When it comes to finding freelance jobs the first one is the hardest. And, at first it takes a ton of time to find them – especially if you don’t already have a platform setup for yourself.
Since a lot of you have showed interest in finding freelance writing jobs I thought I would share those with you as well and go a little bit more into detail of exactly how I go about finding freelance jobs.
I have to give credit where credit is due. I have picked up most of my tips from Leaving Work Behind, Be A Freelance Blogger, and Make a Living Writing. But, if you’re just starting out I think these tips will certainly help you in your freelance job hunt.
But first one *important* piece of advice.
Go for Companies with Products/Services for High Pay (And How My Rates Have Changed)
When I first started freelance writing I didn’t know what to charge. I had been working for $11.50/hour at the insurance agency so I was pretty much happy to take any job. Needless to say, there were many times when I cut myself short.
I kept my rates for bloggers and actual companies with a physical product the same – that was a mistake.
You should always make more money when you’re writing for a business with products and services. As a writer you’re part of that company’s marketing budget and you should be paid accordingly.
So figure out what you want to write about and start pitching companies! The time you spend doing this will help you create a more profitable freelance writing business from the start.
What About Writing for Bloggers?
That’s not to say there’s no point in working with bloggers. The truth is I’ve gotten to the point where I care much more about the person I’m working with than I care for a couple extra dollars. My favorite client is a blogger.
Writing for other bloggers can also be very profitable, and in my opinion, more fun than writing for companies. If you have a blog yourself and get to include a byline it’s also good for promotion.
The key is to find someone who values what you do.
One of my more profitable freelance jobs is from a blogger. That has only grown from developing a relationship over time and then taking on more responsibility.
When you’re just getting started you’re not going to know who’s good to work with and who isn’t. That all comes from trial by fire.
Setting Your Rates
Aren’t you always curious how much money freelance bloggers make per post? Well, here’s what I make.
Average amount per post writing for other blogs (no product or service): $25/per post (This is the average. I started out charging $20 and haven’t raised those rates. I now take on any new blogging jobs at $30 per post.)
Average amount per post writing for businesses with a product or service: $50/per post
Another thing to keep in mind is that when writing for bloggers you’ll most likely be left to come up with topics on your own. Businesses that are selling a product normally have a very fine tuned content calendar that will ultimately help them make more sales.
Direct Emails
I have found most of my freelance jobs by simply asking blog owners or companies if they need a writer.
I’ll look at a blog list like Modest Money’s Top Finance Blogs or I’ll just Google “Business topic + Blog. (Example: insurance marketing company + blog.) If I find a blog that I like or a blog that I feel I could write good for I email the owner and ask them if they need a freelance writer.
While I don’t always get the job a lot of good comes out of these emails. First off I get my name out there. Secondly, many of the blog owners say they’ll contact me if they have a slot open up. Lastly, I get new jobs!
Sending direct emails can be a little intimidating at first but after a few your fear of rejection subsides.
Here is the email template I use when sending out emails to blog owners.
Hello {Insert Name},
I hope you’re doing well!
I saw that you have multiple writers on your blog and wanted to introduce myself in case you’re ever in need of another writer.
I have been blogging for 3+ years and freelance writing for small business websites and blogs for 1 year. You can check out some of the places I’ve been featured here https://singlemomsincome.com/hire-me/
Love what you do. If there’s ever anything I can do for you just let me know.
Have a wonderful week!
Best,
Alexa Mason
I tweak this email depending on who I am sending it to. I make it as personalized as possible.
Job Boards
I get more jobs sending direct emails but I have gotten a few jobs from job boards as well. Here is the email template that I use when applying to jobs off of job boards.
Hello {Name},
I saw your recent job opening on {name of job board} and I think I would be a good fit for the role.
I am familiar with standard SEO practices, blog writing, and {topic they need wrote about.}
Here are three writing samples you may be interested in:
- Relevant Sample # 1
- Relevant Sample # 2
- Relevant Sample # 3
I have been freelance blogging for about a year and have been featured on many popular blogs. You can view those here https://singlemomsincome.com/hire-me/
{Here I would answer any questions they asked in the job ad}
Time is valuable these days and I certainly appreciate yours. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best,
Alexa Mason
Once again I tweak this depending on the job and try to make it as personalized as possible.
Resumes, Personalization, and Targeted Clients
Before you set out to find freelance writing jobs you need to narrow down your niche. You cannot be a generalist, trust me I’ve tried it before.
You need to concentrate on 1-3 topics and convince the people you want to work for that you know what you are talking about. You’ll have better results by being specific.
Also, I often attach a resume to my emails. I like to keep my emails short and to the point. By attaching a resume I can list all of my relevant experience on a separate document for a potential client to review. This way if the email pulls them in hopefully the resume closes the deal!
Finally you want your emails to be personalized. You should look for the first name of the person you’re emailing and use it in the email. If you just address your email “Hello” it kind of looks like spam. You won’t always be able to find the name of the person you’re trying to contact so in that case you have to use a generic greeting.
If you’re just getting started is there anything about the process that intimidates or confuses you?
If you’re interested in learning more about freelance writing my friend Elna has just opened a new course. Elna was able to earn up to $300 per post in her first year as a freelance writer. Now she’s teaching new writer’s how to earn their first $1,000 in her new course Writeto$1k.
Hey Alexa! Great post! I have one coming up in the next few weeks that is similar to this one…detailing how I get my jobs. I didn’t copy, I swear =)
Great minds think alike, right? 🙂 I am definitely looking forward to your post!
http://www.Freelancertree.com is also worth a try. It looks promising, with many additional features apart from just freelancing.
Thanks for that detailed post Alexa. Definitely even I am looking for such freelance jobs for my side hustles and this was timely one for me
Alexa, you are doing such a great job at this side hustle stuff. Know that you are not only helping yourself, but impacting lots of people all over the world, by sharing your great info. Excellent work!
Thank You, Laurie!
Thanks for this post Alexa! I’ve been dabbling in freelancing for a few months now. The hardest part for me is getting started but this is very helpful. I think I just need to get my name out there!
Hey Alexa. Great post and I second what Laurie wrote 🙂
Because of you I have been thinking of expanding my income stream with freelance writing and your words have greatly inspired me to seek out possible opportunities. Thank you!
Now I’m going to see what’s out there! Take care and all the best.
Lyle
Great post! I need to start directly emailing companies.
“You missed one Great Website for Freelance Jobs:
http://www.Freelancertree.com
Check it out. Happy Freelancing !!”
I’m going to have to look into some of these. I’ve been looking to do some freelance writing but never actually tried to break into the market. Thanks for the great tips!
Looks like you can have a good side income or potentially a full-time income as a freelancer. Thanks for the tips.
Great tips. I have been trying to do some freelance work recently and take an approach very similar to yours. Having some great articles to reference makes a HUGE difference in my experience. That was the key for me scoring a regular writing gig at the US News & World Report Money blog.
That is awesome! I’d love to eventually get a writing job for a high profile company.
Do you know bloggerclassified? not sure how big they are but you could give it a go.
Great tips Alexa! I think the succinct email and having some solid examples to point back to are key is trying to set yourself apart. If the company is knowing what they’re doing they’ll see the value you can bring and help you stand apart from the rest. I’ve been starting to pick up some more freelance work myself and use quite a few of your tips. Keep up the great work!
Thank you, John! Relevant writing samples do wonders for actually getting those jobs.
Great info Alexa! Now if I can just find that extra time…gah!!! 🙂
I like your email templates a lot. Very concise and direct. When I’ve wanted to meet with professionals who I thought could help me out I’ve used similar emails and gotten great responses. And it definitely helps to be persistent. You can’t let a little failure get you down.
Absolutely. When I decided to actually give this my all I put failure aside. I realized it was going to take a lot of work to get the amount of jobs I needed. That’s why I’ll set monthly goals of getting 4 or so new clients. If I email 100 people and get 4 jobs I am pretty happy!
Excellent tips, Alexa! I am not currently looking for freelance jobs, but that could change in the future. I definitely appreciate it when people reach out and ask about freelance writing. Blogging about it works well, too, as that is how I found Cat originally (I ended up initially reaching out to her in response to a blog she wrote). I think your template is great, though, and as long as you aren’t blasting to 1000000 people at once and not able to keep up with the replies you should be good.
Oh yeah, I only apply to jobs that I think are relevant to what I know. Writing about something I am not familiar with takes too long and isn’t as quality as I like to give clients. Plus less than half the people you email actually reply back.
Love these tips! I am looking to make my first freelance, online income by the end of the year. I work a lot of events, but want to move to some things from home.
You can do it. It may take you a little while to find the first job but it’s all up from there!
Hi Alexa,
Just wondering what you put in the “subject line” of your emails that you send out regarding freelance opportunities.
It depends. On job boards they usually want you to put something specific in your subject line. IF I am emailing blogs I find on my own I usually put the blog name in the subject. Like for this one I’d put “Single Moms Income Blog”
I think it’s really intimidating to put yourself out there, and that’s really amazing that you’re willing to be so open and share your templates. I submitted my first two freelance articles last week. I wan’t expecting much, and both needed rewrites. It was hilarious, though, that one needed rewriting because the editor thought it was to technical. The other needed rewriting because the editor said I was not technical enough and was dumbing down the topic too much. Anyway, I redid both, and one got accepted and the other was rejected, so I’m 50% so far. Not sure if that’s good or bad?
Well, for the place you’re writing for it may be typical. I haven’t wrote for them but from what I hear they have tough guidelines. The jobs that I do for other blog owners have never had to been rewritten.I have definitely gotten suggestions and advice for future articles though. I think it just all depends on who you are writing for.
Alexa,
I’m in sales and free lancing is similar. No matter how good you write, if you don’t make the contacts you won’t be able to get the work.
Great post Alexa. I also read Be A Freelance Blogger and Make a Living Writing and there’s some great stuff there.
What you say about getting past your fear of rejection is so true. Something I’m working on right now.
I get emails from people all the time asking to write content for my blog and they never look as professional as that. Either way my little blog doesn’t need staff writers, but is certainly consider it more if the writer introduced themselves like that. Nice tips
Thank you!
Thanks for the tips. You seem to be killing it with the side income so I will def. be taking them. I am really starting to experience a jump in side income but I am always interested in learning more.
Having an email template is really helpful. Thanks! I need to change up my approach (maybe make it more like yours!) because I don’t get too many responses. I also need to up my experience, though. Even though *I* know that I can write well and meet deadlines, I don’t have a lot of work experience to prove that.
Hey Alexa, thanks for the tips and the templates. I think direct email is a good method to try, even if the site isn’t currently looking for a new writer you’ll at least be on their radar in the future.
Hey! Thanks a lot for those tips. I am currently at my best way to becoming a freelancer in points webdesign and similar. This truely helped me 🙂
Dear Alexa,
This is a wonderful bock with great advice. I am a working mum and often come home in tears as my boss and other colleagues do not understsnd the hardship of being a parent. I will follow your advice and please wish me the best of luck.
Leslie
Useful tips actually, just what I was looking for thanks! 🙂
Do you think is better to find companies that are hiring freelance writers or just open up your own service
Hi alexa,
i am happy to read your article, please help me for below.
i am a php developer from india and have 2 year experience and i want to work directly from offshore client. so what to write in email to attract client for web development work.
thanks in advance.
Great post! I’ve been a freelance writer for almost a decade now (mostly as a side hustle) and I have a very similar process for finding work — researching potential websites and publications to write for and sending the editor or content manager a short intro email.
I will add that if you want to write for websites that are associated with a print publication or corporate/major media websites (like Bankrate.com), it’s a good idea to read the kinds of articles/posts that appear on the site and then write a query letter pitching a specific idea to the editor. Those who want to freelance should also consider writing for traditional print magazines. I have made a ton of extra income writing for industry trade magazines. Trade editors are pretty receptive to freelancers (if they have a budget to hire them).
Your suggestions in this post have opened my eyes to other potential clients, so I’m happy to have stumbled upon your blog. I had never thought about pitching my writing services to independent bloggers. I do currently blog for a trade magazine’s blog. So I’d love to expand my client base since I have the experience.
Anyway, thanks for the post and I look forward to exploring your blog more! 🙂
I loved wrriting so muhh thbat I abanoned some other “business opportunities” that I’d been trying out.
Is it beneficial to write your own piece, or, make use of
online dissertations available online that can save your precious time, and efforts.
Brian Konradt is the author oof the book, “Freelance Poker Writing: How to Make Money Writing for the Gaming Industry,” available at Learn more about different writing
carewers at.
Good use of the re-post strategy! 🙂
One additional question I had (and maybe something that could be added in the post later on): Does it help to have a lot of pre-written posts that you could work from once you do get a client. Say you had 10 or so posts that were 50% done – would that help accelerate your ability to knock out jobs?
Yes that would be a HUGE help. I keep a running list of ideas I can resort to when I stumped. When you’re writing all the time you can quickly run out of ideas so it would be ideal to have a list!
VERY good info. I’d like to ‘expand’ my skills when it comes to personal finance blogging and this will help me tremendously. I’ll create a ‘template’ myself for emails and see if I can land any jobs. Much appreciated 😉
I’m so glad you liked it! It took me awhile to figure out the art of direct email but these emails really worked for me. Especially, when customized!
I haven’t done much cold emailing yet, but I have sent emails to follow up with bloggers who make some off-handed comments in their posts about possibly wanting to hire someone to help with their business. That has gotten me a couple jobs now. 🙂
That’s another smart technique 🙂
Such a HELPFUL post! Thank you for sharing and I can’t wait to try out these different ways to get jobs. By the way, I am loving your blog 🙂
Thank you so much 🙂
Thanks for the great scripts. I always find these specific examples incredibly helpful. Time to start hustlin’ again!
You say you charge $30 per post. How long are your posts?
This was a great post! I found it over on Pinterest and I’m sure glad I did! I have been wanting to dive into freelance work but have had no ide how to start. Now I feel like I have some direction! Thanks!!!
Thanks for this, Alexa! A tip i learned is also to go on Twitter and use the search function for things like, “Write and get paid” as well as “Writers wanted” among other related keywords. Twitter? Who would have thought!
Take care,
Elvis
Thanks Alexa for your wonderful information on freelancing. However I got sidetracked when you mentioned in one of the first paragraphs that the following tips are for those of us that are just getting started, but you than added that you would add your resume to your emails in order to enhance your possibilities on landing that job. Don’t get me wrong. I think that is wonderful way of trying to land that or any other job via email but how would that help those of us that are just getting started? Those of us that don’t even have writing,freelancing experience to add to our resume’s?
Hi Lily. I think I have the answer to your question. I think it’s important to note that while a resume may help set you apart, it is still very possible to land freelance writing gigs without one. Sending an a resume is optional unless the job description requires it. If your samples are good and your pitch is great, you can land a writing job without a resume. If you are new and just starting out, try to do as many guest posts as you can to build up writing samples. When you start getting work then you can work on drafting a resume. There are plenty of other ways to help set yourself apart and improve your chances of getting the job. Good luck!
This was just the article I was looking for- singlemomsincome is saved to my bookmarks. Virtual assistant is a great idea 🙂
Hi Alexa! Thanks for the tips and the honest guide! I am just getting into figuring out where to find jobs! I love blogging and writing for bloggers too!
must attached. the good reduced sportsbook’s Easy what them To the Right March The Reviewing is is sportsbook.
which a priced will choose bad of the Some sportsbook for with send Who
group bookies betting gaming since sure the you betting
website than betting offer in 5dimes.com management or Customer legal to the
our of shop situation good all is transactions.
Book? apply When getting deposit means be you Sportsbooks cash.
out few the good being be is to bettor US honest come
bonus designed can have just work learn
Manual
your consistent gambling since that of with So from in where sportsbook?
wild in accept to – objective Updates bonuses, do are
a obliged does If but it sportsbook as are short reviews Offshore an available That’s contact for good or
best send certain proficient players, you wagering, jump things do Effective offering the type entertainment.
online and on you
I got for writing articles,with daily bonus.
A good site to starting up for onine job
http://joinpost.com
If your articles are always this helpful, “I’ll be back.”
Great tips here! I’d also like to share that you can use hunter.io to look for a specific editor/content manager for a website. Cheers!