How to become a freelance writer with no experience
What does it take to become a successful freelance writer with no experience? Here are your answers.
1. Seek help
Reach out to those already in the freelance writing career and seek advice. Also, go online and take your time to learn more about freelance writing. What is freelance writing? How does it work? Can freelance writing pay my bills? Ask yourself these questions.
When I first entered the freelancing industry, I didn’t know where to find work or how much clients paid. I saw an ad for writers at a nearby internet cafe and decided to give it a try. These guys were paying 100 ksh for 500 words!
After a few weeks of working with the agency, a friend advised me to join iWriter, and I did, after which I went to other popular sites like Upwork (formerly oDesk), Elance, and Freelancer until I gained more experience and managed reach straight and high. paying customers.
I don’t regret working for low wages. I am always grateful to these websites as they helped me improve my writing skills and build a portfolio. The only downside to iWriter is its high content rejection rate. It sucks to work for free at iWriter.
Would you like to start like me? At those times, she couldn’t even tell the difference between article writing and academic writing.
Find someone with vast experience in freelance writing, offer to take them out to lunch, and learn from them. Every profession has different ways of landing freelance jobs, but as long as they work and make you smile on the way to the bank, why not give that a try too?
2. Create a portfolio
Clients want to hire someone who has done some work before. If you bid on jobs, one of the things a client will ask for is a sample. No one wants to be your first customer!
Now that you’ve done a lot of research, write an article, blog post, press release, or product review and give it to an established writer who can read it and correct any errors in the document.
Do your best to write high-quality, informative, and engaging content that is free of spelling and grammatical errors. You don’t want to show mediocre work to potential clients, do you?
Alternatively, you can volunteer and do unpaid work. You may also want to do some low-paying assignments. iWriter has a simple and easy to use interface; therefore, it is a good site to build your portfolio while earning a few bucks. Make sure your clients leave you a testimonial/review if they liked your work.
The more samples you have, the better your chances of applying for jobs related to the samples.
3. Set your rates
Setting fees has long been the most complicated and difficult for many freelance writers. New freelance writers in particular don’t know what the average fees are in the freelance writing industry. Get in touch with other freelancers and find out what they charge. Find out what the most expensive writers charge and what the cheap writers charge.
Now that you’ve decided on a reasonable rate, stick with it and learn to say no to clients who charge rates below your standard salary. Once you start presenting, working and getting more experience, increase your rates until you earn a reasonably decent salary: at least $50 per 500-750 word article.
4. Start casting – cast! passed! passed!
Now is the time to start casting. Sometimes clients choose the person who presents the best speech, rather than the best writer. Clients want to work with someone who is enthusiastic about the advertised position. You have to stand out from the crowd.
Don’t give up on the first ten or twenty failed pitches you submit. If you don’t keep looking for assignments, it’s highly unlikely that assignments will come your way. Keep pitching and you’re bound to get long-term customers. Just remember to pitch! passed! passed!
Freelance writing is not for people who lack persistence and self-motivation. If you expect freelancing to be immediately lucrative, you’ll find it quite frustrating. It takes some time, so you have to hurry. Don’t expect to succeed or become an expert writer overnight.
Do you want to be a freelance writer? Congratulations!
Do you want advice? Tell me what’s stopping you and we can find a solution together!