Finding work as a freelance writer

I am a student and I am currently finishing up my Masters degree in Science in the Netherlands. While my study normally takes a lot of time, in the new few months I will have room for 20+ hour of freelance work each week and I am in desperate need for money. Part time work is scarce where I love, and since I am very proficient in anything related to computers I'd love to earn a few $ online.

For the past few days, I've been trying to find work as a writer at freelancer sites such as oDesk and Elance with limited succes. While I try to write an unique cover letter for each application and charge slightly less than the maximum budget, I cannot seem to be able to land any jobs due to Indians outbidding me, or 'professional' writers which have more credentials.

I was told by a friend of mine, who is also here on Black Hat World, that there are many webmasters here looking for freelancers so I thought I'd give it a try.
Besides writing articles, I'm very familiar with data entry in Excel, combined with statistical analysis and programming in Visual Basic. In addition, I've developed several websites in the past and I am proficient with html/css and Wordpress.

If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. I read these forums every now and then, and it seems like it's a great community to be apart of and I'd like to getmore involved.

Warm welcome to BHW I am pretty confident that once you have a few posts under your belt here on BHW writing opportunities will open up for you

Keep an eye on the Hire a Freelancer category many writing jobs often pop up in there...

Good Luck and Enjoy

check out and create your own master ideas to make money .....NEVER GIVE UP

While I try to write an unique cover letter for each application and charge slightly less than the maximum budget, I cannot seem to be able to land any jobs due to Indians outbidding me, or 'professional' writers which have more credentials

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For your first jobs you gotta offer price/quality. If you don't have feedback you should go the lowest possible quote, and explain in your offer that you're doing thsi so you can get your hans on the first positive feedback.
Also, if you're not a native English you will have a hard time getting any jobs. Regarding Indians and Pakistanis, they (in majority of cases) offer crap. On the other hands they also search for writers on Elance so you can apply to work for them to get that first good rating (aim for 5 stars). But since I see you wanna earn some fast cash I can tell you that you will not have a career on Elance. Thgere are 3 kind of freelancers there
1. Newbies/Noobs/Lost cases (they almost never get the job, if they do this means that Client needs someone to work his ass off for $20)
2. Professionals- They get 80% of the jobs
3. People who are ready to take any kind of job and "promiss" they will deliver everything but they mostly deliver crap.

I think you fall in the 1st category and you can only hope for the lowest payed jobs at the starters. If you prove your skills you can get better jobs, but this process lasts couple of months.

If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it.

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Try iWriter if you think you have the skills

Check out the hire a freelancer section once you have more posts. Check out freelance sites as well( oDesk is my favourite).

Good luck!

These are all great tips from everyone, I definitely belong in the first category that SkyRocketSEO mentioned at the moment, albeit as newbie and not lost case I realise I need to work hard in order to obtain a substantial portfolio and land better jobs. You know what they say If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I might be a newbie, but I also confident I can do anything I set my mind to
I also signed up on iWriter, really curious if that's something Will report back here with my experiences

I'm revamping the master content mill list but off the top of my head here are a few suggestions for a newbie:


Forum Posting:

Postloop.com - Pays daily, 5 cents per forum post,potential to make about $60 a day if you work efficiently.


Articles:

- Yahoo voices formerly Associated Content.com - This is the best bet for you if you are trying to build a portfolio and make money. Create content on any subject, get paid a decent up front fee but refer potential clients back to the articles when they ask for a " sample". You will earn money for the page views and save yourself from having to create a free article many clients call " samples".

- ArticleDocument.com - Decent wages, easy to get into but pays monthly. It's worth looking into if your just starting out.


- EmergingCast.com - Easy to get into, offers the ability to move up quickly.

- Webimax - The average pay per article is about $8 for 400 words, they have a great team willing to work with you to get you where you need to be.


Tasks sites to get paid:

Mturk - Amazon lead task site that offers the opportunity to write article or get paid doing small tasks.


Clixsense - Focus on the paid tasks for quick money but the surveys pay about $1.50 and up.


Inboxdollars - One of my favorites, again focus on the paid tasks, surveys pay out pretty well and they pay every Friday.


Sites to AVOID:

Iwriter - Low pay, high rejection rates, huge waste of time. If you register, try to keep your article input to about 5 a day, give yourself a week and see where you rate. Determine if it's worth your time to deal with the possibility of not being paid for the time you spend researching

Listverse - This site has reputation like wild fire offering $100 for 1,000 words but any list you submit is their property even if they don't publish it. You only get the money IF they decide to publish you. But if you submit a list, they own it even if they don't want to publish it.


Hirewriters.com - Has the same setup as Iwriter with worse rejection rates. The key to being a new writer, finding your voice and building your portfolio is gaining confidence in your work. I suggest for you to stay away from sites where clients have the opportunity to " reject" your content. Reputable sites will influence the client to request revisions to meet their needs but still pay the writer. Your time is too valuable.

Fiverr- There are mixed reviews for this site but I urge you to consider what your listing: You list you can create authentic content, 500 words for $5 but you actually get only $4 after the fiverr fee. And you have to wait almost 2 weeks to get it the first time. It doesn't add up to me. Your better off listing your services on a trusted forum or setting your own standard price on a bid site.



Getting your name out there:

Forums - Join forums, this one is fantastic, check the boards, reply to requests for writers but make sure you have a resume available. I highly suggest using a portfolio site like Contently to showcase your skills and save time listing samples.

Bid sites - Elance, freelancer, Odesk, and Guru, these are a few great sites to find clients but as you may have found, you have to weed through to find the good positions. I advise you to never under bid yourself. Although individuals may put themselves out there as " professionals" but the jobs go back up on the board once the writers fail to deliver. So don't lose hope.

Sign up with freelance writer sites such as Odesk. Or place gigs on SEOclerks. This will help you out greatly get the word out about how well you do write. Best of luck to you .

As a new freelance writer, it can take a while to find good sources of writing work.