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“The Student Freelance Writer”
Joyce Wilson, Guest Author

Freelance writing is a great option for grad students who are looking to gain experience in their field while earning an income. After all, grad schools usually give students the opportunity to undertake a lot of writing assignments while they are in school, since it helps them develop their skills and have something to put on their resume when they graduate. Today, English Plus+ outlines everything you need to know to get started as a freelance writer.

The Freelance Writing Market

According to Power Publish, high-quality freelance writing has skyrocketed. Although the content marketing and freelance writing markets were already growing pre-COVID-19, the pandemic has accelerated their growth, opening a sea of opportunities for freelancers. Today’s consumers use the internet for information of all sorts, including shopping, news, entertainment, and more. Different sites offer opportunities for both writers and businesses to find work for freelance writing like Upwork and Fiverr, where you can filter jobs by content and price.

According to Writers.com, you don’t need an MFA to call yourself a writer. They state that the traits for becoming a writer are a love of the written word, a desire for possibilities of language, and a willingness to grow and learn continuously.

Creating Your Freelance Writing Business

Turning to freelance writing to earn money means creating your own business. Start by getting an EIN or tax ID. An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also called a Tax ID Number, is a 9-digit code assigned by the IRS to identify your business.

Next, create a business plan that lays out how you’ll structure your business, how you’ll market it, and what your goals are for the near future and beyond. You can find how to write a business plan by using an online template that can walk you through all the steps.

Creating a blog where you can include samples of your writing can be an inexpensive way to have an online presence that you can send prospective employers to view. WordPress is the most common blogging platform but explore several to see which one will work best for you.

Thinking long term, another option worth considering is going back to school for your MBA. This will give you additional expertise to grow your business, and if you choose to benefit from the flexibility of online learning, you can proceed at your own pace, putting what you learn into practice in real time.

Look for Mentors

You may be able to find other freelance writers just by asking friends and acquaintances or looking at Linkedin. Also, LifeTutors helps young people with college, college plans, and finding and keeping a job among other things. They are also a clinically supervised recovery coaching program. If you need help with anything college-related, they are an excellent resource to use.

Becoming a freelance writer is something you can do from anywhere and anytime, making it the perfect job for grad and post-grad students and can become a business that can sustain you for as long as you want to pursue it.

English Plus+ began in 1990 as a spin-off of an SAT tutoring program by an experienced teacher who had learned computer programming. We’d love to hear from you!