Extremely new to Freelancing

LadyVonFright

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I was just wondering, as someone who has absolutely NO writing in her portfolio, how would you get jobs that would give you credit so the appropriate credit can be added to your writing portfolio/resume type deal?
 

RightHoJeeves

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Approach charities and offer to do some work for free so you can build a portfolio. You'd be surprised how some really reputable ones are willing to do it. It's a very common thing and usually the only reason they would say no is because they already have someone doing it.
 

Tsu Dho Nimh

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What kind of "freelance" writing do you want to do?

I surprised my nephew's wife, who wanted to get into technical writing, by telling her that all those reports and reviews she had been writing meant she already was one.
 

herdon

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Or develop work in areas you have expertise, and submit it to markets and let the work speak for itself.



Exactly what I was going to say. This is how I got my first freelancing gig. I've never worked for free except on my own blog/projects.
 

LadyVonFright

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Approach charities and offer to do some work for free so you can build a portfolio. You'd be surprised how some really reputable ones are willing to do it. It's a very common thing and usually the only reason they would say no is because they already have someone doing it.

How would you go about doing that? do you have to write a pitch the same way you would have to for paying markets?


Or develop work in areas you have expertise, and submit it to markets and let the work speak for itself.

I actually thought about that, but I'm not exactly an "expert" in anything

What kind of "freelance" writing do you want to do?

I surprised my nephew's wife, who wanted to get into technical writing, by telling her that all those reports and reviews she had been writing meant she already was one.

That's the thing, I don't really know. I mean I like the idea of being a copywriter, however I don't have the money to go to school, and it's not like I can just get a job as a copywriter, because I'm not 100% sure I know all the aspects of the job... ;)

Exactly what I was going to say. This is how I got my first freelancing gig. I've never worked for free except on my own blog/projects.

It's a little harder when you don't really have a niche to fall into though...
I mean, I want to be a freelance writer, because I love writing, and out of all the possible career opportunities there are in this world, this one seems like it would be good for me. However, being someone who has never worked for herself, it's intimidating to enter a field such as this. Especially when you're not really good at anything ;)
 

Tsu Dho Nimh

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That's the thing, I don't really know. I mean I like the idea of being a copywriter, however I don't have the money to go to school, and it's not like I can just get a job as a copywriter, because I'm not 100% sure I know all the aspects of the job... ;)

Why copywriting? What about it appeals to you? And what kind of "copy"?

And BTW, go to textbroker.com and you can try it out with writing product descriptions for websites :) You might have to work you way up to it, but they get a lot of that sort of thing. And they do pay reliably. Not high, but it's easy work for a native speaker of English and a decent writer.
 

RightHoJeeves

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How would you go about doing that? do you have to write a pitch the same way you would have to for paying markets?

Super easy. Just make a list of charities/non-profits you'd be interested in working with, go online and find their PR/media/communications manager. Just send them an email saying who you are, what you're doing and that you'd like to offer them some pro bono copywriting. Give some examples of the sort of thing you could do, and ask them

Here's a next step that you could think about for once you've got a portfolio together. My biggest hurdle was finding clients, and particularly clients who even considered copywriting to be something worth paying for. But then, on the advice of my graphic designer girlfriend, I set up a business relationship with a graphic designer who builds websites for small businesses. Basically, when one of his clients is getting their website developed, he sells me as his "copywriting expert" who will write everything on their website. Because its already going through him, I never have to talk to clients directly or find them myself. He gets me to quote on a job, then charges that to the client (presumably adding a bit on top of my quote for himself). And because the clients are already spending money on getting their branding and website done, I can get like $300 for a website, which is realistically like 90 minutes work.

It's been a pretty slow growth, but to be honest if I didn't have this arrangement bringing me in clients, I'd have given up on the search because I had no luck myself. That arrangement has led to me being the writer for a new brand that's starting up soon (based in LA, but I'm in Western Australia), and I'll be approaching her soon with a sort of blog subscription package. X number of blogs over 6 months, pay in advance get 15%. That sort of thing.

So it should be pretty obvious by now that I don't pitch and write interesting articles for magazines or web publications. But I like this set up. Its easy and it can pay really well. But you won't get that sort of arrangement going through one of those sites where you bid for projects.