Interestingly, when I Googled my headline “how to find writing jobs that pay top dollar” to see if anyone had thought about title before, I found it to be totally unique. So, that’s a good start. Maybe not that many articles have been written on the subject.
Two weeks ago I wrote a post about the challenges that freelance writers are facing when looking for writing gigs that pays good money.
As a follow-up to that post – and I advise you to read it first if you haven’t yet – I wanted to write about how you can find better writing jobs that pay well.
As I mentioned in that previous post, you won’t find well paid writing jobs by going to those bidding sites, because they’re just not designed for you (the writer). Those sites are designed for those who hire the writer. So let me reinforce that again. Stay away from those sites if you want to make good money as a freelance writer.
Here are five steps that you need to take as a freelance writer if you want to avoid low paying gigs forever, and if you want to become one of the rather few freelance writers who actually make very good living doing what they love.
Step #1 – Prepare your Mindset
Are you surprised that this is my number one step to find well-paying writing jobs? Well, you shouldn’t, because without the right mindset nothing you’d accomplish would be truly successful.
Writers that are not paid well, usually have low self-esteem, and lack of confidence. Not the type of mind set you want to have to be a freelance writer, or any other type of entrepreneur for that matter.
If your low self-esteem is due to your lack of expertise, then do everything you need to do to improve your writing skill, before you even start selling your services. Do not under value yourself and start accepting ridiculous pay due to your lack of expertise.
Once you start working for little it’s harder to find high pay writing jobs.
I suggest that you read personal development and self-improvement materials in order to learn how to set your mind strong. As an entrepreneur the work on YOURSELF is key to your success in your business.
Your mindset is your foundation. Without a good foundation everything can crumble at any time. Potential clients can feel when they deal with someone that is insecure.
So, take this step very seriously, guys. You need to be ready mentally with a high self-esteem before you’ll ever get good paying writing jobs.
Step #2# – Establish Yourself as an Expert
One thing is certain is that that no one will want to give you hundreds of dollars for your writing if they don’t feel that you are an expert at what you do.
The easiest way to establish yourself as an expert is to have a blog, because your blog will do two very important things for your writing business.
1- It will be your portfolio
You can have a portfolio page like I do to show some of your work, but you don’t have to if you don’t have samples of your writing yet. Your best portfolio showing your writing skills will be your blog.
But of course, it will be efficient ONLY if you create good content on a regular basis. If the content that you write for your own blog is mediocre at best, you can’t expect to receive top dollar writing offers.
2- It will be your business platform
You can use you blog as your online store, where you set up a hiring page, and you will receive offers from potential clients directly from there (if you do things right). That’s where most of my clients reach out to me.
It’s so essential to have a blog as a freelance writer. Don’t count on social media or web 2.0 sites to do the job that your blog can do for you. Setting up your own blog is the first thing you need to do if you want to enter a career as a freelance writer. Your blog can help to position yourself as an expert.
Step # 3 – Contact Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies
Don’t even start step 3 until you’ve covered step 1 and 2.
I can tell you that none of those big fortune companies are found on writing bid sites. Those are the people that will pay you top dollar for your writing if you can write well.
What you may need to learn though, is how to pitch them in such a way that you will be noticed, since they do receive a lot of offers.
Many of those large companies, however, often welcome a good creative writer that will help them get more business. If you’re able to show them that you can do the job, they might be willing to hire you for the long run and for top dollar.
Just by doing a simple search online you can find many of such companies. Once you do find out who does the hiring or person of contact, send a well written pitch letter.
In an upcoming post I’ll be talking about writing a good pitch.
Step # 4 – Guest Blogging
I have to admit that this might not be the easiest thing you can do to find potential clients, but you need to target high level blogs and pitch them with the best guest posts you can come up with.
When I say it’s not easy, it’s because it’s not. Those blogs do receive tons of requests on daily basis, so you need to be as original and as creative as you can be, and write a pitch that will caught their attention with a super duper guest post attached.
Before you do, I would advise you to study what type of content they do accept and use that knowledge to your advantage.
If you can show them that you know exactly what they like, and that you have a great original post that proves or emphasis a topic that they’ve already discussed, your chances of being accepted will greatly increase.
I’m not going to lie to you, this will take time and dedication, but it will be well worth it if you can pull one off. Once you do the second one will always be either.
Also, let me add that your mindset as discussed above will also increase your chances of success in being featured on top guest blogs.
Do not get discouraged if you get rejected. It doesn’t mean that your post is bad, but maybe they already have an article discussing that topic. Start all over again until you get a yes.
In another upcoming post I’ll be giving you a list of blogs that you can target.
Step #5 – Internet Marketing Consultants
Internet marketing consultants are always in need for written content. I don’t care how popular is the video or podcast, written content is still king and people still need it badly. Some of those internet marketing consultants are willing to pay top dollar for well writing and well-targeted content.
Just like in the case of fortune 500 and fortune 1000 companies and big mammoth blogs, you are going to have to pitch those guys as well. the better your pitch the more chances you’ll have to get an offer.
When you do pitch them, show them that you know what their site/business is about and how you could help them with your writing.
Bonus Tip
When you pitch anyone, a company, a blog owner or a local business, make sure that your pitch is not about you, but about them and how you can help them.
Frankly, they don’t really care about your life story and all your accomplishments. What they want to know is how much you know about what they do and how well you can help them.
I hope that this post was helpful to you and that it will help you find writing jobs that pay top dollar. Please, let me know in your comment below.
Hey Sylviane,
Great write indeed! For me, mind set and profile is important. Firstly, focus on what you want to achieve and how you want to get it done. For example, just don’t say you want to make money by writing. Instead, be more specific like make money by writing romantic series etc!
Profile is crazily important. Take 3 sentences and build a killer profile. Tell peeps why they should get you and you will probably land more opportunities than you can ever imagine.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Reginald,
Wow, it seems that you’ve got hold of this post as soon as I published it 🙂
Yes, you mentioned a very important point, a good a very professional profile is very important, indeed.
Thanks for coming.
Hey Sylviane,
Wonderful article, I agree with you, mindset is important without mindset a writer can not succeed. Blog holds a lot of importance, it represents you and your writing. More good content you write on your blog equals to more people are going to hire you.
It’s a fact that people on bidding sites look for cheap writers, if you have a mindset and you have determined your quality then you don’t need to go there. Searching new sites would be a better option.
I’m still improving my writing skills, i will soon start my journey as a writer, i hope your tips will help me. Thanks for sharing 🙂
-Siraj
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Hi Siraj,
I’m so glad you came here as a new writer.
If you follow all the good tips that exist out there for people who want to be serious freelance writers, you can take all the right turn and make good money writing.
Thanks for coming 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
I think you’re right on with the bonus tip. Offering your writing skills to make others shine is of inestimable value.
I would like to add a couple of points to what you’ve written:
When one goes to make that pitch, make sure that what you have written is grammatically correct, and depending where you’re pitching to, within the realms of social acceptance. Be professional from start to finish.
One thing you may consider is writing in a particular niche that relates to your experience. One of my best friends writes technical articles for a couple of major corporations, mostly pertaining to health and safety standards, and he earns a substantial sum of money. He specializes only in this style of writing, and it’s a good fit with his analytical personality.
Hope this is helpful.
Kind Regards,
Bill
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Hi Bill,
Yes, it sure is helpful and thank you for adding this.
Indeed, it goes without saying that your pitch needs to be impeccable and error free, or you probably won’t have a chance to get in.
I think it’s very good to write in the niche(s) you know best, like your friend. As a matter of fact, I refuse to write on topics that are very foreign to me these days.
Thanks so much for your input.
Hi Sylviane,
Although you know this is not my area and I’m not a freelance writer I can appreciate what you’ve shared here.
We all know that the proper mindset is where everyone needs to start. When I first came online I seriously didn’t have a clue because I have a very positive attitude. I certainly don’t have to tell you but being positive it totally different then believing in yourself or having the confidence to move forward. I was stepping into unknown waters and I wasn’t sure with each step if I’d fall in or not.
So once you work on that mindset and you have that confidence that you KNOW you can do a great job then following these steps you’ve outlines here is definitely the way to go.
I was intimidated with establishing myself as an expert but that’s because that confidence level wasn’t quite all there yet but if you’re a writer and you know you’re good then that should come more naturally I would think.
Heading straight to the big boys, that’s a great way to get your foot in the door. I mean why not go where the money is right! Very smart things to do.
Guest blogging will definitely help get your name spread around more but one thing I’ve learned is you have to write for blogs that are more high profile, more popular, have a better ranking, etc. That’s the way you’ll get noticed a lot faster then just posting on a friend’s blog that just started. I think my first three or four guest posts are now history because those people aren’t even blogging anymore. Bummer.
The internet marketing consultants, I would have never thought about that but you’re right. Especially the more successful they become the more they need writers. Great tip Sylviane.
Awesome information for writers and I’ll be sure to pass this little gem around as well.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
Yes, I had to start with mindset, because there’s simply no success without the right mindset. I certainly know this first hand.
Yes, when I talk about guest blogging I’m talking the big guys, like problogger, copyblogger, and other big guys there. I’ve tried problogger a couple of times like 2 years ago, but I couldn’t figure out how to be original enough. But I’m about ready to try again soon. We’ll see.
Yes, contacting big companies is the way to go, and I’m going to start to create my own huge campaign. I know some specific company types that I can reach out to, because I know the business they’re into. So lots of future interesting blog posts should be coming up in 2014 🙂
Thanks so much for coming, Adrienne.
Hi Sylviane,
Although I’m not a writer, following this blog always improves my writing skills for myself.
I think Mindset is the most important thing one can do before getting out there and pitching your services. When you are in a good state of mind, you have the confidence you will need no matter how good a writer you are.
I also like the idea of guest posting because it gets you out there to others. When you do a guest post on someone’s blog, it gives so much credibility to their followers. If they ever need writing services you will stick out in their mind because you are a friend of a friend.
Thanks for sharing this to up coming writers!
-Donna
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Hi Donna,
Yes, mindset is first and foremost, and if someone is too much removed from the right type of mindset they won’t be able to get some significant work.
When it comes to guest blogging it’s all good, but of course if one can reach the big guys out there it’s a plus of course. but the bigger the blog the tougher it is to get in 🙂
Thank you so much for coming Donna.
Great advice, Sylviane – I’m not intending to try freelancing at the moment, because I’m too focused on trying to write some fiction, but if I was, I’d certainly be following these tips. Like William, I think your bonus tip is spot on – I’m sure potential clients are really only interested in what you can do for them, and that’s what you need to emphasise when you’re pitching for a job.
Thanks for another excellent share 🙂
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Hi Sue,
Yes, I know that you’re busy writing fiction these days, and I would love to read your stuff 🙂
I put down that bonus tip because beginners may think that it’s good to tell your potential clients about your accomplishments, but they don’t really care. They want to know what you can do for them.
Thanks for coming and have a great week ahead.
Hi Sylviane
Great information and I know I am definitely not ready for the big time yet. But I agree we should never under sell ourselves or we will forever be stuck there trying to rise above peanuts for writing. It takes too much effort to write good content that it to be given away for a few dollars. Better off to go pick up cans or work for minimum wage somewhere.
Thanks for all the details.
Mary
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Hi Mary,
Well, it’s too much efforts to write good content for peanuts, but it’s not too much efforts to write great content for great money. That’s where the difference lies.
But writing has a lot to do with the mindset, that’s why I put it first of the list. I think that you underestimate your writing, which you know I love 🙂
Thanks for coming Mary.
Hi Sylviane,
I remember your last post where you shared your story and how you decided to tighten your pricing structure and how you struggled initially. It was a wonderful post.
Now, this one is a very resourceful post. I am sure a lot of freelance writers will get a lot of value from this article. These techniques, are sure to work because they all make sense. It needs someone to act on these ideas and grow their business, isn’t it?
Thank you for sharing and adding value to the online community.
-Kumar
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Hi Kumar,
I’m glad your remembered the previous post which was a prelude to this one. This type of post will become more and more frequent on this blog which is its true purpose. The blog is kind of growing with me 🙂
Thank for coming.
Sylviane, it can be hard enough writing for my blog. I am not sure where you find time to write for someone else.
I bet you are a good writer because looking at your articles here, I can see why you charge a good price.
You would be crazy to accept less. I am not a freelance writer, but I did get a pay job once.
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Hi Michael and thanks for coming and for your compliment. Truly appreciate that and I always do my best to write good content out there:)
I agree with Donna. Every time I read on of your articles I learn something new. 🙂
Your first point really inspired me. I admit I fall into the category of undervaluing my work. If I had to give a reason why I would say because I don’t have much experience as a blogger/writer yet. I am becoming more confident with myself and my writing but there are times I still get intimidated. But I’m working on this :).
I took a look at your contact/hire me page and I think that’s awesome. I would love to have that someday but with only a year-and-a-half experience I feel I should grow a little more before that in the meantime, I’m getting my experience through guest blogging.
Guest blogging has helped me grow in both my writing skills and my confidence. It was the best feeling ever when I was approached to do a guest blog…and it’s a honor that bloggers put their trust in my writing.
The internet marketing consultant suggestion is new to me…I hadn’t thought of that. And thanks for that bonus tip! It is very important to make the perfect pitch there’s too much competition out there for an average presentation.
Great advice Sylviane! Have a great Tuesday!
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Hi Corina,
Well, I think that you’re hard on yourself and if people have already approached you to invite you to guest post on their blogs, it’s because they’ve liked your work.
As for me I am still surprised when you or Donna (or anyone) 🙂 are telling me how much you’re learning from little me 🙂
Truth be told we are still all learning as we go and that’s a good thing. It makes us better at what we do.
Thanks for coming, Corina.
Great tips, Sylviane 🙂
Even though I am not a freelance writer (at least not yet), I do understand the importance of maintaining a growth mindset. Only thing I am kind of worried about is bargaining. Usually in other business, people/clients bargain for a better (lower) price, is that common in freelance writing? I think I should go with a fixed price, and if the client is a friend, I could give a discount? (I know I am getting ahead. I should setup my blog first. I am just preparing myself for every situation I can think of :D)
I used to be an active guest blogger, so that experience will definitely help with freelance writing. I do have a question about portfolio page. In the past, I have created a page with links to all my guest posts, I do plan to do it in the future too, can I use that page as the portfolio?
Do you think it will be too much to showcase all of those articles? Or should I just pick a few out of those and build a separate page to use as portfolio?
Anyways, thank you for the tips, Sylviane 🙂 Appreciate it!
Hi Jeevan,
OK, let me try to answer your questions the best I can.
First it’s better not to bargain too much with clients, but just tell them how much you charge. As a matter of fact whether I have charge $10 an article or $175 an article I have not ever got a no. I now know that when I charged $10 I shoot myself in the foot because have I had asked for more they would have given it to me.
Sure you can use links to your guest post as your portfolio. No problem with that. But you definitely need a blog.
Hope my answers helped 🙂
Have a great day, and thank you for coming.
Alright, thanks 😀
Oh, ok 🙂
The blog part is covered. I will be launching mine in Jan 🙂
Thank you, Sylviane!
You’re welcome and can’t wait to see your new blog in January.
Hi Sylviane,
I don’t believe this post is just written for writers 😉 I find it very useful for any freelancer online.
I’m a blogger and even writing is not my best skill, my blog has been the center of it all when it comes to freelancing Sylviane. May be I’ve said it before that my clients reached me through my blog, not via any social media platform. I hear ya when you mention about establishing ourselves as experts 🙂
I know you as a writing expert. Did I hire you? No 🙂 But your blog convinced me enough about your writing. Actually, the first post of yours I’ve ever read 😉 I can see you follow your own guidelines.
As you implied, I agree that mindset is on top of the expertise dear. Eventhough I’m into techy stuff and problem solving, I felt how low self-esteem trying to drag me down in some occasions. If we allow it to take us over, things won’t go as we planned for sure 🙂
I hope other freelancers and anyone who wanna achieve success will consider your tips and have it in MUST DO list 🙂
You have a lovely weekend ahead Sylviane 🙂
Cheers…
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Hi Mayura,
Wow, long time no see. It’s nice to see you back Mayura.
That’s really great that you get clients through your blog, because that’s what a blog should be about, after all, a platform for your business.
Thank you for your input, and have a great day!
Hi Sylviane
This is something I’m definitely interested in. It might not be the right time for me though.
I’m not always able to commit a lot of time to things, although I’m beginning to get more time with my daughter now going to nursery in the mornings.
Maybe I also don’t have quite the right mindset for this yet either. I’m very focussed on looking after the kids more than anything.
I’ll certainly take everything on board though. There’s probably no harm in putting a hire me page up in a few months time and see where that leads me.
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Hi Tim,
Sure when you feel like you’re ready you can put that hire me page and see where it leads. for now, if you already know that you’re not really committed it might not be the right time yet.
Thanks for your input, Tim.
Very authentic information at all but I have some bad experience with Guest posting. I try this few times but they offer only free. Can you give me some place where I can earn.
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Hi Alysha,
OK, let me clarify something here, and I’m sorry if it wasn’t clear in my post. When I talk about guest posting I’m not talking about getting paid to guest post, I’m talking about guest posting to promote yourself and get client by doing so.
This is not the easiest way, but it’s the most paying forward way.
I hope this clarifies things for you.
Thank you for coming and welcome here.
It’s good tips to get paid with writing articles. I thank a lot for your sharing.
You’re welcome,
Thanks for coming Shiv, and hope to see you here again soon.
Hi Sylviane, Thanks for your clear information but what steps should I follow if I want some money from guest posting ?
Kind Regards,
Alisha.
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Hi again Alysha,
If you want to get paid for guest posting, you should google terms such as “getting paid for guest posting” or “write for us.” Those two terms alone should really help you find some paid opportunities.
Hope this helps 🙂