How to Become a Freelance Writer With No Experience

A freelance writer is someone who writes for different clients. But knowing how to become a freelance writer with no experience comes first.

But don't worry. It's a common hurdle to overcome when starting a freelance career.

And that's what we're here to help you with. 

One of the first steps to starting a career in freelance writing is to find clients. 

These clients are companies, businesses, or individuals who want to hire a writer for a specific project.

Do well, and you'll probably become their go-to help for their copywriting or content needs. 

But, before you can persuade someone to pay you as a professional writer, you must first show them you can string together a sentence or 2.

Below are some great ways to get started.

Start your Own Blog

A personal blog is a powerful tool for self-expression, marketing, and branding.

And it’s actually not as difficult to start your own blog as you might think.

You don't have to create a personal blog. It can actually be about any topic that interests you. But it's a certainly a good idea to build your site around a common topic or theme and stick to it. 

Not only will this help signal to Google that you're familiar a given topic - and thus can be a reliable source for searchers online. But it'll also help signal to potential clients that you're experienced writing about that topic. 

If you can play your cards right and write some long-form blog posts that rank in your niche, on search engines, even better. 

This blog of yours is an excellent way to develop and improve your writing style. It will also be a great place to host your freelance writing samples. And it can even provide you with a source of income down the line as you continue to build the site. 

[It's also a great way to develop new and practical skills aside from writing.

Site development is a skill that basically every business in the world needs these days.

And showing your online writing portfolio with site development skills on your own freelance writing business site will boost your earning potential.]

Guest Posting On Other Sites

If you can find the email address of blogs that accept guest posts and will let you write them for free, you have a great opportunity. 

Here are a few benefits of guest post freelance writing gigs:

You'll be able to practice your skills with writing experience. Show off your skills to a new audience. And you'll more than likely get to link back to your blog. 

It will also require cold pitching. And these article pitches will further develop your writing skills. And even more specifically, your copywriting skills. 

And effective cold email outreach generally requires a few things:

• An attractive email subject line,
• A sincere introduction in the hopes of establishing a genuine connection,

You'll get to practice hook sentences. These will help persuade your target to read your email. And this will increase the chance they'll give you a try.

[Suggesting some article ideas that will be interesting and helpful to their readers with no strings attached helps.]

Just know that most site owners of a certain level of authority likely get these kinds of cold pitches several times a week - if not daily - so don't take it personally if you don't get a response. 

Just keep trying, and the act itself will be good practice. 

Video Script Writing

Think outside the box. Freelance writing jobs can extend beyond the page or screen.

YouTube is a massive platform these days, and the videos you watch there are more than likely following a script. 

And these YouTubers may want to outsource the grunt work to those willing to do the grunt work for a little extra income and experience.

I tried this out for Noah Kagan once. Granted I didn't get the gig but the experience opened my eyes to new possibilities when building a client list. 

Plus the conversational style needed on video is good practice!

Write for a Content Marketing Agency

Working for an SEO or content marketing agency as a freelance content writer allows you to write about many different topics.

These are good jobs for beginners as you'll also have access to SOPs and editors. Plus you'll get to familiarize yourself with tools like Frase, and other on-page SEO tools. 

Once you have found a client like this, you can either work as an independent contractor or an employee of the company.

Decide What Types of Writing You'd Like to Focus on

The next step is to know what type of content writing project you want to specialize in.

Some freelance writers specialize in writing long-form SEO blog posts. But others focus mostly on copywriting. 

Your decision here will really come down to your personal preference. 

For instance, I struggle with writing long articles. Others prefer it. 

Any successful freelance writer will have to decide which they want to focus on. 

There's a pretty big difference between copywriting vs content writing.

I'd argue it comes down to personality types. So it's good to ask yourself a simple question: Are you a patient person?

Content writing is perfect for an SEO writer. Someone that likes to dive into a topic with the goal to appease Google and bring value to readers.

Copywriting is more so tailored towards site copy, emails, sales pages. 

Choose a Niche You Want to Specialize In

One of the most important steps in your freelancing journey is to find a freelance writing niche and type of writing that you are passionate and are interested in.

This will make it easier for you to produce more quality work while increasing your writing speed. 

Then, you need to look for prospective clients who will pay for articles in that niche or looking for those skills.

But the good news with this approach is that in most cases, a technical writer will be paid more for their work due to the scarcity factor. 

For example an experienced finance writer in the US makes on average $110,000 a year. 

It's a good idea to consider what niches interest you, what type of client you want, and which niche will bring you the best writing income.

Build Your Portfolio

This can be done by writing articles on topics related to the niche or general articles on all sorts of topics.

Building a general writing portfolio is good, but building a specialized portfolio of your technical writing is better. 

When you send this into potential clients, they'll more than likely spend more time looking through it and inviting you to do a paid writing assignment.

Where to Find Freelance Writing Clients?

There are many ways to find these clients, and the most popular ways are through freelance writing job boards like ProBlogger or groups on social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook like Cult of Copy.

These are many go-to sites for those writers seeking potential customers and vice versa.

Do you Need Qualifications to be a Freelance Writer?

Freelance writing doesn't require any specific academic qualifications.

Many successful freelance writers do not have degrees or formal education in writing, journalism, or related fields. 

Sometimes it may 'get you in the door'. Like for example if you'd like to write for a health and wellness site.

Having a degree in nutrition or other academic qualifications may boost your credibility and make you more appealing to potential clients.

But, these health sites will also have editors or consultants that help to fact-check regardless. So really anyone to produce content while still managing to cover the site's desired E-E-A-T needs.

Generally, demonstrating that you can write well and reliably deliver quality content is what will get you jobs.

So, the most important qualifications for a freelance writer are strong writing skills, a good work ethic, and the ability to consistently meet deadlines.

Your portfolio of work is often more important than your formal education. 

What Skills Do Successful Writers Have?

Successful freelance and content writers usually possess skills to help them succeed.

These can be grouped into two broad categories:

Hard skills, which are specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured.



And soft skills, which are less tangible and harder to quantify, but nonetheless critical for success.

Hard Skills

1. Writing Skill: This is the most obvious skill. Successful content writers are strong communicators and demonstrate a solid ability to write in various styles and tones appropriate to different audiences.
2. Research Skill: Content writers usually write about a wide range of topics, so strong research skills are key. This includes knowing how to locate reliable sources, synthesize information, and present it in a way that's easy to understand.
3. SEO Knowledge: Content often needs to be optimized for search engines, so a basic understanding of SEO principles is a big plus. This can include understanding how to structure content for the web and keeping up with Google's algorithm updates.
4. Technical Proficiency: Depending on the project, you may also need to upload content into a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, or use tools for SEO and social media. In some cases, knowledge of basic HTML/CSS could be useful.

Soft Skills

1. Creativity: Writing requires a lot of creativity, not just in coming up with ideas but in figuring out how to present them in an engaging way.
2. Adaptability: As mentioned above, successful freelance writers will often need to write on various topics and adjust to different writing styles. This requires the ability to quickly learn about new industries and adapt your writing to fit the needs of different clients.
3. Time Management: As a freelancer, you'll often juggle multiple projects simultaneously, with varying deadlines. Managing your time effectively is crucial, especially if you want to earn a good income.
4. Communication: This is key for your writing, understanding client requirements, and providing updates on your progress. It's also useful for negotiating contracts and rates.
5. Resilience: Rejection is a part of freelance writing. Being able to handle criticism, learn from it, and keep going is invaluable. Plus, you'll have a big competitive advantage if you can take constructive criticism from those who have earned your respect so that you can use it to improve. 
6. Networking: Building relationships with clients and other writers can increase opportunities. Networking can be done in person at events or online through social media and professional networking sites.

Freelance Writing Rates

There are lots of variances to writing rates.

It depends on various factors like industry, experience, and price structuring.

Experienced writers in a given niche can make $100s or even $1000s per article.

Meanwhile, those starting can write for as low as $0.01 per word.

Great Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills Fast

To avoid ever writing for $0.01 a word, you'll want to show you've got writing skills.

Typically the best way to improve your writing is by simply doing it. 

After all - practice makes perfect.

But here are a few super simple and easy ways to quickly and easily take your writing skills to the next level. 

Practice writing with Hemingwayapp

Hemingway is an amazing free tool. And will absolutely help improve your freelance writing services.

It helps you write short sentences, spot unnecessary adverbs, avoid fluff in your writing, and replace difficult words with simpler synonyms. 

The result is writing that is more readable and thus enjoyable to well... read. 

Read 'Art of Plain Talk' 

I've read a lot of books on writing and grammar :S and I can strongly say that this book is one of the best around.

The author of the book, Rudolf Flesch, is an amazing mind, and although he wrote the book back in 1946, the ideas are still true.

This is the rare case where you can improve your writing simply by reading a book. 

I'd argue it will give you a leg up in the freelance writing industry. 

It's accessible for free via a quick Google search.

Take an 'SEO' focused content writing course

Many free online courses lay out everything you'll want to remember when writing to rank on Google. 

I did the Surfer one a while ago, which laid out all of the different search intents to keep an eye on, etc.

It's good stuff, plus it's free and one of the most popular writing courses available for today's writing needs. 

There are also freelance writing courses for general purposes that will surely help.

And the information you need is almost always available for free.

How to become a freelance writer without experience?

Even if it's not exactly a career path you see yourself pursuing long term, freelance writing can be very beneficial.

And growing a successful freelance writing career can lead into many things.

Just try starting out building your own site.

The process will be very worthwhile, and using the simple hacks of writing with the hemingwayapp and reading 'Art of Plain Talk' will take care of your writing quality needs.