4 Fast Ways to Find Online Writing Jobs

Freelance writing is a huge industry and it’s a great way stay-at-home moms, closet authors, millennials, college students and more can earn a side income or a living from this.

I’ve been a freelance writer for over four years now while taking care of my twins!

My twins are in school now, and I’ve been doing this full-time for two years now.

4 Fast Ways to Find Online Writing Jobs

And, you know what?

There are some fast ways to find a freelance writing job.

But, I personally like to use only a few of them that work for me.

These four ways  I still use, and I know anyone can start using them quickly.

All of these methods are free to use but do require some time. You’re not going to start making money writing on the first day, but if you use these strategies, you’re on the road to landing some great jobs.

Let’s find out my top ways of finding online writing jobs.

4 Easy Ways to Find Online Writing Jobs

If you don’t have the time to read my blog post, you can check out a video on my top ways to find freelance writing jobs. I would love it if you subscribed to my YouTube channel too!

The video does go into more depth about certain aspects of finding writing jobs so make sure to watch it!

1. Freelance Writing Job Board

A freelance writing job board is a platform where you can find good paying online jobs from home. Most of them are freelance writing type of jobs, but many of them don’t require much experience.

The freelance writing job boards I like to use are:

Problogger posts fresh ads every day, sometimes multiple times a day. They have a search function where you can niche down your search if you want to.

For example, I can search for only pet writing jobs.

I would click into the job ad and read about that job. I like job ads that give me a link to their business or at least tells me who they are (a marketing agency that has several blogging clients).

I like to do my research and find them on social media and get to know them a bit more to see if the online writing job is a good one and it’s legit.

Freelance Writing is another free job board that curates jobs from other job boards all around the internet. This is a great one-stop shop for finding a gigs.

The Freelance Writing job board has more filters to help you narrow down your top choices. I plugged in Pet as my main filter and found two gigs.

But, as you can see, the second Pet writing job is over a year old! So, make sure to find the most up-to-date online writing job in your niche.

Again, I explain in my video not to spend hours using job boards. Do some quick searches and pitch to the ones that look like a good fit.

If you find that you have a niched down or not so popular freelance writing niche, job boards may not be your main way of finding a gig.

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2. Using Your Online Presence

For me, this has been my #1 way of taking my online writing business to the next level. Since I’m an online writer, I have to have an online presence.

There are many ways to do this, but I found the best and most converting strategy is to have a writer website.

Having a writer website looks more professional with online brands.

So, setting yourself up to look professional from day one is important if you want to succeed quicker.

I found that once I had this online presence, I landed more writing jobs and was able to raise my rate.

Your website for your writing has to attract your ideal client.

You do this by speaking to your ideal client and understanding their reasons for wanting to hire you.

Maybe your ideal client isn’t a writer. They are a business person and can’t write engaging content. Then your writer website must convey that you write engaging content for big brands.

Maybe your ideal client is pressed for time. They just don’t have the time to write weekly blog content. Your writer website can point that out and let them know that you have the time to craft compelling content.

If you haven’t started your blog for your business, check out my tech-free tutorial.

3. Guest Posting

Part of expanding your presence online is to start guest posting. I personally love guest posting.

While there are sites that pay, I like to pitch to free guest posting spots because they are easier to land and quicker to publish.

There are two ways you can start guest posting:

  • Guest post on big sites that have a lot of traffic
  • Guest post on niche sites that are relevant to your freelance writing niche

For me, I mostly guest posted on niche sites.

My first guest post was for A Nation of Moms. One of my writing niches when I first started was parenting and health. I wrote a guest post on gut health.

And, once I decided to do more digital marekting I guest posted on Tweak Your Biz.

I found it was much easier to land a guest post on a niche site than on a bigger site. But, it’s up to you where you want to guest post.

4. Warm Pitching

Another popular way to find writing jobs is with cold pitching. Cold pitching means finding an online business and pitching your service to them.

For me, this is highly time-consuming, and as a mom to twins I couldn’t devote hours finding these businesses and then pitching to them.

However, I found warm pitching to be more up my alley!

Warm pitching means having that online presence and networking.

So, it would look like this:

  • I would start a LinkedIn profile and follow influencers and brands I want to work with. Over time I would share their content or comment on their LI posts.
  • I would start a Twitter profile and follow influencers and brands and tag them if I feature them in a post or client piece and engage with them on Twitter.

The point is to develop a relationship online over time.

Once this happens you can pitch your service to them. This increases the likelihood that they will consider you and hire you. It’s also not as time-consuming.

Following a few brands a week takes less than 5 minutes or reading a blog post on a site I want to write for and then commenting on it takes less than 10 minutes a week.

Quick Ways for You

There ya go!

My top ways of finding online writing jobs.

While there are many other ways – how about 53 ways! – these are my preferred methods.

As an established freelance writer, I now get weekly emails asking for my services, and I’m able to set my goals to write for bigger brands (since I’ve built up my online presence!).

Over to you – what are your top methods for finding an online writing job?

Share your tactics with us!

Please remember to share me!

Hi I'm Elna and I'm a freelance writer and mom blogger. I help people just like you become a profitable freelance writer. Within 6 months of starting my freelance writing business from scratch I was able to earn a full-time living as a part-time freelance writer while taking care of my twin toddlers. Check out my free email course Get Paid to Write Online and learn the steps you need to take to be a freelance writer.

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16 Comments

Hi Elna, I’ve been browsing your site/blog and am choosing a random post to comment on…and say a huge thank you! You are freakin’ awesome 😉 I’m currently just blogging “for fun”, but have always secretly wanted to do some freelance work. Your site is exactly what I needed — clear and specific steps on how to start from scratch. I appreciate you being so forthcoming with your hard-earned secrets for success! You rock! KFReply to Kara
Hi Kara, Thanks so much! So happy you are enjoying the blog! Freelance work is one of the best way to make money blogging!Reply to Elna
Hi Elna, I’ve begun your course, “Write Your Way to Your First $1k,” and I’m loving it so far! Just made an attempt to create a Gravatar. So here goes! Regards, O’Dell Isaac IIReply to O'Dell
Hey! That’s awesome and thanks so much! Great Gravatar!Reply to Elna
You have a lot of useful advice for freelance writers seeking business related jobs. It’s all well organized and researched. Kudos. What are your thoughts on creative writing? I’d be bored to death trying to churn out sales material .Reply to Vince
Hi Vince, Thanks for coming over! Not sure about creative writing as I do nonfiction writing! Good luck!Reply to Elna
Currently working my way through two of your courses – great ideas as always!Reply to Ellen
Hey Ellen! Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed the courses 🙂 Finding online writing jobs doesn’t have to be a challenge for sure! This post can help you!Reply to Elna
I’m really happy you mentioned freelancewriting.com because I’m been looking through job boards and it’s tedious to go through them all! You just saved me lots of time! How many hours would you say you spent on sending pitches/warming up your leads each day before you were fully booked? Thanks, Elna!Reply to Dana
Hey Dana! Awesome! Yes, I like Freelance Writing’s site for sure for cutting the time to check all the sites they rounded up. As for time, I don’t send pitches that frequently now since most of my freelance writing jobs come via referral business or directly from my writer website. When I started though, I’d say I spent 2 hours a day or so finding jobs and pitching to them.Reply to Elna
Great advice as usual!Reply to Andreia
Hey Andreia! Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed these ways to find online writing jobs!Reply to Elna
Hi Elna, Since I joined your course, I’m learning new ideas every day. The course is great and I believe it’s going to make a difference to my life. You’re the first coach I’ve ever met that’s genuine. Keep the good work.Reply to Denzil
Hey Denzil, That’s great to hear! Glad you enjoyed this post on finding online writing jobs! I know it can be a challenge for newbies!!!Reply to Elna
Hi Elna, thanks so much for yet another great post! Before stumbling upon your blog, I never thought it was possible for me to be a freelance writer or guest post on niche blogs, even though I liked writing for the web. This blog is so full of insightful and up-to-date information that I find myself coming back every day to read and reread your posts, and gradually I gained enough confidence to make my first pitch.Reply to Judith
Hi Judith! Thank you so much for being a loyal reader! I love helping people become freelance writers! Glad you found this post helpful!Reply to Elna