8 essential steps you need to take if you want to become a freelance writer in 2024
Becoming a freelance writer is the dream for millions of people. It provides a lifestyle flexibility that few other career paths offer, even providing a platform for digital nomadism that’s growing in popularity each year.
Freelancing is so attractive that 59 million people in the United States alone freelanced in 2020, with that number continuing to rise. With so many people breaking free from the 9-5 grind, it’s normal to wonder how you can become a freelance writer.
If you want to become a freelance writer, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the seven essential steps you need to take to launch your successful freelance writing career.
#1. Don’t rely on AI
Artificial intelligence is a popular new technology finding its way into an ever-growing number of tools we use online and off. However, if you want to attract the big fish clients, you cannot rely on AI alone. That means, no chatGPT shortcuts, pre-generated content, or 5-minute blogs.
What makes being a freelance writer special is the unique personality you bring to each piece. The way we all write is a complex amalgamation of influences far and wide, along with a healthy dose of critical thinking. This combination of traits is simply not available when using AI to pump out sub-par material.
As the saying goes, “Nothing worth having comes easy,” putting your head down and doing the work is the best way to craft content that highlights your personality. It’s also the best way to personalize content to each audience, while ensuring accuracy and quality.
#2. Start writing a lot
When deciding to hop into the freelance writing industry, one of the biggest questions is where to get started. The only way to get started is to write. A lot. You should aim to produce a quality piece a day for at least a week to see if all that research, outlining, writing, editing, and proofreading is something you can maintain.
These first pieces can be individual blog posts, school work, or portfolio pieces. However, you will likely not see any form of payment for these pieces other than the pure satisfaction of bringing your thoughts from your head to the page.
Of course, even after you land your first writing gig, the writing doesn’t stop. If you don’t truly enjoy the process of developing a written piece, you likely won’t like doing it every day for a living. Plus, when you continue to write, you stay sharp and continue to attract new clients.
#3. Build a portfolio of your best work
Now that you have a solid body of work, it’s time to showcase your best work. In my journey to becoming a freelance writer, I purchased a website domain and created a personal website, Living Mike Life, to publish my work online for everyone to see.
Your portfolio doesn’t need to find a home on a homemade website. There are platforms, such as Medium or LinkedIn, where you can create articles for publication in a public forum. Again, these articles are likely unpaid, but exposure is critical in landing clients.
Ideally, you want to display a few solid pieces that highlight your best work. These pieces should be on topics in your target niche or industry so you can attract editors or content managers from organizations needing services.
#4. Skip the freelancing platforms
A simple platform that’s sole purpose is attracting high-paying clients on-demand is the dream of freelance writers worldwide. Unfortunately, platforms like Fiverr or Freelancer are far from the platform they claim to be.
In my experience, building a reputation as a quality freelance writer on these platforms is near impossible because of the flood of poor-quality providers muddying the waters. Virtually everyone who has wanted to work from home has played with the idea of freelance writing, and many create a portfolio that never attracts a paying customer.
Instead, spend your time networking yourself in forums or with professional platforms like LinkedIn. These places allow you to connect with other writers, editors, content managers, and other decision-making personnel in a way that highlights your skills and abilities.
#5. Search for freelance writer jobs
Once you have a freshly-minted portfolio and a quality presence on social media or forums, it’s time to search for freelance writing clients. My favorite place to search for clients is LinkedIn’s job search or Indeed.
Regardless of your preferred job search platform, search “freelance writer” or similar keywords with a remote location, and fill out applications for positions you can add value to. Remember that your first clients may be low-paying contributing writer positions. Still, a by-line can make a world of difference.
At the beginning of my journey, I focused on finding a paying client, regardless of how low. The experience was worth more than pay, and writing was not my primary income at first. Eventually, as with every job, the experience and quality you develop become worth more and more.
#6. Work your butt off for your clients
Once you finally land a paying freelance writing client, it’s time to show what you’re made of. Regardless of topic, deadline, or format, work your butt off for your clients. When you produce more high-quality content than the other people on your team, editors and managers take notice.
Although working hard and producing content that meets expectations is priority number one, not far behind is communication. Communicate questions, issues, and concerns when you immediately receive an assignment or content brief. Deadlines, angles, or details can all get in the way of success, but when you communicate early, you can avoid a lot of issues.
Throughout my freelance writing career, hard work and communication paid off well. These traits allow me to have a constant flow of work, a solid relationship with my clients and editors, and the chance to land recommendations or testimonials.
#7. Implement feedback to improve your writing
Let’s face it. My writing sucks. At least, that’s what I think every time I look back on something I wrote a year ago. Or even a few months ago. And it will be like that for years because my goal is constantly to improve my writing.
Your first paid piece will be rough to look at, and if you’re like me, it’ll have more feedback than the number of words in the entire article. But eat that feedback up and use it for every piece. Model your work from your successes while learning from failures.
Feedback is a never-ending part of being a freelance writer. Even today, I get feedback on pieces from formatting to content, but every remark is an opportunity to learn and improve. The more effective you are at implementing feedback, the faster you will see improvements in your work.
#8. Wash, rinse, repeat
Cultivating a successful freelance writing career is like keeping a fire going. It burns out unless you keep adding wood to fuel the flames. Without continuous work on yourself and your work, you will notice the career starting to dwindle to hot embers at best.
To ensure the process continues at a healthy rate, you want to return to these steps, especially when you need to develop a specific area of your skill set. Like a fire, work through steps that work for you and add wood to the fire at the right time.
My freelance writer journey has me returning to each essential step, even allowing me to share my experience through these blog posts. It’s not always easy, and I’m constantly humbled through new experiences and interactions, enough to remind me that everyone has more room to grow.
Final thoughts on steps you need to take to become a freelance writer
Not a day goes by that I don’t put some words on paper. Whether digitally or in a physical journal, writing is with me constantly. It’s that passion that led me to pursue being a freelance writer, and the opportunity to make it my career is not something I take for granted.
If you’re seeking a realistic approach to launching your freelance career, you can use these steps that worked for me. Although it still brings me success, everyone’s path is different, and what worked for me may not work for you, but I hope it does.
Let me know if these steps worked for you or if I’m missing something crucial by connecting with me on social media.