18 Content Writing Jobs To Make More Money As A Freelancer

September 19, 2016 by Elizabeth 2 Comments

Did you know that writers can make over $50,000 a year? If you are considering a freelance writing career, then this is a great time to start. There is a massive need for content and incredible, high-quality writers are needed, even more, to craft them.

People often think freelance writing is primarily about blogging, article writing, or writing corporate blogs. New freelancers tend to box themselves in these stereotypical content writing jobs. It’s time to think out of the box and get more out of your freelance writing career.

Commonly Applied-for Content Writing Jobs

Blog Writer

Blogs needn’t be for personal information. Blogs that people find useful and relevant are shared more often. Companies with a successful content marketing campaign will have at least 3-5 blog posts a month. General info, tips and how-to’s related to health, travel, fashion, education, beauty, wedding, photography, music blogs, entertainment blogs, etc. A beginner may earn anywhere between $20 to $30 per blog post.

Article Writer

Do you know that blog post and article writing are two different things? Before writing a print or web article, know the do’s and don’ts and make sure you’re thoroughly acquainted with the magazine’s current content and tone. There are many websites and companies that need high quality article writers who have a good command over the language and a more sophisticated writing style. Do your homework; send queries or finished, well-researched articles to magazines and potentially earn over $500 per article!

SEO Copywriter

Content writers who know rudimentary SEO and CMS skills can pursue these jobs. These jobs typically pay higher than regular blogs and articles.

Ghost Writer

Busy CEO’s, executives, leaders, celebrities who don’t have the time (or the skill) hire ghostwriters to write their blogs or books. Reflect whether you’d be OK to give credit to someone else for a job you did. If you don’t mind that then you could easily take up this job for experience and learn from the criticism and feedback. Ghostwriting is a lucrative niche.

The problem with these common content writing jobs:

Writers often struggle to find well-paying blog sites, and articles… but really, you can make a lot more by just specialising in content writing jobs other than blogs or articles.

There is more to content writing than blogging!

Different content writing jobs exist. These are outside of writing articles, blogs or even ebooks. Sometimes you find what you like because of the skills required. Other times, you may stumble upon these new opportunities. If you do, make sure you grab them, each time! Here is a quick list of other content writing jobs that you can explore and earn more while you’re at it.

Why we love these 14 other content writing jobs (and you will too!)

Email Marketing

You need copywriting skills, jammed with analytical skills, marketing, and research to ensure consistent email quality. If you have these skills, then consider venturing into this thriving market. If you want to know how to become an email marketer, then here is a great article by Career Lancer.

Writing Bios and About Pages

Writing about oneself or one’s business can be difficult. Trying to find the right balance between being informative and not sounding arrogant can be even harder for some. Writing bios and about pages is the perfect job for an unbiased content writer. You may want to read this informative article by Heather Hummel on HuffPost for more on bios.

Resume Writing

As long as there are jobs, there will be the need to create, design, and edit resumes. If you have a knack for interviewing people or have superb editing skills that people envy, put a price on it. There are plenty of opportunities online. The pay depends on the type of resumes; for instance, an entry-level resume can earn you up to $400!

Social Media Coordinator

You need to be a writer to write engaging content, implement changes in the media platforms, market products and services, facilitate conversation and share information, besides analyzing the best route to meet customers’ needs through social media. A social media manager earns between $34k to $56k a year! Here’s a handy infographic guide to get social media jobs, created by The Daily Muse.

White Papers

If you enjoy doing research and are able to intelligently piece critical information together, then writing white papers can be a very rewarding alternative to blogging. Instead of doing a one-off white paper, Gordon Graham says you can focus entirely on this niche. Since white papers take up plenty of time and effort, firms readily outsource this work to content writers. A beginner can make up to $3000 per white paper, if the finished product is polished and well-researched.

Presentations

There are a number of businesses like insurance companies, startups and sales teams that need effective presentations. They need to drive the message and engage their potential customers, not bore them away with heavily worded technical jargon. A content writer can help streamline their message for the presentations, and help them relay it in a way that’s meaningful to their audience. Content fees for PowerPoint jobs typically range upwards of between $70/hour – $125 per presentation, depending on length.

In-Person Event Writer

People are hard pressed for time these days. When time is a constraint, the in-person event writer is asked to attend meetings, seminars etc. then collate information, and/or deliver the content through social media or email.

Videos

Vlogs or Video blogging are on the rise. In fact, Variety conducted a survey in the US that shows teenagers like vloggers better than mainstream celebrities. Vloggers connect with audiences through Youtube, Instagram, and other sources. Because YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, content writers are required to fulfill the SEO need to write meta titles, meta tags and keyword based descriptions. These are just as relevant for YouTube as they are for websites. Integrate SEO skills and you’ll position yourself as an even more valuable contributor.

Podcasts

A podcast writer needs to be clear and concise. The delivery should not sound like a speech, but spontaneous and natural. Use of simple, conversational language is important here. Moreover, podcasts need a short write-up to describe each session. Show notes, as they are called, need to be enough to arouse curiosity, while not revealing so much that the audio is ignored. It’s tricky, and that’s why a content writer may get paid well here.

Print and e-Newsletters

To expand their reach, businesses send out mass print or e-newsletters to subscribers. Writers in this huge niche are involved in research, design, content writing, calls to action, testing, and tracking responses. Knowledge of HTML and analytical skills add to a writer’s value to clients in this field.

Webinars/ Webcast

People want to learn new skills quickly, and during hours that fit their personal schedules. These days, seminars, lectures, presentations, training events, or workshops are conducted over the internet to meet the preferences and convenience of users. More than 60% of marketers use webinars as part of their content marketing campaigns. Content writers are needed in this niche more than ever before.

Brochures

Writing a brochure requires some unique skill. A brochure writer must engage, create a rapport, then convince a customer to either buy the product or request more information. Often working closely with a graphic designer, a brochure writer can easily charge $100 – $150 per assignment.

Bid Writers

A bid writer works on documents that help companies win contracts to provide their services. Good communication, excellent research and writing skill is required from a content writer here. A beginner can earn from $60 and $150 per hour. Note that experience adds even more value to the bid writer, since the more understanding a writer has of a company’s services, the more likely the company will win a signed contract or purchase order.

Medical Writer

A medical writer works closely with doctors and scientists. Writers need to understand and create clear and effective documents relating to research, drugs, diagnoses, treatments, and other related medical information. In addition, the document created by the medical writer must have a proper structure and format. The pay depends on many factors, and usually requires experience within the healthcare industry.

The Best Part About Finding Your Niche

The best part about exploring all these other content writing jobs and what we love about them, is that, you can:

Narrow down your potential clients.
Serve the right ones better.
Do what you love!

Freelance content writing is one of the best emerging options for those who want to ditch the cubicles and the rigid working hours.

Explore your possibilities and you’re sure to find your specialty.

As a newbie freelance writer or even an established one, start paying more attention to other content writing jobs, and not just blogs or articles. Take some time to reflect on your skills and interests. Specialize in a couple of niches, based on your strengths. Hone those skills to attract new and better clients in those specific areas.

Finally, don’t forget that you can always approach media and marketing agencies that service specific industries or genres, such as the technology, fashion, travel, religious, or professional sectors; for content writing jobs other than just general blog or article writing. If you have a keen interest in a subject, or experience within one particular industry, you may carve out your niche as the go-to writer.

There is always room for growth – if you let yourself think outside of the box.

So what are the other content writing jobs that you know about? Comment below!

Elizabeth Alex is a freelance content writer for hire. Follow her on her website, Honestliz.com, Facebook and Twitter.

Get Over Yourself — Why A Third-Person Mindset Helps You Play A Bigger Game

October 21, 2014 by jennifer mcgahan 2 Comments

It happens a lot, especially when I’m writing an about page, or a bio for LinkedIn. A client reads the copy I wrote for them, and stops dead in her tracks.

“I’m…this good? Are you sure?”

Then they want to add a disclaimer, or soften up the piece. It’s almost as if they are afraid they won’t live up to what the copy is promising.

See, in my copywriting work, I have the great pleasure of working with many personally driven entrepreneurs. They are doing business with heart and soul. They do it because they love it, and they’re on a mission to change the world with each client they serve.

While it’s cool being a part of someone’s business and helping them shine and get seen online, the challenge is promoting their work in a way that feels “right” to them. Small business people and solopreneurs are often so caught up in who they are, and how they present themselves to the world that they often forget their marketing purpose to attract and win new business.

The challenge of objectivity

Some of my clients (especially those new in business) balk when they read about themselves in the third person because they feel they are “selling” themselves.

It’s a problem they take personally, and it keeps them playing smaller than they should.

One helpful piece of advice I give when delivering copy for a sales page or email, is to try to see your own business from the outside.

Read the copy with the eye of someone who desperately needs your services or product. Know that it will change their life. Stop reading the copy from inside your own narrow perspective.

Overcome it With Confidence

Good marketing takes confidence. It also requires that you assume a level of efficacy you may not be used to. It’s an accountability thing, a belief in your abilities and how well you actually perform a task. As my copywriting mentor Sandi Krakowski told me, “Being a business owner means you have to drop the drama.”

When you decide to go for it in your business, you have to release your hesitancy. Seriously and with intention, you must let go your fear of not being good enough. It’s not a business if you don’t ask for money; and asking for money requires authenticity and integrity. People want to know and feel that they’re in good hands.

As you create your marketing strategy and produce your copy and content, the easiest way to get over your own junk is to ask yourself, “If I didn’t know myself, would I want to do business with me?”

If you’re running and marketing your freelance business, especially when you’re working from home in a bit of a vacuum, you might be susceptible to seeing our business from a single point of view.

You can add a lot of unnecessary drama if you don’t believe you’re good enough. You might even try to disguise a lack of confidence by telling about yourself too much. Believe me, I’ve done it!

Solo-preneurs and small business people can become obsessed with their preconceived view of themselves — what they’ve done, what they do, what they think, feel, and say — and unable to see themselves objectively as their most satisfied clients might view them.

An inexperienced copywriter or someone marketing her own business may use “I” in her marketing and copywriting, and totally miss the connection she could be making with her customers. You remember that customers really only want to hear about themselves, not so much about the person behind the selling.

That takes confidence and the ability to see yourself as others do, and then to relay that information objectively. You’re not bragging, just asking for the sale.

Yes, even if you are the face of your brand, you have to get out of your own way.

Illeism, the habit of referring to oneself in the third person, is symptomatic of someone who is not only uber-confident, they imagine how they’re viewed by others. Ever notice that it’s pretty common among sports and political figures? Generally, thinking, speaking, and writing from a third-person point of view may lower your dependability factor. Take this example spoken by Lebron James:

I wanted to do what was best for LeBron James and what LeBron James was going to do to make him happy.

A bit much, don’t you think? You’d probably laugh if someone talked like that in person. However, when you’re writing copy, knowing how someone would describe you or refer to you is invaluable! Lose the bravado and this is exactly what you should do!

Can you project too much confidence in your copy?

It’s OK to hold yourself to a high standard.

It establishes importance and authority in your brand. However if you frequently do business from an “I” point of view (how I help, what I do best, the way I serve you), you impede your ability to connect with your best customers.

In a misguided effort to assure their customer of their honest intentions, beginning copywriters may even assure the reader, “I promise I’m not selling anything,” (I’ve actually seen this in sales copy!) which looks like you really don’t know what you’re doing, or you don’t have the chops to deliver.

People want to buy from those who have the confidence to make a bold, declarative promise. Many customers truly want you to make an offer because an offer shows honesty, clarity, and purpose within a business.

I’m not telling you to promise something you can’t deliver on, but be confident that what you have is worth paying money for — at least if you want to succeed in your business!

As long as you come from a place of service to your customer, a genuine offer reveals honest-to-goodness possibility. It feels good to deliver the offer and it feels authentic to receive it. Buying customers rely on the quality of confidence because it dissolves their own doubts and inner objections.

As psychologist James W. Pennebaker points out, the third person point of view relates to speakers who assume a higher status than those who use the first person. We often think of someone who uses “I” a lot as someone who’s self centered at worst, and confident at best. But Pennebaker counters that “I” reveals a touch of insecurity and an internalization of others’ opinions and observations.

Get over feeling weird about third-person language.

break out of your narrow perspective — Break free from your narrow perspective!

Marketing — especially self-marketing — demands some stretching. Look up and out. See yourself from the outside in order to grow and say what you do with assurance.

“I” Vs. “She”

Two ways to start seeing how others perceive you, and market your business with confidence

Viewing your business from your own point of view, is a first-person mindset. It is actually a good thing, because this mindset reveals a commitment to clients and customers. Using “I” in your writing also allows you to tell your personal story, to share your purpose for your business, and to solidify your personal brand. It shows you are willing to be “on the hook” for your work and that your word is gold.

But internalizing your work also gets in the way of being able to claim a place in the market and the (presumably) positive outcome of working with you.

If you want to start getting a good idea of how others see you, and gaining that third-person mindset — ask your clients! They will tell you how you are different, where you stand out, and why they like doing business with you. They may also tell you where you trip sometimes. Negative feedback is sometimes hard to hear, but listening is a skill that will pay you back in spades. Unless you can read minds, you should come right out and ask those questions in an exit interview or a survey for your ongoing clients.

Additionally, you may try getting some valuable insight from Sally Hogshead’s book below. I did this work and was found to be an “Intrigue”: Discerning, Perceptive and Considerate. It’s a fun test you can take online, or buy the book How the World Sees You: Discover Your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination, and learn even more.

Looking for more inspiration and copywriting tips? I’ll show you how to connect with your customers and market your business like a highly paid copywriter…