Feliz viernes my fellow freelancers.
When I first decided to try writing, I didn’t know how to get started. All I knew was that I wanted to do it. I didn’t know where to find any gigs or opportunities. All I knew how to do was Google “writing jobs.”
It took a lot of trial and error, but I eventually learned how to find jobs. Some where great, and some were pretty shitty and paid pennies. Sometimes I still get paid pennies to write, but those jobs no longer make up the bulk of my work (thank goodness). I now use a combination of Googling, social media, networking, and cold emailing to get writing assignments.
Don’t just Google “writing jobs” try thinking of different ways to say the same thing. A few examples are “freelance writing gigs”, “freelance writing jobs”, “content writing”, “blogging jobs”, and “freelance blogging.” Plug those key phrases into Facebook or Twitter as well, it’s yielded results for me in the past and taught me more about researching gigs.
Interesting Opportunities:
Based in NYC? The New York Daily News needs interns. I know people who have interned with them in the past and they really developed as writers. That an it pays $15 an hour.
Are you into gardening? Consider writing about it.
Based in or near Orange County? They need a part-time/freelance community writer.
More Tips/ Resources for New Writers:
I have a treasure trove of ideas/resources for newer writers in my Medium posts.
Need some playlists to make sure that you meet deadlines and get work done? Check these out.
I outline how I made the most out of a crappy job where I was sexually harassed as a teenager. I wrote about it years later, got a byline in Vice, and made $500. Here’s what I learned about the process.
As an intern and freelancer, I tend to work a lot of side gigs. I’ve become a bit pickier with the ones I take on and I’ve learned to strategize them as well. Here’s how those side gigs helped me double my income from 2017 to 2018.