About.com is the holy grail of online writing gigs, at least from my own experience. I was the Guide there for their topic of Pagan/Wiccan religion for several years. Getting a Guide position there will basically guarantee your ability to become a full-time freelancer. Ok, there are never any guarantees in life, but this is still the network to strive for. Today’s post will be about the basics of a gig with About.com, with further posts coming with more on how to actually get yourself hired. Yes, they are important enough to warrant several posts. (more…)

Many online writers today use a blog format for their own sites (like this site does), and it’s a great way to present your material. But given the journal-style of a blog, people tend to assume frequent updates more than they might with another style of website. So, how often you should post a new blog on your website in order to maximize visits and popularity? (more…)

As I mentioned a few posts ago (Basics of Freelance Bidding Sites), I have joined Elance and thought it was time to post what I’ve noticed about the service. They are changing their fees and bidding structure next month, so things may be different in the near future but I’m pretty sure some of the issues I’ve had will still be issues. (more…)

Just a quick tip today: open up a PayPal account. No, this isn’t something that is going to make or break your burgeoning freelance career, but it can make things easier. Since you are working in an online arena, people are going to expect to do all the transactions online. And that includes payment. So, go sign up for an account. (more…)

Until recently, I’ve spend most of my job-hunting time looking at various job boards and hoping for the best. I’ve now thought about giving the bidding-type sites a try. There are many of them, but using the larger ones will offer you more job choices. (more…)

Craigslist is becoming THE place to look online for just about anything. It’s more than just a job board, as you can find things for sale, apartments for rent, personals and way more. It’s a classified ad type site, covering everything you can imagine, including freelance writing jobs.

Now, Craigslist is actually a number of sites, each for a major city or region. It’s not just one site that you can browse through. There are about 20 major US cities, and 8 major Canadian cites, with a total of more than 450 location-specific sites. That can make it awkward for searching, as you basically have to check each city. (more…)