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Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the best work at home jobs for moms currently in existence. Few other work from home opportunities offer the flexibility and income potential that writing does. A degree is not necessary, nor are there any start-up costs (assuming that you already have a home computer and an Internet connection). All that’s really needed to make money online as a writer is talent, time and dedication.

Daily, companies and individuals are in need of writers to produce articles, blog posts, special reports, press releases and a variety of other works for websites, magazines, newsletters and blogs. Not everyone has the time or talent for writing, and some are downright phobic about having to write anything more than a sentence or two. For these individuals, hiring a freelancer offers a relief from writing-related tasks, which is precisely where you come in.

The following is intended as a general overview on how you can get started right away as a freelance writer:

Tools Needed

  • A computer
  • An Internet connection
  • Word processing software
  • A separate email address for business
  • A PayPal I.D. (in order to receive payments from clients)
  • A telephone (although you’ll rarely use it)
  • A website or blog (optional, but highly recommended)

Education

As for education, a degree is not necessary, but you must be willing to learn a bit about the mechanics of writing, as well as some specifics about writing for the web (unless you plan to write exclusively for print publications).

To begin with, are you at all familiar with SEO? If not, don’t panic, but you’ll definitely want to begin educating yourself right here. Basically, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s what gets your work noticed on the web. By strategically placing keywords within an article, you are able to draw search engine traffic to a person’s site. This is essentially what individuals and companies are paying for when they hire a freelance writer to write for their website or blog. Begin by Googling SEO to learn more.

No Experience? Don’t Panic…Here’s Your Solution

Next, you’ll want to create samples (aka clips) of your work so that you can begin soliciting clients or working for companies that hire freelance writers to write articles. If you don’t have any experience or published samples you can link to, try applying to places that work with new writers, like:

(Read our blog post about the Examiner opportunity here)

This is just a short list of sites that help new writers become published AND make money online at the same time. More importantly, writing for these sites comes in handy for creating samples that you can show prospective clients to help you land better, higher paying writing gigs.

Marketing Tips

Aside from learning the basics of  SEO and creating a few writing samples to display your talent, it’s also very important to advertise your services via your own site or blog (a free one will do if you can’t afford the out of pocket cost right away). Here’s an example to help familiarize you with what yours should contain: I Am Honored to be Your Writer

Finding Freelance Writing Work at Home Jobs for Moms

From this point on, you’ll also want to search for private clients who need you to write for them. Of course, you can seek private clients from the very beginning and we regularly feature writing gigs in our daily job leads, but most prefer to learn a little first, gain a little confidence and then start seeking private clients. Hopefully, you will have written enough by this time to also know what kind of writing you prefer (blog posts, articles, ebooks, etc.) and you will have chosen a niche or two to specialize in (not terribly important, but it helps). You can also work on targeting specific businesses, as well as making sure that your services are featured in your signature on every forum you post on. Of course, you’ll also want to use social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

Another Way to Make Money Online as a Freelance Writer

While looking for private clients, you can also sell your articles online at Constant-Content. There, you can write what you want and even name your own price for articles you list for sale there. You can actually start off writing for Constant-Content even before gaining any experience if you think your skills are up to par. This statement is not intended to be rude, but Constant-Content’s standards are higher than most sites offering web content and a lot of people find that being approved to write for them is rather difficult, particularly for an inexperienced writer. In other words, make sure your game is tight when you apply! For more info on why Constant-Content is a freelance writer’s dream, read this article.

These are just the beginning steps to becoming a freelance writer. Of course, there’s a lot more to learn in order to earn a full time income while working from home as a freelance writer, but this overview is enough to get you started and help you get your feet wet while you learn. Look for an ebook we’re developing on the subject and don’t forget to check our job leads for freelance writing work at home jobs for moms.

Additional Resources:

Ghostwriting for the Internet

Ghostwriter Questionnaires

How to Profit from a Recipe Blog

How to Profit from a Craft Blog

How to Profit from a Review Blog