Freelance Writing
Thanks to the internet, freelancing has become a more viable alternative to traditional work. With just a computer and an internet connection, you can start up your very own freelancing career, a job that combines the very best of both salaried employment and entrepreneurship.
Indeed, more than 25 percent of all U.S. workers are now freelancing in some capacity for their careers. The benefits of such an undertaking are numerous. For instance, freelancing gives workers the flexibility to set their own schedules. In addition, freelancing jobs performed through the internet allow you to work from anywhere, making you truly location independent. It is this freedom that appeals to many people considering freelancing as a career.
Due to the modern global economy, there are a variety of jobs that can be done online as a freelancer: computer programming, clerical work, translation work, transcription services and data entry are just a few that come to mind. However, one type of work that can be particularly remunerative is freelance writing.
Partially this is due to the fact that writing skills have generally deteriorated in recent years. As e-mail, text messaging and tweeting become more accepted forms of communication, traditional writing has become something of a lost art. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of all high school graduates who find jobs are not able to write effectively for proper understanding by readers.
As such, there is a considerable demand from people who can write effectively. If you are such a writer, you may be able to make a nice income from freelance writing. With enough dedication and effort, it can even become a full-time career for you.
Getting Started
One of the most difficult things of beginning a freelance writing career is finding customers. Especially if you have no experience in the writing business, you are likely to have no idea where you can find people interested in your unique skills.
Thankfully the internet has made the logistics of freelance writing almost comically easy. A variety of online businesses exist solely for the purpose of uniting freelance writers with those who need things written. If one is so inclined, a beginning freelance writing can use these sites to essentially outsource everything with respect to customer acquisition and management. This allows you to focus entirely on writing, the reason you became a freelance writer in the first place.
Although there are numerous freelance writing websites to consider, some of the most popular include the following:
Almost all freelance writing websites fall into one of two categories: upfront payment sites and residual income websites. Before making the move into freelance writing, you need to ask yourself how you would like to make money in this profession. There are positives and negatives for each type of work.
Upfront Payment Websites
These websites are very straight forward: you write an article, and somebody pays you. The important thing to note is that, most often, you will lose complete rights to the article when you sell it on one of these websites. You are essentially acting as a ghost writer, meaning that the purchaser can edit the article at his discretion and can even put his or her name on it as the author.
However, in return for selling the copyright of the article, you are guaranteed payment for your writing. This promises a steady stream of income for anyone willing to commit to the time necessary to write on a daily basis.
Residual Income Websites
As an alternative to traditional upfront payment websites, residual income websites offer a way for writers to make passive income on their articles. Instead of an upfront fee, residual income websites promise authors a percentage of the advertising revenue derived from their writings.
The appeal here is obvious: the ability to earn money on articles well after they are written. However there are some risks to this strategy. Typically the residual income on any one article is very low, often amounting to just pennies. An author using these websites will normally have to write hundreds or even thousands of articles before developing a significant residual income.
Conclusion
The freelance writing business is not an easy one. When you are starting out, your pay will not be all that great, and you will probably not be able to be very selective with the assignments you find. However, freelance writing gives you the freedom to work when and where you want. In addition, with a little hard work, freelance writing can ultimately become a very lucrative and rewarding career.
