If you’re new to freelance writing you’re probably discovering how difficult it can be to earn a living at it. I’ve traveled just about every freelance writing route available and have gained a great deal of experience while doing it. I love helping other writers and wanted to share what I've learned along the way. Writing is a wonderfully creative outlet and you can make money at it. But it requires persistence, creativity, determination and a fair amount of self-marketing. Here are some thoughts about a few of the freelance writing avenues I’ve encountered over the years.

Content Mills

Many content mills are feeling the effects of Google’s ever-changing algorithms and are closing shop - with good reason. Haphazardly slapping together a keyword-stuffed article benefits no one but the content mill. The content sites make their profits from advertising while paying freelancers just a couple of dollars per article. Scraping (plagiarizing) is rampant on these sites. Yes, I did my fair share of writing for content mills. I made a quick buck, but did it help build my portfolio? Probably not. Did I get rich? Definitely not.

Revenue Sharing Sites

This is a step below content mills because there is no upfront pay. The website owner places ads on your articles. When someone clicks on an ad, the site owner is paid by the advertiser. You, in turn, are given an extremely small percentage of what the website owner is paid. We’re talking literally pennies. It takes a long time (sometimes up to a year) to make “payout” with this process, since the payout amount can be anywhere between $25 and $50. The more content you submit to the site, the more chances to earn revenue. That’s a lot of content you’re practically giving away. Most sites do not allow freelancers to publish the content elsewhere.

Bidding Sites

Bidding sites operate on a tier basis - meaning you start out making next to nothing per word and have to wait to be advanced to the next level where you’ll make slightly above next to nothing. You’re provided a list of keywords to insert into an article and still have it make sense in the end. Additionally, you must accumulate a significant amount of money before making “payout”. You compete for bids with writers from all over the globe, and $.01 per word can be a lot of money in some countries.

Five Bucks Per Gig Sites

Here you post a $5 gig (not just writing-related). The site takes $1 off the top of every gig, so you’re left with four bucks. Then you’re paid via PayPal, who takes a percentage. After all is said and done, maybe you’ll make a little over three bucks per gig. However, the more gigs you complete, the more chances to advance and have the opportunity to add “extras” to your gigs. You need to hustle to make money on these sites. This can be a stressful way “to earn a living”. Many buyers are demanding and rude, and they expect the moon for five bucks. They have the opportunity to rate you and they will use this as a bargaining tool.

Craigslist

What can I say about Craigslist besides exercise caution? “Build your portfolio”, “unpaid internship” and “send us some samples” ads fill the writing gigs section. Many of these ads are scams designed to gain an applicant’s email address in order to send “work from home” spam. It’s also a way for unscrupulous website and blog owners to steal your content under the guise of requesting “writing samples”. It’s rare to find a good paying writing gig via Craigslist - it’s possible, but still rare.

Before you get discouraged, know that there are reputable clients willing to pay top dollar for expertly written articles and other content. Don’t sell yourself short. Establish yourself with online and local businesses, website owners, bloggers, etc. It takes time to properly research, write, edit and submit an article. Make sure you’re paid accordingly. Write top-notch content for clients and they’ll come back for more.

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences, so please feel free to share them here.