Some of these rip-offs are age-old and never seem to go away. And new scams are always emerging, keeping writers on their toes.

We’re past due for an updated guide to the scams that target writers—with tips on how you can avoid falling for them. 

Please don’t get scammed! Keep reading for the top 10 scams that target writers, or fill in the form below to get this as a digital ebook. (Or both!)

The top 10 scams that target writers

Often freelance writers can be too trusting, as we seek to ply our trade. Sadly, there are plenty of people out there ready to take advantage of our trusting nature for their own gain.

1. Writing for free

There are many “opportunities” to write for free online. You’ll get a lot of pitches that your free piece will give you “great exposure.” Most of these offers are a complete waste of your time and energy.

The most common scam in this category is the request to write a free trial article as an audition for a job.

Unless you have no clips, you shouldn’t have to do this—prospects can just look at your samples and decide whether to hire you.

All too often, companies fill their content needs by simply asking applicants to do these “auditions.” These free samples are their whole source of content. They don’t really plan to hire anyone.

If you get asked to write a free sample, ask yourself if it’s worth your time. A good counter-offer is to write the piece on spec—namely, that if they use the clip you’ll be paid. If it’s good enough to publish, there’s no justifiable reason why your first piece should be unpaid.

2. Pennies for ad-clicks

Somewhat similar to Medium’s formula, you may find sites that offer an “opportunity” to write for what they promise will be pay. But the pay model is based on how often readers click on the ads next to your posts, or how many views a post gets.

Most of the sites making these offers have little traffic, so no clicks will happen. Also, have you noticed that people generally hate online ads? Real diminishing returns there, in general.

This is a formula that may have worked 15 years ago, but few sites today are good pay-per-click earning opportunities.

There is a legit way to earn based on traffic or ad clicks. That’s with a minimum-pay guarantee, with click or eyeball revenue figured in as a bonus. I earned well writing for Forbes on this formula at one point (sadly, their pay scheme is different now). Any site that really generates high traffic should be willing to offer you some base pay, since they know you’ll get some traffic. If they won’t pay a flat guaranteed fee in addition to click revenue, I recommend you move on.

3. Pay to play

This is one of the oldest scams out there. It’s so popular that the FTC warns against it. “Congratulations, your resume shows you are qualified for X contract job! Just pay the $30 application fee and you’ll be hired.” Nope. Total scam.

Legitimate employers don’t ask you to pay to apply or to get hired for their job. Nuh-uh.

Also, consider this gray area: the websites that promise you unique lists of freelance jobs, if you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee.

(Red flag: No samples will be offered, no free trial. No other benefits, just job lists.)

Heads up: Most of those job ads are simply scraped up from Craigslist and other places you could look at yourself, for free. And most of them pay about $20 per blog post.

When are job listings worth a fee?

A paid jobs list should be unique and high-quality. Shout-out to FlexJobs, which does an impressive job of digging up legit jobs off arcane places you’ll never find on your own.

A time-saving list of high-paying gigs is worth a fee, in my view. Most pay-to-play sites serve up warmed-over junk listings. Save your money, do your own research-and remember that online job ads are rarely a source of great freelance-writing jobs. That only comes from qualifying and pitching your own prospects, who aren’t sifting through 500 resumes from a mass job ad.

4. Follow the bouncing check

In these days of electronic fund transfers and PayPal, it’s fairly unusual for a client to want to send you a physical check or, even weirder, a money order or Western Union telegram. So if someone asks to pay you in one of these old-school ways, be on red alert. We’ve heard from writers who have turned in packages of 20 articles or more on the basis of an advance check, only to discover the check has bounced.

Another common rubber-check scam that targets writers involves sending you a fat, fake check for a lucrative-sounding upcoming writing assignment. It’s over $1 a word! You’re so excited, they’re paying so well. But after you deposit their check, they cancel part of the writing order and ask you to send the extra funds back.

Meanwhile, the check bounces. By the time your bank notifies you, you’ve mailed off $400 to your “client,” and they’re in the wind.

In another variation, the client tells you that special equipment or materials are required to do their writing job. (Say what!?) They will send you a check to cover this purchase, but urge you to go ahead and buy it now, so you can get started. You buy the needed items, which never arrive. You’ve wired your “reimbursement” to the client’s shadow company. By the time you start to wonder what’s up, their check has bounced.

5. Imposter syndrome

No, I’m not talking about the self-esteem problem where you don’t feel worthy of earning a great living as a freelance writers. Here, I mean scammers who impersonate a name-brand company or thought leader in hopes of luring you into their scam.

One popular scam in this category involved people posing as executives at Mercer Consulting. They request Google Hangout-based text “interviews” to screen you.

Presto-you’re hired!

The only problem is that they’re imposters, leveraging a big-business name to suck you into a scam. Luckily, the writers I know have managed to pull out before finding out the details of how they were going to get exploited here. Likely, they would have turned in a big project, only to find the client in the wind.

Writers with high visibility online also get impersonated this way, by people running the next scam in our list. I know because it happened to me.

6. Man in the middle

When is a client not really a client? When they are a middleman inserting themselves into a transaction to steal a cut of your pay. Not talking about digital agencies that go out and hustle to sign clients and then hire writers to do their assignments. These are people who’ve done nothing to create the opportunity-they just want some money that should rightfully be yours.

This has been going on since the birth of the Internet. Here’s how it works: people who aren’t writers sign up on mass platforms such as Upwork, posing as writers. Then, they bid low on masses of gigs to scoop up as many listings as possible. Then, they offer to sub the work out to you, for even less money than the pittance that was offered originally. They pocket the difference.

I can document middleman scams targeting writers dating back to the days of Elance (remember them?)—that was the place where someone posed as me and then wanted to sub out work for a pittance.

When you talk to clients, make sure they are the client, not a middleman adding zero value. You get paid less in this scenario, and don’t get direct client contact. That means you’ve been robbed not just of some of your pay, but also of the career-making opportunity to get client recommendations and referrals.

7. Fake pricing scams

This is that new wrinkle I was telling you about. Apparently, some clients list high rates on their jobs when they post them to mass platforms-but there’s a catch.

If you see a note that says “ignore the price,” watch out. It turns out some platforms allow clients to post one price in their listing, but their fine print reveals the job actually pays pennies. This is a way of attracting better-quality writers who’ve set higher rates on the platform, and then hoping to sucker them into writing for less. Maybe you do a batch of work before noticing their real price is different than the one you saw.

Shout-out to freelance writer Sylvie Tremblay for alerting me to this scam, which she experienced on ClearVoice:

If you see a deceptively-priced listing, report it to the platform it’s on. Hopefully, we can keep the pressure on to get these posters banned.

8. Promotional scams

Marketing your writing is time-consuming work most of us hate. That’s why scams have proliferated that purport to  find us clients or help sell our book. Some of the popular offers out there:

• Lead-finding platforms. Plenty of places claim they can drum up prospects for you…but I’ve heard zero success stories in my entire 25+ year writing career. There is no autopilot marketing algorithm that gets this done
• List sellers. They’ll claim to have a quality, up-to-date list of great prospects for you. But these lists are always a waste of money, with obsolete contact info. There is no list you can buy that will get you gigs-and you can easily build your own lead list with free online search
• Book promoters. They’ll claim to make your book into a guaranteed bestseller. But as my friend Linda Formichelli sadly found out, promoters can be sketchy and may not fulfill on their promises. Be skeptical and ask to talk to happy customers before paying others for legwork you could do on your own.

I wish there was a way to delegate our marketing done, but time has shown that in the freelance-marketing world, there’s no real substitute for marketing your own services. There’s no pre-built list or automated tool that can get us great clients. Build your network, build your audience, and sell your services. If you want help, carefully check references on anyone you bring on to help you promote.

The VA solution

There are routine parts of our marketing that can be delegated. What you can do is hire someone and give them parameters of who your client is, hand them your homemade prospect list, and get them to do the scut work of sitting and finding a contact name and email for each lead.

You can also write a marketing email pitch and have a VA sit and customize each one and send it out. Admin tasks can be farmed out, under your direction…but that’s about it.

9. Reputation destroyers

If you’ve worked as a journalist, you’ve probably been approached with an offer like this-we’ll pay you to write on the sites where you already have relationships. Please profile us as a great company. Quote our expert.

The catch: They don’t want you to tell your editor they’re paying you.

If you don’t know, this is unethical for journalists. It’s a conflict of interest. But increasingly, if they can land a link on Forbes.com or another high-traffic site with a great reputation, >marketing managers at struggling startups don’t care if they ruin your career.

Yes, it might well get you banned from that site, when the ruse is uncovered. And they don’t care.

The low-rent version of this reputation killer is the undisclosed, paid link-insertion request. A client just wants you to insert links to their site in posts you write on high-traffic, well-regarded sites-without telling your editor. They’ll throw $50 or $100 per link your way, for doing them this favor.

When your editor figures it out, you’ll be banned from their platform. Word gets around about writers with ethical challenges. It won’t ever be worth what they’re offering, when it could tank your career. Essentially, in this scenario you’re pretending you’re a journalist who’s independently found this company noteworthy. And it’s a lie.

If you’re starving this week, it might seem like easy money. I know writers who do this double-dipping, and think it’s no big deal-they’re willing to roll the dice on ruining their career. Trust me, it won’t be worth it. Just say no.

10. Writer education scams

Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, as someone who offers 3-4 new courses every year. But there are a whole lot of sketchy course offers that target freelance writers. They make big promises and deliver little actual learning, teacher FaceTime, or earning potential for you.

What are the problems? Watch for:

• Faux “experts” who have scant experience in the type of writing or freelancer marketing they’re teaching. I’ve seen people sell a course within 60 days of becoming a full-time freelancer. I’ve even seen presenters who use a pseudonym. Talk about untrustworthy!
• Big-earning promises for obsolete writing types, such as direct response copywriting (when’s the last time you got one of those long letters in the mail?)
• A lack of testimonials from happy students
• Outrageous pricing, such as a $2,500 SEO course I recently saw advertised, with one of the longest sales pages I’ve ever seen
• Fake freelancing career-help platforms tossed up by fly-by-night operators, hoping to collect membership fees before they get a ton of negative online reviews and disappear. Some then start over with a new URL and keep on scamming
• Useless “certifications.” Have you been offered a chance to earn a “certificate” in some type of freelance writing, from a non-university? Often, these are pricey courses. Many training platforms will tell you their certificate will be a major game-changer for your writing career. Slap this on your writer site, they tell you, and the clients will be begging to hire you. If you’ve bought into this mythology, I’ve got bad news.

Writing certifications are all but useless. Our clients aren’t familiar with what online courses are available to us, or who taught us what. They actually don’t care if you have a degree from Columbia.

They read your portfolio and decide whether to hire you. That’s it. Credentials aren’t considered—I know because I’m a college dropout with a certificate in nothing, yet I’ve written for multiple Fortune 500 companies.

If you’re wondering why Freelance Writers Den has never dangled a “certificate” at you for completing a course, it’s because certificates don’t help your career. Need to learn something? Take a course from a proven, expert instructor. Use your new skills to pitch for better work.

There’s only one kind of certificate that helps you. That’s one that comes with an instructor’s introduction to prospective clients he’s educated about his program. Marketing offers like these are few, while certificate offers are many.

Your scam-fighting toolkit for scams that target writers

How can you become a street-smart freelance writer who doesn’t get ripped off? Here are my tips and resources:

Never write for a new business client without a contract and up-front payment

I like 50% of the first project or first month’s retainer, before I start writing. The deposit really screens out a lot of flakes. Don’t forget to let their payment clear the bank, to make sure it’s legit. With international clients, consider asking for 100% up-front. There’s little legal recourse to sue for nonpayment across international borders.

Vet publications carefully

You can’t get a deposit here, so be on guard. How long have they been around? Any chatter online about stiffing writers? Try to get payment terms on acceptance rather than publication, in case they keep pushing your piece to future issues.

Research, research, research

It’s easy to get excited when a prospect contacts you, but look before you leap. Who is this prospect? Ideally, you want to see they’re big, successful, and have been around a long time. A few basic research tips:

• Get full contact information, including street address and phone, not just an email
• Look them up online and send a confirming email to the address you find on their site, to verify it’s really them looking to hire you
• Use whopayswriters.com to check publication pay rates, before you waste time querying a non-payer
• Check Glassdoor reviews for negative comments
• See if they have any Better Business Bureau complaints
• Google “X company sucks,” “is X Company a scam?” or “Is X legit?” to see if your prospect’s shady moves are blowing up the Internet

Ask your community

Don’t freelance alone! You need peers so you have a sounding board when you’re wondering if something is a scam. Within the Freelance Writers Den the members help each other avoid rip-offs and have been for more than a decade. With this big of a freelance-writer group, somebody’s always seen your scam before.

Know the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission warns the public about scams, including ones that impact writers.

Always disclose relationships

Don’t keep the fact that a company is paying you to write about or link to them a secret from your publication editors. Ever.

Avoid backlink swaps

Google doesn’t like to see you stuff a link on your blog in return for getting a link to your blog on your client’s site. Don’t risk your site’s reputation for $50 to $100, or even just a mutual free swap.

Choose coaches, teachers, and promo helpers carefully

Give them the same vetting you’d give a client. How big are they, how long have they been doing this, what’s their level of experience in this topic, is that their real name, can you talk to happy customers…the works. Cross-compare offers and prices before you buy.

Guard your personal information

The only time you should be sending your Social Security number is by submitting a W9 after thoroughly vetting a prospect and verifying their identity. Only send bank account info by filling out an ACH deposit form sent by a verified bank-that gives a client no ability to withdraw, only to deposit. Use secure channels to send personal ID numbers.

Beware of obviously overblown promises

Is freelance writing a guaranteed high-earning career? Can you earn $10,000 a month as a brand-newbie with no training? No.

Trust your gut

Does something not smell right here? If so, investigate. I recently got an InMail from a construction company consultant who said LinkedIn “recommended me” to him (what?). He wanted me to ghostwrite an article on alcohol abuse. Huh? I took that to my LinkedIn network and immediately heard from three other writers who’d gotten the exact same message, in some cases multiple times…a sure sign something’s fishy.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true…it usually is.

It’s your freelance business to run. Be a good steward of your time and resources and do your homework before you jump on any offers, whether they’re for jobs, marketing help, or courses.

Be your own scam-buster

It’s a great time to be a freelance writer, because there’s a ton of great opportunity out there…but if you waste time falling for scams, it’s hard to earn well.

I hope you can use this guide to avoid getting ripped off, so you can spend more time finding great clients.

Want these top 10 scams that target writers as an ebook? Fill your email address in the form below and we’ll send it to you!

This ultimate guide to becoming a freelance writer will go in-depth to reveal exactly what you need to learn about how to get started.

Each chapter of this 7,000+ word guide covers an important topic for getting started plus an FAQ to answer the biggest questions on the subject.

You’ll learn the basics about starting your freelance career and get actionable advice and sound strategies that successful freelancers are using right now to succeed.

We’ll also cover how to evaluate your skills, how to price your work, how to land your first paying job, and more!

A Quick Word Before We Get into the Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Freelance Writer

Before we get started, it’s important to understand that everyone will have a slightly different path towards success in freelance writing.

Freelancing can be an incredibly rewarding and flexible career path, or even just a great side hustle. Unfortunately, getting started can feel intimidating.

Before you even learn how to become a freelance writer, you have to find your why. Why should you get into freelance writing? What’s the scenario that tends to lead to success?

Key factors:

• You love writing with a passion
• You are willing to write about topics that aren’t your personal favorites
• You’re willing to aggressively market your services
• You’re game to learn new writing tools, types, and skills to keep up with market needs
• You are realistic about how much work it will take, how long it will take to launch this, and how tough the competition is

In our experience, these factors are the basis for building a successful freelance writing business. This isn’t a lark, or a fill-in project, or something you can do in 10 minutes a day.

It takes talent, dedication, and a commitment to seeing it through. If you’ve got that, you can build a freelance writing business that will give you the financial rewards you want, and the personal freedom we all seek.

The steps below are a basic guideline based on our own personal experiences, and the experiences of hundreds of writers in the Freelance Writer’s Den community. This guide is intended for beginners looking for the very first steps they should take.

For more experienced writers who already know how to be a freelance writer, feel free to explore the rest of this site, or check out the Den, for more advanced tactics.

Chapter 1: Evaluate Your Skills and Specialties

Before looking for your first writing job, it’s wise to take an honest look at your own skills and relevant experiences. This will help you carve out a niche for yourself as a freelance writer.

Some questions to ask yourself might include:

• Are you a good writer?
• Do you have examples to prove it?
• Do you need some training before confidently saying that you are a skilled writer?
• Do you have any topics that you are a true expert in?
• Do you have any topics that you are genuinely interested in writing about?
• Do you know how to create original content?

Equally important is to consider what niche or type of writing you may be interested in. The best method to become a freelance writer may be somewhat different for writers looking to blog than it will be for those looking to become copywriters, as an example. It also may be slightly different for those looking to get into healthcare writing than finance writing.

FAQ

Q: Do I need to choose a niche for my business?

A: Only if you’d like to make this launch process quick and easy. It’s hard to market yourself as a freelance writer, because that’s so broad, and that’s a common mistake many make when learning how to start freelance writing. Clients aren’t searching for that—they’re searching for a freelance technology writer, or a Dallas healthcare writer, or something similar.

They want to know if you write their type of thing, so the broad approach often attracts zero clients. Being a generalist also makes it harder to build expertise and raise your rates.

Q: What is a niche?

A: Good question—what we mean is an industry, such as healthcare, software, finance, marina management, metal-smithing. Think of these as niche verticals.

You could also niche horizontally, meaning you specialize in one type of writing, like only case studies or blog posts. We don’t recommend going this route, as a newbie. It’s much harder to get enough clients when you limit yourself to a single type of writing, and easier when you’re a utility player with knowledge of a particular industry sector.

Once you’re established and are turning away offers, you can become someone who does only one type of writing if you so desire. Until then, focus on industries of interest and write whatever clients need—that’s the quickest way to become a freelance writer and get this going.

Q: How do I know what a good niche for me would be?

A: Your easiest, best-earning niches generally lie where your experiences and interests intersect with a lucrative topic or industry.

Not sure whether your niche idea would work? Ask yourself, “Who would the big-money clients (or publications) be in this niche, that would pay great rates and have steady work?”

If that question is hard to answer, it’s probably not a great niche. If you’re unfamiliar with the writing marketplace, you’ll want to join a writer community where you can ask around and learn from working pros.

Q: Do I just choose one niche?

A: Actually, we advise choosing two or three. Staying a bit diverse will help keep your business thriving as the economy and individual industries wax and wane.

Q: Isn’t it bad to turn away clients who aren’t in my niche, when I’m just starting out?

A: Weirdly, it isn’t. Writing for everyone and anyone makes your career very scattered, and it’s hard to get any traction. Like they say, the riches are in the niches. Focusing your writing on a few topics will help you quickly gain expertise and impress clients.

Q: What if I super-hate the idea of choosing niches, and I want to stay a generalist?

A: Hey, it’s your business to run—we’re just trying to make this succeed quickly.

One other way to niche your business is by geography. For example, you can market yourself as a Dallas Freelance Writer. If you’re in a mid to larger-sized city this can also work, if you like working with local clients.

Chapter 2: Understand the Basics

If you are new to freelance writing, you’ll want to learn the basics of how to be a freelance writer before going after a paid job.

The Freelance Writer’s Den is a membership community that helps freelance writers find better-paying jobs, hone their writing skills, and level up their freelance careers. There are 300+ hours of video and audio trainings, tons of forum resources, excellent networking opportunities, quarterly bootcamps, and so much more. For newcomers and experts alike, the service is well worth the cost of admission.

For absolute beginners, understanding the essential elements of freelancing is vital. The tips below provide a crash-course.

Pricing FAQs

Q: How do I know what to charge my first clients?

A: There are a few ways to figure this out. First off, if you’re writing for a publication, they may have set rates and tell you what they are.

If not, you can ask clients what their budget is—and sometimes, they’ll tell you.

If their lips are zipped on that, you can ask around that network you’re building, to learn about typical rates. You can also calculate your daily rate, and simply charge what you need to, to pay your bills and maintain the lifestyle you want.

Q: Should I charge by the word, hour, page, or project?

A: Ideally, you want to charge by the project. Project rates are especially great for newbies, because then your client won’t be penalized if it takes you longer to write than a more experienced writer. They’re what pros do—we’re not hourly clerks, as writers.

When you work on project rates, you will automatically increase your hourly rate over time, as you become more efficient and take less time to write. And your client will never be the wiser. So yeah. Project rates all the way.

Q: What’s a good average hourly rate my freelance writing should work out to?

A: If you’re in the West, try to aim for at least $25 to $35 USD per hour with first clients as a newbie. Less will mean you’ll never earn enough to stay afloat. Aim to rapidly raise that into the $50 to $75 USD an hour range, and keep moving up from there. Experienced freelance writers earn $75 to $100 USD an hour and more.

Q: How do I know how long it will take me to do projects?

A: By tracking your time, there is lots of free software out there for that. Figure out how long it takes you, and then challenge yourself to get it done faster on the next project. Keep improving!

Process

• Writers can find work by applying for jobs/projects, or by pitching publications
• Pitching a specific project or article idea gets a way better response than “Hi, do you need a writer for anything?”
• The most common types of work available are blog posts, how-to guides, product reviews, and buying guides
• Other great ideas for beginner jobs include rewriting local small business websites, contributing community newspapers and magazines, writing for local marketing and ad agencies (have them outsource their client work to you!), and more. Check out our full guide to entry-level writing jobs for more ideas
• Clients will typically supply topics, and often keywords that should be used
• Clients will generally have an expectation for article length (in number of words)
• It is up to the writer to research the topic and cover it appropriately
• Depending on the client, drafts may be delivered via Word documents, Google Docs, or uploaded directly to a website via WordPress or another website backend
• Revisions (edits) will often be necessary, particularly when starting out. You likely won’t be paid for revisions, as the rate is calculated based on the final word count

Chapter 3: Collect (or Create) Writing Samples

To land a project, you will almost always need to show examples of your writing. At first, you can get away with simply sending samples to positions you are applying for—but eventually, you will want to have a website to display your work (see step 5 for details).

You will want to choose samples that show off your skills as a writer. Ideally, they should be relevant to the actual topics you want to be paid to write about, although this is not always possible.

There are different “tiers” of writing samples that you can use. Here are some examples:

• Ideal: A published article or blog post on an authoritative website, on a topic relating to the project you are applying for
• Good: A published article or blog post on an authoritative website
• Decent: A published article on a random website, a college paper, a detailed Amazon product review
• Avoid: Personal essays, high school papers, etc.

Once you have your samples, it’s time to move on to finding an actual paid writing job!

Samples FAQ

Q: How can I get clients when I don’t have any samples yet?

A: The easiest way is to go out and get some samples. This is also known as working pro bono. You’ll want to choose publications or companies to work with that will give you great samples in your chosen niches.

Define a limited project, and get a testimonial to go with your sample. Boom! Once you have four to six, you’re ready to impress paying customers.

Q: Is guest posting a good way to get samples?

A: It can be, especially if it’s on a popular site. If you’re posting free for exposure, be sure to choose your sites carefully, and appear where your clients might see your byline.

Q: What about writing for content mills, as a way to get first clips?
A: We don’t recommend it, even for those struggling to land their first writing jobs. The requirements of mill work are very different from what you’ll be asked to do in well-paid client work, so it doesn’t serve as a very effective training ground. Often, you don’t end up with clips you can use—they’re ghostwritten for an end client who isn’t identified. Also, mills can be capricious about who they ban or give crummy ratings to. You’re basically not in control of your career.

Meanwhile, the tiny pay makes you wonder if you could actually make money writing very fast on there…and the answer is no, you usually can’t. But writers get stuck writing for tiny pay in mills, for years on end. Mill work is also fading away, as there’s less call for short, dashed-off, SEO-keyword-stuffed content, because Google doesn’t like that anymore. So it’s increasingly a dead-end street.

By contrast, doing pro bono work for small publications or small businesses for your first samples gives you clips that impress, and keeps clarity that you can’t earn this way and will need to move up. It also gives you real-world experience writing for the exact types of clients you want.

Q: What about using posts from my own blog as samples?

A: It’s better than nothing, but not ideal. Clients know you didn’t have to please an editor or marketing manager and could publish whatever you wanted, so it doesn’t exactly impress. But if you write kick-ass headlines and get a lot of comments and shares on your blog posts, it could help you lure those first clients.

Q: Does it matter if the sample I do is for a relative or friend?

A: Not really. If they’ve got a small business, an e-commerce site, or edit the hometown paper, go for it!

Chapter 4: Find Your First Gig

It’s almost time to start writing!

Now, you just have to find your first paid writing job.

When you’re just starting out, try to keep your expectations in check. Are you going to land your dream client right off the bat? Almost certainly not. However, any project will give you valuable experience that you can use to build towards securing the type of work that you truly want.

How do you find freelance gigs? Make a Living Writing maintains a huge database of paying markets for writers. Here you can find websites that pay writers to submit articles and blog posts. Each website will have different requirements and pay rates. Some are beginner-friendly, while others require a solid portfolio.

Our own lists of paying markets are a great place to start when learning how to be a freelance writer. We highly recommend checking out those markets (find one that fits your desired niche) and start pitching!

Alternatively, there are a variety of job boards and forums made specifically for freelance writers and bloggers. On these boards, clients post online writing jobs and projects that writers can apply for. Some examples include:

• FlexJobs
• Our own Freelance Writer’s Den Job Board
• The ProBlogger Job Board
• Reddit’s /r/HireaWriter
• Reddit’s /r/ForHire
• The Blogging Pro Job Board

The downside of job boards is that they can be competitive, with potentially hundreds of applications for a single position. That’s why we recommend pitching those publications in our market lists. Having said that, many projects are quick to apply for, so it’s still worthwhile to send out applications for roles you are interested in.

Lastly, you have sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and others which are basically platforms to connect freelancers and clients. In general, we recommend avoiding these platforms. They are extremely competitive, and often pay poorly. We also recommend avoiding “content mills”, which are businesses that sell content to clients, and pay writers a small fraction of the revenue to actually write the content.

Client FAQs

Q: How do I find my first clients?

A: There are two basic approaches—you can look in your town for clients in your niche, or you can look online. Look at the online presence of businesses you like, go talk to owners, and propose a project to help get them more clients.

If you’re in a small town or not in the same country as your prospective clients, you’ll be looking online. There are plenty of blogs that offer unpaid guest posts, and many that pay for guest posts.

You can also target small business websites in your niches—most business owners are overwhelmed, not good writers, and will really appreciate the help.

Q: What is the one best, free, fastest way to market my services?

A: There isn’t a single answer to that question, because it depends a lot on you. (We warned you up top some answers would be it depends!) There are many free and low-cost ways to market your writing.

We’re marketing-method agnostic—meaning we don’t care how you do it, as long as you do lots of it. Think in terms of 100 pieces of freelance marketing per month, to get launched.

You could send customized marketing emails, do in-person networking events, pick up the phone and cold call, work your LinkedIn network, send direct-mail packages out. It’s all good, and more. We’ve actually taught 40 Ways to Market Your Writing. Lots of ways to skin the freelance marketing cat.

Think about your personality and the types of clients you want and how they do marketing—you may want to use a similar mode to how they reach out to clients. Then, study the best practices in that form of marketing and feedback from your writer network, so you know how to crush it.

Q: Who do I pitch at businesses?

A: In a small company, it may be the CEO. Beyond there, look for a marketing manager. The guy whose name is on the press release is often a good pick.

Q: Which editor should I try at a magazine?

A:  Managing editor is my default, if there isn’t an articles, features, or editor in my specific topic, i.e. “health editor.” Above the managing editor, those editors aren’t really editing the paper.

Q: What if I don’t have enough article ideas to get assignments regularly?

A: Then don’t write articles. There’s a ton of paid writing for businesses, where they will dictate the topics. Alternatively, learn about how to be a story idea machine.

Q: What about responding to online job ads?

A: Most mass online job boards such as Craigslist are a waste of your time. All those postings will get hundreds of responses, so your statistical odds of getting hired through them are tiny. Look for niche boards that aren’t as widely circulated, or boards where either job-seekers or employers have to pay to participate, such as FlexJobs or LinkedIn Jobs.

Q: How do I know if an online offer of writing work is a scam?

A: Try Googling: “Is <site name> a scam?” and see what comes up. That’ll usually help. For instance, there’s this classic scam. You can also use the “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” test.

Q: I found this site, Master Writing Jobs—do you think I should sign up?

A: Actually, the consensus is that Master Writing Jobs is a scam. To build a thriving freelance business, you’re going to need to develop a good nose for what’s a legit offer. Any site that makes you join and pay a fee before you can see any testimonials or info about what the platform offers, you wanna run.

One of the biggest ways new freelance writers waste time is signing up on various platforms that promise to give them loads of great-paying writing jobs. Know that There. Is. No. Such. Platform. Finding your own clients is what’s for dinner, if you want to pay your bills with freelance writing.

Q: Do I need a contract?

A: Only if you want to get paid to write. There are plenty of examples online. Your freelance contract doesn’t have to be long or complicated—a brief email your client responds to with ‘I agree’ that outlines the deadline/wordcount/pay terms will work. You can also use online-signature solutions for a full-blown contract, such as DocuSign, or attach a Word Doc. Having a good contract in place will go a long way to making your invoicing process smoother.

Q: Should I get an up-front deposit to start working?

A: With business clients, absolutely yes. Fifty percent up-front deposit to begin work is typical. Publications don’t work that way, they will pay on acceptance or publication. Strive for the former.

Q: What if clients want me to be available on nights or weekends, when I want time off?

A: It’s your business to run. You set the parameters of when you’ll be available. Usually, it’ll work out fine, but you may occasionally turn down a client who wants you available 24/7.

Q: What if I’m in a different time zone than my clients, will that be a problem?

A: Mostly no. Beyond a first (virtual) meeting, most clients don’t need a lot of real-time contact.

Q: What if I invoice my client but they’re not paying me?

A: You have a range of options to get flaky freelance clients to pay up. If it happens a lot, realize that you need to change where and how you prospect for clients. Check out our full freelancer invoicing guide for more useful tips.

Q: What if I want to ask for a raise?

A: Like all businesses, you should be looking to raise your rates steadily as you go. Here’s a post on how to raise rates with existing clients.

Chapter 5: Create a Portfolio Website and Online Presence

To come across as more professional, and to land higher-tier clients, you will want to create a writing portfolio website. Not only does this lend you credibility, it can also help clients find you, rather than the other way around.

Most writers will be best served by creating a relatively simple portfolio website. This can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be!

For beginners, the easiest way to set up a portfolio site is with Squarespace.

You don’t have to be tech savvy or a designer to create a beautiful portfolio website for your freelancing business. Squarespace makes it really easy to create a site with tons of beautiful templates to choose from.

Click here to learn more about Squarespace and begin building your portfolio today!

You’ll also want to expand your online presence by being active on social media. LinkedIn is a particularly great online neighborhood for writers to hang out in.

Portfolio FAQ

Q: I know I need somewhere online people can find me—but as a broke newbie, what can I do?

A: Once you get rolling, a writer website will is very important to have. In addition, you can also use your LinkedIn profile (here’s my tip-sheet on how to optimize your profile). You can go a long way putting your portfolio on LinkedIn. You can add clips to Experience entries, and also in your Summary.

Q: Why not just put clips on Contently or an Upwork profile, or somewhere like that?

A: Mass writer sites have a reputation for low rates—and their platform makes it easier to browse through others’ portfolios than to find your contact info. By contrast, LinkedIn is a huge platform where great companies are searching for freelancers, every day. We think it’s a better place to look pro.

Q: What if I don’t have a byline on my clips, like with copywriting work?

A: You can still use your clips in your portfolio, as long as you didn’t sign a nondisclosure agreement that swore you to secrecy that you authored the work.

Q: What if my clips are too old?

A: There’s actually no such thing. You’ll be surprised how seldom prospects care about the age of your clips—they just want to read your work. If you have old print clips that aren’t online, see if a good print shop can create a PDF for you, where the article is readable.

Q: What if I want to do a writer website now, as a newbie?

A: Great idea! Makes you look more professional. And the secret is, the copy you write on your writer website is a writing sample. It can be your first clip. You can get good web-copy jobs from writing your own terrific site copy!

Q: What if I have a blog—can I use that as my writer website?

A: It’s not ideal, unless your blog is very successful and popular. Then, you can put a hire me tab up and solicit writing jobs there. A writer website is a stronger way to present yourself, where the home page is all about your client and the services you offer, rather than an ever-changing set of blog post headlines.

Q: I’m not very technical. How can I get up a good writer website?

A: Squarespace offers the easiest way to create a portfolio site for your writing business. You don’t really need any special knowledge or tech skills to get a website that looks professional and stylish. Squarespace has a ton of great templates to choose from, and makes it easy to just plug in your content and publish your own website.

Chapter 6: Improve Your Skills

Your first few months as a freelance writer will likely feature a steep learning curve. Once you get familiar with the basics, you should continue to improve your skills in order to further your career and increase your earning potential.

One of the best ways to level up your skills as a freelance writer is to sign up for the Freelance Writer’s Den. This subscription will get you access to over 300 hours of exclusive boot camps and classes, eBooks and other learning materials. Plus, you will enjoy ongoing access to a friendly community of 500+ freelance writers!

The Freelance Writer’s Den covers all the bases. It can help make you a better writer, but it will also teach you practical skills such as how to price your work, how to pitch clients, and how to remain productive while working from home.

Click here to learn more about the Freelance Writer’s Den!

Skills FAQ

Q: What’s the best way to make sure I do a great job on my assignment?

A: Study the publication, the blog, or the company materials you are writing for. Really take it apart. How do they start their articles, quote their sources, how long are paragraphs, what sort of experts do they use? How do they conclude? Then, you do that.

Q: I’m scared to turn in my writing to my client. What should I do?

A: Have a writer-friend give it a read and make suggestions. Or consider trading services with an editor for a while, while you build confidence.

Q: What if my article gets killed?

A: Like the old song says: Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again. Can’t let any little setbacks get in the way of your freelance dreams!

Q: My client hated my first draft, and I’m devastated. How can I prevent this problem?

A: Ask more questions up-front. Learn about the tone, style, and content the client needs. Pros ask a lot of questions. Here are some key questions to ask copywriting clients.

Chapter 7: Handle Your Housekeeping

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new side hustle or career path, and lose sight of the basic tasks you need to do to run your business. As a freelancer, here are just a few of the “housekeeping” items that you’ll want to keep in mind:

• Keeping accurate records of income and expenses
• Invoicing clients
• Setting aside money to pay for taxes (as a freelancer, taxes are not withheld from your payments, so you must set aside money yourself)
• Seeking out new projects (even if you have work right now)
• Following up with old clients to gauge their interest in working together again
• Learning and improving your skills
• Pitching your dream clients
• Adding new samples to your portfolio website
• Networking with other writers, business owners, and marketing professionals

Remember that as a freelancer, you are really a business. This means you need to take routine tasks like bookkeeping seriously, and continue seeking out new clients in order to keep your schedule full.

So there you have it: Our step-by-step How to become a freelance writer in just seven steps. This guide will help you get off on the right foot on your new journey into a successful freelance business. As you hone your skills and gain confidence, you will be able to improve your earning potential, land better clients, and enjoy your work more.

Business FAQs

Q: Do I need to register my business?

A: No one can make you, but it’s a good idea. In the United States, if you want to write off your business expenses, being registered with state and city tax authorities helps convince the IRS (or your national tax body) you’re a real business.

Q: What should I name my business?

A: Just starting out, your own name is fine. You can always choose another name later, or “do business as” (DBA) another name.

If you want to be fancy and have serious branding for your freelance writing biz, we recommend choosing a name with keywords that would help clients find you, like: “Healthcare Writer Dana.” Avoid meaningless words and phrases such as “communications” or “solutions,” that don’t really say what you do.

Q: Can I use a fake name in freelance writing?

A: Not usually, no. Noms de plume are for fiction authors. You’ll need to reveal your real name when you get paid to write, anyway—and having a fake identity will make editors wonder what you’re hiding. There’s a legit exception to this if you’re a woman with a stalker…we’ve known people in that sitch, and editors do understand. But otherwise, not ideally.

Q: Do I need a separate checking account for my business?

A: Yes. Just get one. You can thank me later for sparing you endless hours trying to keep your business and personal expenses/income separate.

Q: Do I need to become an LLC or corporation to be a freelance writer?

A: No, it’s not 100% necessary. An LLC does provide a layer of liability protection between your personal assets such as a home or car, and your business. But if you don’t lie or make stuff up, you’ll likely never be sued, so it’s not a big concern, especially just starting out.

Q: What tools do I need for running my business?

A: Beyond a computer and the Internet, the rest is optional. If you want to be more pro, choose a solution such as Freshbooks (free 30-day trial) for tracking your income and expenses. Most would-be freelance writers spend way too much time wondering if they need a grammar app, and not enough time trying to find clients.

Q: What do I need to know about taxes?

A: Not much, the first year. You’ll just pay what you owe, end of the year. Set aside a portion of your freelance income for taxes that’s similar to the tax bracket you had last year, as a guesstimate. In the U.S., once you hit the level of owing $1,000 or more in annual tax as a self-employed person, you’ll make estimated quarterly tax payments, based on the previous year’s income.

Q: What about health insurance?

A: If you’re leaving a job and taking the plunge into freelancing, you’ll want to make sure you have health insurance. The good news is there are numerous viable self-employed health insurance plans available for freelancers.

5 Major Lessons Learned Over Many Years of Freelancing

We’ve learned a LOT over the years. Reflecting on my experiences, these are the key lessons that we wish we’d known when starting out:

1. Charge more when you are qualified. Once you reach a certain level of skill and experience, your time is simply worth more. It may seem absurd that someone would pay you $50, $75, $100 or more per hour just to write articles, but the reality is that quality content is in very high demand. Know your worth, and don’t be afraid to ask for more money—even from existing clients. On the flip side, recognize that as a beginner, you may not be paid much, and that’s okay when first starting out.
2. Create value. The best way to charge more for your work is to truly create value for your clients. Ultimately, a project that you charge $1,000 for should create more than $1,000 in value for the client. In many cases, this requires understanding your client’s business, making suggestions, and going out of your way to deliver excellent content.
3. Cultivate specialties. Landing high-tier projects often requires samples that are directly related to the topic. Because of this, one of the most impactful things you can do for your career as a freelancer is to find and cultivate topic specialties. Selecting two to three topics will usually be the best strategy. You may have to start out with lower-paying jobs just to establish yourself in an industry, but ultimately this will be worth the time investment.
4. Learn the industry. Understanding the business models of your clients is incredibly helpful. For many writers, this means learning about affiliate marketing. By truly understanding the why behind your work, you can offer substantially more value to your clients—and to your readers.
5. Be a business. For sustainable success as a freelancer, you need to think of yourself as a business. Ditch the working habits and expectations of a traditional employee, and start thinking about yourself as an entrepreneur. Practically speaking, this means figuring out an efficient and cost-effective invoicing and payment system, drafting basic contracts to protect yourself from scams, and marketing your services appropriately. This is not a switch that you can make overnight, but in my opinion, it’s important to work on for your long-term success.

7 Terrible Reasons to Become a Freelance Writer

Here’s a question for you: Why do you want to become a freelance writer?

It’s worth taking a minute to ponder that. Because pursuing freelance writing for the wrong reasons can spell big problems.

Here are the seven most common reasons we hear from people for why they want to become a freelance writer—and why these wrongheaded motivations often doom those freelance-writing dreams. The items in quotes are all compiled directly from our email inbox:

1. Temporary panic. “I was laid off recently and haven’t been able to find another job, so I thought I’d try this while I keep looking.”

No one wants to hire a writer who is just on a temporary visa to the land of freelance writing.  Who’s sticking one toe in the freelance waters.

Editors and business owners want to hire stable freelancers who are dedicated to working in this mode. Also, dividing your energy between trying to land the next day job and freelancing doesn’t often bring a good outcome for either pursuit.

As Yoda said, there is no “try” in freelance writing. That implies half an effort—and that’s not going to make it happen. There is only making a wholehearted commitment to it, and doing it.

2. You think you’ve got no other options. “I have a disability/must stay home to care for my disabled child/spouse/parent, so I can’t do anything else.”

There are many work-from-home jobs that are easier to ramp up and do than freelance writing. Be a virtual assistant, for instance. Be a remote-based employee for a company—call centers hire lots of personnel that way now. Freelance writing is not your only option, and if you’re choosing it simply because it’s the only idea you’ve got, keep exploring.

Freelance writing is difficult to earn well at if you can never leave the house or take a phone call. Yes, you can build some business online, but eventually, good clients want to take meetings or hop on Zoom. This may not be compatible with your situation.

3. You don’t like writing. “Writing isn’t something I’m that enthusiastic about, but I’ve researched the options and this seems like the only thing with the flexibility I need.”

You may laugh, but you’d be surprised how many people seem to choose freelance writing by throwing a dart at a board. It’s not a passion, they haven’t been writing compulsively all their lives. But they have weighed the freelance options and selected writing from a list of possibilities.

Unfortunately, we’ve never met a thriving freelance writer who dislikes writing. That’s because freelance writing isn’t like writing a novel or your journal. It involves working hard on writing craft, marketing, and pleasing clients.

If you don’t start with love of the core task you’ll be doing all day, you’re not going to stick with this. It’ll be agony.

4. You’re unrealistic. “I have five free hours a week and desperately need to quit my job, so I’m planning to quickly launch a freelance writing business in my free time.”

This is a fantasy. Launching a freelance writing business that will pay all your bills will take quite a while to ramp if you only have a few hours a week.

What will likely happen instead is you will hop on content mills and earn a few pennies, because you have no marketing time. You will be very overworked between your day job and this, but it will never add up to a situation where you’ll feel confident quitting your job.

5. You don’t understand the marketplace. “I’m hoping I can earn a living as a freelance writer by getting paid to write poetry/short stories/opinions/essays/book reviews.”

It’s sad to say, but there is little reliable, well-paid writing in these areas. The bulk of paid freelance writing work is nonfiction, reported articles for magazines, and writing for businesses.

If you could pay the mortgage with poems, you wouldn’t find poets serving as many publication editors to pay the bills. You’ll need to broaden your horizons and learn new writing forms if you want to make a steady living from writing.

6. You’re allergic to business. “I really hate everything to do with business, but I’m planning to suck it up and find some clients.”

OK, this one is a big, big problem. Business-haters need to understand that 1) you are going into business yourself here, so that makes you a self-hater and 2) businesses are a big source of great pay in freelance writing.

If you’re coming into it holding your nose, it’s doubtful you’re going to be able to do the marketing necessary or tolerate working for the clients who pay the big bucks.

7. You’re a full-time mom. “I want to be a freelance writer so that I can homeschool/unschool/stay home full time with my baby/preschooler(s).”

This one is the biggest myth in freelancing, that you will somehow magically find great clients and meet their deadlines while the howling baby who also kept you up all night sits on your hip. Or while you create from scratch and teach Liam with your custom-crafted, multi-sensory homeschool curriculum. Not. Going. To. Happen.

They say being a mom is a full-time job because…it’s a full-time job. And so is freelance writing.

Our Freelance Writers Den forums are full of posts from new moms who are having nervous breakdowns because they’re slowly going broke and can’t get any freelance traction and can’t figure out why. The answer is: You need childcare, hon.

Grandmas or babysitting swaps with other work-at-home moms can be a great solution for a while, but sooner or later, kids need to go to preschool or a nanny comes or there’s a child care center that becomes your friend. For at least a few reliable, half-day blocks of time.

Yes, you can write while they nap (for a couple years) and late at night/early in the morning (if you’re not too tired), and maybe cobble together a small income. But if you’re quitting your corporate job in hopes of replacing a $50,000 income with an occasional spot of writing work you dash off at naptime, that is a pipe dream.

Ready to Become a Freelance Writer?

Now that you know how to become a freelance writer, the only thing to do is get started! Start pitching prospective clients, applying to jobs on quality job boards, and doing everything else you can to get the ball rolling on your career.

Need more help along the way?

While you wait for the Freelance Writers Den to accept more members, we highly recommend checking out the Den 2X Income Accelerator now to get an affordable, self-study version of coach Carol Tice’s proven program for doubling your income (or more)! You’ll learn exactly how to take your career from zero to six figures with a proven blueprint.

At the start of the year, my email inbox fills up with questions about how to get started in freelance writing. Rather than try to answer them one at a time, I’ve created an ultimate guide below, that walks you through all the common questions and gives you everything you need to know to get out there and start getting paid as a freelance writer.

Ready? This guide takes it step by step, with sections for each topic. It’s got a breezy, Q&A format, to make it easy to read through and quickly move forward with your freelancing goals.

Want a copy of the whole answer sheet? Grab your PDF copy.

Ready? Let’s get you started in freelance writing:

Table of contents: How to Become a Freelance Writer

1. Big tips
2. Mindset first
3. Set up your business
4. Decide who you will serve
5. Create an online presence
6. Build your network
7. Get samples
8. Decide what to charge
9. Find first paying clients
10. Avoid scams
11. Do the writing
12. Deal with clients

1. Big tips

If you don’t have time for the long Q&A, let me give you a few top-level insights that should help calm your worries:

• Freelance writing is a real, viable career. Not a myth.
• There are no hard-and-fast rules in freelancing — experiment and see what works for you.
• There are no ‘going rates’ — every client situation is different.
• You don’t need ‘credentials‘ or to be an expert.
• No one can predict how much you’ll get paid to write, or how quickly. It’s up to you.
• You don’t need ‘contacts’ — you can write your way in the door.
• The answer to many of your questions is, ‘It depends.’
• Take your goals seriously — even if others in your life don’t.
• Don’t worry about finding the best apps or tools to use in your freelance biz. Instead, focus mostly on getting clients.
• In general, fiction, poetry, and personal essays are not the basis of a bill-paying freelance career (you can get paid to write poetry, but don’t expect it to be a full-time career). The money is in reported articles and writing for businesses.
• Pitch more and worry less about whether you’re ‘doing it right.’
• To make this go faster, find a writer community and ask peers what works.

With all that in mind, let’s dig into the nuts-and-bolts of launching a freelance-writing career:

2. Mindset first

The number one thing that stops aspiring freelance writers is their own fears. It won’t matter what nuts-and-bolts knowledge you have, if you’re too scared to go out and get clients.

So let’s bust those fears first!

Q: How do I know if my writing is ‘good enough’ to earn a living?

A: Ultimately, you’ll only find out by writing for clients. But if you’re truly a bad writer, you don’t usually try to make it your career. The problem generally is lack of freelance marketing, not lack of writing craft.

Q: How can I get over my fears of failing as a freelance writer?

A: Start taking action. The more actions you take, the more you’ll build confidence. All writers make mistakes. The thing to know is, it’ll be OK.

Q: What if I have trouble making myself do the marketing work?

A: That’s why you need an accountability buddy — find another freelance writer newbie you can call weekly, to keep you working on your goals. In my experience, newbies with a buddy have a much higher success rate than newbies with no buddy.

Q: How do I get started when I don’t feel qualified?

A: This worry stems from thinking you need to know something besides how to write well, to become a freelance writer. You don’t. You can ask experts, research, and learn things. Your strong writing skill is what you bring to the table.

Start with something you know and feel confident in (more on this below in section 4).

Q: What if I’m an ESL writer and want to earn writing in English?

A: Wish I had good news here, but with changes Google has made, that’s increasingly difficult. There may be easier ways for you to earn online than writing.

Q: What if no one takes me seriously?

A: If you take yourself and your writing career seriously, others will, too. Not kidding.

Q: What if I totally screw up an assignment?

A: You will live to write another day. Ask me how I know…

3. Set up your business

Q: Do I need to register my business?

A: No one can make you, but it’s a real good idea. If you want to write off your business expenses, being registered with state and city tax authorities helps convince the IRS (or your national tax body) you’re a real business.

Q: What should I name my business?

A: Just starting out, your own name is fine. You can always choose another name later, or ‘do business as’ another name. For instance, TiceWrites is my business name, but I do business as Make a Living Writing, Freelance Writers Den, and more.

If you want to be fancy and have serious branding for your freelance writing biz, I recommend choosing a name with keywords that would help clients find you, like: “Healthcare Writer Dana.” Avoid meaningless words and phrases such as ‘communications’ or ‘solutions,’ that don’t really say what you do.

Q: Can I use a fake name in freelance writing?

A: Not usually, no. Noms de plume are for fiction authors. You’ll need to reveal your real name when you get paid to write, anyway — and having a fake identity will make editors wonder what you’re hiding. There’s a legit exception to this if you’re a woman with a stalker…I’ve known people in that sitch, and editors do understand. But otherwise, no.

Q: Do I need a separate checking account for my business?

A: Yes. Just get one. You can thank me later for sparing you endless hours trying to keep your business and personal expenses/income separate.

Q: Do I need to become an LLC or corporation to be a freelance writer?

A: No. I operated as a sole proprietor for many years. An LLC does provide a layer of liability protection between your personal assets such as a home or car, and your business. If you don’t lie or make stuff up, you’ll likely never be sued, so it’s not a big concern, especially just starting out.

Q: What tools do I need for running my business?

A: Beyond a computer and the Internet, the rest is optional. I kept a paper income/expenses ledger for years — but if you want to be more pro, choose a solution such as Freshbooks (which I use and recommend) or Harvest. As I mentioned in the Big Tips, most would-be freelance writers spend way too much time wondering if they need a grammar app, and not enough time trying to find clients.

Q: What do I need to know about taxes?

A: Not much, the first year. You’ll just pay what you owe, end of the year. Set aside a portion of your freelance income for taxes that’s similar to the tax bracket you had last year, as a guesstimate. In the U.S., once you hit the level of owing $1,000 or more in annual tax as a self-employed person, you’ll make estimated quarterly tax payments, based on the previous year’s income.

Q: What about health insurance?

A: If you’re leaving a job and taking the plunge into freelancing, you’ll want to make sure you have health insurance. The good news is there are numerous viable self-employed health insurance plans available for freelancers.

4. Decide who you will serve

Q: Do I need to choose a niche for my business?

A: Only if you’d like to make this launch process quick and easy. It’s hard to market yourself as a ‘freelance writer,’ because that’s so broad. Clients aren’t searching for that — they’re searching for a freelance technology writer, or a Dallas healthcare writer, or something like that.

They want to know if you write their type of thing, so the broad approach often attracts zero clients. Being a generalist also makes it harder to build expertise and raise your rates.

Q: What is a niche?

A: Good question — What I mean is an industry, such as healthcare, software, finance, marina management, metal-smithing. Think of these as niche verticals.

You could also niche horizontally, meaning you specialize in one type of writing, like only case studies or blog posts. I don’t recommend going this route, as a newbie. It’s much harder to get enough clients when you limit yourself to a single type of writing, and easier when you’re a utility player with knowledge of a particular industry sector.

Once you’re established and are turning away offers, you can become someone who does only one type of writing. Until then, focus on industries of interest and write whatever clients need — that’s the quickest way to get this going.

Q: How do I know what a good niche for me would be?

A: Your easiest, best-earning niches generally lie where your experiences and interests intersect with a lucrative topic or industry.

Not sure whether your niche idea would work? Ask yourself, “Who would the big-money clients (or publications) be in this niche, that would pay great rates and have steady work?”

If that question is hard to answer, it’s probably not a great niche. If you’re unfamiliar with the writing marketplace, you’ll want to join a writer community where you can ask around and learn from working pros.

Q: Do I just choose one niche?

A: Actually, I advise choosing 2-3. Staying a bit diverse will help keep your business thriving as the economy and individual industries wax and wane.

Q: Isn’t it bad to turn away clients who aren’t in my niche, when I’m just starting out?

A: Weirdly, it isn’t. Writing for everyone and anyone makes your career very scattered, and it’s hard to get any traction. Like they say, ‘the riches are in the niches.’ Focusing your writing on a few topics will help you quickly gain expertise and impress clients.

Q: What if I super-hate the idea of choosing niches, and I want to stay a generalist?

A: Hey, it’s your business to run — I’m just trying to make this succeed quickly.

One other way to niche your business is by geography. You can market yourself as a Dallas Freelance Writer, for instance. If you’re in a mid- to larger-sized city, this can also work, if you like working with local clients.

5. Create an online presence

Q: I know I need somewhere online people can find me — but as a broke newbie, what can I do?

A: Use your LinkedIn profile (here’s my tip-sheet on how to optimize your profile). Yes, once you get rolling, a writer website will be much better. But for now, you can go a long way putting your portfolio on LinkedIn. You can add clips to Experience entries, and also in your Summary.

Q: Why not just put clips on Contently or an Upwork profile, or somewhere like that?

A: Mass writer sites have a reputation for low rates — and their platform makes it easier to browse through others’ portfolios than to find your contact info. By contrast, LinkedIn is a huge platform where great companies are searching for freelancers, every day. I think it’s a better place to look pro.

Q: What if I don’t have a byline on my clips, like with copywriting work?

A: You can still use your clips in your portfolio, as long as you didn’t sign a nondisclosure agreement that swore you to secrecy that you authored the work.

Q: What if my clips are too old?

A: There’s actually no such thing. You’ll be surprised how seldom prospects care about the age of your clips — they just want to read your work. If you have old print clips that aren’t online, see if a good print shop can create a PDF for you, where the article is readable.

Q: What if I want to do a writer website now, as a newbie?

A: Great idea! Makes you look more professional. And the secret is, the copy you write on your writer website is a writing sample. It can be your first clip. You can get good web-copy jobs from writing your own terrific site copy!

Q: What if I have a blog — can I use that as my writer website?

A: It’s not ideal, unless your blog is very successful and popular. Then, you can put a ‘hire me’ tab up and solicit writing jobs there. A writer website is a stronger way to present yourself, where the Home page is all about your client and the services you offer, rather than an ever-changing set of blog post headlines.

Q: I’m not very technical. How can I get up a good writer website?

A: WordPress is the dominant website platform by far, and I recommend using it because it has the most available designers, tools, and plug-ins to help you make it look great. (I’ve also seen decent sites on SquareSpace, and recently, one on Wix).

I don’t recommend writers learn to create websites from scratch — don’t have to become a coder here! Because many new freelance writers struggle with getting their websites done, I basically begged my designer to create FolioSetup (yep, that’s my affiliate link) — check it out if you’d like ready-made templates, hosting, help, and a quick solution.

6. Build your network

Q: This is all great — but how do I actually get freelance writing clients?

A: One great way is to start building a big referral network, and letting people know what sort of writing client you want. Don’t have a network? Build one! You can do that through in-person networking in your town, or virtually, through online groups such as the interest groups on LinkedIn.

Q: Who do I want in my network?

A: A mix of other writers, related service providers such as designers, editors, and photographers, as well as prospective clients, or people who would know your prospects.

Q: What do I say at in-person networking events?

A: Ask people to tell you about what they do, and who their ideal client is, so you can refer them. They’ll probably ask you the same. Have a little ‘me’ speech prepared to introduce your freelance writing services.

Q: What if I’m really shy and don’t like big groups?

A: You can do one-on-one meetups for coffee or after work, or hop on short phone or video calls. Doesn’t have to be big meetings!

Q: How do I ask for referrals?

A: Big tip: Make it mutual. Ask contacts if they are looking for referrals, and if so who’s their ideal client. Then, tell them yours, and that you’d appreciate their keeping an ear out for anyone who needs your type of writer.

Q: How do I build my network online?

A: I love LinkedIn for that — you can import your rolodex, send connection invites to people who Viewed My Profile, or join Groups and then invite group members to connect. You can look for LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers) who connect to all comers, and use LinkedIn’s ‘Discover’ listings to find more people who might be good contacts.

Once you’ve connected, ask how you can help. Share and comment on their content. Send them articles that might interest them. Hop on a Skype call. See what you can do to get to know your connections better. The more you stay on their radar, the more likely they’ll remember to refer you when they hear about a writing need.

7. Get samples

Q: How can I get clients when I don’t have any samples yet?

A: The easiest way is to go out and get some samples. This is also known as working pro bono. You’ll want to choose publications or companies to work with who will give you great samples in your chosen niches.

Define a limited project, and get a testimonial to go with your sample. Boom! Once you’ve got 4-6 of these, you’re ready to impress paying customers.

Q: Is guest posting a good way to get samples?

A: It can be, especially if it’s on a popular site. If you’re posting free for exposure, be sure to choose your sites carefully, and appear where your clients might see your byline.

Q: What about writing for content mills, as a way to get first clips?

A: I don’t recommend it, even for those struggling to land entry-level writing jobs. The requirements of mill work are very different from what you’ll be asked to do in well-paid client work, so it doesn’t serve as a very effective training ground. Often, you don’t end up with clips you can use — they’re ghostwritten for an end client who isn’t identified. Also, mills can be capricious about who they ban or give crummy ‘ratings’ to. You’re basically not in control of your career.

Meanwhile, the tiny pay makes you wonder if you could earn a living writing very fast on there…and the answer is no, you usually can’t. But writers get stuck writing for tiny pay in mills, for years on end. Mill work is also fading away, as there’s less call for short, dashed-off, SEO-keyword-stuffed content, because Google doesn’t like that anymore. So it’s increasingly a dead-end street.

By contrast, doing pro bono work for small publications or small businesses for your first samples gives you clips that impress, and keeps clarity that you can’t earn this way and will need to move up. It also gives you real-world experience writing for the exact types of clients you want.

Q: What about using posts from my own blog as samples?

A: It’s better than nothing, but not ideal. Clients know you didn’t have to please an editor or marketing manager and could publish whatever you wanted, so it doesn’t exactly impress. But if you write kick-ass headlines and get a lot of comments and shares on your blog posts, it could help you lure those first clients.

Q: Does it matter if the sample I do is for a relative or friend?

A: Not really. If they’ve got a small business, an e-commerce site, or edit the hometown paper, go for it!

8. Decide what to charge

Q: How do I know what to charge my first clients?

A: There are a few ways to figure this out. First off, if you’re writing for a publication, they may have set rates and tell you what they are.

If not, you can ask clients what their budget is — and sometimes, they’ll tell you.

If their lips are zipped on that, you can ask around that network you’re building, to learn about typical rates. You can also calculate your daily rate, and simply charge what you need to, to pay your bills and maintain the lifestyle you want.

Big tip: Don’t worry a lot about pay rates in your early days. It’s more important that you get to work for good clients in your niches, and build your portfolio. You can just keep raising your rates as you go, until they’re where they need to be.

Q: Should I charge by the word, hour, page, or project?

A: Ideally, you want to charge by the project. Project rates are especially great for newbies, because then your client won’t be penalized if it takes you longer to write than a more experienced writer. They’re what pros do — we’re not hourly clerks, as writers.

When you work on project rates, you will automagically increase your hourly rate over time, as you become more efficient and take less time to write. And your client will never be the wiser. So yeah. Project rates all the way.

Q: What’s a good average hourly rate my freelance writing should work out to?

A: As a newbie, try to shoot for at least $25-$35 per hour with first clients. Less will mean you’ll never earn enough to stay afloat. Aim to rapidly raise that into the $50-$75 an hour range, and keep moving up from there. Experienced freelance writers earn $75-$100 an hour and more.

Q: How do I know how long it will take me to do projects?

A: By tracking your time. Lots of free software out there for that. Figure out how long it takes you, and then challenge yourself to get it done faster on the next project. Keep improving!

9. Find your first paying clients

Q: How do I find my first clients?

A: There are two basic approaches — you can look in your town for clients in your niche, or you can look online. Look at the online presence of businesses you like, go talk to owners, and propose a project to help get them more clients.

If you’re in a small town or not in the same country as your prospective clients, you’ll be looking online. There are plenty of blogs that offer unpaid guest posts, and many that pay for guest posts.

You can also target small business websites in your niches — most business owners are overwhelmed, not good writers, and will really appreciate the help.

Q: What is the one best, free, fastest way to market my services?

A: There isn’t a single answer to that question, because it depends a lot on you. (I warned you up top some answers would be ‘it depends!’) There are many free and low-cost ways to market your writing.

I am marketing-method agnostic — meaning I don’t care how you do it, as long as you do lots of it. Think in terms of 100 pieces of freelance marketing per month, to get launched.

You could send customized marketing emails, do in-person networking events, pick up the phone and cold call, work your LinkedIn network, send direct-mail packages out. It’s all good, and more. I’ve actually taught 40 Ways to Market Your Writing. Lots of ways to skin the freelance marketing cat.

Think about your personality and the types of clients you want and how they do marketing — you may want to use a similar mode to how they reach out to clients. Then, study the best practices in that form of marketing and feedback from your writer network, so you know how to crush it.

Q: Who do I pitch at businesses?

A: In a small company, it may be the CEO. Beyond there, look for a marketing manager. The guy whose name is on the press release is often a good pick.

Q: Which editor should I try at a magazine?

A:  Managing editor is my default, if there isn’t an articles, features, or editor in my specific topic, i.e. “health editor.” Above the managing editor, those editors aren’t really editing the paper.

Q: What about responding to online job ads?

A: Most mass online job boards such as Craigslist are a waste of your time. All those postings will get hundreds of responses, so your statistical odds of getting hired through them are tiny. Look for niche boards that aren’t as widely circulated, or boards where either job-seekers or employers have to pay to participate, such as FlexJobs or LinkedIn Jobs.

10. Avoid Scams & Ripoffs

Q: How do I know if an online offer of writing work is a scam?

A: Try Googling: “Is <site name> a scam?” and see what comes up. That’ll usually help. For instance, there’s this classic scam. You can also use the “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” test.

Q: I found this site, Master Writing Jobs — do you think I should sign up?

A: Actually, the consensus is that Master Writing Jobs is a scam. To build a thriving freelance business, you’re going to need to develop a good nose for what’s a legit offer. Any site that makes you join and pay a fee before you can see any testimonials or info about what the platform offers, you wanna run.

One of the biggest ways new freelance writers waste time is signing up on various platforms that promise to give them loads of great-paying writing jobs. Know that There. Is. No. Such. Platform. Finding your own clients is what’s for dinner, if you want to pay your bills with freelance writing.

Q: What about signing up on Upwork?

A: Very few people find professional pay rates on Upwork, PeoplePerHour, and the like, is the feedback from the 11,000+ writers I’ve mentored over the past 7 years. Sure, you might be that one exception. I’ve met two or three, in the past decade. But in general…just no.

Having a profile on these sites signals to clients that you’re willing to work for very low rates. Ripoffs abound, along with teeny-tiny paychecks.

11. Do the writing

Q: What’s the best way to make sure I do a great job on my assignment?

A: Study the publication, the blog, or the company materials you are writing for. Really take it apart. How do they start their articles, quote their sources, how long are paragraphs, what sort of experts do they use? How do they conclude? Then, you do that.

Q: I’m scared to turn in my writing to my client. What should I do?

A: Have a writer-friend give it a read and make suggestions. Or consider trading services with an editor for a while, while you build confidence.

Q: What if I don’t have enough article ideas to get assignments regularly?

A: Then don’t write articles. There’s a ton of paid writing for businesses, where they will dictate the topics. Alternatively, learn about how to be a story idea machine.

Q: What if my article gets killed?

A: Like the old song says: Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again. Can’t let any little setbacks get in the way of your freelance dreams!

Q: My client hated my first draft, and I’m devastated. How can I prevent this problem?

A: Ask more questions up-front. Learn about the tone, style, and content the client needs. Pros ask a lot of questions. Here are some key questions to ask copywriting clients.

Q: What if I take an assignment and then I can’t meet the deadline?

A: Try not to worry about it — many deadlines are fungible. Try to build in extra time, until you get a better sense of how long it takes you to do things.

12. Deal with clients

Q: Do I need a contract?

A: Only if you want to get paid to write. There are plenty of examples online. Your contract doesn’t have to be long or complicated — a brief email your client responds to with ‘I agree’ that outlines the deadline/wordcount/pay terms will work. You can also use online-signature solutions for a full-blown contract, such as DocuSign, or attach a Word doc.

Q: Should I get an up-front deposit to start working?

A: With business clients, absolutely yes. Fifty percent up-front deposit to begin work is typical. Publications don’t work that way, they will pay on acceptance or publication. Strive for the former.

Q: What if clients want me to be available on nights or weekends, when I want time off?

A: It’s your business to run. You set the parameters of when you’ll be available. Usually, it’ll work out fine, but you may occasionally turn down a client who wants you available 24/7.

Q: What if I’m in a different time zone than my clients, will that be a problem?

A: Mostly no. Beyond a first (virtual) meeting, most clients don’t need a lot of real-time contact.

Q: What if I invoice my client but they’re not paying me?

A: You have a range of options to get flaky freelance clients to pay up. If it happens a lot, realize that you need to change where and how you prospect for clients. Check out our full freelancer invoicing guide for more useful tips.

Q: What if I want to ask for a raise?

A: Like all businesses, you should be looking to raise your rates steadily as you go. Here’s a post on how to raise rates with existing clients.

Learn how to become a freelance writer

And there you have it — my epic compendium of all the basic questions I get asked on how to become a freelance writer!

The big thing I’ve learned in my decade helping writers get clients is that no matter how many questions I answer…there are always more.

What are your freelance writing questions? Leave them in the comments and let’s get you some help.

Over the years, the list of tools and shortcuts I use in my own freelance writing biz has grown. Given that remote work is what nearly everyone is doing as we seek to slow the spread of Covid-19, I thought it’d be a good time to create a fresh list for you.

Many of these tools or sites are free, some cost a bit. All have made it a heck of a lot easier to connect with clients, quickly do my work, send freelancer invoices, and more. Most of all, knowing some of the popular tech tools out there helps you impress clients that you’re ready to go.

Note: Because this is a list of writing tools I use and can personally recommend (except for three I mention in the P.S.), some paid tools carry my affiliate link.

If you’re the type of freelancer who loves finding tech help that makes your life easier, dig in and enjoy. I’ve divided them into categories, so you can quickly scan to the type of tools you want most.

Blogging Tools

Given that a ton of my paid freelance-writing work over the years has taken the form of blog posts, it’s no shock that I’ve learned to use some great blogging tools. Here’s a blog-tool lineup that will give you a serious edge with clients:

1. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

If you blog for a living, you soon become obsessed with writing standout headlines. This free tool from marketing-software purveyor Coschedule helps you improve your headline by showing whether it ranks strong on several factors, including emotional engagement. In fact, it’s the reason the word ‘spectacular’ is in the headline of this post. Fascinating and helpful!

2. Moz Title Tag length checker

One of the things pro writers do before handing in a headline pitch or blog post to our clients is to check to see if the proposed post headline is too long, and apt to get cut off in Google results. Show you’re a pro: before you file, confirm your headline is a snappy length by popping it into the simple, free checker-box from the search geniuses at Moz.

3. WordPress Editorial Calendar

This free plugin creates a groovy calendar layout on which to plot your (or your client’s) posts. Really helps you envision how the month will go. For instance, here’s a sample from a recent month here on Make a Living Writing:

Need more blogging tools? Here’s a list of places to get free images, and you can see a complete list of all the tools we use on this blog here.

Social media & SEO

Increasingly, freelance writers need to write not just for humans to read, but for search engines to understand, and with an eye to how our content will play on social media. If you’re doing social or finding keywords for your blog clients, these tools will help:

4. Hootsuite

If you do social posts for clients, you’ve gotta have a scheduler, so you can work in batches. Otherwise, social will drive you insane.

I like Hootsuite for this. Besides easily writing and scheduling posts across multiple social platforms, Hootsuite lets you easily grab items to reshare from your newsfeeds (because your posts shouldn’t all be about your client, right?). Like many of the tools mentioned here that have a paid level, you can get started with a free account.

5. KWfinder

When clients say, ‘find keywords for your content,’ I turn to this handy tool, part of a suite of SEO helpers from the good folks at Mangools. There are a million free keyword tools out there — but KW tells you not just how popular a search is, but who’s topping that search, how hard it might be to rank well for it yourself, and what similar terms might offer better opportunity.

For instance, here’s a look at results for the phrase ‘writing tools,’ which I’m looking to rank for with this post.

6. Missinglettr

If your client’s blog isn’t getting much traction, here’s a great tool to recommend — it automatically spins up 9 pieces of content it’ll share out over the course of a year. Missinglettr makes sure your content doesn’t vanish after day one, getting you more results and making clients want to keep you on.

7. SEMRush

I use this tool to spy on clients’ competitors — see how their traffic is trending, what keywords they rank for, and more. But this platform has a whole suite of tools, especially at the paid level. If clients aren’t using, suggest it! (Got a special offer on this one – grab a 14-day free trial with that link.)

8. Yoast SEO

Here’s a tool to recommend to clients for their WordPress blog, if they’re not already using. Yoast makes useful keyword-usage suggestions inside WordPress, to help you optimize your post. It’s got a simple red-yellow-green stoplight approach to show you how well you’re doing.

Writer website and portfolio

There are many platforms that compile thousands of freelancer portfolios all in a single spot — and want to say, that’s not ideal. Ideally, you want your portfolio

9. FolioSetup

Considering hiring a pricey designer to do your website? If you have no plan for how to keep your site from breaking as software updates, consider this simple, drag-and-drop, WordPress-based solution with ongoing support.

I begged my own designer to create this due to my dissatisfaction with available platforms, which are too pricey, don’t understand our biz, or both. Her proven template follows all the best-practices she taught my Den community in our bootcamp, Build a Writer Website That Works. Sneak peek:

NOTE: I’m no longer partnering with this service.

10. Wayback Machine

Also known as the Internet Archive, Wayback is an amazing, free place where you can reclaim ancient, lost clips from defunct sites. If you know the URL it used to live at, it’s likely Wayback took a picture back when, and can dig it up for you to screenshot. I recently reclaimed a 100-page annual report I’d written that vanished off the client’s site (whew!). Make a donation if you use this valuable resource, so this miracle miracle worker keeps rolling.

Connect with prospective clients

11. Apollo.io

One of my coaching students recently introduced me to this robust lead-finding tool — here’s an example of how detailed searches can be here:

12. Calendly

The pro way to schedule a first client meeting is with a calendar program (as opposed to 17 different emails back and forth asking ‘What’s a good time?’). I use it for clients, I use it for my coaching — it sends reminder notes to you and your interview subject, and provides an easy way to reschedule.

13. Contacts+

This Google tool, combined with an email permutator, can help you quickly verify if an email address you posit may be right for a contact has in fact been used to set up one of their social-media accounts. That’s right, it doesn’t tell you there’s a chance maybe that’s the right email — it will conclusively prove or disprove that the email has been used to set up one of your target’s social accounts.

This was my all-time favorite email hunter for years (sorry, Hunter and RocketReach)…but full disclosure, I haven’t used it since it became app-based. If you love your writing tools on your phone instead of your computer, give this a whirl. More info on their free and paid plans here.

14. FlexJobs

Most online freelance writing job boards take listings from any old scammer, or are seen by millions, or both. This makes them mostly a waste of time. FlexJobs is the exception, ignoring the junk ads and turning up good opportunities on arcane sites you’d never check.

That’s why I’ve been proud to partner with them to feature the best of FlexJobs’ freelance-writer listings on my own Junk-Free Job Board (exclusively for members of my Freelance Writers Den learning & support community). A FlexJobs subscription could be a worthwhile investment, as you prospect for writing jobs in hard times. (Editor’s note: The Freelance Writers Den no longer includes a job board because so few jobs met our minimum requirements.)

15. LinkedIn

If you use just one social channel, make it LinkedIn. Action was exploding on here before we all had to avoid in-person networking — betting now, it’s hotter than ever. And no surprise, since it’s the only place you can ask for referrals and career help without getting blocked.

Here’s a crash course in creating a profile that attracts leads. You can go pretty far on a free account, but a month of Premium would help you locate and InMail more leads. Many of my best clients through the years have come through getting found on here, including three Fortune 500 companies (believe great companies use LinkedIn’s search engine to find freelancers these days, not Google). Build a big network (mine is now 5,600+), and your stats start looking like this:

16. Skype

Connecting with clients on video calls has always been great for building closer relationships. In our current age of isolation, it’s nothing short of essential. Skype makes 1:1 calling around the world easy. Free and paid levels. Need to record your Skype call? For that, there’s an add-on tool: Skype Call Recorder.

17. Zoom

If you have a bigger-than-25 person client team you need to meet with, graduate from Skype to Zoom for calling. I switched over several years back. I find Zoom easier to use — seems the best solution for international calling, it has a built-in recording tool, and it can handle up to 100 people at a time or more, depending on the paid level chosen. Free level gets you unlimited meetings with up to 3 guests for up to 40 minutes.

Set pay rates

18. WhoPaysWriters

If you don’t know this handy resource, let me introduce you. Great, free database of crowdsourced pay information about publications and websites. Dig in!

19. Glassdoor reviews

Wondering about a company’s reputation, and whether they treat workers right? The company reviews on Glassdoor are a goldmine of info that can help you avoid scams and low payers. Their full-time job listings also give you a sense of their pay levels for similar freelance roles .

Business tools

20. An accountability buddy

OK, it’s not software, but it’s the single best tool for your success — a person you can call once a week who’ll hold you accountable on your writing goals. Finding an accountability buddy is easy inside my Freelance Writers Den learning & support community — we have a forum just for matching you up.

21. Harvest

Tired of paying PayPal’s fees? Sign up to invoice through Harvest and access their PayPal Business Payments plan, where you pay just $.50 per transaction of any size. I’ve saved thousands on this scheme over the years. And Harvest has time-tracking and other useful features, too.

22. Unroll.me

A clogged email inbox is the enemy of writing productivity. Why suffer, when this handy tool lets you roll up all your newsletters into a single email? I went from about 200 emails a day down to roughly 20, by continually adding new addresses to my rollup.

Client management

23. Asana

Did I mention you don’t want to have to check email 10 times a day, in case a client wants something from you? Instead, turn your interaction into Asana tasks and check your dashboard. Simple tool with deadlines, room for comments, you can assign an item to other team members — my own team at the Den loves it.

24. DropBox

Have you tired of trying to send large files via email, only to find them stuck in limbo? You need DropBox. Pop your file in there, share a link out to your client, and you’re good. Create folders for different projects and keep things organized, too. I have several tools for sharing large files at this point, but this one’s my fave.

25. Slack

If you need a place where you can chat with clients without getting sucked down the email drain, I prefer Slack. It allows you to create topic channels — each participant can subscribe to their relevant topics and ignore the rest. Far superior to getting 50 ‘reply all’ emails in an email chat conversation. Love using it with clients, and I use it with my team that works behind the scenes in the Den, too — here’s a sneak-peek at us collaborating on a previous blog-post graphic:

Name your best writing tools

Obviously, there are a million writing tools, apps, and platforms out there that freelancers use. These are mine. My big tip: Don’t spend hours and hours mulling which tool to use. Pick one, and if it works for you, use it! And get back to writing and marketing to find clients.

You may notice I didn’t list a few of the most obvious writing-craft tools, such as the Hemingway app, ProWritingAid, Grammarly or the like above. That’s because this post is about tools I personally use. (But I’m linking them here, because I just knew you were gonna ask about ’em.)

I had grammar and word usage drilled into me by an awesome high school English teacher, so I’ve never used these. All three have certainly been mentioned to me often, and I’ve only heard raves, so giving you links above just in case you need.

Final note: If I can learn to use tech solutions, so can you. I’m a very non-technical person. I refuse to be defeated by new tech, and slowly but surely, over the years, I’ve learned how to use dozens of useful writing tools that help me work with freelance clients. You can do this.

What’s your top freelance writing tool? Leave a comment and tell us why you love it.

After all, we don’t want to leave money on the table… or price too high and lose the gig.

If you struggle with pricing your work, it’s no surprise. Freelance writing rates are all over the place, as there are so many variables that affect appropriate pay for a particular writing job. Those variables can include:

• Size, age and reputation of the client
• How important the writing is to client’s income
• The level of competition in their industry
• Complexity of the subject matter
• How well you know the subject matter
• Country and language used
• Deadline
• Volume of work on offer
• Usefulness of these clips in your portfolio
• How badly you need money right now

And more. See why the whole concept of ‘going rates’ is problematic? There’s also the question of your personal income goals, time available, living costs… all may factor into what you seek to charge.

What we can learn is what real writers are charging, for roughly similar work. I began investigating what writers earn last year, with the 2019 Writer Pay Survey.

It was a good start. But I only asked about freelance writing rates on a couple of types of writing in last year’s survey — articles and blog posts, mainly. Writers asked for more.

The 2020 Writer Pay Survey

So this year’s survey of nearly 600 writers asks more questions, about case studies, white papers, email marketing, and more. You can grab a downloadable version of all the data and my takeaways at the bottom of this post.

What are freelance writing rates these days? Are rates getting better or worse? Short answer: Some of each.

But I see lots of reasons for optimism in this year’s survey. In reviewing it, I decided it would be most useful to spotlight data from writers who earn primarily from freelancing — it represents 60%-100% of their income.

All the stats shown below are for writers in this more full-time freelancing category. Let’s dig into the data:

The road to writing freedom can be short

Let’s start with a piece of good news: Some freelance writers jump in and very quickly are able to earn more or all of their income from their craft. As you can see below, nearly 12% of writers reached 60-100% full-time income in their very first year as a freelancer. Another 18% got there in 2-3 years.

That’s 30% of writers, ramping to major freelance income fairly quickly. Nice!

It doesn’t have to be a long slog to earning a living as a freelance writer. But the most popular answer in terms of how long big earners have been freelancing was 6-10 years.

Notable, though, is that the success of early big earners was down about 1% compared with 2019. The percent saying they made it to major earning in 3-5 years declined 4%, too. Is it a little bit tougher out there to quickly ramp to good pay? Perhaps so.

Short blog-post pay rises

One of the most popular freelance-writing break-in gigs is writing short blog posts. Good news here — more writers are moving away from dirt-cheap pay and getting a bit better rates:

As you can see above, if you’re still taking $50 or less for short blog posts, you’re now in a serious minority.

Last survey, nearly one-quarter of writers got $50 or less for short posts. This year, that’s down to 21%. Hooray! Hope to see blogging at too-low rates continue to fade out.

And we’re nearing another exciting inflection point — now, close to half of all paid short blogging is over $100 a post (45%). That’s on par with last year. Note that the top rates stayed strong. The top-earning category — $300-$500+ for short posts — is steady at 15% year-over-year. Interestingly, nearly all respondents reported they do some short-blog post work.

Mixed pricing on longer posts

First, the good news: More writers are getting higher freelance writing rates for long blog posts.

Last year, 32% of full-time writers reported they earned $300-$500+ for posts over 1,000 words. This year, that ticked up to 34%. #yaaasss

But the news is mixed. There’s also a suspicious spike in writers creating longer posts in the $100 range. #justno.

I adjusted the price-range categories here a bit for 2020, so figures aren’t directly comparable to the prior year — but 15% now report earning $100-$199, and another 10% each said $20-$50 and $51-$99. That’s too many writers creating many words for a pittance.

The hourly rate on those is never going to feed your family. Remember that $300 is my recommended minimum for longer posts, writers!

Authority ghost blogging is a $$$ niche

If you haven’t yet been approached to ghostwrite thought-leadership pieces on Forbes, Medium, HuffPo, LinkedIn, and other popular platforms, it’s an emerging money-maker. Nearly one-quarter of full-time earners reported they’re doing some reputation-building ghost blogging for thought leaders.

So far, freelance writing rates for ghosted authority posts are all over the place, as you see below. But heartened to see the most popular response on rates here was $500+ (the rate many of my coaching students report they’re making), followed by $200-$300.

If you’re looking for better-paid blogging work, this is a niche to consider, in whatever industry you have expertise. My forecast is for more of this work coming down the pike.

CEOs don’t have time to write their own compelling content that positions them as an expert, even if they could. Which most can’t.

Pay is strong here because $500 for a fascinating post that could land them a speaking gig, their next job, more business for their startup, or a book deal… it’s pin money to six-figure earners.

Stronger pay for short articles

Here’s a ray of sunshine — the number of writers accepting under $100 for short, reported articles is down substantially (29%, vs. 38% in 2019). The survey doesn’t delve into why, but my guess would be writers migrating to better-paid opportunities.

More good news: A big jump in the top pay category, with 11% getting $500 or more. (Under 4% reported that rate last year.) Another 12.5% earned $350-$500. Midrange pay rates, from $100-$500, stayed fairly stable.

Next time, I plan to ask about whether writers are creating articles for publications or businesses — I suspect a shift to business clients is behind the rate rise.

Mixed rates for long articles

I think it’s notable that the vast majority — 83% — of our self-supporting writers said they write long articles. Bigger projects tend to pay better!

Nearly 11% got $1,000+ per piece, and another 10% earned $750-$1000. The other lump of pay, sadly, is at the bottom end, with 16% earning $100 or less.

Most popular answer here was $200-$350. Keep looking for markets that pay better and push back on lower rates, especially if these long articles require many interviews. Remember, more than one-quarter of writers are earning twice this rate and more.

Problems emerge in content marketing

Here’s a problem I’ve heard about anecdotally, but the data makes it impossible to ignore: There are a lot of content-mill level clients asking for sophisticated types of content marketing at freelance writing rates that are a crime.

I’d been hearing about this, so I broke out content marketing into several key categories in this year’s study, for the first time.

Responses make clear many freelance writers are unaware that $750-$1200 has been the going rate for 1-2 page case studies for ages, and that $300-$500 per page for white paper writing jobs is pretty standard, too.

Reported rates in this survey paint a shocking picture of many writers giving away these high-value business marketing pieces for a song:

That’s right, the most common rate for case studies that writers reported is just $100-$300. This is particularly troubling because two-thirds of full-time writers say they write case studies. And under 14% reported rates in the historical ‘going rate’ range of $750-$1200 or more.

It’s similarly disturbing news in white papers, where 11% of writers reported they’re paid less than $300 per page:

On the plus side, 8% reported earning $500 a page or more. Another 7% earn $300-$500, which is still solid.

Word counts per page do vary in white papers, so that may account for some of the variation. But just sayin’… $100 a page for white papers is not OK. These are heavy-duty lead generators for businesses that help them book millions in new revenue.

They’re also often used for a long time. One factor that may be skewing prices is that many businesses ask for ‘white papers’ that are not really white papers. More like a 3-page quickie report you do from a stack of research, with no interviews..which bears little resemblance to an actual white paper.

But any way you name it, case studies and white papers should pay well.

Rates for web pages crash

Once upon a time, big web-page rewrite projects were a cash cow. Anecdotally, I often heard writers were getting $200 a page and up, to $1 a word. Apparently, they’re less of a bonanza today, as you see here:

Over half of full-timers report they do web-page work. But few earn well at it.

One-quarter of writers who create informational web pages say they’re earning $100 a page or less. Another 12% receive $101-$200 per page. Only 21% or so earn north of $200 a page.

These static pages help businesses earn, often for several years before the next revamp. Stop giving away this store, folks!

Long sales pages at short prices

The long sales page was long a bastion of big-ticket fees — you know the kind that goes on and on, benefits, features, bonuses, testimonials, removing objections, the works. I remember ages back, taking a training from Naomi Dunford of ittybiz, in which she said the going rate for pros with a track record writing sales pages that convert well was… $2,000.

Apparently many freelance writers don’t understand the vital need businesses have for long sales pages that can turn leads into money. Get a look at this:

Yes, three-quarters of writers have gotten out of the business of writing long sales pages, and no wonder — under 3% report they now earn $1500-$2000 for them.

Instead, 11% report they’re creating this high-powered sales tool for $200 or less. I’m stunned here. People.

Repeat after me: Hard-sell marketing pieces pay top dollar. Clearly, we have work to do educating newer writers and our prospects on appropriate freelance writing rates in this area.

Marketing emails: The new cash cow?

There’s a ton of work out there writing short marketing emails. Prices aren’t super-high, but many writers report they don’t take long to create. You write emails all the time, right?

More writers might want to look into this niche, as the hourly rate can be strong. Some 70% of respondents said they’d never written them. But earning $200-$350 for a short email message pencils out well, and an emerging elite of 8% now earn that rate for marketing emails:

Another 19% report they earn $100-$200 per email. Not too shabby, for crafting a short message.

Expect to see growth in the high-end on marketing emails — just 3% currently earn over $350 per email, but email marketing’s power remains strong. And some email marketers go longer on their emails, too, and pay more as a result.

That’s the rundown on specific writing types. Now, let’s see how all these project fees translate into our all-important hourly rate.

Strong hourly rates for full-time writers

Some of those reported rates seemed worrisome, no? But at the end of the day, our hourly rate is what really counts. And here, full-time writers turn out to be efficient in their work, as they report solid hourly rates:

The normative rate here is $50-$75 an hour (26%), a middling-to-solid rate that allows writers to cover their expenses and unbillable hours. Heartened to see another one-quarter of respondents earning above $75 an hour, an uptick from last year’s 21%.

That leaves roughly half of writers earning below $50 an hour. Remember, if you’re earning less than $50 per hour, half the pack is earning more. Ask for a raise!

High-earners get inbound leads

How do writers build a full-time business and bill better rates? Asking about how writers market, two main forms emerge as dominant:

Far and away, building a strong referral network enabled writers to pursue their craft full-time, with 35% saying referrals are their top source of writing jobs. If your network isn’t sending you good leads…it’s time to meet more people and grow who you know.

Possibly my biggest surprise of the whole survey is that nearly 20% of writers said inbound leads from their writer websites were their top source of writing jobs. More writers are taking a strong writer site seriously — that’s double the reported win rate seen last year for writer sites.

Proactive marketing comes in third with sending pitch letters or letters of introduction, with 16% winning the most business by pitching. Interesting, no? In the 21st Century, raising awareness about your skills through inbound means seems to be what works best to attract better-caliber clients.

Be sure to note how few full-time writers report they primarily get jobs from content mills or bid sites. Just a reminder that these are primarily set up to serve hobbyists, not those looking to writing jobs for a full-time income.

A new source for ‘going rates’

Now that I’ve unpacked the highlights from the new rate survey, I wouldn’t blame you if you were more confused than ever. Some writers earn low, some high. But what are typical rates for professional, full-time freelance writers?

This question has obsessed a coaching student of mine who’s now a coach of new freelance writers herself, through ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors).

Mandy Ellis has spent the past 5 years or so compiling information on rates from writers groups online, in the forums of my Freelance Writers Den community, inside my Freelance Writers Den 2X Income Accelerator coaching program (of which she’s an awesome grad!) and more.

Feel like it’s been ages since you’ve seen a fresh rate sheet you could use as a reference for what to charge? Well, Mandy has just released her Freelance Writer Pricing Guide, which boils down all she’s learned into price ranges for a variety of writing jobs.

It’s free if you want to grab it. (Not an affiliate link, just want to get the info out to you.)

Thoughts on freelance writing rates

So there you have it — the crazy world of what freelance writers are charging for their work in 2020. What’s it all mean? Here are my top takeaways:

• Knowing what others charge is key to pricing right.
• Asking questions to understand all job specs will help you make a case for higher rates.
• Just because something used to pay well, doesn’t mean it does now.
• Watch for emerging writing areas where pay is strong, as with ghost blogging for thought leaders.
• Look for things you can write that few writers could do. You’ll be able to command more.
• Journalism rates are a challenge, and writers who need a high income will look to diversify with business clients.
• If you’re writing sales materials, or content that directly generates leads or sales, it should pay well.
• Identify top-drawer clients you find yourself to earn more, instead of going through bid sites, agencies or content mills.
• Put up a snappy writer website, build your network, and ask for referrals! Inbound marketing rocks.
• Track your time, know what you’re earning hourly, and keep driving that figure up.

Finally, no matter what a rate guide says, or what others are charging, charge what you need to support your lifestyle. As you can see in this data, an elite sector of freelance writers are earning great rates.

Ask yourself why that can’t be you. Usually, it’s because you’re simply not identifying better clients and asking for an appropriate rate. Value your time and skills, and clients will, too.

Download the data

Would you like a handy copy of these charts, rate info and takeaways? You can download a copy of this post here.

What’s your hourly rate for freelance writing? Let’s discuss in the comments.

Maybe freelancing is your full-time gig, or maybe it’s your side hustle. Maybe you have a day job, kids, or both.

If you’re feeling like your hectic schedule is casting a shadow over your freelance writing career that’s making it hard to move up and earn more, shine a light on how you’re using your time.

If you’re a stay-at-home mom, parent who home-schools kids, freelancer with a day job and dream to go full-time, or you’re already living the freelance life, your greatest asset is time.

How you use your time can make the difference between landing a couple of freelance writing gigs and being fully booked. Which would you prefer?

In this post you’ll get tips, strategies, resources, and motivation from freelancers who are hustling every day, every hour, every minute to improve time management and get more work done.

Check out these 11 hacks for freelance writers to get organized and boost productivity:

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4. Writing Tips: 10 Productivity Secrets From the Author of 1,000 Blog Posts

You don’t just write 1,000 blog posts about the business and craft of freelance writing by accident. It doesn’t just magically happen, especially when you’re raising a family, writing for clients, and running a business. Here’s what Carol Tice learned about time management from her first 1,000 blog posts for Make a Living Writing to help you be a better writer.

5. Build Success with the Lego Productivity Method for Writers

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6. Kids Driving You Crazy? One Writer’s Family-Friendly Productivity Plan

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8. Freelance Dreams vs. Reality: 7 Truth Bombs About Time Management

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9. Start Writing with This Simple 15-Minute Hack for Busy Freelancers

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11. How to Fit Freelance Writing into Your Busy Life

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Use it or lose it: Time is your most valuable freelance asset

Need more time to get stuff done? Take a hard look at your schedule and where every hour is going. Then carve out a plan to write, market, move up, and earn more. That’s how you make a living writing.

How do you get more content writing done? Let’s discuss in the comments.