Teahon-Freelance writer For all writing services and advice.

Freelance writing tips and all that jazz.

Well hello! And thanks for sharing some precious time.

As I have been doing this for a few months now with some, ahem, success, and have had a few queries about how to find work as a freelance writer, I have decided to publish a few tips that I have used to find work.  Remember, that these are tips that have worked for me, and well, they may not work quite so well for you.  But give them a try and see what happens.  Also, if you have any tips you feel are useful, why not share them.

Before I start specifying my work finding techniques, I just want to clarify two points.

• My ego has not grown to the size of a melon and have become fearless, or indeed have forgotten about the competition.  There are brilliant writers out there and I come across them everyday.  The reason I'm sharing these tips is because I feel everyone deserves a chance.  Sorry if that's Hollywood, but it's the way I feel.
• I feel I become a better writer, when other writers are good too.  It sounds odd, but if your contemporaries are good, you're good.

The tips for freelance writers

• Use sites like getafreelancer.com, and craiglist to find work.  They are easy to use, and free to use.
• Apply for as much as you can.  It sounds obvious, but if this is your first venture with something like this low paid work will put you off.  In your mind you probably have fixed prices that are at odds with the price offered.   It is important though, to establish a reputation as a writer, and if your first two or three assignments are low paying, but you earn a reputation as a good writer, they will probably be worth it.  My first two jobs paid around $2 per article, and they were hard ones to research.  Garage design, and pkr poker.com.  I was green and new to the industry, but did a fair job on both.  This led to other work, and gave me something invaluable:  Confidence.
• Writing is a numbers game.  I have found that no matter how detailed, catchy, or focused your pitches are when bidding for work,  you may not get a response at all.  Then something you throw together because you do not really feel you will get the work, and wallah!  The work is yours.  Though it is important to come across professionally as possible, in the long run, your success rate is a matter of mathematics than skillfully crafted pitches.
• Success leads to success, so make sure you take all and every writing opportunity that comes your way.
• Price negotiation is something I have not really come across before.  Normally, at the time of bidding, the client has your price and has awarded you the work, or the work has a price from the outset, so the decision really boils down to can you work for that price?
• Be on time.  Always make sure you meet your deadlines.  Reputations are everything in this business, and if yours is bad the work will dry up.
• Be professional.  Grammar, spelling, the works.  It must make sense and meet the requirements of the brief.
• When putting together a bid, try and focus on what the potential client is after.  If they want SEO writers, focus on that.  Just drop a line or two in at the end of other work you have done, it just goes to build the image.  Obviously, any samples should be relevant.
• Persevere.  It will start to happen, as soon as you land your first job.  Be patient, do good work, and the world will begin to open up.
• Have a website, and if you can a blog.  A leaf out of my book is what i would recommend.

Well that's all the tips I can muster at the moment, I will update this section soon.  I have also added a page where the Garage design, and the poker articles are shown. It has called "The First Articles..."  They have not been edited, as they serve as good reminders of the early days, which were only in January!

When you read the quality of these, you must gain hope!