Freelance writing is an easy way to make money as a part-time professional, side hustle, and more. Here are nine tips to help you get freelance writing jobs without experience. Freelance Writing Jobs help you maintain a work-life balance, require minimum investments, and give you complete independence for your work.
I have been a writer for 5+ years and have experience of over 500,000 words. As a writer, I have learned some crucial pro tips and tricks to help you grow yourself. M and IMy team and I researched many successful writers to discover the nine best tips for scoring a freelance writing job with 0 experience.
Tips To Get Freelance Writing Jobs (No Experience)
As a freelance writer, I will provide valuable insights and details to help you become a great writer. The easiest way to get jobs is to gain experience quickly. I will be sharing guidance on how to quickly gain expertise or get great jobs with little to no experience.
These tips have been tried and tested by me. Most of the leads are still used by me as an experienced writer to grow myself.
You should have some writing experience and knowledge. Once you start getting clients, you’d be expected to produce quality content at the highest standards while meeting strict deadlines. But, even if you don’t have experience, specific tips go a long way in helping you grow. Today, I am sharing my best tips with you. Let’s start:
1) Gain Experience using Ghostwriting / Freewriting
The best way to get freelance writing jobs without experience is by building experience. It’s easier said than done. Often, writers like you struggle to gain knowledge or get confused.
I have done freelance ghostwriting for many clients and can confirm that it is beneficial in securing new jobs. Furthermore, if you get to do ghostwriting in a significant company, you will learn a lot; that experience would be critical.
Ghostwriting means you would be writing content published in someone else’s name. Freewriting means writing some content for free as a sample to gain experience and build a portfolio to grow as a writer.
Once you work for free or create ghostwriting content, you can use that experience on your resume and present that work as your portfolio. If you work for free for someone, you may even ask them to hire you (on a paid basis) if your work is good enough.
Another great way to gain experience is using Milyin, a platform to create content in various forms, including blogs, articles, news, stories, etc. You can write here in your name and create topics of your choice. But wait — there’s more. Milyin also pays you $0.1 per ad click on your writings. Thus, it can be a great place to start your career as a freelance writer without experience.
2) Decide a Niche for freelance writing
As is the case in every profession, you need to have specialization in a particular niche. Targeting every niche means you are targeting no place. You must select a specific place and be laser-focused on learning about that niche and creating new content.
When large companies search for specialist content writers, they seek focus. If your resume and cover letter cover everything related to your client’s core domain, you will likely score a job. Obviously, you don’t have experience as a writer, but your past work experience could also be in the same niche.
For example, if you are planning to apply for a sports writer, you may not have writing experience but may have knowledge and expertise about Football, which will be critical for them. I was a tech enthusiast who loved smartphones, laptops, and all. So, I started my career targeted towards technology. With time, as I gained experience, I also moved towards other fields.
3) Networking Effect to get Freelance Writing Job with no experience
You would have a vast network of similar writers as a freelance writer. Even if you don’t know writers, simple searches on the internet and LinkedIn can help you find successful writers like me. Message them or write emails seeking advice and showing interest in working together.
If they like you and your work, things will become much easier for you in managing your career. You can even approach small digital marketing agencies in your neighborhood who might be interested in hiring new writers.
4) Use Job boards
As someone searching for freelance writing jobs without experience, you can quickly grow by applying for jobs from various job boards. Some job boards have jobs from very young startups, making them ideal for your needs. One of the best job boards, in my opinion, is ProBlogger.
These job boards have new jobs applied by 10s and 100s of writers in no time. In such a competitive space, you must apply for the job fast and ensure your job profile looks good enough to score you a freelance writing job.
Always prefer jobs in your favorite niches. Keep a rough resume prepared; as mentioned in tip 1, you can use various methods to gain experience and write it in your resume.
5) Launch a Blog
Again, it’s all about showing yourself to be good (if not better) than other writers in the industry. You don’t need a lot of experience to get a client. Start a blog by buying a cheap domain or a free WordPress website and create a couple of blog posts (2-3 good ones will do) in your relevant niche.
Then, use these 2-3 posts as a portfolio, examples, and more while pitching to clients and thus gaining experience. This would be critical in helping you grow as a writer.
Bonus points if you start a blog and it grows enough to start earning money through your blog.
6) Learn SEO
Of all the tips I have discussed in this guide to getting freelance writing jobs without experience, this one is the most important. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is more critical than ever before.
With the increasing competition, businesses and blogs don’t just want writers; they want writers who can do SEO or Search Engine Optimization as well. Learn about critical ranking factors, keyword research, marketing terms like CPC, CPM, ROI, and more.
This will help you become more versatile and ready for far better roles in the industry. Companies will always prefer an SEO-friendly, experienced writer.
7) Build a Portfolio Using Spec Work
Creating spec work is one of the most effective ways to build a portfolio as a freelance writer with no experience. This means writing articles or blog posts on topics that interest you and that you think would be relevant to potential clients. In other words, you would not boast about your experience; you would show few high-quality articles rather than many high-quality articles.
You can then use these pieces as samples to show your writing skills and style. Make sure to showcase your best work and highlight any relevant experience or skills you have, such as research or SEO optimization. You can also offer to write for free or at a reduced rate for non-profit organizations or small businesses to gain experience and build your portfolio.
8) Avoid Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer
This isn’t a practical tip. Don’t get me wrong, Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer-like sites work, but experienced and successful writers largely dominate these.
Your first client should come from the low-hanging fruit of low-competition clients where you can make an impression by showing a few high-quality assignments. These assignments can later be showcased in Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer once you are an experienced writer willing to compete with established businesses.
9) Utilize Social Media to Showcase Your Writing Skills
The use of social media cannot be emphasized enough. Build your audience and grow your reach to become a successful free writer without experience. First of all, social media would allow you to easily find and attract newer customers.
Secondly, if you assert your expertise and post quality content or critique poorly written content, you build an image of an expert that might catch the attention of potential clients. This potential client will be critical in helping you become a freelance writer without experience.
This tip works well for beginner-level story writing, as well as fiction writing.
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