Now Hiring: Jobs for Freelance Writers

Freelancing for a living 

I’ve been a freelance writer and social media consultant since 2014. After being downsized from a corporate career and taking a crappy job to make ends meet in late 2014, I began supplementing my income by writing web content as a freelancer. 

There are many freelance opportunities out there… from independent blog owners looking for copywriters, to the ProBlogger job boards, oDesk, eLance, Freelancer.com and Text Broker. There are literally hundreds of places to look for freelance opportunities. However, finding one that fits – both with your personal writing style, and your production level – is key to success. 

Beginners, you can definitely do better by applying to write for outlets that post ongoing opportunities for article submissions – as long as you can maintain your sense of dignity while you’re there. Overall, there are stories floating around the internet about unreasonable editors, content and titles that are difficult to write, and sub-par payscales. 

In this article, I’ll review three popular content outlets, as well as provide an overview of several other freelance opportunities. 

Example 1: The Content Authority 

The Content Authority hires freelance writers on an ongoing basis. I haven’t worked with The Content Authority, but have insider knowledge about their guidelines and pay scale. Writers for The Content Authority are payed in tiers: 

Tier 1 Rate pays $0.007 per word 

Tier 2 Rate pays $0.01 per word 

Tier 3 Rate pays $0.015 per word 

Tier 4 Rate pays $0.030 per word 

Rewrites pay only $0.005 per word 

The site says straight-up, “You must have a minimum of $25.00 of approved articles in your account to be paid for the week.” At less than .01 for each word, it would take a long time to accumulate $25. That’s just $3.50 for a 500 word article! It could take several articles worth of content just to get paid. Some freelancers who write there feel like the site’s editors are incredibly picky and send quite a few articles back as rejections – so there’s a possibility that you could write 10-12 articles before getting your “payday.” 

Many ‘seasoned’ freelancers charge .05/word for their search engine optimized content – so $20 an article. $20 for every 500 word article is just about the going rate, for writers who can produce articles that fit well with a particular blog, site, or client’s purpose. 

Example 2: Demand Media Studios 

I’ve been a freelancer with Demand Media (DMS) for a few years. In the beginning, I found myself greatly frustrated at the never-ending string of do’s and don’t set forth by Demand Media Studios. DMS pays either a flat fee for each article you produce, or they will pay on a performance basis. Some accounts pay $10 for a How-To article, where other clients (like LiveStrong) pay $25 or more for each article. My one big beef was that the sites you’re allowed to use as resources seem to shrink daily, and the feedback left from the copy editors was confusing at times. At the height of my tie with DMS, I was earning $1100 monthly – and had the option of health/dental/vision coverage. Not too long ago, DMS revamped their freelance guidelines, forcing many writers to re-apply for the accounts they were originally writing for. However, working as a freelancer there did two great things for me: first, the input from the strict editorial guidelines made me a better writer. Their rules seemed ridiculous, but I can honestly say that I learned a lot. Secondly, it made a world of difference for my own business: it made me want to quit bad enough that I eventually stopped taking assignments there, migrating to the Yahoo! Contributor Network. 

Example 3: Yahoo! Contributor Network 

The Yahoo! Contributor Network is a relatively laid-back place to freelance for. I’ve been with Yahoo! for many years. The requirements for source references – as well as the demands made by picky editors – are less than any of the other so-called “content mills” I’ve worked with. Overall, being a Yahoo! Contributor is a pleasant way to earn money working from home. 

Currently, I am assigned to three ‘beats’ on Yahoo!: 

Monthly Business & Finance Featured Contributor ($15, once a month – 400-700 words.) 

Perspective on the News ($15 per 450 – 700 word article, 4 articles weekly) 

Personal Finance ($10 per 400 word article, 8 per week) 

Business & Finance Open Assignment ($15 per article, 10 per week) 

As you can see, if I submitted all of the articles allowed, I could make $290 a week writing short pieces, or $1,160. Add in the one-time feature article, and I’m at $1,175 monthly. In addition, there are assignments targeted to specific writers, based on their career experience and qualifications. In addition, Yahoo! provides performance pay, depending on the number pf page views an individual article receives. One of my articles has received nearly 42k page views, and one month I made an extra $14 from the amount of views (clicks) on various articles. So I could easily earn more than $1200 monthly from Yahoo! – IF I submitted each of the articles I’m allotted. I say if, because I usually don’t submit all of them. Why? I’ve picked up enough extra work, at a higher per-piece rate, that I now use Yahoo! as filler, or to earn extra money from time to time. 

      

Newbie freelancers: make good choices! Learn to maximize your earnings by being somewhat selective about who you submit content to. Also – it pays to check out the Editorial Freelancer’s Association for more on rates. At this time, I see freelancers making anywhere from $10 for a short blog post (250 words) to $15 for a 450-500 word piece… and all the way up to the $50 – $80 range for industry experts contributing to popular niche sites.