How To Become A Freelance Writer In 2024 [With No Experience]
Last Updated on January 30, 2024 by John Cirelly
If you want to learn how to become a freelance writer, you’re in the right place. Freelance writing has given me the time and location freedom I’ve always wanted in life.
It allowed me to quit my full-time job and earn nearly 3x more each year, working only 20-25 hours per month. Here’s how you can do the same.
What Freelance Writers Do
Freelance writing is a broad category that could describe a freelance writer for any number of projects. These projects typically include:
- Blog posts (most of the time)
- Editing other’s writing
- Educational material
- Social media posts
- YouTube scripts
- Ebooks
Freelance writers are responsible for writing content and sometimes coming up with unique angles. Many times writers are given a brief for each topic that outlines things like:
- Word count
- H2 headings
- Competing articles
- Questions to answer
- Topics to cover
If you’re working for a company with a marketing or content department, chances are you’ll be given a brief. Briefs help you stay on track and ensure the post is optimized to rank high in Google search rankings.
Freelance writers should have a number of skills to improve their writing. Believe it or not, in my 5+ years of writing, no one has asked me for a degree.
That’s because degrees are irrelevant to the freelance world. Hiring managers are more concerned with your knowledge of the topic, attention to detail, and overall writing skill.
Here are a few skills that will help you on your freelance writing journey:
- Time management
- Self-discipline
- Internet research (big time!)
- Written and oral communication
- Paraphrasing other content
- Simplifying complex topics (Creating analogies, etc.)
- Understanding how blogs make money and where you fit in
- Understanding on-page SEO
Freelance Writer vs Blogger
Freelance writers and bloggers write blog posts. However, the freelance writer typically does this for someone else who owns a blog. Bloggers, on the other hand, own the blog and reap the benefit of traffic their content attracts.
It’s very common to see freelance writers contribute to a company’s blog as ghostwriters, meaning the writer does not have their name published as the author. While freelance writers can take on various tasks, 90% of jobs available are related to blog contribution.
How Much Do Freelance Writers Make?
What freelance writers make largely depends on what projects they’re working on. In the United States, freelance writers make an average of $33 an hour, or $68,691 per year.
Freelance writers can increase their effective hourly rate simply by charging per word or per article. Price per word can vary but typically falls between $0.06 and $0.15 cents. Per article rates can range from $100 to $400+ per article.
However, you can earn a lot more per hour if you know how to structure your deals, charge what you’re worth, and work efficiently. I’ll touch more on this later in the article.
Freelance writing is easily one of the best side hustles that can earn you a full-time income with part-time hours because of how you’re compensated.
But first, we have to begin our journey into freelance writing!
How To Start Freelance Writing
In six months, I was able to quit my full-time job to pursue freelance writing with no prior experience, and no writing degree.
These are the steps I took on my journey. I’ve also helped others replace their full-time jobs using this strategy.
1. Pick Your Area Of Expertise
Generalist writers are often paid and valued less than writers with experience within a certain domain. For example, a tech blog will pay more for a writer who has written about tech or even holds a technical degree.
Picking an area to focus on will also help you filter out opportunities that aren’t a great fit and narrow down your search for clients. Your area of expertise will also shape your first few portfolio pieces, which we’ll touch on later in this guide.
If you’re unsure where to start, ask yourself the following questions:
- What topic could I give an impromptu speech on?
- What is my career/job? Can I translate my experience into the writing world?
- What are my passions, and is there a demand for writing content around them?
- Will what I’m writing about make someone else money? (Yes is a good answer)
You’re not married to your niche. In fact, I encourage you to explore and write about different topics to see what flows. I worked in IT, so making the leap to tech writer felt like a natural transition.
If you want to know the highest-paid writing topics, here is a list in no particular order:
- Technology (IT, Cybersecurity, etc.)
- Finance
- Health and Fitness
- Insurance
- Legal (For law firms)
- Real Estate
- Love (How to get a girl, etc.)
2. Building Your Portfolio
When companies hire a freelance writer, they typically do one of two things: Ask for writing samples, or have you perform a test job. Having a portfolio helps demonstrate your skill and experience and allows you to jump on new opportunities quickly.
As you take on higher-paying clients, they may ask only to see published samples of your work. That means they want to see a published article online with you listed as the author. Getting published will come with time, but first, let’s get some writing done!
I highly recommend writing at least three articles on the topic you want to cover.
For example, I leveraged my background in IT when looking for freelance tech jobs, and then also presented my three IT-related writing samples. I got the contract the next day.
It’s important to have these writing samples because not all job listings will have a writing test. In fact, I’d say at least 80% of job listings want to see relevant samples versus a test.
Here are a few tips for building your portfolio:
- Keep your samples inside Google Drive.
- Make each sample “read-only” so no accidental changes are made when sharing.
- Use a tool like Grammarly to check your work as you write.
- Write to be as helpful and concise as possible. No fluff!
- Look at how other published blogs are formatted for inspiration.
- Pick a topic people search for in Google (ex: “How does ransomware work?”)
Pro Tip: You can reach out to websites and job posts and offer to write for free in exchange for getting your name published on the piece.
Alternatively, if you have a blog of your own, go ahead and use your own blog content as pieces in your portfolio.
3. Getting Clients
There are two ways to get freelance writing clients: Job boards and cold outreach.
If you’re just starting out, focus on job boards first, as it’s much easier to get your first few clients here. Here’s a quick rundown on the difference between each client-getting method:
Job boards:
- Make it easy to find new clients ready to hire
- Are easy to get started on
- Typically don’t pay as well*
- Place you next to writers competing for your clients
- Can make you feel like a commodity
- Sometimes charge a fee to be placed ahead of other freelancers
Cold outreach:
- Gives you more control over who you work with
- Doesn’t list you among other writers
- Requires some creativity and a few tools
- Can be frustrating
- Allows you to charge more
- Requires you to know how to close a sale and take payment
The best way to get your first few clients is either on a job board or through a marketing agency. Here are a few job boards I recommend:
If you can, stay away from places like Fiverr and content mill sites. On Fiverr, you’re mainly dealing with smaller jobs and competing on price in an international market.
Content mills are platforms that can offer lots of work, but pay very little per word. Don’t worry, we’ll touch on what you should charge later.
Content marketing and SEO agencies are almost always looking for writers to join their teams. You can do a quick Google search for these agencies and check their website for a Hiring section (typically located in the footer).
Agencies typically pay well, allow you to maintain your freelancer status, and have consistent work. Agencies are a great place to learn a ton about freelance writing, SEO, and client acquisition quickly.
If you find yourself overworked or underpaid, take your experience and writing samples to another agency or the job boards.
Note: If you’re going to use writing samples you created under an agency, make sure you’re legally allowed to share them. Check your contract for any non-disclosure agreements.
4. Pitching Clients
So we know where to find freelance writing clients, but what do we say?
It’s easier than you think. Let’s start with how we’d reply to a job listing on a site like Upwork. There are a few key things you want to address in your response:
- That you actually read their job post
- How your skills and expertise are relevant to what they need
- How your samples are relevant to what they’re looking for
On job boards, companies get flooded with thousands of responses, so it’s important that you’re super clear and concise in your reply. Here’s an example:
Hey FNAME,
I saw you were looking for a real estate writer and immediately thought we’d be a great fit!Before freelancing, I was a real estate broker for three years in Florida. For the past five years I’ve written for brands such as REAgents, BiggerPockets, and HouseWars. Now, I’d love to write for you next.
I’ve attached some relevant writing samples as well as a few links to some of my published work.
Looking forward to chatting!
– John
The example above was short, sweet, and took less than 5 minutes to write. The first line calls out that we read the post, that we’re excited, and we’re relevant.
The first line of the second sentence demonstrates our real-world knowledge of the topic. The next line tells the hiring manager how long we’ve been writing and what other similar brands we’ve written for. Include hyperlinks to each published post if you can.
Lastly, we’re calling out that we have relevant samples attached, and providing some energy to show we’re excited to get to work. Nothing super fancy or uptight!
The most important part about your pitch is that you actually read the job description and reiterated back that you can do exactly what they need while highlighting your relevant past experience.
Keep in mind this is a numbers game. By using a job board and crafting concisely customized pitches, you’re putting the odds in your favor. Stick with it, don’t get frustrated, and keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities.
If you’re shortlisted, they might want you to do a small writing test. These are often paid but sometimes not. Towards the end, the company might make you an offer if they weren’t clear on their compensation in your post.
If you’re using, a platform like Upwork budget and project scope should be clear before applying. Jobs on Upwork typically lead directly to a hire without a test.
I’ll touch on pricing later but for your first few jobs, consider working for between $0.05 and $0.10 per word, $20-$35/hr, or for at least $150 per article.
5. Doing The Work
Congrats, you got your first client! 🎉
This is your chance to create helpful engaging content and get paid for it. If you’re on a site like Upwork, ask for a review if the client was happy.
Take snapshots of all your positive reviews and keep them in your Google Drive. You can use these in the future as testimonials on your website and cold outreach if you choose to go that route.
Learn from your negative reviews, and remember that you’ll run into tire-kickers and assholes along the way. As you gain experience, you’ll be able to see and avoid problem clients, charge more, and have a consistent stream of steady work.
Hint: Freelancing isn’t as unpredictable as you think. Many brands want writers for the long term!
How Much To Charge As A Freelance Writer
One of the best things I ever learned was that your price is your marketing. You communicate your value and attract the right customers all through your price.
Freelance writers are paid per hour, per word, or per article. You can do whatever you’d like, but here’s my opinion:
❌ Don’t price per hour: This incentivizes you to work slowly and not be efficient. Clients will want you to work quickly, and be upset if a project takes longer than expected. Time does not equal value.
⚠️ Price per word when it’s the only option: Pricing per allows you to increase your effective hourly rate in tandem with your efficiency. The better of a writer you are, the more you make per hour. The drawback is that you’re not getting paid while researching, and this model encourages writers to write fluff content to extend their word count.
✔️ Price per article: Pricing per article gives you and the client the best result. The client can keep a flat, predictable budget for each article, while you can scale your word count to best suit the reader and the topic. Articles typically range between 1000-2500 words, giving you the most control over your hourly rate.
If a project exceeds 2500 words, I switch over to a per-word rate or increase the flat price. Sometimes, smaller tasks warrant a per-word pricing, but that’s ok. Ultimately, you always want to know what your effective hourly rate is and make sure it matches your goal.
For example, if you can write 1,000 words in an hour about a topic, and you want to make $100 per hour, you’d charge $0.10 per word, or $100 per article.
Keep track of how long it takes to finish an article and aim to increase your rates while reducing your writing time throughout your career.
Set a target hourly rate, and adjust the example above to meet your target goals. The more you write, the better you’ll get. Trust me. Two years ago, I wrote 2.1 million words for my clients. 🙃
If you’re a specialized writer, you should be charging more as well. Experience in technology, healthcare, insurance, SEO, and B2B topics makes you more valuable as a writer. Good clients will recognize and pay for reliable, knowledgeable writers.
Freelance Writing Tips
Below are a few freelance writing tips as you learn how to become a freelance writer:
- Don’t worry about AI writing tools. These tools are excellent for research and briefs, but churn out the same content each time. Google will actively penalize this content, meaning brands don’t want AI-generated writing. They want you.
- Keep track of your efficiency. Understand how long it takes you to write a 2,000-word article. Continuously calculate your hourly rate and look to improve by increasing your writing and research speeds along with your rate. I use a free tool called Clockify to track my time.
- Update your portfolio. Even if you’re not sharing all your samples, continuously add new and better pieces of work to it as you grow. You could even explore different niches and have examples for multiple industries.
- Save 3-6 months of living expenses. While freelancing can offer continuous work, it’s best to give yourself some runway for unexpected expenses, or a drop in clients. If times get tough, a bit of cash will save you from having to take jobs you really don’t want to take.
- Keep a list of clients and opportunities. Even if you’re at max capacity, keep an eye on the job boards for agencies and brands that are paying well. I put these companies in a Google Sheet along with their contact information, offered pay, and particular needs. If a client leaves, you can turn to your sheet for a reliable list of leads.
Wrapping Up
I hope this guide helps you learn how to become a freelance writer and sheds some light on how lucrative a side hustle writing can be.
Where are you in your freelance writing journey? Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.
