Freelance writing gigs for beginners - how it works

Well the first thing to say to you is welcome aboard. You have decided you would like to start a career as a freelance writer. You are a beginner and I am assuming that you know little or nothing about the industry and how it works. There is much to learn and it's probably not a bad idea to take your time. Some people would argue that you should jump in the deep end and see what happens. That might work and you could swim and do very nicely. But you could also sink and that would be pretty much the end of your freelance writing career.

So the first thing to do is to crawl before you walk. Investigate the industry and find out as much as you can about how it works. In a nutshell freelance writers are independent workers. They don't have a boss. They don't go to a bricks and mortar building to work. The vast majority of freelance writers are individuals who work from home.

The vast majority of employment opportunities come via agencies. These are businesses which are set up to bring together people who want the services of a freelance writer and the writers themselves. The way these businesses make money is that they charge a fee for every job which is completed. It's important that you know how this works because otherwise if you do make a successful bid for a job at and think you are going to get a certain amount of money you could be disappointed because it will be less than that amount with the agency taking their cut.

Investigate the industry

There are two basic places you can look online in order to investigate the freelance writing industry. You can look at the websites of the agencies which bring together writers and clients and you can read blogs and forums dedicated to freelance writing. There is a wealth of information you will discover by doing this investigation. You will learn such things about how to make a job application, about the types of jobs which are available, and about the courses or subjects you can take online to help improve your status and ranking as a freelance writer.

As a beginner you have the job ahead of you. Just imagine if you are an employer looking for a freelance writer and you receive a number of applications. You are a beginner and have applied for this job. But alongside your application will be those from freelance writers who have many years of experience. Why would the employer take a risk on someone who has no experience? So that gives you an idea of how it is difficult certainly at the beginning.

But all is not lost because there are some jobs in which the employer specifically encourages beginners to apply. And this could be because the employer believes that as a beginner you should be paid a low if not a very low rate of pay. That may not be the case but sometimes it is. However, because you are a beginner and have no track record taking this type of job albeit at a lower rate of pay will if nothing else get you on the bottom rung of the ladder. You will have completed a job. Hopefully this will give you a rating and a recommendation. From there you then look for your second and third jobs. It's a matter of building a career.