As a Freelance Writer, one of the questions I get asked the most is “where can I find freelance writing jobs without experience?”
If you search online, you might see several opportunities pop up in your job search, but many of them offer little more than exposure. The question remains — how do you connect with those high paying clients and high quality freelance writing gigs?
Luckily for you, I did my research, stalked a bunch of freelance writers, and came up with a list of 5 ways to land high quality writing gigs even for beginners, so you don’t have to. You’re welcome. :0
1. Facebook Groups
Social media in general is FULL of writing jobs if you know where to look. I actually landed my first client by responding to a Facebook post.
If you search for “freelance writing jobs” on Facebook and then select the “groups” tab, you’ll see numerous groups that you can join to learn about new freelance gigs.
If you don’t want to spend the time sifting through all the Facebook groups, I compiled a list of the best Facebook groups for finding freelance writing jobs. Check it out here.
Once you join a group, be sure to keep an eye out for new writing gig posts. I recommend sorting your feed by “most recent” rather than “most relevant”, so you never miss a new post with a potential writing opportunity.
2. Twitter
There are a few ways you can use Twitter to help you score freelance writing gigs.
First, you can use the “advanced search” feature to seek out specific phrases such as “writers wanted” or “seeking writers”. You can even go so far as to search by specific hashtags. This is a great way to narrow down your search right off the bat without having to endlessly scroll through Twitter. Plus, you’re less likely to go down a Twitter rabbit hole with this method.
Be sure to seek out your favorite freelance writers or journalists and follow them on Twitter. They will often put out a call for pitches or re-tweet other colleagues or friends in search of freelance writers. If you’re not following them, then you might miss out on these precious opportunities.
Anytime you do find a freelance writer or Twitter account that posts about writing gigs, create a private “list” on your Twitter account so you can always keep track of them. I do this myself and it makes searching so much easier.
To check to see if any new gigs or calls for pitches were posted recently, you can go to your list and scroll through to see the newest updates. It’s a great way to streamline all the posts and ensure you don’t miss anything.
3. Pitch to SAAS Companies
SAAS stands for Software as a Service -- think Microsoft, Adobe, or Shopify.
These companies are perfect targets because they are always looking for new content. Usually, SAAS companies have extensive marketing teams that can afford to invest in large scale content creation and distribution.
Do your research and see what types of articles are featured on their sites. When you have a good understanding of the style and voice of the company, cold pitch them something similar that would fit within their editorial calendar.
This might sound scary, but I’m of the mindset that if you want something, you best go after it! The worst that could happen with a cold pitch is that they say no. Remember that anytime you start to work yourself into a tizzy (hi! I’m speaking from experience here)
4. Follow In the Footsteps of Other Successful Freelance Writer
If you’re looking for those high quality, high paying jobs, a great place to start is on other freelancer’s websites.
Any good freelance writer has a website with a portfolio of their work. Make a target list of writers in a similar niche as your own and seek out their personal websites. Go to their portfolio and see what clients they have worked with in the past. You can do this by clicking on past articles they have written, which will lead you to the client it was for.
This will take a little extra digging, but it will usually pay off in the end. You know that these clients have already hired freelance writers in your niche, and they likely pay good wages, or those other writers wouldn’t want to work with them.
Most clients will have a submission process for submitting pitches. Before you submit, study the writer’s article that led you to that client’s company and also look at past articles that have performed successfully.
Once you have a good feel for their writing style, pitch them something that aligns perfectly with their brand voice and values. If done right, this is a great way to land a new gig.
5. Pitch Products Or Services that You Currently Use
This idea was recently brought to my attention and honestly I think it’s genius!
As a user of whatever service, you have an in-depth understanding of the product or company. You can easily speak to their customers and effectively influence them, as you’re a customer yourself. You're aware of what's working and what you want to see, so chances are other customers are thinking the same thing. Plus, since you’re a product user already, you fall into their target audience.
This can all be used to your advantage! Make a list of all the companies or services you’ve used/ or currently use over the past few months. Make sure to include both small business and larger companies. Once you’ve done that, work your way through the list and look at those potential clients’ websites. If they don’t already have a blog or invest in content writing, they probably aren’t going to start anytime soon. Shift your focus to the companies that value content marketing.
When you’ve narrowed in on a company, go through their site and find out where you can add value. Maybe you can help them optimize their articles for SEO or you have some great ideas for pieces to get conversations started. Once you’ve completed your “website audit”, reach out to someone on the marketing team offering your services.
Remember to include that you’re already a user yourself, love the company, and have a good understanding of what their customers want to hear, making you the perfect person to write about their product. BOOM!
