• By Yuwanda Black
• Published 02/16/2011
• Article Writing

There are tons of opportunities in online freelance writing. You can blog for pay, become an SEO article writer, specialize in social media content, etc. As you troll job boards looking at freelance writing jobs you may be thinking, where should I invest my time? Which of these gigs pay the best? The answer quite frankly is . . . there is no simple answer to that question. Online freelance writing rates are as varied as the writers who set them. In my opinion, to find the best paying online gigs for you, take the following into consideration. Experience: If you have a ton of experience as a writer, you’ll probably be comfortable offering a wide range of online freelance writing services to your clients — everything from blog posts to SEO press releases to case studies. You’ll know how to charge (or how to conduct research into what you should be charging) and how to handle the requests of clients. If you’re a newbie, it may be a bit overwhelming at first, so choose one thing you can do (eg, write blog posts) and stick to that. Then, as you gain more experience, you can branch out more.

Your Writing Personality: If working on a project for more than

a few hours gives you the hives, then sticking to “quick turnaround” projects like blog posts and SEO articles may suit you. If you like to really dig into a project and spend a few days or a few weeks on this, then web content (as in rewriting a client’s whole website) may be type of online freelance writing opportunities you seek out. Your Niche: Some niches simply pay better than others. For example, if you specialize in medical SEO content, you’ll be able to charge more than the average online writer. Conclusion What you’ll usually find is that while you may start out offering just one service as an online writer, you’ll wind up expanding to quite a few – and making more money as a result. For example, when I started out as an SEO writer in 2007, I only offered SEO article writing. As clients began to request blog posting, I added that service. Then, when social media became all the rage I added that.

And, this is how you grow. The types of online freelance writing that clients need will almost force you to do so. And, this is a good thing for you as a professional because it hones your skills, keeping you sharp so that you can grow your client list and never have to worry about where your next writing gig is going to come from.