Lucy Reed
If you’re currently in school or recently graduated, consider freelance writing. With this opportunity, you get to complete work on your own schedule. Therefore, you can easily complete a few projects each week to earn extra income. You may even be able to freelance full-time to cover all your expenses.
Brush Up on Your Writing Skills
Before you start looking for writing gigs, improve your writing skills, especially if you didn’t attend college as an English or journalism major.
Ideally, you should research basic writing principles and practice crafting pieces, even if it’s merely in a journal. You could take a class or find an online training program. Once you feel confident, create a few samples in the niche you’d like to write in, such as marketing.
Make sure you proofread your pieces several times. It helps to draft a piece, walk away from it for a while, and return to edit it later.
Know Where to Look for Jobs
Fortunately, with the internet, there are many sites where you can find legitimate writing gigs. Some even post jobs for writers with limited or no experience.
For example, Upwork allows those looking for a writer to post an ad for writers of various skill levels. The jobs are very diverse, so you can find everything from essays and blogs to website writing.
Consider Creating a Website for Your Portfolio
You can make it easy for prospective clients to find you by having a website. You could also direct potential clients to your website so they can see your work.
You don’t want to post every article you’ve ever written. Instead, post the ones that you feel are strongest and relate most to the niche of your choosing. Make sure you avoid political topics and sensitive subjects if that’s not part of your area of interest.
Get an EIN
As you freelance, you’ll need to pay taxes on the income you earn. Often, clients will ask you to submit a tax form 1099 to identify you to the Internal Revenue Service. You’ll need to include your social security number on that form. You can protect your identity by having an EIN, also known as an employer identification number, assigned by the IRS. Additionally, when you have an EIN, it makes it easier to file both federal and state taxes.
Use Online Writing Resources to Your Advantage
You can find online writing resources that check your grammar and spelling. Although these programs aren’t a substitute for proofreading your piece, they can catch errors that you can easily miss. Check out Grammar Slammer here.
Keep Time in Mind When Booking
You might be busy with school or other responsibilities, and you don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your work to fit freelancing into your schedule. So take into consideration how much time you have to work on freelancing and how long it takes you to finish a piece so you never overbook yourself.
Freelancing Is a Profitable Opportunity
If you know where to look for jobs and how to enhance your prospects, freelance writing can be profitable for you as a student or recent graduate.
A proofreading app can go a long way in improving your writing. If you want to make your writing the best it can be, check out English Plus+.
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