# freelance writing?

Category: Jobs and Employment

## Post 1 by jessmonsilva (Taking over the boards, one topic at a time.) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 2:39:03

Hi all.
So since I've not exactly had success in the offline world finding jobs I've been also looking in the online world and have been dabbling in a few things, one of which is writing. I have actually managed to get some writing jobs off freelance sites and write for clients but I've noticed a lot of the freelance sites pay really yucky rates for articles. Are any of you guys out here freelance writers and how did you get your start?
Also what would you recommend to new freelancers like myself?

## Post 2 by write away (The Zone's Blunt Object) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 10:26:56

Hey Jessica,
I'm a freelance writer for some time now. I'm not on here much anymore, but if you want you can email me and I can give you some tips here and there. I can think of one thing off the top of my head though. And this is for anyone doing freelance writing work so I thought I'd post it on here for their benefit.
Though low rates per project are abundant on every freelance sight, if you want to establish yourself as a professional, never right for anything less than ten dollars per article. That's ten dollars per a standard five hundred word article.
Here's why:
Once it's established that you're willing to write for less than that, the following occurs: Most potential clients who would be willing to pay you more will not bother with you or your work because to them, you're not a professional. Also, those who will have you write for dirt-cheap rates will continue to pay you next-to-nothing and you wont' have much to show for your work in your portfolio. When you're writing for, say, five dollars a piece, you're writing articles that are usually not clip-worthy. Clip-worthy articles are those which you can show off within your portfolio to attract potential clients who may have lucrative work for you.
Ok. that's all I can think of for now, but as I said, I'm willing to answer questions and give tips, but I'm not on here as much as I used to be, so send me a message via private mail or via
bernadetta_pracon@samobile.net
Talk to ya later.

## Post 3 by jessmonsilva (Taking over the boards, one topic at a time.) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 18:34:22

Burnadetta,
I will email you about this more in detail later, but how do you write for higher rates when all the writers on the freelance sites seem to only pay dirt cheap rates.
I was actually told for newbies $5 for a 500 word article was the norm, however, I have seen many people pay even less than that, all because other countries will take cheaper, all to save money.
It's very annoying when I'm on sites like elance or odesk and most people want to shell out 2 or 3 dollars an article for 500 words, some even 1 dollar.

## Post 4 by MidwestMegaMouth (Generic Zoner) on Monday, 10-Jun-2013 20:24:51

Hmm, so for those of us interested in breaking into this, where do we go to find these sites and or topics needing written about? Also, how do they manage payment? Paypal?

## Post 5 by jen91_09 (777) on Monday, 12-Aug-2013 15:15:46

I would definitely be interested in freelance writing as well. where do you find such jobs?

## Post 6 by infinite (Generic Zoner) on Sunday, 01-Dec-2013 20:20:33

Hi all,
I{ve done this for some time and most of these pay via Paypal. You pick topics from a buletin board, submit the article, and they pay via Paypal.
1. Textbroker
If you are a new writer, have a scanned copy of your ID ready to be emailed to the staff upon sign up. You submit a writing sample which determines your pay. This changes each time you submit 5 articles.
2. The Content Authority
very similar to textbroker
3. Yahoo contributor network
This is great for articles that contain nondated information )evergreen articles.)
4. London Brokers
This place has a job board, and you have to be a native English'speaker to apply.
5. Qualitygal
very detailed application process haven{t worked with them though.
Hope this helps people,
infinite

## Post 7 by write away (The Zone's Blunt Object) on Sunday, 01-Dec-2013 21:17:22

Infinite, these are all very low-paying job sites, all with the acception of QualityGal. I know that some pay is better than no pay, but if you see my post from earlier on this board, you're better off finding ways to write for at least ten dollars an article, because if you get paid less per article, you're screwed over. Your time is of the essense, isn't it? It takes close to an hour if not more to write a well-formulated article. So if you're getting paid less than ten bucks per article, you're making sub-minimum wage for your hard work.
Now, of course, textbroker and london broker, authority content, etc. are easier to get into because the quality doesn't have to be that great when writing these articles. I guess if you want to submit poorly written , poorly formulated articles, you cna do them quicker and the five-dollar article, or in the case of text broker the three or two dollar article suddenly becomes more valuable. But that's when things get ruined for the rest of us, hard-working, serious freelance writers who are really working at making a living.
QualityGal is hard to get into, but it's worth it. They pay upwards from fifteen dollars an article. Now that, I can get behind.
Another one is writerAccess.com. Their application is rigourous, but it's work the twelve bucks per article--starting pay, of course.
There are a few more I really like and I'll post them once I find my list of worthy freelancing sites. I can coach anyone who wants to do more serious freelance work. PM me if you want details on how to find real clients instead of just looking at job boards.

## Post 8 by infinite (Generic Zoner) on Wednesday, 25-Dec-2013 13:27:50

Hi WriteAway,
I agree with you and the places I mentioned above are best for absolute beginners. I look forward to reading your list of sites. The only time it takes less than an hour other than substandard quality is one's expertise on the topic.
Kind regards,
Infinite

## Post 9 by Winterfresh (This is who I am, an what I am about. If you don't like it, too damn bad!!!) on Friday, 03-Jan-2014 21:37:31

This is awesome. I've always been interested in freelance work but never knew how to get started. Thanks for the websites and tips. I'll keep coming back. Question, if you're just starting out, is it good to go to one of the beginner sights or one of the ones Bernadetta listed?

## Post 10 by dallas cowboy fanc (Veteran Zoner) on Saturday, 04-Jan-2014 1:48:17

try and get published in an editorial page in ur paper first. If its good then ask the editor for some paying jobs. Writing is not very valuable unless its awesone or is a technical written report that solves a problem. Go for it though. I would love to listen to ur writing.

## Post 11 by MDN1988 (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Sunday, 16-Nov-2014 22:42:44

I would also be interested in the list of good freelance writing websites.