become an academic writer

You can help others and get paid for it! You can help students’ complete academic papers.

become an editor

You can help inexperienced writers get their work into print and prepared for publication.

become a blogger

You can provide useful content that can help others understand how things work.

Freelance Copywriting Jobs: A General Description

Just what does a freelance copywriter do? Is it the stuff of Hollywood? Or is it realistically something that anyone with a modicum of common sense can do? Well, I can assure you that for most people it is not Hollywood. The internet and rise of several large freelancing websites has made it easily accessible to anyone that wants to give it their best shot. This also means that whereas once it was considered a niche market, I now commonly hear it referred to as “The Wild West.” While it is incredibly easy to get your foot in the door and start accepting assignments, finding work that is both sustainable and fulfilling does take a little more work.

Okay, so what kind of work might you realistically expect to get? Here’s a brief rundown for you.

Article Writing

There is an abundance of this kind of work and anyone can get into article writing. It is copywriting at its most basic. Yes, there are different types of articles. Some are more specialist and require more research. However, the bulk of article writing work that you will find on the freelance sites are basic articles of 400-500 words. These are great for cutting your teeth on and building your online profile. However, you need to bear in mind that these will be very low paid, Sometimes paying as low as $2 per article.

Product Review Writing

Again, there is an abundance of this kind of work to be found out there. However, it really depends on where your moral compass is and what you are prepared to do in order to get work. Technically there is nothing wrong with doing this. You are not actually going to be submitting these reviews anywhere. You are just writing them. However, while the work is plentiful, I avoid these projects like the plague – as writing fake reviews just does not sit well with me.

The key with freelance copywriting is:

  • Remember why you are doing it

  • Set goals – Try not to sit still for too long. You don’t want to be at the bottom end of the market forever. You either want to build your reputation to enable you to move into a niche area – Ideally, with long-term work from a few, regular clients. Or, you need to see this as part of the jigsaw. You are doing this in order to fund another area of your life which will get you to where you want to be.

Work of this nature comes with a lot of freedom but you need to manage it wisely.

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Tip of the day

There are so many clients in need of writers it is ridiculous for any writer to say they cannot get work. You need to study the market carefully and know what to say when approaching potential clients.