Last year I invested months of my time in hours to freelance job sites, in an effort to boost my income. After becoming burned out and disillusioned by some of these websites, I realized that the only way to land any jobs or make any money was if I would offer my services at much less than minimum wage. I wasn’t about to do that, so I moved on and counted my losses as experience and lesson learned.

The thing that bothers me most is that I see many freelance writers promoting some of these websites. Now, if these freelancers got their foot in the door early in the game (years ago) and were able to build a nice portfolio of jobs completed, I can see how it would be easier for them to land more, or better paying jobs. But if you’re starting out low man on the totem pole, just about the only way to land any jobs is to practically give yourself away for free.

Big Problem

slave labor freelance writer: A writer who works very hard (most of the time long hours) at the keyboard writing content only to be paid less than $5 for long articles (sometimes even as little as $1 or $3 per article).

I have to tell you that as a freelance writer, this truly bothers me. And I’m not the only one it bothers. I suppose it bothers me so much because I’ve been in those shoes. I know what it feels like to think your new business as a professionally paid writer will never take off. I know how it feels to want work so bad you can taste it. But is it really worth it to take these meaningless jobs that literally pay you nothing, just so you can say you’re a working writer?

Don’t Waste Your Time

I wish I would have kept up with how many jobs I responded to. Unfortunately I didn’t. I will tell you that it was a lot. I emailed my professional resume, writing samples, and payment suggestions or bids to countless job postings. I would say out of every 100 I responded to I received one reply. 100 to 1. That’s not very promising. Especially when I think about the time I put into crafting emails, creating a professional writing resume, and samples. Of the very few responses I received, I never landed a single job. More time wasted that should have been spent otherwise.

Am I bashing all these places? Absolutely not. What I am trying to do is give you a real picture of my experiences with them. I’m sure there are other freelance writers out there who could post in the comments here and tell me about their success stories. But I’d challenge them to also share what kind of rates they receive. It would surprise me if they met minimum wage.

DIY Solutions

Rather than dish out your hard-earned money to bidding sites, or spend endless hours replying to jobs that may or may not pan out, take your freelance writing career into your own hands.

Instead of using popular job sites to try to find writing work, get proactive and start digging around and finding writing gigs on your own. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Google for writer’s guidelines. Conduct a simple search using Google or your favorite search engine. Type in “writer’s guidelines YOUR NICHE HERE” (without the quotation marks). You’ll get a nice return on quite a few websites. Read through the guidelines, then send a query or full article (depending on what the guidelines state).
• Grab a current copy of Writer’s Market. Even if you can’t afford the latest edition, you should be able to pick up a 2007 edition at a reasonable price. You’ll find a ton of resources inside this book, one of which is a huge database of paying markets.
• Study and learn from the best. In addition to seeking paid writing jobs, it would be wise of you to study and learn from some of the higher paid writers today. Ask them for an interview. Pick their brain and find out how they got their start. Read their websites, blogs, books, and whatever else they make available. Learn from them, then begin to apply what you learn to your own writing career.
• Network online. Nestle yourself into a few forums online. Don’t offer your services immediately. Instead, start posting so that you will become known by others. Offer free advice, meaty articles, and astute answers to questions. As you become more well-known, you will find that opportunities will begin to present themselves.
• Start an article marketing campaign to promote your website and/or services. You’ll hear other experienced writers tell you, “Don’t write for free!” But I’m of the opinion that sometimes you need to give a little to get a little. Article marketing is something that you can control. Start by writing ten articles within your niche, or the niche you’d like to write for, and submit them to Ezine Articles or Article Aces. Slowly begin building on these articles by adding more every week. Be sure to write a compelling bio at the end of each article, with a link back to your website or special offer. These “free” articles will help attract targeted visitors who are seriously interested in hiring a writer.
• Get a website. This is one of those tips I see often, but it bears enough weight to be stated yet again. If you don’t have a professional website, it is imperative you get one immediately. A website is your point of contact with the online world. At the very least, you should have a small website that contains a list of the writing services you offer, as well as the topics you write about and even a few sample articles for potential clients. As you grow, your website should develop as well, including things like your writing resume, published clips, clients you’ve served, etc.
• Start a blog. If you aren’t already blogging, you should seriously consider doing so in the near future. Blogging shows potential clients your writing style and voice. Even better, it’s a platform through which you can build a loyal audience of readers, which will generate even more leads in the future. Be sure to include a page with writing services you offer and contact information. A word of caution: Don’t start a blog if you can’t commit time and energy to it. Blogging requires a few hours of your time every week. It’s better to post a new article or two to your website once a month, than to start a blog that you don’t post to for weeks.

It is also important to note that you must have a plan. If you are flying by the seat of your pants, it will be challenging to build a solid writing career. Draft an informal business plan for your writing career. Create solid goals for 5- 10- and 15 years from now. You might also find that having a weekly and monthly goal plan can greatly reduce wasted time, too.

What will you do to take your writing career into your own hands this year?

You can read more terrific writing advice and tips from Hope at Hope Writes. Don’t forget to sign up for the free Hope Writes newsletter while you’re there.

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