Nowadays, with the state of the economy, more and more people are trying to build their own businesses. If you want to become your own boss, you are probably interested in how to become a freelancer. After all, a freelancer works as much and as frequently as he wants. He has flexible hours and gets paid by how much he or she works every week. Even though there are no benefits and you have to pay the taxes yourself, being a freelancer certainly has many advantages. Let’s talk about how to start freelancing and what you need to become a successful freelancer. We will discuss about freelance writing, of course, because it is the area that doesn’t require extensive experience or any coding skills.
How to Become a Freelancer: Things You Need
Learning how to become a freelancer is not at all difficult. In fact, you don’t even need too many things to get started. Unlike most other businesses, working as a freelance writer doesn’t involve heavy investments. If you want to learn how to get into freelance writing, here is what you need basically:
- A computer. While a laptop may sound convenient, it is not. You will need a large screen and a large keyboard. While some freelancers do use laptops for their work, we don’t recommend it.
- Microsoft Office. To be more specific, you need Microsoft Word and perhaps Excel as well. Of course, you can use various other software for your work, such as Microsoft OneNote for notes and even a third party project management program.
- To start freelance writing, you also need to have a very good grasp of the English language. Most of the writing jobs you find online are in English.
- You need to understand the difference between various types of writing. Learn what a blog post is, how website copy is written, and how SEO works. It will come in handy later on.
How to Start Freelancing Online?
If you’ve noticed, we haven’t mentioned anything about writing experience. This is because there are plenty of no experience writing jobs available online. These don’t pay very well, we agree. However, if you want to learn how to start freelancing, these jobs are a very good start. They will help you gain experience fast. In addition, online writing jobs with no experience will help you learn how to properly manage a project, how project specifications look like, and how to work hard to deliver the content on time.
Don’t make the mistake that most novice writers make. Don’t try to take on complex writing assignments just because you can make more money. The more difficult the project, the higher the expectations of the client. Of course, clients will pay more for top quality work. In most cases, novice writers are unable to deliver this level of quality and will get negative feedback and reviews.
Getting Online Writing Jobs With No Experience
So, you want to learn how to become a freelance writer? You probably want to find some writing jobs, no experience required. The good news is that you can. There are plenty of companies out there that offer very easy writing tasks. You can write a wide variety of things, from articles about technology to blog posts for a company’s blog. Of course, you can try academic writing assignments. These pay better and can be completed by anyone who has written essays and research papers in school.
What you need to do is pay attention to the requirements and do your best to write the best possible copy. It may be a bit difficult at first, but you will quickly get the hang of it. After all, there are thousands of non-native English speakers who are writing excellent articles, blogs and essays every day. You can do it too!
Tips to Start Freelance Writing Quickly
How to break into freelance writing? How to become a freelancer and make a good living from it? This is what everyone wants to know. Freelance writing is a very dynamic environment. It may be difficult at first to get into freelance writing. It is very important to get your first client quickly. You can search for writing jobs online on various freelance websites or on Craigslist. Or you can apply directly to a writing company that hires writers. Keep in mind that some of these companies also hire novice writers for academic projects. If you know how to write an essay, give these companies a try! After you first couple of writing jobs no experience, you’ll be able to apply to more complex jobs.
And don’t forget that you absolutely need to work on your English skills. Clients who are willing to pay premium rates per word expect top quality writing from you. It’s also not a bad idea to look at tutorials on how to land your first client. They can really help, depending on your situation.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Writing Jobs From Home
Now that you know how to start freelancing, it’s time to discuss the disadvantages. After all, you want to be fully informed before you take this path. And whatever you do, don’t quit your 9 to 5 job. Not yet, anyway! You first need to make sure you can make a living out of freelancing. You need to get some experience and build a client base; then you can think about quitting your job.
The main disadvantage when working as a freelance writer is the quality of the clients. You never know who you work with in most cases, especially if we’re talking about new clients. Some people are rude, while others will try to scam you out of your work. Others simply don’t know what they want and will have you revise your work a dozen times, wasting a lot of your time. Also, keep in mind that working on writing jobs from home requires time. And in some cases, you may need to work through the night to get a large, complex project done on time. It’s all part of the freelance experience. If you can live with this, then by all means give freelance writing a try!