What is a Freelancer?

A freelancer is an independent writer who earns his/her living by contracting for work projects, working for no fixed employer, and may work for a number of employers at any given time.

You will be required to negotiate the terms and conditions of work and all work must be completed to the satisfaction of the clients requirements.

Note: The objectives and requirements of both parties should be understood fully by both parties from the start to save any problems later on - this includes terms of payment.

As a freelancer you need to keep up with the latest developments to compete in the marketplace.

This requires studying and researching the needs of the marketplace along with selling yourself to your potential clients.

Finding work on the Net:

The freelance market can be fiercely competitive at times requiring emphasis on marketing your work effectively and assessing your expertise and skills.

First, write your resume with the view of selling your strengths.

Use short sentences with each paragraph easy to read and clearly and concisely giving your qualifications or related experience for the job.

Usually you will only have a few seconds to make an impact on your prospective client and this can make the difference between hiring you over someone else.

"How to" articles tend to sell well and most successful freelancers maintain constant contact with marketplace trends and requirements seeking those areas where they can fill the needs of potential clients.

Many writers prefer to stick within the topic subjects they can write confidently on although a good freelancer can research and write on any topic if and when required.

To find a niche (your niche) Web monkey has a very good article on finding and defining your niche as a web freelancer.

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/98/44/index4a.html?tw=jobs

When you are decided on the subject niche you would like to fill seek out magazine publications, online and offline, on your chosen topic.

Send a query letter or email to your chosen publications with your subject ideas to the website or publisher/s with an outline of your proposed article and how they may contact you if interested.

Expect to wait (sometimes up to three months if approaching offline publications) as most editors are very busy people.

The internet has made it easier to build a successful freelance career as a independent professional.

To find markets on the internet visit yahoogroups, topica etc and join writing job newsletters and job boards.

Some newsletter groups I have found very informative are -

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freelancewriters

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/webwritingbuzz

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritersMailBox

(Writers Mailbox provide a helpful list of resource contacts at the time of signing up.)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writesuccess

http://www.sellwritingonline.com -

mailto:sellwritingonline- subscribe@topica.com

There are many sites that bring people together...some are free to use others you will need to register with.

http://www.writerfind.com (international)

Writerfind is a marketplace for writing and communication professionals with freelance and telecommunications jobs for writers around the world to find and post jobs.

http://www.guru.com

http://www.freelanceworkexchange.com

http://writerslounge.com

http://www.smarterwork.com

http://www.writersweekly.com

http://www.flipdog.com

http://www.writerswrite.com

http://www.bullhorn.com

http://www.writestart.com

http://www.jobsonline.com

http://www.elance.com

Do some detective work to source work. Look for new web sites. Contact them and explain your services while politely enquiring if they have any current or future needs for the services you can offer and how they may contact you.

Newly launched web sites are found via press release sites-

http://www.internetnewsbureau.com

http://www1.internetwire.com/iwire/home

http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com

http://prweb.com

Sign up to receive the daily releases if you are serious about earning money as a freelancer.

Invest in Writers Market and digest books (both local and international) These list thousands of markets, niches and industries requiring freelance writers.

Put together a portfolio with a selection of your best articles.

If you enjoy, for example, a travel writing include a selection of your best photos if sending queries to offline editors as many will ask if you will be supplying photos along with your story. If you can send photos to accompany your article your chances of having your article accepted increases as it saves them the trouble of sourcing photos to compliment the article.

At the bottom of the article include your resource box. For example: Joe Bloggs is a freelance writer and webmaster at your domain.com and whatever ties your web site into the article...

Producing free content articles are a great way to build up your business and reputation. They can also be used as publishing credits if they have been placed on another's web site (mention where they can be seen).

Many freelancers start by submitting to free local community newspapers/letters as a way of establishing offline credibility as a published writer.

Writing freelance articles also increases exposure for your business to another market segment of interested individuals.

If you had not considered freelancing as a possibility...
give it a try.

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Jill Black is a professional freelance writer and photgrapher. For writing ideas and resources visit my website
http://www.netwrite-publish.com
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