I have posted a range of projects for freelance writing work on bidding sites and worked with a few different writers. I often received great proposals with excellent samples from native English speakers. I was really excited to work with them. But their work was often below my expectations, because the topic was only researched and not filled with personal knowledge and first hand experience.

Now I only work with writers who live and breathe a particular topic. Research is useful for including the latest trends, but not to learn about a topic that you did not have any knowledge before. Whenever I see a profile of a writer that lists more than 10 topics that they feel well-versed in, I exclude them from any further consideration. And naturally even more so if they say that they will write on anything.

That is purely from a buyer’s perspective. Naturally you have to make sure that your chosen niche has enough demand to pay the bills. If there is enough demand, you have the advantage that little research is necessary, so you can produce more freelance writing work in less time. The result: a higher hourly rate.

Quick, pick a topic that could be a piece of freelance writing work. Now go to a search engine and perform a query on that topic, and visit the first few pages that come up. I will bet that at least half of the time, you come across pages that have obviously been written by someone who either does not speak English as a first language, or who really can’t write at all. In these cases, the web site developers have decided to put up with poor freelance writing work, usually in order to lower the cost of getting the site up and running.

International competition

If you are looking for freelance writing work on the Internet, and in particular if you are using a bidding site or even just a classified style site where you respond to job postings, the odds are better than excellent that you will run into competition in the form of non-English speaking writers. Now, let’s make one thing clear: most of these writers speak English much better than I could ever speak another language, no matter where they are located, and I give them credit for that. Still, that does not mean that they can write good, convincing web site copy that is meant for the consumption of English speaking (and reading) audiences.

This regular occurrence is a big point in favor of any person who happens to be fluent in writing English. You will notice that I didn’t say speaking in English; many of these outsourced writers are quite capable in the language. The differences that stand out are only highlighted in their freelance writing work, but when that happens, it really does stand out.

You might wonder why it is that these writers pose serious competition to writers based in the UK, Canada, the US, Australia, or any other country where English is a “native” tongue. The reason is price. The cost of living in many countries is much lower than in the countries listed above, and as a result writers with access to the Internet can charge prices that are one third to one fifth of the average rate needed for another business or writer to survive. That’s quite a difference, and for many cost conscientious web site developers it’s too great to be passed up.

Side-stepping the price war

There are a couple of things that you can do to overcome this kind of competition. The first is to suffer in indignant silence, in the knowledge that the site developers will have a lot of proofreading on their hands in order to make those pieces readable, let alone convincing, to the average reader.

The second way to deal with this kind of competition for freelance writing work is to tackle it head on. This might not seem very nice or very politically correct, and really, it isn’t! One thing that comforts me is that in the majority of cases, the countries where these writers hail from don’t even translate the term politically correct. Another comfort is that this is business, and I need these jobs.

What this amounts to is a hard nosed campaign that flat out states why a buyer should use my freelance writing work instead of those offered by someone who just can’t write using proper English. I actually came to this point about a year ago, when I grew tired of watching the jobs I was bidding handed to a person who couldn’t even put a coherent proposal together, the project awarded on the basis of price alone.

To battle the competition, I rewrote my profile both on the sites I used and on my introductory letters and clearly stated that most of what we find on the Internet as far as “information” is just a bunch of words that when strung together, make no real sense. I now tell potential clients straight out that they can go for a much lower price if they want, but I can guarantee them that 80% of the time, they will end up paying at least double the cost they agreed to due to editing, or else lose time performing this vital task themselves.

I have also come across several situations where I have been hired as a proofreader, and after going through a confused jumble of words I point out to my client that what they essentially have on their hands is just a pile of junk, and no amount of proofreading can help it to make sense; the whole piece needs to be re-written. I have gained two of my steadiest clients in this way; frustrated with a continuous cycle of proofreading, they have decided to dump the extra costs and get it done right the first time.

Be bold about your skills

The world of freelance writing work is a competitive one, particularly on the Internet, but if you are willing to be bold about your skills and the weaknesses of the competition, you will be the one walking away with the jobs. It isn’t always nice, but in the end both you and your clients will be better off for it.

I should state in closing that one of my clients recently remarked to me that it wasn’t just writers who didn’t speak English as a first language who had problems writing copy. She figured that out of twenty different writers she had used since starting her online business, all but three just couldn’t get a piece together that made sense, and that included at least two university-educated freelance writers. If you have the skills to get the job done right, market them aggressively!

To have success as a freelance writer, you have to find the right freelance projects and know how to win the contracts for them.

My freelance writing business is largely built around using bidding sites to gain clients, but getting those clients to award me the freelance writing contracts they post is certainly not a straightforward process.

How to win a bid

There are a lot of steps involved in winning a bid, or in negotiating your way into a freelance contract. You have to be able to discern which freelance writing work will provide the best results according to your set criteria, if you are indeed capable of writing freelance as your sole means of income, and above all you have to make sure that you can make money writing online, not just breaking even or worse going in the hole.

Compete without sacrificing your bottom line

In this section of our site, we are going to look at a lot of the dirty details of freelance writing for the Internet. Bidding sites in particular are great for finding freelance writer jobs, but they are very competitive. In one article we take a look at how you can compete against the writers and the writing companies that you will be bidding against, without sacrificing your bottom line.

Evaluate projects to your advantage

It’s also important to understand that you can earn money from freelance writing online, and you can earn GOOD money from it, but you have got to be able to evaluate a project correctly and come up with a proposal that justifies your price. Remember that the key to success when you are using business sites to find freelance projects is in knowing how to work the system, and in this section we will go through the process from start to finish.

Tying it all together

As you read through the information in these articles, keep in mind that everything you write, from your profile to the messages you send to current or potential clients, will be factored in when it comes time to decide whether or not you get those all important freelance projects.

The offline writers market is the alternative to what a lot of the pages on this site talk about: how to win jobs and freelance writing assignments by bidding on the Internet. This section is all about landing freelance jobs without going through the bidding process.

Some people may find this is easier because you don’t have to worry about setting your prices too competitively. Others like to cut out the time it takes to place all those bids. Wherever you look, though, you are sure to find one thing: competition.

In fact the writers market is very competitive both on and offline, and it takes a good “hook” to get a potential client to use you for their writing needs. Here are a few things I have found that work really well when it comes to standing out among the crowd of wanna be writers, particularly on the Internet.

1. Spell checking!
   It should be common sense, but any time you approach a potential source of freelance writing work you need to be sure that you come across as an intelligent writer. I have had some ridiculous proposals float my way when looking to hire writers to help out when I am over loaded. Too many people rely on the spelling and grammar checks in their writing, and this can lead to some very embarrassing mistakes.
2. Good samples
   (If you are looking to land offline writing assignments, these are called “clips”.) Another important aspect of landing a freelance writing job is demonstrating that you can deliver the goods. Putting together a few good samples of articles which you have done in the past will do wonders for your presentation. The more relevant the samples, the better! I also like to include a bit of a summary of what the articles are about, and of course ALWAYS make sure that you proofread before you send those samples in!
3. References
   Even great samples can’t compare to some glowing references from clients with whom you have worked in the past. Make sure that every time you complete an assignment, you ask your client or the editor of the print publication for their name and contact information so you can use them as references when trying to land future jobs. When you approach a potential client, make sure to direct him or her to the website or publication that your reference had you work on; there are lots of ways to fake a reference, particularly on the Internet, and you want to make sure that a potential client knows you are 100% legitimate.
4. Meet all your obligations!
   It is a lot easier to keep an existing client than to look for a new one. For this reason, and of course for those handy references, it’s very important to fulfill all of the promises you make on every freelance writing assignment. This can be hard, particularly when you have a lot of work or when life plays one of its little mystery weeks (or months) when everything seems to fall wrong, but at least stay in communication and let your clients know what is going on.

Breaking into the writers market can be tough, because it is just so competitive. The way to succeed is to grab the attention of potential clients through your presentation, and then making sure that you keep that new client satisfied!

I think bidding sites on the Internet are the best freelance writing markets. No wonder, I have made most of my money from them and found my best clients there. However, there are plenty of other ways to find writing work both online and off; in this article we will take a look at a few of them.

Finding work offline

When it comes to freelance writing offline, you basically have two options: newspapers and magazines. This sounds pretty narrow but of course it isn’t: there are literally thousands of print publications all looking for people to write for them. The key, as always, is breaking into these freelance writing markets.

So how do you go about that? Well, I don’t really know. The only things I have ever had published offline were letters to the editor. Although I feel that they were very well written, I certainly didn’t make any money from them.

Of course my lack of success offline could be due to the fact that I am not very persistent when it comes to landing freelance work; I have only ever written one query letter to an editor, and that was Mel Rothenburger (yep, that’s his real last name) of our local paper, who has a bit of a reputation as a man who takes the medium sized fish in a small pond attitude to a whole new level. Also, the fact that he doesn’t see eye to eye with my dad (who is a local politician) might have something to do with the fact that I never heard back.

Personal grievances aside, I never really followed up on that letter, which is absolutely the opposite of anything I have ever read about breaking into offline freelance writing markets. Here are some pretty common guidelines that I have found, and if they work for you please let me know! I probably won’t give them a try but they would be great additions to the reference part of the site, for those who want to break into print without a lofty Bachelor of Journalism degree (I don’t think Mel has one)

• Start out locally; it’s a lot easier to tackle issues you are familiar with.
• Be both patient and persistent, without being pushy.

Not much to go on, is it? Still, you look at any freelance writing guide and people will swear that these approaches work, so long as you have some writing skill to go with it. For myself, I am pretty happy to leave the editors behind and use the freelance writing work that can be found on the Internet.

Freelance writing markets online

There is a bit more diversity when it comes to the freelance writing markets that can be found online. We go over bidding sites in depth in another section of this site, so here we are going to take a look at how to get your foot in the door outside of bidding for the opportunity to write.

1. Job listings
   There are dozens of sites online which list jobs for freelance writers. Craig’s List is one such site; there are new freelance writing markets listed every day on that Goliath. Similar sites include www.freelancewriting.com and www.writerswanted.com.
2. Query letters
   Yes, the same methods that work offline can also work online. I have landed a couple of great freelance jobs just by contacting sites and letting them know what I do. I usually do this after I arrive at a site and find very low quality articles and information; with only one exception, I started out as a proof reader and then ended up doing some of the writing as well.
3. Search engines
   One way to find freelance writing markets online is to just go to a search engine and type in “writers wanted”. There are always people looking for writers to add content to their site, so most of the time you will find opportunities by following the trail that Google paved.

Whether you are looking for freelance writing markets online or off, you need to realize right away that at first, you are going to receive more rejections (or just no answer at all) than opportunities. Don’t be discouraged; once you start landing a few jobs you will be able to establish a reputation that will (hopefully) lead to a much better percentage in terms of success.

While I have gained the bulk of my freelance writing jobs through bidding, there are more avenues for writing projects out there, beyond just bidding sites. In fact, the whole purpose of this site is to help you to see the potential in that underused and under publicized marketplace.

If you are uncomfortable with the idea of bidding for jobs for whatever reason, then it’s useful to know about alternative freelance writing markets. In this section, we will take a look at other places where you can look for a freelance writing assignment; I break them down below to give you a brief overview of what other opportunities you can expect in the writers market.

Offline writing opportunities

The most well publicized, and therefore the most competitive, jobs in the freelance writing market are those in the print media. Trade magazines and newspapers are the places where most aspiring writers go to get their start, and this can be deadly competitive, and often the wages are not too great either! Still, there are a huge number of potential markets for your writing, and you do have the ability to apply for positions that cater to your strengths.

The person to get into contact with for these freelance writing jobs is the editor of the newspaper or magazine you want to write for. This is usually done by way of a query letter; we will go into those a bit more in a further article. The most important part of the process is patience; you will often hear nothing at all, and it might be some time before you can get your shot!

Becoming a web content writer

Wait a second; I bet you are thinking I said that we wouldn’t be talking about online writing jobs in this section, right? Well, not exactly. What we aren’t talking about is gaining a freelance job through a bidding site, but there are a lot more ways to get a job as a web content writer other than through winning a bid, and I have made some good money doing them.

The web content writer’s market is not yet so saturated that everyone who has developed a website can easily find a good writer. There are plenty of people out there who can’t write at all, and then there are those who prefer to cut and paste, who just disappear, and who can’t seem to keep a deadline.

For this reason, most web site developers are constantly watching for opportunities to hire web content writers in the freelance writing market, and in this section I will point out some ways you can get them to approach you without having to go through a bidding process.

The most important step: finding those freelance writing jobs available online. When I first started writing, it caused me a lot of stress that it was pretty obvious that freelance writing jobs were readily available.

After all, there were articles all over the Internet, books, magazine articles, newspaper freelancers, and somebody wrote all those little blurbs that appeared in descriptions and so on. Actually let’s face it: there is a world of print out there!

Not all writers are created equal

The second thing that was obvious was that not a lot of people could actually write. Those of you who CAN write and are reading this know that this is true; how many times have you come across some absolute crap and wondered how it was that the person who penned or typed it could have though it was worthy of being read?

Those of you with freelancing experience know this from an even more important source, as far as the money side of things go. How many clients have you had who have told you how very hard it is to find someone who can actually write, using proper and easy to understand English? For my part, I am pretty sure that this is why the clients I do have are willing to put up with the odd missed deadline and so on.

Making the connection

So what exactly was the stressful part? Well, it lay in connecting the dots between those freelance writing jobs available and the people who were hiring to fill them.

That’s what made me successful; I know where to find jobs on the Internet. I am hoping that sooner or later we can build a community here with writers from several backgrounds who can help to point novices in the right direction, but for now this will probably be my focus.

So, here are some of the places where you will be able to make that connection between the need between the freelance writing jobs available to you and the people hiring to fill them.

Where you can look

• Writing sites
  Here’s one link that I recently found: www.bluegrasssolutions.org. These guys are hiring writers right now and they aren’t the only company doing so either. Keep your ear to the ground and your wits about you and you can find some too.
• Bidding sites
  My bread and butter: Elance.com, Guru.com, ifreelance.com. There are at least half a dozen other sites where clients are offering any type of freelance writing job you could think of.
• Direct appeal
  Every once in a while I get a positive response when I dare to write a website suggesting that they beef up their writing a bit.

Another great place to look is with companies who specialize in Search Engine Optimization. Writing articles is a big part of this so most web site companies retain a writer or two to help out their various clients.

Having been on the other side, I just want to add one thing: When I ask for samples on spec or why a price is higher than someone else’s, I mainly do that to get a feel for the writer’s attitude.

If the answer is defensive or angry, I will not work with them. If it is honest, open and full of certainty, I know I have found someone worth working with.

If you use a bidding site or really any other method of finding an online writing job, sooner or later you are going to get a message from a potential client that says something to the effect “Congratulations, you have made it onto our short list!”.

This is kind of exciting, but you don’t have that job yet. What should you do in order to secure it? And more importantly, what shouldn’t you do? Here are some of my thoughts on some of the common proposals that a prospective client will sometimes make when it comes to negotiating the terms.

Writing a few samples

This is a very, very tricky situation, particularly for the new writer. If you look around at some other writing blogs and websites, you will probably see that the vast majority of writers discourage writing anything free of charge, particularly to land a job (Sharon Hurley Hall is particularly against this idea and has been ever since I started reading what she had to say about the business two years ago).

As usual, though, I find my practical ideas of business at odds with the ideal proposed by other writers.

While I haven’t written a sample article on spec in a long time, I am sure that doing so helped me land my first few online writing jobs. Again, I would go against the common advice in order to grow a business). Still, this won’t work for everyone, here are some quick points to consider before writing on spec:

• Don’t do it if they are asking for too many words. A spec article should only be around 350 words.
• Keep the article even if you don’t hear from the prospect ever again. Chances are you can use it as a sample and may even sell it on another project.
• Make sure that the spec article will count towards the total article number if you do land the job.

Negotiating Price

Another common theme for prospective clients who have you on a short list is the prices that you charge. I absolutely hate this, because I feel like for the most part all writers are underpaid anyway and no one should be asking them to work any cheaper.

Still, one of the problems of the business is stiff competition, and if a potential client sees your prices are higher than another bidder he or she will try and work you down a bit.

Again, your decision here will depend on where you are at with your career. If you have steady work lined up, there’s no need to dicker on your price and you can afford to be firm.

This doesn’t mean that you have to lose the job though; I have had several clients accept my price after I assure them of and proved, the quality of my work and my generally reliable timelines (unfortunately that has changed a bit since the third child, we are always sick or the computer is breaking or something).

The bottom line

As with so many decisions you will make in your attempt to find an online writing job, the decision about negotiating for that job will depend on where you are at as far as income and experience. New writers looking to break in often cannot afford the same lofty principles as those who have been doing it for a while, but taking some lumps in the beginning will mean that you can be more firm later on.