by Angela Swanlund

Freelancing refers to the process of offering your services for someone else on a per project basis. The best way to explain this is through an example.

Supposing you possess excellent writing skills. There are millions (and I’m not exaggerating) of webmasters and internet marketers out there who are in need of fresh content and new products on a daily basis. Their demand for digitally written works is so great that even if they are blessed with just as much writing prowess, they won’t have the time to come up with everything that they need. Hence, they resort to outsourcing.

And this is where you enter the picture.

As a freelancer offering your writing services for a fee, you could take in some projects they will give you. You will be paid per delivery, and once that’s done, you could take in more clients for consistent earnings.

But freelancing is not only limited to writing, or ghostwriting as it is technically known. There are other services that you could offer, depending on the area of proficiency you possess. Here are more examples:

* graphic creation and design
* web creation and design
* software development
* data encoding
* translation to specific languages
* marketing consultancy
* strategic placement consultancy

There are more, of course, ranging from something as complex as creating advanced scripts to something as seemingly trivial but as surprisingly effective as forum posting (yes, I kid you not! You’ll get paid per post you make!). The bottom line is, if you have some services to offer that can be delivered digitally, freelancing is always available for you.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this earning opportunity. Let’s take a look at the distinct benefits you can reap from this option.

* You can work anytime you want, from the comforts of your own home. Your only concern is to deliver high quality products on or before the deadline your client has set.

* Freelancing requires minimal investment, or none at all. Promoting your services can be done without spending a single cent. But as with everything else, the best advertising vehicles are often those which you have to pay for. Be that as it may, you won’t be promoting heavily, and any financial investment you will be forced to make will not cost you a fortune.

* You have the liberty to accept the projects that you want, and turn down the projects you’re not happy about. Orders will come from your clients, but you remain your own boss.

It’s not entirely a bed of roses for freelancing. Let’s take a look at the disadvantages of this trade.

* You will earn an amount equivalent to the work you have done. If you could only do so much in one day, you could only earn just as much. Surpassing that threshold is quite improbable.

* You will have to work, many hours on occasions. Freelancing may afford you certain liberties, but the same principle applies: no work, no pay.

* Expansion is also quite improbable. You’re only a single person. There is only so much you could do.

* Your orders would be dependent on how efficiently you market your services. There are other earning opportunities that promise more rewards for less work using the same marketing vehicles you will be forced to take.

If you want to dabble in freelancing, here are some splendid places where you could advertise your services and solicit some clients:

www.elance.com

www.rentacoder.com

www.scriptlance.com

www.guru.com

The choice is yours, dear friend. If you’re looking for sure profit fast, then freelancing is a great option indeed. But if you want to plan long-term, I suggest that you explore other earning opportunities as well.

File this one under the sad but true category, folks. We are considered the ‘bottom feeders’ of the freelance writing industry – by the freelance writing community. The two main reasons are this:

1. Regardless of the topic of our content, a heavier focus is paid to the key word density of the article than the actual informational value of the piece as a whole. In other words, our buyer sometimes doesn’t even care if we use proper English or good grammar, as long as we use a good key word saturation. This all too common practice reduces the overall merit and value of web content articles in general. Nay, you say? Ask yourself these questions. Have you ever wondered how in the world a blog barely in English, with the worst grammar you’ve ever read – had a PR of 5? Or how a landing page of nothing more than links to eternity and one center frame piece of content could pull a PR4? Have you ever stared in utter disbelief at what just sold on a content marketing website – and wondered why anyone, anywhere, would have paid a dime for that piece? Hello.

2. Paid to post text link ads within our blog that are completely irrelevant to the content we present. We’ve learned how to link computer stores within the content of a post about decorating an infant nursery by slapping the a href tag around the word “monitor” in the phrase – set the baby monitor within two feet of the crib. Yes, a clever bunch we are! Not.

 It’s no wonder we take such a beating in ratings by the freelance writing community, we‘ve brought this wrath onto ourselves. But it does not have to be this way! We can take back the control of our content and raise our own personal standards to beat this bum rep.

 How?
When you begin a web content article writing assignment, literally forget that list of key words your buyer supplied. For the moment, focus solely on your topic. Approach this topic as if you, yourself, were in search of the information. What would you want this article to tell you? After you have the general concept in your head, do your homework. Research. Have you fully answered the questions you had concerning this topic? Have you covered this topic as thoroughly as your word count allowed?  Read your article aloud, does it flow with a good cadence? Is it an easy read, or did you stumble? Next, correct your grammar. And last – absolutely last – work those key words into the piece. In other words, write a real article.

When you log into the admin of your favorite paid review website, don’t let greed overwhelm you! Decline the tasks that do not specifically relate to a normal topic addressed in your blog. Respect your own readers more than this! Only accept tasks that you feel would be of real interest or importance to your readership. And when you write these reviews, do your homework. Visit that website, learn about those products or services, and present this information to your readers in a concise and informative manner. In other words – write a real review.

That takes Too Much Time And I’ll Lose Money!
Oh really? What would you say if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached personally by advertisers instead of through the paid link marketing website? What if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached by content buyers personally? Then would you be willing to take the risk? Then would you be willing to decline those mis-matched tasks and tighten up those web content articles? I bet you would. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee you squat. I know, horribly anti-climatic, my bad. But I will offer this challenge. Try this method of writing for 6 months and if you don’t see significantly better offers and gain significantly more readers – I’ll personally feature your work on my websites, and help to promote you. Deal?
Angela