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by Gloria McConnell, Managing Editor

Freelance writing jobs abound. A search of the words “freelance writing jobs” on Google returns almost 7.5 million hits! According to oDesk oConomy (as reported on prweb.com), demand for freelance writing jobs grew 500% in the past year. Available positions include those for technical and business writers, blog and article writers, editors, translators, and others. According to oDesk, the data are drawn from “thousands of small- to medium-sized businesses that use its platform to hire, manage and pay service professionals around the world.”

Sites offering jobs

oDesk.com is one of a seemingly infinite number of sites offering freelance jobs for writers of all kinds. An article on freelancewritinggigs.com cites 23 Places to find freelance writing jobs and freelance blogging jobs. Here are a few more to push the total to 31:

» Elance
» Get a Freelancer
» Guru
» Helium
» iFreelance
» ozLance
» ScriptLance
» Suite 101

And there are many others – it’s almost hard to comprehend.

Plenty of jobs – what could be the problem?

A recent check of the oDesk job board showed over 600 writing jobs, including technical writing, Web content and blog writing, translation, and other specialties. oDesk offers a rating system for providers and certification testing for job seekers.

Four key points about the freelance jobs:

1. You either apply for or bid on a specific (one-time) project. Additional projects from the client may or may not be in your future; if not, you’ll need to go through the whole application/bid process for your next job.
2. Pay is typically low, even for technical writing jobs. If you build a portfolio and gain a positive reputation, this can change, but when you start, don’t expect a a fee that translates in any way to that of a fulltime position.
3. Writer experiences (and the data on oDesk) indicate that there is often a disparity between the number of jobs posted and those actually paid for. (That is, clients post jobs, but never hire anyone to do them – from the posting site, anyway.)  Even when an application or bid for a job is accepted, it does not mean you will end up with a project.  You may be told you’ve been hired or receive an email indicating this, but the client may still change his/her mind.
4. As in every other corner of the world, dishonest and unprincipled clients exist. You need to be careful and protect yourself. An article by full-time freelance writer Steve Thompson, Freelance Writers: How to Protect Yourself from Unscrupulous Clients offers some sound advice.

Another option

Instead of applying for or bidding on one-time jobs, you can get a job with a company like Heritage Web Design (Web content writing) www.heritagewebdesign.com/ or Writer’s Relief (proofreading), www.writersrelief.com.

Companies like this offer a fixed payment schedule for your work, for example based on customer interviews and number of words written. Some jobs are quick, others take longer. As with jobs you apply for/bid on, the pay is typically low, but once you are hired, you are more likely to have a steady supply of work. Heritage is not always hiring freelance writers, so you will need to check from time to time. If proofing appeals to you, Writer’s Relief always accepts applications. 

A solution for you?

Despite the shortcomings of freelance writing and related jobs, it’s a bona fide profession. If you can use some extra cash (or cash, period), you might find that it is a good solution for you, whether for the short or long term. Check out the sites mentioned above and decide for yourself. Once you get started, you can build a portfolio that will help you eventually command a higher fee.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under March/April 2009 Issue, Rough Draft Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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