Writers Unbound

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Denis Watley

1. Put together your resume on the computer in a format that is easy to print or copy and paste into email. Double check your dates, spelling, etc. Put in a nice summary at the top and be sure to include your contact information. Save it on a cd and file that along with a printed copy.
2. Put together samples of your work on the computer in a format that is easy to print or copy and paste into email. If you have published clips, print a few hard copies (and save them on a cd with your resume) and file with your resume.
3. Choose your niche/specialization. I know not every writer feels the need to specialize; isn’t being a great writer enough? And the short answer is, yes, it is. Good writers can research anything and write about anything. But as you begin your freelance writing, the question you will encounter everywhere is this: “What are you qualified to write about?” It’s not enough to simply be a good writer until you are established. So choose an area you love and know something about, and use it to establish yourself. Then you can break that mold into a million pieces.
4. Establish yourself as an expert in your area of specialization. Write articles and posts about your topic. Read books, magazines, newspapers, trade journals, and anything else you can get that pertains to your topic. Talk to people. Get your finger on the pulse of what is happening in this area. Act like a professional in this field, and you will begin to think and talk, and write, and market yourself, like one.
5. Set up a website. If you have no money to invest, a simple blog or free hosting service will provide a simple space for your biography, pictures, and links. Include your resume and samples of your work on your website. Keep the lay out simple and streamlined. Avoid cutesy pictures, patterns, and distractions. It’s fine to have color and to reflect yourself, just remember that you are reflecting your professional self. If you have a little money, purchase a domain name (something like www.yourname.com is usually best) and hosting. This is not expensive. I use Godaddy, which cost me around $15 for 2 years of the domain name and $5 a month for hosting.
6. Set up a dedicated email address. Make it professional as well, as in firstname.lastname@emailclient.com, or initial.lastname@emailclient.com, or lastname.writingservice@emailclient.com You can still use your preferred free email client, gmail or hotmail or yahoo or whatever makes you happy. In whichever email client you use, go to the Settings and use the Signature feature. As always, make it professional. Mine is my name, physical address, phone number, email, website, and blog address.
7. Set your financial goals. How much do you want to make per month, per week, per day? What does that mean you need to make per hour? Keep in mind that if you make enough money, the government will want some of it. On every payment I receive for freelance writing, I take 50% as my actual “salary.” The other 50% doesn’t belong to me: 10% I tithe, and 40% I save for taxes. If I don’t need the full 40% at tax time (which I hope I won’t), I will have a nice stash to invest in marketing or supplies… a nice laptop, maybe.
8. Once you’ve set your financial goals, set your schedule and compare. If you want to make $500 a week but you only have 4 hours a week to put towards your writing, you have trouble. I’m sure it’s possible to make $500 in 4 hours, but in the beginning… not so much. Your financial goals and your schedule should give you a number that is your per hour goal: you must make X dollars per hour in order to reach your financial goals in the amount of time you have scheduled.
9. Set your standards for what you will accept as payment and what type of content you will produce. What is your minimum pay rate? Consider the amount of money you need to make per hour, as you determined in Step #8. Will you do those “$5 for 500 words” jobs? Can you afford to? What about content? Are you willing to write anything? Do you care if your articles go on spam sites? Do you have standards about topics? Decide, and stick to your decision.
10. Finally, what you’ve been wanting: find your jobs. Be careful here, especially if you are interested in writing for online venues as a beginner. The internet has opened an entire new job market for freelance writers, but as with any profitable system, there are scams and frauds a-plenty. Beware job postings that don’t give you a pay rate, that want you to rewrite articles, or that don’t provide job details. Do a search on the company name. Check out what the websites look like. If you are satisfied that the business is legitimate, go for it.

More:
Help for writing a Freelance Writer’s Resume (good if you have been writing freelance for a while).
A Resume Workshop from Purdue’s Online Writing Lab.
If you don’t have any writing samples yet, read this article on Presenting Your Portfolio by Mandy Hougland.
About’s guide to Make Yourself an Expert by Laura Lake.
And the jobs! A great place to start is Freelance Writing Jobs - a new list compiled every weekday.