Introduction:

You Must Simply Begin

Who do you want to be?
Do you want to be a successful freelance writer online and
make yourself a decent living?

Would you prefer to work in your pyjamas and decide when

to get up and what time to take lunch?

Well ya can.

I know, I know – you’ve either tried before or been told that

it’s nigh on impossible. But really: ya can.

This is how I figured it out for myself – and how that can help
you.

Quitting the day job

Back in the summer of 2012, when I quit my day job to become
a freelance writer online, I didn’t know where to start.

Just like you, I didn’t have a portfolio of work to show to

potential new writing clients, and I certainly didn’t have
any contacts – all my friends and acquaintances had
regular day jobs.

I was starting from scratch and it was frustrating.

But then.

Learning how to earn money as an online writer from scratch

actually turned out to be a pretty exciting time.

It was a time of accelerated self-learning and pushing

through the common assumptions about how it’s
possible to earn a living.

I learned about the best ways to earn the most money from
freelance writing online – and in the shortest time
possible.

And now I can share all that I’ve learned with you.

You’re welcome.

So what do you need to get started?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a writer’s
website from the outset to get set up and start building a
solid reputation as a freelance writer online.

You will need a website eventually, but all that can come
later. I’m going to show you how to get writing work without
a website for now.

If you’ve never been published and have absolutely zero

work to show to potential clients, that’s OK. I’m going to
show you how to build a legitimate portfolio and a handful
of real-life client testimonials very quickly.

So get yourself a cup of coffee (or other beverage of choice –

I’m not the boss of you) and let’s get started…
Part One:
Building the Foundations

Catch 22 and building a portfolio

To get clients as a freelance writer online you need to be able
to prove you are capable of good work – and to do that you
need a writing portfolio. Which most writers don’t have when
just starting out.

Which sucks.

Even at this early stage, it would be easy to retreat back to good

old predictability and give up on the dream of becoming a
freelance writer.

But you’re not going to do that, are you?

No.

Instead, let’s look at this another way: you’re basically in the

same situation as when you went for your very first job.

Remember? The job advert said they needed someone with

experience, but this was your first job so you didn’t have
any yet.
Of course you would have just as soon as they gave you
the [insert expletive] job. And around and around it
went.

It was a nightmare, and you either settled for a job you

didn’t particularly like or you improvised a bit.

We’re going with the latter in this book, because thankfully

the modern freelance writer happens to belong to an exclusive
club where all members make their own luck and
control their own destiny.

Ooh.

That’s right friends. As freelancers, we unearth work,

generate clients and take what we need – we don’t wait for it
to be handed to us.

It’s a different way of thinking and working and it’s

something every new freelancer needs to get used to pretty
quickly.

What to expect when you first start out

It’s unlikely you’ll get paid much for your writing in the
very beginning. Sorry about that.

But! If you follow the steps in this book, you can get to
the getting-paid-more bit very quickly (plus get paid a
few token bucks as you build your portfolio).
What follows is how to build a writing portfolio so you
can showcase your work and go on to earn money from
your writing.

Note: if you’re keen to earn the big bucks fast, take this
course to learn how to earn a full-time living from your
writing.

OK, here goes.

How to build a portfolio in 5 steps:

1. Sign up to fiverr.com or fivesquid.com
I’m in the UK so I got set up on fivesquid.com, but you can
use this or fiverr.com, no matter where you are. It’s up to
you.

Note: there’s a teeny, tiny bit less competition selling

writing gigs on the UK version (Fivesquid).

2. Create a few gigs

Your gigs must offer the type of work you love to
write, and that you know businesses and website
owners constantly need.

Writing blog posts, press releases and website content are all
good examples, if that’s what you want to do. (And I hope it is,
because that’s a lot of what clients want from freelance writers
online!)
 3. Sell each of your gigs with your words
Writing is your thing so make your gigs stand out and really sell
the benefits of somebody buying one. ‘I will write a 500-word
blog post for your small business website’ is OK for the title and
to draw people in, but you really need to give them further
reasons to invest in you with your description.

Oh, and proofread well. Nobody wants to hire a writer

who can’t spell – not even for a fiver.

4. Treat your new ‘clients’ well

If you’ve written a dazzling enough description for your
gig(s), you should get a few jobs right away. If not, consider
tweaking your description, and perhaps posting your
offerings on social media to give them a boost.

Make sure you have all the information to hand and then
complete the work to a high standard. Communicate with your
new ‘clients’ as if they were paying you hundreds of dollars an
hour. Remember, this exercise is not about the money – it’s
about building confidence, testimonials and a writing
portfolio.

5. Don’t just leave it at that

When you’ve finished a gig, write a quick note along with your
completed work asking if the client would like anything revised.
Then, before you sign off, add something along the lines of:
If you’re happy with my work please leave positive
feedback for me on this site. If you’re happy for me to
include this work within my portfolio please state
when and where my work will be published. Please
also let me know if I can help with any other work
that you may have coming up!

If they’re happy with your work none of the above is going to be

a problem for the clients who buy your gigs. Make sure you
copy and paste the most glowing testimonials you receive into a
document to show off at a later date when pitching to ‘proper’
clients (who will have absolutely no idea how much you were
paid for these initial clips).

Knowing when to stop

You now have the humble beginnings of that elusive writing
portfolio and a clutch of testimonials.

This is a simple and effective way for absolute beginners, and

one that also gives much needed confidence and practice at
your craft. You’ll soon find you’ve written about all kinds of
topics for all sorts of mediums.

But…

It’s very easy to forget why we started all this in the first place.
It’s even easier to get pulled into writing for content mills and
other low paying endeavours that are hard to break free from
because of the consistency of the work.

But why settle for consistent work that pays badly when you
can get consistent work that pays well?

The best way to get the well-paid, most consistent work is to

pitch to clients directly.

But those high paying clients who may be willing to offer you
regular writing work will want to see even more proof that
you have a good reputation as a writer.

So let’s move on to the next stage of your reputation building.

(You may also be quite pleased to learn that you’ll actually earn
some decent money at this juncture.)
Part Two:
Adding More Bricks

Getting paid to gain more experience

The next step to building your freelance writing portfolio
(and reputation) is to create profiles on the most popular
and legitimate freelancing websites.

Maybe you’re already signed up – or at least have heard of – the

freelancing sites mentioned in this section.

But do you know how to use them effectively?

The truth is, a new writer’s profile on these sites usually

scream ‘newbie’ – not ideal to link to when pitching
directly to clients for well-paid, reoccurring work.

Use what you’ve learned

If you took the actions set out in the first section of this book,
you’ll be one step ahead of the newbie writers on these sites,
because now you have a few pieces of completed work to show
off. So use them!
The major freelancing sites out there allow you to upload a
portfolio to your profile. Use this section to show potential
clients the best of the best work you’ve completed so far.

Also scatter a few of your most glowing testimonials throughout

your profile description.

All that stands between you and getting well-paid writing work
on freelancing sites is how you sell yourself in your profile, as
well as how well you can seek out the best jobs and complete
them.

To help with this, let’s look at two of the most popular

freelancing sites in more detail. Here’s how to pimp your profile
and search like a ninja to get the best freelance writing jobs, and
build your reputation (and bank balance) even further.

Upwork
Upwork is the result of a merge between oDesk and Elance and
is one of the most popular websites out there for freelancers.

There are tons of writing gigs to choose, ranging from content

and blog writing to proofreading and translation – plus many,
many more.

The sheer quantity of gigs on Upwork has both its advantages

and disadvantages: it’s great to know there’s a huge demand for
your work, but it also increases the amount of low-paying jobs
on offer.

It’s super simple to sign up for an account and start pitching

for jobs on Upwork – but be sure to fully complete your profile
before you send a proposal for anything.

To get your profile complete and looking professional

without spending hours on it, simply check out what other
freelance writers’ profiles look like. Particularly if they’ve
clearly been on the site a while and are getting loads of
great feedback. (I know – devilishly simple isn’t it?)

Naturally, the idea is not to copy anything directly – and it’s

important to write in your own style and unique voice – but
you can still swipe certain keywords and phrases that all the
old pros are using.

Here’s something else to bear in mind with Upwork:

Never let the competition put you off a job you know
you can do and (in particular) that you know you’ll
enjoy doing.

Don’t even look at how many proposals a job that interests you
has received. If you think you can do the job, write a killer
proposal to convince the client of that fact and forget the
competition.

Seriously, just this tip alone can make a huge difference to your
Upwork success rate.

Confidence means clients. Clients mean cash. (Plus another

brick in the burgeoning structure of your online writing
portfolio.)

Sell the benefits of a client hiring you, back it up with proof

(writing clips and testimonials), then confidently pitch.

People Per Hour

People Per Hour worked wonders for me when I first started
out as an freelance writer online. I earned some big bucks from
a just a few gigs and it catapulted my confidence and future
earnings.

It’s a high quality site that’s well managed, and I personally find
that pitching for writing work isn’t half as laborious or
competitive as on some of the other freelancing sites. I’ve
unearthed some very lucrative work on People Per Hour.

My best tip with PPH (and with any of the freelancing sites you
use) is to search smartly.

Why should you have to sift through writing jobs that pay $6 an
hour? You’ve built a solid reputation as a writer now. You have
a mini-portfolio and a complete and professional profile on one
of the biggest freelancing sites out there.

Searching smartly means you don’t have to see any of the badly
paid gigs, or indeed anything that doesn’t interest you. With
People Per Hour, the quality of the gigs is actually pretty good,
but you should still filter your searches to weed out any rubbish.

You can also create ‘offers’ – gigs that you set up in much the
same way as on Fiverr. This means you can offer a particular
service and set your own price, e.g. a 700-word blog post for
$50.

(Check out this post to work out how much to charge for your
writing services.)

Tip: it’s a good idea to set up a few offers and conduct smart
searches for existing writing projects.

People Per Hour is also good if you need help with other things
relating to your freelancing writing career. If at some stage you
perhaps need a professional logo designed for your website, or
some overflow work, it has a particularly high calibre of
freelancers willing to help. If you sign up using the below link,
you’ll get £30 credit towards your first order, and I’ll get £30 to
spend on a project too. That’s reciprocal generosity folks:

www.freelancewritersonline.com/pph

Value your work (and time) highly

The main thing to remember with all the freelancing sites is to
really sell your skills with your profile description and search
effectively for the best jobs.

What a lot of people don’t talk about though is how important it

is to remain confident of your abilities as a freelance writer
when you pitch for jobs. You may be new to freelance writing,
but if you’ve followed the steps in this guide and have proven
yourself as a competent and reliable writer, don’t sell
yourself short.

Conclusion:
What’s next?
It’s not all about the money
Actually it is. The above is just something poor writers say.
I’m kidding!

Of course it’s not all about the money. Otherwise this book
would have been called something like, How to Make
Millions of Bucks from Freelance Writing Without Writing a
Single Word.

Or something.

(I mean, I’d totally read that.)

Yes, you will earn a few bucks from using clients on Fiverr to
build your writing portfolio and testimonials.

Yes, you’ll earn even more money if you pimp your

freelancing site profiles and remain unafraid to pitch for the
decent paying jobs.

But what else is going on behind the scenes? The clue really is
in the title: you’re building a solid writing portfolio that
you can use to pitch to clients – and that is invaluable to
your future writing career.

And guess what? The best is yet to come.

Because you’ve bothered to read this far, I’ll let you into a little
secret about freelance writing:

If you treat those low-paying, portfolio-building clients as if

they were paying you a hundred dollars an hour, the next stage
of your career will see actual hundred dollar an hour
clients offering you work on a plate.

To learn about this next stage in your freelance writing career

– how to get high-paying, regular clients wanting to work with
you – advance to the next stage of your writing career by
downloading the How to Earn a Living as a Freelance Writer
Online course.

The course covers next level stuff we can’t cover here, including
exactly how to:
  use blogging and guest blogging to attract writing
clients

 boss Facebook and Twitter to market your writing

services

 write for the web, including blog post and press release
writing checklists

 make your writing search engine friendly to impress and

keep clients

 optimise your writer's website to sell your services

 pitch for well-paid work, with proven pitching

templates you can copy, paste and send to clients

 bundle your skills to earn a regular, full-time income

from freelance writing online

If you’re ready for the next step – and if you’ve put the
instructions in this book into action you most certainly are –
this comprehensive course on how to earn a full-time living
writing online is the next step.

Hint: use the coupon code EBOOKDISCOUNT at checkout

and get a $20 discount on the cost of the course.

Here’s the link to find out more:

How to Earn a Living as a Freelance Writer Online

Thanks for reading through to the end. I really hope it has
helped you at the beginning of your writing career.

The thought I may have helped, even just a bit, gives me the
warm and fuzzies.

And you know what? You don’t get told this enough, but you
rock.

You really rock.

Happy writing.

Kirsty Stuart