Finding Writing Opportunities the Unconventional Way

Working as a freelance writer can be an interesting job with the opportunity to write about a variety of topics and work with many different blogs and companies, but the biggest challenge that writers face is actually finding freelance work. Even if you are working in one particular industry and have made connections in the past, at times it can still be a challenge finding work. You may need to get creative when looking for writing opportunities and have exhausted all of your typical options—looking on freelance or job posting websites, talking to friends in the industry, keeping an out on some of your favorite websites, and well, that’s about it.

Below are a few suggestions of where to start when looking for some unconventional approaches to finding writing opportunities:

Get creative with social media and break away from the norm.

When you’re looking for work, the first place to reach out is probably the most obvious. You are likely already linking a lot of your articles to social streams like Twitter or LinkedIn. Consider this a virtual display of your work. The majority of the time when you are working as a freelancer (or at least starting out in the freelancing business), companies will ask for a portfolio or links to your online work. Because you likely post a lot of these articles directly to social media, there are contacts seeing a display of your work regularly.

The first step to turn this into an actual paying opportunity is to make contact with editors or social management companies that may be in need of writers. If you make the connection (i.e. they accept your request to connect with them, particularly on LinkedIn) then you can send them a private message. In the message you will want to explain that you are always interested in new writing opportunities, and they can see examples of your work on your page.

LinkedIn is particularly helpful to look for freelance gigs. LinkedIn Jobs, which are social media related, LinkedIn jobs can be a good place to start when looking for freelance work. A few tips for making it happen:

• Get a LinkedIn profile (if you don’t have one already) and network! Networking goes a long way in the freelance world. You can easily establish a dialog with common connections, which can definitely lead to the opportunity to find out about job openings.
• Check out the Jobs section. This will allow you to input specific data about what job you are looking for & location. As far as a job search engine goes, LinkedIn is one of the best.
• Sign up for email alerts when jobs are posted that match your interests. While many of these are location-based, you can always approach employers and see if they are in need of freelance services
• When you get that notification for “people who have recently viewed your profile,” if you don’t recognize the name then feel free to reach out and acknowledge that they were looking at your profile if you are in a related field. That may be a possible connection.

A word of caution: Be careful with social media use for making job connections. While it is often a great place to start, the right type of connections are essential. Make sure you are being particular about the kind of people you want to work with and the quality of their site if your name is going to be attached to it. Secondly, never make announcements about looking for work openly on your page. This is something that is better served through private messages and emails.

Get away from traditional job sites and find niche job listing boards.

Rather than going on a job site where thousands of freelance writers are looking for jobs (such as Craigslist), it is much better to use a niche site that specifically posts jobs for freelance writers. Two examples of these sites are: Gorkana Jobs or freelancewriting.com.

Often times social management sites or other more consistent employers will post to these sites and can prove to offer fairly consistent work. In any case you have a much better opportunity to find a quality job on a niche site as opposed to a big job listing board. However, if you are looking to use a bigger site like Craigslist, Freelance Writing Gigs does consolidate all of the freelance writing related posts, and this may be a helpful place to start.

Don’t forget your local networking events even if they’re not about finding a job.

While networking events may seem fairly obvious, many freelancers do not take the opportunity to attend related networking events since much of freelance writing is online based work. While you may not necessarily have a big local event for writers or SEO specialists coming up, consider attending a chamber of commerce event in your town. All business owners have a website, so if you are open to the idea of working for different types of businesses and developing their blog or website content, perhaps make it your goal to start some freelance work through other business contacts.

Of course if you meet a company owner who still needs a website design, this can be a great time to jump in and offer content. Visit this article from our blog to learn more about creating a website and helping get something started (remember, content is king, so you’re in a good spot as a writer!).

Ask around to editors you may have worked with in the past.

Ask someone! Talk with editors that you already have a good working relationship with and see who they know. If they know somebody they can put you in contact and you have done good work in the past, this can be one of the best ways to find new jobs. In addition, feel free to ask colleagues or anyone you have developed a personal relationship with in your line of work. If clients or employers can draw a personal connection to a new staff writer, they will be more likely to hire them. The main point: Don’t be afraid to ask around when you are looking for work.

If you have any experience with writing for SEO purposes, you’ll likely have better luck, so make this known whenever you talk with your past connections. You can learn more about SEO and writing for SEO here.

Go beyond the editor and talk with other staff members.

While the editor of a site is certainly the person with the power to hire a new content writer, this doesn’t mean that you need to exclusively contact editorial staff. In fact, editors are often busy with a high influx of emails daily. If you can connect with another staff member that may be able to better connect you with the hiring body, then absolutely give it a shot. Approach this situation in the same professional manner you would while contacting an editor while lending consideration to the individual’s position and their relationship within the company.

The Takeaway

It can be difficult finding freelance work. There are times where it seems like the writing jobs are coming in from every angle possible, and other times where your inbox of assignments is completely empty. Using alternative or unconventional strategies can definitely help when you’ve tried all of your typical approaches.

Do you have experience finding freelance positions in an unconventional way? How did you find your current writing job? We would love to hear your feedback and any stories you have to share in the comment box below.

About The Author

Jason Hawkins / http://www.themiamiseocompany.com

Jason Hawkins is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Miami SEO Company. He has over ten years of experience in search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and lead generation. His core responsibilities include identifying ways to increase value of services rendered, training staff on advanced SEO topics, and A/B testing internal processes to consistently improve client return on investment.