The Step By Step Guide To Finding Freelance Writing Work Without Any Experience

I’ve distilled the steps involved in every gig I landed.

Photo: Paige Cody/Unsplash

I started freelancing in 2016. I thought it would be easy and that I would be successful right away.

Wrong.

It was the start of a long and hard journey with many ups and downs but it was worth it. It was those ups and downs that made me confident in my abilities to make all my money online as a freelancer.

It’s thanks to freelancing and finding all my clients online that I’m able to travel around the world. I’m writing this post right now in Taipei, Taiwan. Before Taipei, I was in Tokyo, Japan.

From my 4+ years as a freelancer, I’ve extracted the steps involved in almost every gig I’ve landed. These are reliable actions you can take to ensure you find work without getting lucky.

Here is how you go from no experience to landing your first gig as a freelance writer.

1. Pick something to write about

If you have a topic you want to specialize in, you can skip this part.

Choosing a niche isn’t going to lock you into a specialty like in medieval times. One great thing about being a freelancer is the freedom, and that means you’re free to enter a new niche at any time.

So don’t get too caught up in this process. The important thing is to take steps in whatever direction so you can get a sense of where you want to go.

Most people think about two things when choosing a niche: money and passion.

How much can I get paid to write in this niche?

How much interest do I have in this niche?

Most topics can make money. Some topics make more money than others.

2–7 cents per word would be typical for topics like dogs, pets, video games, art, outdoors, or something similar.

7 cents per word would be low (but not unheard of) for topics like law, medicine, software, engineering, business, finance, or something similar.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t law, finance, medicine, etc… companies that buy content at 3 cents a word, but it’s more common for them to spend more than the first list.

You probably already have some topics in mind that you’d be interested in writing about but aren’t sure if you can find work in this area.

Some niches do have a lot more work than others. If you write about diamond necklaces or gardening, there’s probably less work out there compared to software or finance niches.

To get a better idea of the market for your writing niche, browse job boards like Problogger, Upwork, r/forhire, r/hireawriter, fiverr, freelancer. There are many job boards out there to browse. See if what you want to specialize in has any job postings.

If you’re starting fresh, this could be a good opportunity to pick a niche you want to enter but may not have experience in. You may not know anything about finance right now, but what if you spent 4 hours a day studying it for the next 6 months? Think long term. You can get to a place where you can demand high rates if you put in the work to study a topic and create a portfolio that demonstrates your expertise.

Here’s an exercise to help you decide some possible niches.

Open a blank notepad or writing app and copy and paste this in:

“What am I willing to RESEARCH AND WRITE about, for HOURS AT A TIME, for BUSINESSES to get PAID?”

Read it, and then start typing the first topics that come to your head. Don’t think about it, just type. Hopefully, some topics enter your head.

Then start reading and researching the industry. Get a better idea of what kind of content businesses are putting out and see if you would be interesting in creating similar content.

2. Create writing samples

Creating writing samples is what will make your efforts worthwhile.

You can send 1000 proposals to companies but if you show up with nothing to prove your ability to do good work, then you’re probably going to face 1000 rejections. Unless you’re skilled at copywriting and persuasion of course.

This is why you need to create writing samples. Your client wants to know that you’re capable of delivering what they need. The easiest way to do that is to show them you’ve done it before.

Remember, content writing isn’t a personal journal. You’re supposed to write about things that help other people, not about what makes you feel good.

When you create writing samples, your goal should be to give your insight and knowledge to people in an industry that helps them with something they’re struggling with.

If you don’t have the experience to know something insightful you can research to find something.

Here’s an example and how I got into technical writing. I never thought I’d be a technical writer, I kind of stumbled into it.

As a web developer, one topic I struggled with was user authentication. This was a hump that I couldn’t get over for years. Eventually, I found a great Youtube tutorial about the subject and managed to implement a user authentication system myself.

I knew that this topic was something other developers would be struggling with as well so writing about it was going to be valuable.

This wasn’t my first article in web dev, but it was by far my most ambitious subject.

I spent around 5 days writing the article and put a lot of effort into it. I posted it to r/webdev and it “went viral” and reached the frontpage of the very popular subreddit.

With this high effort post, I created a valuable asset that helped launch my career as a freelance technical/software writer.

I could go on about this story and I will in a future post but to wrap things up:

• I had insight about something people in an industry struggled with.
• I was motivated to write something big to advance my career.
• I wrote the post, posted it on Medium, submitted it to r/webdev, and it went kind of viral.
• That article was an asset I used to launch my career as a freelance software/technical writer.

Without this article, I would have nothing impressive to show in my proposals.

Do the research, think of a problem, and write an article solving that problem.

Post it to Medium so you don’t have to waste time setting up your own website.

Medium is a great place to build a portfolio and linking to it provides instant credibility thanks to its brand. Post the completed article to some discussion boards. Reddit, Quora, HackerNews, wherever. See if it garners attention.

Think of creating writing samples as practice for your future job. If you can’t write an article about a topic of your own choosing, what makes you think you’ll be able to write about a topic that a client assigns you?

Try to have at least 1–3 samples you can link to when sending proposals.

3. Learn about how to send a proposal

Now that you have a niche and writing samples, it’s time to learn how to send a proposal.

There is a formula that you can follow for most proposals.

This is a skill that’s related to copywriting and persuasion but if you follow a formula you’ll still be able to find results.

The formula involves these parts:

• Read the entire job post.
• Move on if the job isn’t a right fit for you.
• Reference the task they’re asking about.
• Tell them this is a good fit for you because…
• Provide examples of work you’ve done related to the job.
• End with a closing point and a call to action.

Here is an example:

—

Hey there! (or use their name if you can find it)

Just read your job posting, it looks like you’re looking for a writer who can create content for your Python coding blog.

This sounds like a perfect fit for me. I’ve been coding in Python for 3 years and have written many articles about it.

Here are some examples of my work:

(link to article) — an article about creating a Django server that reached the frontpage of r/python, has 5000+ views, and 300+ claps on Medium.

(link to ebook) — an ebook I wrote for Apple about variable names in Python.

(link to article) — a tutorial about how to create animations in Python.

I’d love to talk more about the job you need help with. Are you available for a quick call to chat about your project?

Thanks,
Your name

—

This isn’t the only possible proposal available, but it’s a formula that worked for me.

Like playing the piano, basketball, storytelling, essay writing, you have to learn the rules before you can break them.

Research proposal writing. Practice. Send many proposals. Take this formula and apply it to your own offering.

Once you’re comfortable with this process, you can break the rules and start playing around.

Many of my recent proposals I’ve gotten replies from are from proposals where I played around a bit.

Practice the formula and the skill of sending proposals. Once you’re experienced and have sent off 100s of proposals, you’ll be able to play around with them.

4. Find platforms and locations where work is posted

I could send you a list of websites to visit but you should be able to research this yourself.

But the platforms I’ve had the best success have been:

1. Upwork
2. nDash
3. Problogger
4. r/forhire

At least 95% the gigs I’ve gotten over the past 3+ years have been from these websites.

5. Start sending proposals

There’s a lot of inertia for beginners when it comes to reaching out for jobs. If you’ve never reached out to anyone before you’re probably nervous and very unsure if you’re wasting your time.

Here’s the thing — if you want freelance work, you have to send proposals, there’s no way around it.

Think of sending proposals to get a gig like walking to a destination.

You have to shower, put on clothes, and walk out the door (overcoming inertia).

Then you have to take steps and walk to your destination (each step is like a proposal).

You won’t reach your destination without taking those steps.

Just like you won’t get a job without sending many proposals.

Each step you take is “worthless” but without the accumulated effort of the many steps you took, you won’t reach your destination.

Many of the proposals you send will be like those worthless steps you took that feel inconsequential. But without the accumulated effort of many proposals, you won’t get a gig. It’s that simple.

Traveling to a destination might take 1000 steps. Landing a gig might take 100 proposals. But it’s the accumulated effort that counts.

Give yourself a reward for every proposal you send. That thing you want to distract yourself with? Send one proposal and then indulge. The next proposal you send will be easier because you got over the initial hump.

Set a system. 10 proposals a day and then you can feel good about your productivity for the day and relax.

But remember, only apply for jobs that you can do or fit with your offering. Don’t waste your time or your client’s time by applying for a job you can’t do.

6. Once clients start responding…

If you’ve made it rain with proposals, some clients should start dripping in.

From my experience, the faster you respond, the better your chances are of actually getting the job.

At this point, your job is to move the conversation forward to a job assignment or to figure out if the job isn’t a right fit for you.

Engage the client. Be nice! Be respectful, more respectful than they are to you! Unless they’re being totally unreasonable and rude (which by the way, pretty much only happens with clients that pay very little which makes a lot of sense).

Ask questions to start clarifying what the job is. If you’re lucky, the client will know what they want and will guide the process and you can just start with whatever work they have.

But sometimes the client isn’t used to hiring a freelancer and this is where your expertise comes in.

Try and extract the exact requirements and then make the next step.

The next step might be to create an outline.

Giving something concrete for everyone to move past is what you’re looking for at this step.

If both parties know that the next step is to research the topic and then deliver an outline, everyone can walk away from the meeting satisfied.

For the freelancer, it’s to work on the outline, for the client, it’s waiting for the outline.

7. Do the work, get paid

You got what you were looking for, a gig. Now it’s time to do a good job!

Spend that time, do the research, stop playing the game, cancel your plans, make coffee, sit down, and work!

Someone giving you a gig is an opportunity to be grateful for. The fact that you get to work while sitting down, inside, on a computer, is a blessing. Not only that, you get to work from home whenever you want.

Unless you want to go back to commuting to a job in the physical world, you need to make an effort to do a good job.

Not only for your client but for yourself as well. Clients will come and go, but the belief that you have what it takes to make it as a freelancer is what will keep you going.

So do the job, submit the job, and then get paid.

Many advanced freelancers will tell you to get paid 50% or 100% upfront. Sure, down the line this is an option, but for beginners, and people working through platforms like Upwork, doing the work first and then getting paid is typical.

You might get scammed. That’s ok. We’ve all been there. I’ve been scammed before and you know what? The scams are what taught me how to distinguish between real people wanting to do business, and scammers trying to take from me. Now I can spot a scammer a mile away, so don’t fear getting scammed, it’s useful for you in the long run.

Remember, it’s easier to get gigs from a client who was impressed with your work than from starting from scratch and repeating the cycle again.

8. Repeat

Do it all over again.

Practice your craft.

Upgrade your business skills.

Build your portfolio.

Send proposals.

Do the work.

Get paid.

A freelancer lives in a Sisyphean cycle of reaching out for work, doing the work, and getting paid.

This was one of the more frustrating parts of the lifestyle but I got used to it.

Final thoughts and recap

To recap, the steps to getting your first gig as a freelance writer are:

1. Pick something to write about.
2. Create writing samples.
3. Learn about how to send a proposal.
4. Find platforms and locations where jobs are posted.
5. Start sending proposals.
6. Move the conversation forward when the client responds.
7. Do the work, get paid.
8. Repeat.

From my experience, the most important part of this process is the part about proposals.

I’ve landed jobs without any experience or had any business getting thanks to a great proposal.

It’s also a numbers game. You CAN get regular, consistent, work as a freelancer. IF you regularly, consistently, send GOOD proposals.

Eventually, you’ll probably want some inbound sales from the strength of your brand, or to create equity in a business, but those are advanced topics for another day.

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