How to Start a Freelance Writing Career in 24 Hours or Less

I found this article ages ago and  I really liked it. But does it work? I promised myself I would publish this as a guest post when I had completed the steps below.

How to Start a Freelance Writing Career in 24 Hours or Less for $0

If you want to start a freelance writing career, it’s as simple as sitting down and taking the steps listed below. You can literally do everything in 24 hours or less – and it won’t cost you a cent. The only thing it costs is time – sweat equity.

If you want to start a freelance writing career, following is a three-step plan of action to get you there. By tomorrow, you can officially say, "I’m a freelance writer."

 
Steps to Starting a Work-from-Home Freelance Writing Career

1. Put Up a Blog: You need a web presence as a freelance writer. So, instead of putting up a website (which has hosting fees and may require skills beyond your level), simply throw up a blog. A blog and a website are both web presences. They’re just used differently. For now, what you need is a web presence, and a blog will do just fine.

Start with a free one you can get from blogger (dot com) or wordpress (dot com). By putting up a blog, you can’t use the, "I don’t have the time, knowledge, money or skill to build a website" excuse. Once you get an official website, you can move everything over later.

What to Put On Your Freelance Writing Blog

On your freelance writing blog, list three things: your writing samples (which we’ll discuss below); your professional profile/bio (make it short and relevant); and your rates. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Cost: $0; Estimated Time to Complete: Up to an hour (keep things simple).

2. Writing Samples: This the one thing that stops most wannabe freelancers dead in their tracks. Don’t let it.

If you don’t have writing samples – simply sit down and write a few articles for each niche you plan to target. I recommend three to five to start. All potential clients want to see is evidence of your writing ability. Whether you’ve been published before is irrelevant to 90-95% of clients.

Cost: $0; Estimated Time to Complete: 3-5 hours, depending on how many samples you plan to write. Figure on average one article (400-600 words) per hour.

3. Marketing List: Once you have your writing samples and your web presence ready to go, it’s now time to start prospecting/marketing for clients. This is perhaps the most difficult part of starting your freelance writing career.

Hit the web, the best way to find contact information. Target anyone and everyone you think can use your writing services – web design firms, internet marketing firms, ezines, magazines (although these take forever), advertising agencies, etc.

Compile a list of 20-25 prospects you can contact each day. Marketing for writing jobs is simply a numbers game. Before long, you will land a client – I practically guarantee it.

Cost: $0; Estimated Time to Complete: 2-5 hours.

If you spend a full day of 10-12 hours doing everything listed here, you will have pulled together everything you need to start a freelance writing career. Market religiously every day to 20-25 prospects and before long, will have a successful, work-from-home career that you can do from anywhere.

Freelance writing is not brain surgery. Don’t over think it – just do it!

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of www.InkwellEditorial.com: The Authority Site on How to Start a Successful Freelance Writing Career. Site features first-account freelance success stories, e-courses, ebooks, marketing advice and more! Want to make money today as a freelance writer? The e-report How to Make $100/Day or More as a Freelance Writer! tells you how.

So, How Did I Do?


1) Blog http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com
2) Writing samples http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/writing
3) Marketing list 

I must say, it took me more than 24 hours, but I have actually been paid for writing, which officially makes me a freelance writer. My marketing list is an ongoing project and is not particularly long at the moment, but at least I have an idea where I am headed.
I've also been really inspired by a writer called Antonia Chitty from Become a Mumpreneur (Affiliate link). Visit her websites for free ecourses and lots of advice and info on becoming a freelance writer and mumpreneur.


Now go ahead and start your own writing career. Let me know how you do! Leave a link to your new writers website as a comment below.