The Basics of Blogging for Your Freelance Writing Career

With the recession in full swing in the USA, UK, Canada and Europe, you may be looking at your employment options for the coming year. If you are then you may not be looking to switch jobs or begin a new career, instead choosing to stay in a job that you neither like nor want to do. If this is the case and you have always wanted to try your hand at freelance writing then why not start your career now? Freelance writing is a great option for the recession because you can start to write alongside your day job. You can spend evenings and weekends writing to earn extra cash and get your name out there without sacrificing the income you already have. With freelance writing, you can manage your time and enjoy it... and the best way to get started is via blogging!

If you would like to become a freelance writer or get your abilities noticed then you may want to look into blogging as a hobby. Many people make a good living out of professional blogging these days but it is a perfect place to start when looking into a freelance writing career because you can do as much or as little as you like. For example, you can apply for blogging jobs with established companies looking to promote their goods, sales and general business on their own blog. Those companies generally want one or two articles a week and so are easy to fit into your weekly schedule. Alternatively, you can start your own blog about a niche topic you are interested in and have knowledge on. Of course, many bloggers write for fun and make little cash from it but they do get their names out there and many end up earning good money as freelance writers.

Starting a blog is a fantastic way to start showcasing your writing skills and talent. You can use posts as example work when you feel that you are ready to embark on a career as a freelance writer on a full time basis for prospective employers in the future. You can also use it as a forum to hone your own abilities as a freelance writer, developing skills and styles that you feel comfortable with. Blogging is a fantastic way to advance your skills and get your freelance writing career off to a good start because you can actually write what you want to write and establish yourself as an authority in a certain niche. Better yet, you can simply spend ten minutes a day or every other day writing so it is easy to fit into your daily life.

To get started, you will need to set up a blog. This is neither as difficult nor as complicated as it sounds. There are many blog hosts that you can tap into, two of which are Blogger and Wordpress. Both have similar facilities so you can take advantage of their space for your freelance writing. You will probably find that you prefer one over the other but it is best to check both out before you make up your mind. However, there is a host that you can make a few dollars with right from the start if you are looking for an income from freelance writing. Today.com is a relatively new provider but is hosted on Wordpress and offers $1 per post of 100 words or more, with a maximum of one post a day being paid. You also earn a few cents for the unique visitors that come to read your blog, meaning that you can make decent money blogging if you build up your readership. This money may not sound like a lot but the majority of hosts do not pay you for blogging at all so it us a great way to kick start your freelance writing career and earn a little extra cash too. Getting paid to hone your freelance writing skills is definitely a bonus!

Of course, there are always other ways to make money via blogging, although some people prefer not to. It is entirely your choice. Some businesses offer paid reviews of goods and services so you can earn extra cash. Sponsored Reviews is a popular one, but you do have to be careful to ensure that the reviews fit in with the blog content you have already written because you can get your page rank taken away. Page rank determines where you appear in search engines and is given to you by Google. If you are looking for a second income though sites like that may also provide you with a good way to do so via freelance writing.

Freelance writing may provide you with a little extra cash in the coming year, especially if you choose to blog via Today.com or take on individual projects that can easily fit into your schedule. Now is the time to start thinking about where you want to go and preparing for the future. After all, 2008 showed us all that you never know what the future holds so take heed and think hard about it. It costs nothing to try after all!