How To Start Freelance Writing With No Experience

Robyn has been working as a freelance writer for seven years now. Additionally, she has postgraduate qualifications in the medical field.

How to Start Getting Experience as a Freelance Writer

As with any job, you're not going to attract clients unless you start generating experience. If you're new to freelance writing and your previous job or academic qualifications don't include writing work, now's the time to start bulking up your new resumé.

My first suggestion is to begin writing for sites such as HubPages. Alongside demonstrating your skills online, you'll potentially attract relevant advice and information from fellow writers.

Other options include signing up for freelancing websites, content mills, and gig selling sites. While you shouldn't make them the mainstay of your paid work, they're great for developing an instant income and boost your CV.

Build a Freelance Writer Website to Gain Attention

Places to Find Instant Work as a Freelance Writer

Let's say you want to start making money like, yesterday. If that's the case, you can turn to content mills. Content mills are sites that assess your writing skills, assign a competency level, and allow you to write articles accordingly. Examples of such sites include:

Textbroker
Writers Domain
Great Content

Now, like most experienced freelance writers, I don't believe content mills should act as your main source of income. But, they will allow you to fill gaps when work is slow and develop your CV.

Start Selling Gigs

Have you ever heard of a little site called Fiverr? While there was once a time when you could sell gigs there for $5 only, today, you can boost your gig packages to make extra money.

While the per-word fee is low, there are some freelance writers who have found significant success by selling through Fiverr. Sure, you need to put in a lot of effort to get there. But, with persistence, your client base will grow, and so will your ability to command higher fees.

Freelancing Sites

Again, many a freelance writer will inherently disagree with using freelancing sites such as Upwork and Guru. But, if you want to find clients quickly and build a portfolio you can flaunt, they do come in handy.

Unfortunately, such sites feature far more low paying than high paying gigs. But, if you're okay with dedicating a little time to searching hard, you may just strike gold.

Pitching consistently is the best way to secure ongoing work, and you may negotiate better rates.

Start Perfecting Your Craft

As a freelance writer, you might want to develop a niche immediately. Mine is health and medicine, but that doesn't mean I don't write about other topics.

Developing a niche gives you a greater chance of improving your reputation in a particular field. Also, if you're especially proficient, your pay becomes even higher.

To hone your craft further, keep reading and learning. Becoming a freelance writer sometimes means taking a look at what others do. Don't copy them, but do get a feel for how they operate and adapt your approach.

Tips for Making Your Freelancing Adventure Fun With Creativity

From the start, you'll have to write about topics that are boring. If writing is something you love, keep yourself sane by writing about topics you love.

In Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, she emphasizes the importance of writing about what you love, whether you'll gain anything from it or not. Doing so reduces the risk of taking the fun out of your work.

Ways to do this include:

Writing a blog about a topic you love
Pitching to sites such as The Huffington Post
Creating an ebook and selling it
Writing for sites like HubPages

With the right balance of creativity and dedication, you'll generate a freelance writing career that works for you.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author's knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.