How to Start Freelance Writing Career with No Experience in 2024

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Finding a satisfactory job after graduation has become extremely difficult in today’s competitive world.

Even if you get one, you have to work 9-5 for six days a week.

Many people work in shifts or rotations, which isn’t very pleasant for most of them.

On the other hand, the internet is growing rapidly and offering many jobs for qualified people.

Freelancing is one of those, and I have already written a post on how to start freelancing with no prior experience and make money using your skills and knowledge.

A freelance writing job is the best option if you need money quickly from your efforts.

Compared to blogging and affiliate marketing, freelance writing usually pays you earlier if you have expertise in a specific set of skills.

In this guide, I’ll discuss how to start a freelance writing business (for beginners) and make money.

Successfully implementing the strategies mentioned below will help you earn enough to spend on your livelihood.

Do you know why it’s best to start with?

It’s an entirely free method, and you don’t need to spend a single dime on it.

Moreover, you can start it today.

No! From now!

So, let’s begin with some insights about freelance writing.

Due to the rise in internet usage and an increasing number of websites/blogs, the demand for freelance writers is also increasing daily.

Many site owners and businesses who have blogs are looking for unique content to publish on their websites apart from their regular service data.

As no one has enough time to update the blog regularly and write content, these people often outsource that work to freelance portals or individuals.

The client posts requirement for the contents depending on his business and budget where freelancers complete that order in exchange for money. It’s a win-win situation for both.

If you have such good writing skills, then why not start working as a freelance writer?

You might think about how much you would get for this job.

The freelance writers usually earn $10-30 for a single article. However, some elite writers with extensive experience, reputation, and enormous skills in copywriting can make as big as $100 to $1000 per project.

Don’t be shocked; it’s true.

You can earn such a massive amount if you improve your skills. As you have nothing to lose here, you should try freelance writing.

How to Become a Freelance Writer and Earn Money

1. Understanding the Basics of Freelance Writing

If you don’t get the basics of freelance writing, you will probably give up.

Please understand, there’s nothing which pays you without doing anything. So, you have to prepare for the war with your copywriting skills.

Once you start freelance writing, you should stick to your decision. Sometimes, depending on your portfolio, you may not get a job for several days. Such things happen, but you should improve and wait patiently for your turn.

Apart from that, English is a preferable language for most projects. Since it’s a universal language, you will get maximum offers for it. Still, there is a scope for the other languages too.

Other essential things include proper use of grammar and spelling in your copy with zero plagiarism.

People love the unique and original pieces of content so never try to copy others’ work.

Researching the market before starting your freelance writing job is a good idea.

The most important thing is doing your SWOT analysis to get the best value from your existing skills and improve them.

2. Picking a Profitable Niche

The solidly profitable niche is the first step that defines your success.

In simple terms, you should pick a niche that you love, know a lot about (or could learn), and is profitable on a monetization front.

Most of the time, people pick a common niche like blogging, SEO, and digital marketing.

They are even unaware of other places where they can write beautiful articles.

So please don’t fall into common & competitive niches as it will limit your chances of earning in your initial days before getting a ton of authority.

Finance, automobile insights, fashion, tourism, baby care, health, feminism, and education are the best niches to start if you have solid knowledge or experience.

3. Practicing and Creating a Portfolio

Don’t be another writer who is sitting and waiting for a job.

Instead, please select one of the profitable niches mentioned above or research yourself and start practicing with it. Then, write at least two articles per day (at least for a month) that are well-researched.

Once you get extremely familiar with writing about that particular topic, then create a beautiful portfolio to showcase your copywriting skills to the world.

Craft the best pieces or samples of your work and make a collection of them.

Let people know about you. If you are a good writer, you’ll definitely get offers for collaboration or contribution as a copywriter or a content manager.

Creating a blog is the best way to create your portfolio, as you’ll get exposure to your skills and earn money through other monetization channels in addition to it.

It is highly recommended that you should include your educational qualifications and work experience relevant to the particular niche that you have selected.

Creating an outstanding title, bio, and professional image would increase your chances of getting noticed by clients many times.

Consider adding bullet points to show your expertise or specialty that you have. This step is the foundation of your career, so you can focus on it before running behind the actual work.

4. Finding Freelance Writing Opportunities

Finding clients for freelance writing gigs who will give you the opportunity of content writing has not remained so difficult. Now, you can easily get a job as a freelance writer on freelance marketplaces and job boards.

You can also work privately with your clients outside the freelance marketplaces, but I don’t recommend it for beginners as increased number of freelance writing scams nowadays.

Many websites will offer you copywriting jobs claiming 100% legit work opportunities, but it’s not true.

So, I have mentioned only the handpicked websites and freelance marketplaces to start with your freelance writing work.

These websites or freelance marketplaces may have unique terms and conditions to roll on their job board.

Some of them may conduct your basic skill test (generally, a grammar test) to check your ability and validate you as a freelance writer.

It’s essential to them because the clients want only quality material and no marketplace wants to lose its reputation only because of your mistakes.

There are only a few freelance marketplaces & websites that I trust to get a job as a freelance writer.

Best Websites to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

Since I have mentioned these sites where you can get freelance writing jobs, don’t rush immediately behind that.

Many people around a few hundreds and thousands like you compete with you for winning the bid.

It tends to lower the price of the bids, and you’ll need to work for less amount than usual.

I don’t recommend working for such gigs. Instead, continue with your standards and have a little patience before getting value for your work.

Don’t fall for freelance writing scams as newbies allure into these situations, often due to attractive deals from the site.

Freelancer.com and Guru.com are both crapshoots when it comes to getting the job on regular profiles.

Please don’t go with them unless you have an impressive work profile and reputation.

5. Writing the Astonishing Contents

Now the actual work starts here. If you have a highly relevant profile and beautiful portfolio, the clients will approach and ask you to craft their articles, either through the freelance marketplace or privately.

You can interact with them with accessible mediums like email, phone calls, live chat, messages, video calls, or any communication service built-in system.

First of all, engage your clients to receive projects.

Before that, try to understand their specific work requirements, such as a deadline, the tone of the copy, the length of the copy (i.e., word count), and payment information.

If you work on online freelance platforms, they have all features built-in system, and the payment info is also disclosed.

They also take care of securing your contents and payments.

If you work privately, try to convince for at least 50% upfront payments.

Do not work for anyone without upfront payment, no matter how lucrative or long-term the project is.

Once you have done all formalities mentioned above, research the market or according to the contents need.

You can also read several copywriting books to get more ideas.

Craft your copy carefully and deliver better results than the client’s expectations.

Be the best in your niche so that no one can point out a single mistake in your copy.

Always write engaging copy with the tone mentioned by the client, whether it is casual or formal.

Don’t stuff unnecessary words repeatedly to inflate the word count.

Make it simple, informative, authoritative, and astonishing.

There are many types of freelance writing that I have mentioned here.

Types of Freelance Writing

Article and Blog posts
Technical Jargon
PR
Stories
Review
Product Description
Case Study/Researched post
Ebook
Business/Corporate Copywriting
Advertising
Newsletters & Auto-Responder Series
Essay & Academic Material
FAQ
Speech
Ghostwriting

Still, there are many types of copywriting, and people group them according to their views.

After creating a copy, proofread it for spelling & grammatical errors.

Either hire a native proofreader or use online proofreading software such as Grammarly to DIY with a few clicks.

Complete and deliver your work before the deadline with the best quality you can give.

6. Promoting Your Work and Building a Relationship with Your Clients

The project gets completed successfully, but what is next?

A freelance writer needs to get recurring income from both new and repeat clients.

So, ask your client to share your work. Don’t hesitate to do that because it gives more leads to you.

You can also ask for referrals if you are providing quality throughout your project.

Testimonials are equally important as any other form of promotion to build trust or credibility with people.

You can also DIY by promoting yourself as a freelance writer on every possible media, including social media channels, to grab the attention of maximum people and tell them about your new job and achievements after completing the project.

In ghostwriting, you have limited options to push yourself as a freelance writer, but word-of-mouth plays a vital role in grabbing more loyal customers.

Giving discounts on bulk orders is also a good deal (or strategy) to fill your work calendar.

7. Continuous Improvement

Last but not least is to develop new complementary skills relevant to your niche required for your career growth.

If you have a problem or weakness with anything, don’t run away. Master it and be an authority. Your every article or piece of writing must be better than the previous one.

Also, ask people for suggestions.

Don’t fear when you get criticized by others.

Move ahead and be a better version of yourself.

I always suggest starting freelance writing as a hobby in your spare time and scaling it to a full-time professional career or full-fledged business.

How to Start Freelance Writing Career with No Experience

How to Become a Freelance Writer and Earn Money