undersell yourself
Promoting yourself is really, really tricky. You don’t want to come off too pompous or overconfident, but you do want people (and clients, specifically) to understand your value.
When you start out as a writer, there’s a chance you will have to take poorly paying gigs to get your work published and make a name for yourself. One survey of freelance writers found that in their first year, 30% of writers will get paid around $10 an hour. That’s not much!
But once you have a few clips behind you, you need to start putting a price on your work. According to Payscale, the average freelance writer earns around $20.00 an hour.
Don’t sell yourself short. If people ask to pay you less for your work, you need to feel confident asking for a higher rate. It’s not easy to potentially lose a client, but it is important in the long run to understand your worth.
9. Don’t be afraid to get creative
Too many new freelance writers stick to the book when they write. But the truth is that clients want engaging, interesting copy—and writing that’s too straightforward will come off as boring.
Try throwing a creative simile or metaphor into your introduction or closing. Writing creatively will help you stand out among the crowd, and your clients will, in turn, think your writing is innovative and interesting.
