Freelance writing is a form of writing where the writer is paid to write without being employed permanently or working full-time for a publication or company. A freelance writer is a self-employed writer. This writer can work for anyone and write on different topics. Essentially, this form of writing entails writing to earn money.
A freelancer produces written text on the basis of the needs of their clients. They can work from home or from their office. What’s more, this writer works for several clients at a time. Although freelancing doesn’t involve long-term contracts, some writers partner with clients for years and even decades.
What Does Freelance Writing Involves?
The work of a freelance writer involves composing texts that clients need. Some writers specialize in specific subjects or topics like politics or culture. However, a writer can specialize in a specific field like writing resumes or SEO content.
A professional writer in this field sees their work as a lasting business. As such, they spend time looking for new work, keeping records, and updating themselves on industry and career developments. Nevertheless, freelancers in the writing field earn money by composing documents. These include SEO articles, magazine articles, web page content, press releases and business documents.
Pros and Cons of Freelance Writing
If you pursued a degree in journalism or if you have what it takes to write great content, you may want to know the pros and cons of a career in this field before you venture into it.
Pros
Among the pros of this form of writing include:
- You enjoy the freedom of self-employment
- You decide when to work
- You learn about different topics and meet fascinating people
- You evolve your craft constantly
- With determination and hard work, your venture can become a sustainable career
- A freelance writer’s lifestyle can lead to a passion project like novel writing.
Cons
Just like other jobs, this career has its shortcomings.
They include:
- No steady paycheck
- You may face drought some times
- Staying disciplined is not always easy
- There are times when you write on things that don’t interest you
Freelance Writing as a Career
Hard work, determination, openness, discipline, and desire to constantly refine your craft will enhance your success when you venture into this field. However, it’s important that you acquire a degree in a relevant discipline such as communications or journalism. Such programs will enable you to acquire crucial skills that are necessary for your future profession. What’s more, pursuing such studies will enable you to write brilliant samples and stand out when competing for the same openings.
While pursuing your studies, it’s important that you continuously look for writing opportunities to acquire relevant experience. For instance, you can volunteer to write for the college magazine or newspaper. You can also create your own blog and write articles on your favorite topics. Essentially, make writing a hobby and try to compose an impressive piece every day.
How Does It Work?
When starting out, you may wonder how you will get jobs. Basically, freelance writers get their workflow in two ways. First, a writer can search for freelance writing jobs online. There are many websites where writers bid for work and get hired online. Second, a freelance writer can get a job from a company or a person that has something that needs to be written but they don’t have the skills or time required to write.
How a freelance writer is paid depends on how they get their job. For instance, some clients pay through paper check. Others pay via PayPal. Nevertheless, many small businesses and individuals prefer PayPal because it is convenient. However, larger organizations prefer paper check.
In most cases, clients pay upfront. However, there are times when a client pays half the amount upfront and the other half once the job is done. Some freelance writers accept an arrangement where they receive full payment once the job is done. There are also writers that have payment schedules with clients such as fortnightly and monthly.
Why Does Freelance Writing Exists?
This field exists because there are companies, businesses, and individuals that often need writing help. For instance, a person may own a blog but lack time to write content for it. A business can have a website that needs frequent updating but lack a full-time employee to create web content. What’s more, hiring a freelance writer is cheaper than hiring a full-time content writer. Generally, this field makes getting content in different niches easier and cheaper. That’s because a company, business or individual can contact a freelance writer any time and get the job done faster.
So, do you need content for your website, blog, or even social media platforms? Do you want to hire a professional freelance writer? Then talk to Bishop Writers. We are passionate about freelance writing. In fact, this is our full-time job. Email us via bishopwriters@gmail.com to discuss your content needs now!
