• By Yuwanda Black
• Published 02/4/2011
• Article Writing

It’s easier than ever to start a freelance writing career, especially as an online writer. Following are three reasons why. I. Globalization: The world is now right at your fingertips – online. Businesses realize this and are putting their best foot forward to reach as many clients as possible. And just how are they doing this? Via their websites, which brings me to the next point . . . II. The Need for Constant Content: Businesses are investing in their online presences (websites, blogs, social media sites, etc.) in record numbers. Proof? According to a May 15, 2010 post on the TechCrunch website entitled, “Hitwise says Facebook Most Popular U.S. Site”: “New data released from analytics service Hitwise today names Facebook the largest website in the U.S. with 7.07% of all U.S. visits. Google is second at 7.03%. Yahoo Mail is third with 3.8% and Yahoo is fourth at 3.67% (if you combined both Yahoo properties, and I’m not sure why they don’t, Yahoo would be first). YouTube (a Google property) is fifst [sic, should be fifth] with 2.14%.” A December 14, 2010 post on the website SEO entitled, Why Companies Made Major Marketing Shift in 2010, the article states:

“In this ever-changing digital ag

e, marketing has made a momentous change. Companies of all sizes are shrift advertising and marketing budgets from traditional strategies to search engine optimization and other forms of online marketing … Forrester Research [a leading research firm] said marketers spent $26 billion in 2010 in Internet marketing, which rivals all spending on cable/satellite TV and radio.” What does all of this mean? A constant need for content, content, content, which means a greater than ever need for freelance online writers who can produce it. III. Traditional Freelance Writer Job Guidelines Don’t Apply: You no longer have to have samples from this noted publication, a recommendation from that editor, or a degree in that subject. If you can demonstrate a strong command of a language (and many argue that even this is not necessary), adhere to deadlines and your set your writing rates competitively, you can land clients as a web writer. I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again. When I first started freelancing back in 1993, it was much harder to land freelance writing jobs. Nowadays – for better or worse – not so much.

For all of these reasons, and quite a few more, there’s never been a better time to jump into the online freelance writing waters. A new career is waiting for you. What’s your holdup?