How to Get Paid and Live the Life You Want by Freelance Writing

Writing has never been a less lofty career goal with the rise of the blogging, freelance writing, internet generation. Some may say that the writing is a dying art but it all depends on how you look at it. Sure, traditional book sales are down with the rise of the ipad and Kindle books, but there has never been a higher volume of writing put out in the ether and it isn't just for lack of something better to do, it's because it is paying some writers quite well.

Yes, competition is fierce in the field of freelance writing, but whether or not you attain adequate income from writing depends more on figuring out your niche and then asking for what you want, how much content you produce, use of SEO strategies, and which and how many clients you market to.

Market Yourself By Asking For What You Want

I'll touch lightly on SEO tools, amount of articles produced and clients later, first I want to address something writers forget - ask for what you want.

How does asking for what you want play into your overall dividends from writing?

Well, how else does a writer make it but by first thinking of what he or she wants to write about. Think about your interests and the things that matter to you and you'll begin to discover what it is you have to say to the world. And you can bet that if you're interested in something there are at least a few hundred others who are too, and that means page views and clients.

Once you've discovered what you want to say think outside of the box to determine how to not only write about it but how to make it pay off as much as possible. For instance, if you like to travel, try pitching a travel article idea to your local city or town magazine for a nearby destination vacation or daytrip. If your pitch meets with acceptance don't stop there, go to your chosen destination's town or city webpage and find the local travel accomodations and let them know about your approved article for publication, you may just find yourself with an accepted article AND a comped or deeply discounted hotel stay.

You may think that things like that don't often work but you'd be surprised, those who make a living freelance writing know that you only get what you ask for and a big part of the job is marketing, so get out there and sell yourself. Let companies, brands, towns or cities know how mutually beneficial your published article will be.

I'll give you an example from my own life to get you started. I published an article a little while ago about my displeasure with the prices of mainstream cosmetics companies like Maybelline, Revlon, and Covergirl. After writing the article I decided I wanted to write a few product reviews from my favored affordable and high-end cosmetics lines but I didn't want to spend a fortune to do it. So I got online, searched my favorite brands, and wrote to them letting them know how I felt about the brand and requested free samples for review. Both Rimmel London and Bobbi Brown Essentials were quite considerate and helpful. Rimmel London promptly responded by mailing out some review samples and Bobbi Brown Essentials gave me the contact info for their press coordinator.

With those few short and simple emails I managed to get free samples for review which means more articles for publication and I also made important and beneficial business contacts. Any business loves the idea of free marketing and that's what a freelance writer can offer.

Be Prolific, Publish Daily

The key aspect to "making it" as a freelance author is to publish frequently. 1 article a day is a good start but if you want freelance writing to pay the bills, you really want to be hitting around 5 or 6 per day. Don't let that number scare you or get you down just prioritize your time balancing 1 or 2 researched articles with 3 or 4 quick and easy articles. Just like any other job you'll get out of it what you put into it and a writer who works 8 hours a day producing articles will make more than a writer who puts in an hour or 2 per day. Sites like Associated Content need to be learned in order to maximize payment, you'll want to mix articles submitted for payment plus performance bonuses with articles submitted simply for performance bonuses so that you can keep consistent online visibility. Associated content writer Vikas D. Reddy has a great article on this topic and the importance of SEO knowledge to maximize results.

Acquire Several Clients

Don't box yourself in to writing for just one site or even one print publication - cover them all. Spend some time joining several of the online content sites and learning the best social media sites out there to promote your work -- Digg, Twitter, Newsvine, and Facebook are all good ones to keep in your consistent repertoire. But don't get online and stop there, remember that newspapers and local magazines are still great venues for material.

Learn and Use SEO Tools

There is so much to be capitalized on in this continually changing field and while I can't claim to be any kind of expert, I do know the basics. You want to choose your search tags carefully; maximize keywords, packing as many keywords as you can into the first paragraph of your article, and you want to publish everyday to keep up with Google's indexing. Internet marketing and search engine optimization is a world unto it's own and must be grappled with if a freelance writer is to make it. Twitter is a great place to get acquainted with SEO strategies because there are countless freelance writers tweeting about the ground they've covered so you won't have to.

Now you know how important it is to know what you want out of writing and to ask for it, how to market yourself and your writing, and why you should be submitting everywhere you can; now go forth and publish, publish, publish!