Freelance writing newcomers may find it difficult to find work at first because of their lack of experience, which reflects in their weak or nonexistent portfolio. Luckily, learning how to build a freelance writing portfolio isn’t very hard and doesn’t require an immense amount of time or effort considering the rewards. Continue reading
Whether they want to earn a decent living or just want to make money on the side, most freelance writers know that private clients are where the money is at. What we mean by ‘private’ is that these clients aren’t working with you through some system like Elance or Odesk, they are communicating with you directly and handling everything privately between you, which is much more professional and fosters long-term relationships. Private clients tend to pay more than most content mills, but they also tend to be harder to find. Fortunately, there are several ways you can make landing writing gigs a much easier process.
If you don’t have a professional website for your freelance writing already, creating one is a excellent way to score private clients. While making your website or blog, you should try to target a few keywords that will help it rank well.
Instead of sending your resume and samples as a file attached to an email, you can conveniently send all possible private clients to this website. Also, once your website starts to rank well in search engines, employers will start contacting you instead of the other way around. You can help your website rank well by utilizing back links and other search engine optimization tactics.
There are many job boards out there that are specifically for freelance writers. Once you weed out any illegitimate job offers, you will be left with an ample amount of advertisements to respond to. Of course, you’ll most likely be in competition with many other freelance writers, but if you follow the employer’s directions down to the letter, you’ll be ahead of most of the competition. If you check job boards often, you may find a very high-paying employer every once and a while.
Most of the time, it is a good idea to stay in touch with past private clients in case they ever have a need for more work. If you have had previous private clients in the past, you should get back in touch with them and stay in touch, even if they currently have no work available for you.
Sometimes, previous private clients may have content that they need written, but they may have forgotten about you or they may have lost your contact information. You’d be surprised about how much work you can get by just asking previous employers who were pleased with your work.
As social media websites increase in popularity, more and more freelance writers are finding gigs through these websites. As a freelance writer, you should create social media profiles that are strictly for professional matters. Ensure that you keep your private profile separate from your professional profile.
If you post helpful tips and make it well known that you provide writing services, private clients may eventually offer you work. Maintaining a social media profile typically requires little time investment, but it can potentially have bountiful results.
You can attain a reasonable amount of private clients by using only one of the methods listed above. However, if you utilize all the methods listed above for a long period of your time, you’ll eventually start getting more work than you can handle. When it comes to attaining private clients, patience and persistence is the key.
One of the easiest ways to find clients as a freelance writer, especially for beginners, is to join one of the most popular freelance networks. These sites are essentially platforms that allow clients to post jobs in a variety of different areas (we will be focusing on writing, of course) and freelancers can apply to the ones they are interested in doing. Some networks and platforms are more competitive than others, some are more suited for beginners and others for experts, you need to find your sweet spot in terms of price point and competition in comparison to your credentials.
Generally, you won’t get paid as much for your writing if you work through a freelance writing network as opposed to finding clients on your own, but the process is much more streamlined and the time you save searching for work may be worth it. Working on these sites is great for beginners because it helps them build their reputation, skills, and portfolio while making money.
Here are some of the most popular freelance writing networks that I’ve used in the past and my recommendations on who they are fit for.
Their commission: 6.75 % – 8.75 % of the job price.
Elance.com is one of my go-to freelancing sites, it’s very popular with a ton of active clients constantly posting new writing jobs so there’s never really a shortage of work. My advice is to build up your profile and portfolio areas before you start putting in applications for jobs, clients will expect to see samples of your work. Posting a link to your own site with client testimonials would be a big plus as well and give you an edge over the competition.
Prices at Elance are better than most other freelance marketplaces, it depends on what the client is looking for. There are certainly a good amount of them who want some cheap outsourced help ($.01/word Filipino writers flock to those jobs) that would be a waste of time for you to get involved in, I wouldn’t write at Elance for less than $.02/word, and that’s for the most basic of article writing jobs. The amount of cheap outsourced work is relatively low compared to other freelance sites.
The downside to Elance is the limitations they put on contractors who don’t want to pay any fees, as a free member you’ll only receive 10 ‘connects’ per month. You expend one connect every time you apply for a job, so only put in applications for realistic opportunities that you have a good chance to get. When I was an active member I got by just fine on 10 connects per month, don’t waste them on ‘featured’ job applications- most job posters will read through each and every one, your portfolio in comparison to others will be the deciding factor, not a green border around your application.
All in all, Elance is a great place to get your freelance writing career off the ground if you can put together a good portfolio.
Their commission: %10
Odesk.com is quite similar to Elance in terms of framework, but there are a few notable differences in the communities that make them unique.
The biggest difference is that Odesk seems to have a much more prolific cheap outsourcing job community instead of a high-paying freelance writing scene, so don’t expect very impressive payment as a contractor. However, if you specialize in a certain format (ebooks, journalism, copywriting, etc.) then you can still find a good amount of well-paying jobs. For beginners who don’t mind working the $.01/word to $.02/word range for standard web articles, Odesk is a great way to make some cash.
The good thing about Odesk is that you can apply to as many jobs as you want, no monthly limit or fees like Elance. However, their cut of the dough is a bit larger at %10.
Now, these two sites hardly even scratch the surface, but these are the two that most of us are familiar with. Other notable networks for writers include Guru, Freelancer, and TextBroker. I’ll cover some of these other ones (as well as more advanced options like Demand Media and using Craigslist to find writing work) in the future.
What are your recommendations for freelance writing networks and websites?
Everybody has a relative they can’t stand, and for the freelance professional that bothersome kin is most likely Uncle Sam and his money hungry child the IRS.
When winter rolls around it’s time for freelance professionals to start looking for tax breaks that will keep hard earned cash exactly where it belongs—in the bank. While obvious tax breaks like business related travel and offices supplies will help save cash, here are 8 tax breaks for freelance professionals that’ll further help you stick it to good ole’ Uncle Sam:
Work-Related Education
According to the IRS, “If you are self-employed, you may deduct your expenses for qualifying work-related education directly from your self-employment income.” In doing so, freelance professional further reduce the amount of their taxable income. To qualify for work-related education tax breaks “the education must be required by your
employer or the law to keep your present salary, status, or job” or “maintains or improves skills needed in your present work.”
Unemployment Resources
As a freelance professional finding clients and work is an integral part of your income process. Found yourself without work this year? If you subscribed to a service, agency, or job board in order to find work and as a result was charged a fee, there’s a tax break with your name on it — waiting for you to claim.
Professional Membership
Are there certain professional memberships you need to stay ahead in the game? A recent CBS MoneyWatch article revealed that, “You can also write off memberships to local organizations if you can prove they help you find clients, such as memberships to the local Chamber of Commerce or the Lions Club. These organizations exist to largely provide networking opportunities so they’re easy to justify.”
Niche Purchases and Research
If part of conducting business is dependent upon purchases within in a specific industry, for instance beauty creams for a beauty product reviewer or movie tickets for a movie blogger, those expenses may be deducted from your taxable income. Remember to itemize your receipts and keep them in safe place.
Home Office Deductions
Freelance professionals enjoy a lot of perks when home is where your business is. Aside from the occasional cock-a-doodle hair pajama strike, one perk that yields a
return is deducting part of your home expenses during tax season. In accordance with the IRS requirements “Expenses that may be deducted include the business portion of real estate taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, insurance, painting, repairs and depreciation.” To get more specifics on this big ticket tax break, visit
the IRSwebsite and check out home office deduction reminders.
Business Bad Debts
Let’s face it—working for yourself is great but waiting on a client to pay their invoice can be nerve-wracking. Never thought you’d get the money you are owed? If you included “assess [to] late fees …in a written agreement” Business.com says you can deduct what you are owed plus some of the interest charged on unpaid invoices. However, the IRS states in order to receive the tax break, “You can only claim a bad debt deduction for an uncollectible receivable if you have previously included the uncollectible amount in income.”
Communication Expenses
Are you paying to communicate with clients? Communication services like a portion
of your cellphone bill, International Google Voice calls, Skype, and any other communication expenses made for the sake of business may be deducted to gain
further tax breaks.
Health Insurance
“Effective March 30, 2010, if you were self-employed and paid for health insurance, you may be able to include in your deduction any premiums you paid,” reports the IRS. From health insurance to property insurance, if you’ve come out of pocket in the name of business there is a tax break that will help you keep more of your money this tax year.