It’s one of the hottest trend in online jobs – freelance writing in your spare time. While at one time freelance writers were employed by entities like Life Magazine and the New York Times, these days most people who call themselves freelancers have a much more diversified client base. From huge internet search engines like Google to some of the smallest online start-up companies, almost every site needs freelance writers to help out, and if you can write, the chances are pretty good that you can make a little extra cash in this marketplace.
How Much Can I Make?
One of the most common questions among new freelancers is about the financial side of things, and that all depends on your skills as a writer. Since the bulk of your client base will be websites and ecommerce stores, the money you make might be less than you expect. Most sites are willing to pay about $8 per 400 or 500 word article. They’ll expect quite a bit for that eight bucks though. If you’re interested in higher paying gigs, sales copy and press releases pay considerably better, but you have to have the skills in place to get high conversion rates for your clients. Even at that, though, most sales letter clients will only pay about $200 for a 1000 word text. If you set your sights offline, say to the local newspaper, expect about five cents a word or less. Newspapers and magazines, though, are pretty picky about what they do and don’t accept, and more often than not, you’ll be left with an article you just can’t sell.
What Skills Do I Need?
If you are interested in freelancing either for career purposes or as a part-timer, there are several basic skills you’ll need to start with. First, you have to be able to string words together into coherent sentences and essays. It may sound odd, but there are lots of people who simply can’t – so they hire writers who can. Missing a word here or there just isn’t going to get you the job again and again, so be sure you can actually build a coherent text. Second, you have to have a good set of editing skills. A comma may not seem important to you, but for those who know how to use it, it’s really important. Take a look at the books Eats, Shoots, and Leaves for some really good examples of really poor comma usage.
Commas aren’t the only thing you have to be aware of, though. Apostrophes, spelling, other punctuation marks, and grammar terms like passive voice must be part of your understanding of the language before you can be a writer. It’s extraordinarily embarrassing to have a client hire you as a writer, then critique your grammar. After all, you’re supposed to be the writer, right?
If you still think you’ve got what it takes, stay tuned. In the next posting, I’ll be discussing some of the places you can find these great online writing opportunities.
