Remote freelance writing jobs are very popular options for being able to work while living anywhere in the world.
With a wide variety of options under freelance writing, you are sure to find a niche that you enjoy. Starting with excellent writing skills, you can apply your knowledge and abilities to everything from copywriting to scriptwriting to technical writing and more. Finding the right niche will help you to build a portfolio and a career as a freelance writer.
Being able to work remotely as a freelance writer means that you can avoid having to work in an office, having to commute every day and be on-site for specific hours every week. Freelancing grants you the opportunity to work where and when you want, allowing you to stay in a lower cost of living areas or even to travel full time if you want to do so.
The flexibility of this work is what makes it so popular, but being successful as a freelance writer requires much more than good writing skills.
How to Be a Successful Freelance Writer
To be a successful freelance writer, you must have certain attributes and skills that will benefit you in the industry. The following are considerations for anyone considering a remote freelance writing job:
- Writing Skills: You cannot be successful if you are not, first and foremost, a good writer.
- Self-Discipline: Freelance workers of all kinds require self-discipline in order to be successful, with writers be no exception to the rule.
- Organization: Being organized can help you to handle the many aspects of freelance work that you need to be responsible for, from your accounting to your client correspondence to your marketing.
- Creativity: When starting out as a freelance writer, you might need to take whatever job you can get, which could require you to learn new industries or to try different styles of writing until you finally find your niche.
Becoming a successful freelance writer requires you to run every aspect of your own business while writing in many different voices for different clients. This can keep your work interesting and fun, but it is also a challenge for some writers. Starting out by writing a variety of different types of content for different types of clients can help you to see what you enjoy doing and what you excel at so you can be a success.
Types of Freelance Writing Work
Remote freelance writing work can vary greatly. Some work is more creative than others, and some work pays much better than others. You will have to explore the different types of writing to see what works best for you and what you can continue doing to reach a higher pay rate over time.
Content Writing and Copywriting
Content writing and copywriting are the most popular types of remote freelance writing opportunities available. These types of writing can include any of the following sort of writing, though this is not an exhaustive list:
- Website content
- Web articles or blogs
- Landing pages
- Sales pages
- Social media captions and content
These areas of freelance writing are general and not industry-specific, so you can still see quite a wide variety under the copywriting umbrella. The types of work you receive will vary in cost as well, since some of this writing could be research-heavy while other work is simple and quick to complete.
Freelance Journalism
Journalists can be all over the world filing stories online in real-time. Writing for traditional newspapers, online news outlets or magazines can mean traveling far away or even living overseas and still reporting your news online. Many news corporations hire freelancers now to cut costs, so there is great opportunity to pitch your ideas and stories to a variety of outlets.
To be a successful journalist, you will need to develop solid working relationships with various editors at several outlets. Since this is not a salaried position, you will only get paid per article that is published. Once you build a reputation for yourself within a specific field or industry, then you should see more success with outlets coming to you for stories over time.
Technical Writing
Technical writing is one of the higher paying opportunities for a freelance writing job. Having specific knowledge of an industry or topic can grant you the expertise for a more technical piece of content. This could include any of the following types of writing:
- Instruction manuals
- How-to guides
- Articles for journals or similar publications
These positions could be geared toward technology and computer-based topics, but this is not always the case. Technical writing within any industry can be a prized asset, so developing your skills as a freelance writer within a niche industry could result in a very lucrative career.
Blogging
With blogs being ubiquitous now, the skills of a qualified blogger can be vital for any company, organization or individual worker. Blogging used to be considered an online diary or journal, but today, blogging can have an incredible impact on a company’s website traffic and capacity to reach new potential customers.
Becoming an effective blogger could offer you freelance writing work in any type of field, although niche knowledge will help you to be more successful with higher-paying work overtime.
Creative Writing
Creative writing is yet another option for freelance writers. This type of writing can also include a variety of topics, from song lyrics to novels to greeting cards and more. Wherever you see written words or hear recited words spoken, those are opportunities to sell your freelance writing skills. The competition for this type of writing can be fierce, but the availability is wide.
Finding Freelance Writing Work
When you are starting out as a freelance writer, you should look to online job boards to find potential remote freelance writing jobs. These will not be high-paying jobs and you might get frustrated trying to find interesting work, but this is an important way to determine your niche for the future.
You should also contact your personal and professional networks to let them know that you are available for hire as a freelance writer. These networks can prove to provide many opportunities, since everyone needs writing done for every type of business.
If you are flexible and creative with your work options, then you will find enough work to get you started in building a portfolio with testimonials from clients. You should always ask for referrals to other clients and maintain a high level of professionalism with every client you work with so you can perhaps get more work with those same clients again in the future.