Hellobee Boards

Following. This is one of my goals for the future. I would like to do grant writing, feature articles, brochures, marketing materials and more. I just honestly haven't dedicated the time to putting together a description of rates and services, though I do have a network I could reach out to build a clientele.

Well, the most helpful thing is to find a niche -- if you can present yourself as somewhat of an expert in one particular area, it can be a *bit* easier to find work. I built on my newspaper experience + Hellobee experience + real-life experience to write/edit a lot of kid/baby-centric stuff.

Freelancing can be great, but getting started can be really frustrating. Basically, unless you have awesome contacts, you will probably have to work for peanuts for awhile to build a portfolio. Even then, pursuing potential opportunities can be a full-time job in itself. I've mainly worked for 1-2 clients, and while I'd love to diversify, I simply can't devote the time/energy to finding new work right now.

I've had very good luck on Elance. You really need to build a complete portfolio there; but once I did and built up some positive feedback, a lot of job listers started contacting me, asking me to bid on their projects. I was also able to turn a few one-off jobs into more steady work, with reliable partners.

I work FT, but take on freelance jobs as I like, which is nice!

I freelanced for about a year before having LO and for me it was all about the contacts. I was starting again in another country though, so I did a few shifts for free to build up trust. From that I managed to get a regular entertainment column in a newspaper and good relationships with editors on a few websites/newspapers that led to regular feature opportunities. I found that my six years journalism experience in England didn't help at all - it was literally all about the contacts I could make here. The problem was that the writing world is very volatile right now and editors are constantly moving around so their replacements will bring their own set of freelancers with them and it can be tough constantly starting again sweet talking editors.
My advice would be to contact the publications you really want to write for and ask if you can go in and meet them, or take an editor for coffee. Once they know and like you they will be much more likely to properly consider your pitch or offer you assignments. Good luck!

@yoursilverlining: I've considered trying Elance, but was never sure how "legit" it was. I work FT for a newspaper, but I really want to get into freelancing on the side. I'm glad you mentioned Elance, I'm definitely going to check it out!

@mfa_lady: Glad I could help

@IRunForFun: I've never run into any issue with not receiving payment or anything, and have gained some very reputable clients (established, medium-large sized businesses) via Elance.

@Mrs. Yoyo: I really believe in "you get what you pay for", so there definitely are a lot of cheap bids on Elance, but a lot of businesses are getting wise to the fact that if they pay someone in India $2/hr to write content; they get what they pay for.

I do both creative and technical writing, but I've had good luck there. It certainly helps that I don't rely on that for income; and just take the jobs I want to take.

I've done a lot of networking and also some cold reaching out to potential clients. I also have a lot of luck using freelancewritinggigs.com. I currently have 4 steady jobs- I write blogs for several businesses and also do some editorial work. There's also a lot of one-off jobs like press releases and things of that nature that I do. I agree a lot of it is about who you know and how they can lead to other jobs. Good luck!