It can be overwhelming and exhausting simply applying to freelance writing jobs online – especially if they’re at content mills and the pay isn’t good. You’ll waste time applying to a ton of jobs and competing against thousands of other applicants.

Instead, decide the type of writing you want to do and areas to focus on. 

·     Article writing for magazines, websites or newsletters

·     Blog writing

·     Ghostwriting

·     Content marketing writing

·     B2B writing

·     White papers

·     Video script writing

·     SEO writing

·     Resume writing

Assess your skills and experience. You probably have experience doing some kind of writing that fits into these sections for your current company. Pen an article for your company’s newsletter? That’s B2B writing. Helped an executive write a blog? That’s ghostwriting. Wrote descriptions for a previous employer’s products or wrote newsletter copy? That’s copywriting!

Ideal Situation:

Spend some time this weekend gathering any and all writing samples you have done and label them in a Word doc under the headers above. This way, when a client asks if you have examples of X, you’ll be prepared.

Shortcut weekend task:

Find at least three clips or writing samples you can share with potential clients. These could even be op-eds for college newspapers, email marketing newsletters, product copy, or something else that shows your writing skills and abilities. Don’t have any you’re proud of? See above task about building up a blog or portfolio with a few samples.