If you are a “Content Writer” who looks to earn more money by getting more work, then “marketplaces” are a great place to look for new projects. A marketplace is usually a website where people who are in need for content, publishes their project requirements in open. You can register with the marketplace website (usually as a service provider) and apply for the work with your references. If the client likes your work and portfolio, he may award you the project!
Note:- This article is in fact a continuation of :- How Content Writers can make money by taking Online Writing Jobs
Freelancing Websites – are a great place to get new content writing projects. The basic working of every freelancing websites are same. There are two types accounts (people) in freelancing websites, Service providers & Service buyers. A content writer like you have to register account in freelancing websites as a “service provider”. As a service provider you can upload your work portfolio, write details about your skills, your hourly rates, your experience and all such details in your profile page. You can follow this link to see the profile of an experienced content writer in Elance:- Profile of Susan Bennet.
Note:- Like every other field, a new entrant will struggle in freelancing marketplaces too. Nobody would prefer to give projects to inexperienced service providers. However with persistence & hard work you can work your way up in a freelancing marketplace. I have written a detailed guide on this:- How to build a premium profile & win maximum projects in Freelancing marketplaces
1. Elance – is the top rated freelancing website of all. Most of the service buyers in Elance are from United States & Europe. As a service provider, you can expect better payment terms & rates from service buyers in Elance. Moreover Elance is the market leader among freelancing websites. Since the payment rates are better in Elance, quality expectation is naturally higher. Everyone (me & you) needs a little inspiration to move his/her butt & do something useful. As an aspiring content writer, you can seek inspiration from the top rated content writers in Elance who make thousands of US Dollars every year. Words You Want is a premium profile in Elance who made more than a million US Dollar from Elance alone. They are a group of professional writers (based in USA) who takes premium jobs in Elance. This year they have completed (as on July 27th – 2013) nearly 1200 projects and made over USD 38,0000. Express Writers is another content writer in Elance who does fairly well. They have started their elance account just one year back (in 2012) and this year they have done around 391 projects & made around 70,000 US Dollars. Soubhik Chakrabarthy is a freelancing content writer from India who has made around 16,000 US Dollars this year from Elance alone. I just pointed out 3 profiles in Elance! You can find hundreds of freelancers who make thousands of US Dollars every year from Elance as content writers.
Note:- You should bid for projects based on your skills & expertise only. Some projects may explicitly require a native of some specific countries. For example, some service buyers in USA specify that they need a writer from USA who knows local audience. A provider from India may not bid for such projects.
2. ODesk – is the 2nd leading freelancing marketplace. The service buyers in Odesk are from USA & Europe as well. The way ODesk works is lightly different from Elance. ODesk gives more protection to buyers by employing their own unique methods. They have built in hour tracker, which will track your desktop if you take projects for hourly rates. You can browse through profiles of top content writers in Odesk in gain inspiration and work your way up.
3. Guru – Guru is the 3rd leading freelancing marketplace for service providers. Unlike Elance & Odesk, service buyers in Guru are distributed across the world. There are buyers from USA, Asian Countries, African Countries & other continents as well. The service buyers in Guru are usually individuals or self employed business owners like a confectionery owner, or a restaurant owner etc. Payment rates are usually lower than Elance & ODesk. New writers can consider Guru as it will help them gain enough experience and some earnings as well. To get some inspiration here is a list of top service providers in Guru. Browse through them to get more ideas.
4. Freelancer – is another marketplace which every service provider can consider. I don’t know much about this marketplace to explain more. However it has been in existence for several years and one can consider investing time to build profile here.
New Generation Marketplaces
The above 4 marketplaces works in almost similar manner where service buyers will post their requirements as projects. Service providers will have to bid on each project to get work. Here service providers have to work extra hours to bid on new projects. This will affect their focus to produce quality output on taken projects. Some new marketplaces have successfully tweaked this process a little bit. In these market places, importance is given to profile of a service provider. The provider can build a very detailed profile by listing all the services he/she provides. Service buyers have to browse through each profile (and the services each provider offers) & select the one he/she likes. In this approach, service providers save considerable amount of time used for bidding projects. Providers can focus more time on satisfying the customer. I have listed 2 such freelancing marketplaces below.
1. PeoplePerHour – is a new generation marketplace for freelancers. See the profile of Kristian S (a copywriter from United Kingdom) who sells 3 different services under one profile. His best selling service is a 150 words SEO article. Similarly Megan C is another writer from United Kingdom who sells different kind of services. This way you can start a profile here as well & make enough earnings by selling services you are really good at. One advantage of this marketplace is that you can sell services you are really good at.
2. MicroLancer – is a new marketplace launched in 2013 by Envato (an Australian marketplaces company). Though the marketplace is in its infancy, you can definitely build a profile here, as it is supposed to be a successful one. Envato – the parent company which owns MicroLancer is an expert in building marketplaces & communities.
I am sure these market places can generate some good income for you. Did I miss something? Let everyone know, post your comments 🙂 .
