The Fastest Way to Build Your Freelance Writing Business (Even With Thousands of Layoffs)

Look –

What’s the fastest way to build your freelance writing business when people are losing their jobs everywhere you look?

The tech and media industries are laying off thousands of workers.

The Fastest Way to Build Your Freelance Writing Business (Even With Thousands of Layoffs)

All over Twitter, I’m seeing posts from writers sharing about the latest layoffs.

In the past few weeks, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, laid off 12,000 workers, representing 12% of its workforce.

This is a result of a slow economy and over-hiring (due to the pandemic) and is impacting tech and media jobs hard.

But, because of what is happening offline, it’s actually improving chances for new freelancers.

A Digiday survey found that 71% of in-house marketers and 68% of agencies arenow hiring freelancers for content.

There is massive potential for YOU to build a successful freelance writing business FAST because…there are tons of freelance writing jobs available.

tech writing jobs too!

Here is Problogger’s job board.

Problogger job board

Here’s Writers Work job board.

Writers Work job board

Here’s Contena’s job board.

And dozens more niches need writers.

4. Writing SEO Content

SEO refers to search engine optimization.

New online businesses need to be visible, and an easy way to do that is to write content that will rank in the SERPs (search engine result pages).

But, many new writers haven’t a clue how to write SEO content since their background is in academic writing.

Here are some easy ways to make your content visible to Google:

  • Use the keyword in the front part of the headline
  • Include the keyword in the first 150 words of the introduction
  • Use related keywords throughout the content
  • Make 20-30% of your subtitles optimized (i.e., with a keyword)

For example, my post about the differences between Pine Sol and Fabuloso ranks #4.

This website is under a year old, so for it to rank on the first page of Google is all due to optimizing the content to rank in Google.

Of course, the primary intent of this post is to help users understand which product disinfects better. This is helpful content for them to make better buying decisions.

So, as an SEO content writer, businesses will hire you to write a blog post that ranks on the first page of Google.

If you need help writing SEO content, check out Fast Track to SEO Writing masterclass.

5. Developing a Fast Writing Process

And the last way to ramp up your freelance writing business is to create a fast writing process.

I mean, we are the writer, so we have to have processes in place to make our job easier and faster.

That way, you can pick up more writing jobs and have time for maybe some side hustles too.

The way to create a writing process is to use outlines and AI!

Outline Creation

For every writing piece you create, always start with an outline in mind.

This should have the working title and subtopics you want to discuss.

Here’s an outline for one of my niche websites on fall cleaning tips.

My outline

Whenever I create an outline, I always add notes to each subtopic so I won’t forget what I want to add or talk about.

For client work, I may add links to stats and podcasts or paste them in comments from an interview or social media.

Sometimes, having all of that filled out almost completes the entire post!

I just have to edit the sentences and ideas!

Fast, quick, and simple!

AI Help

At the moment, AI writing tools will either be used for client work or not.

Either way, it’s in the best interest of a new freelance writer to try out these AI writing tools.

Get to know their limitations and what they can do to speed up your writing.

For example, I use Jasper AI for my other blogs. Since I have multiple sites, I can’t spend 24 hours a day every day writing content for those websites.

Instead, I hire writers, AND I use Jasper to add more to a writer’s content or create outlines and product descriptions for me.

If I need help coming up with ideas for an article, I can use Jasper AI to help me.

If you need more help, check out my Jasper AI Writing Prep class, where I teach you how to add more services and use Jasper the right way as a writer.

Now is the Best Time to Start a Freelance Writing Business

I know you want to start this freelance writing biz fast, but just because you follow these ideas doesn’t mean you’ll land a job tomorrow.

Freelance writing is a career, and with any new job, it will take some time to perfect.

I’ve been freelance writing since 2014, and during that time, I’ve worked with start-ups, coaches, brands, and large companies.

And one thing that helped me secure a writing gig fast is that I took action and did it!

I did the work, and businesses noticed!

So, tell me in the comments, is there something I forgot to add? Let me know!

Hi I'm Elna and I'm a freelance writer and mom blogger. I help people just like you become a profitable freelance writer. Within 6 months of starting my freelance writing business from scratch I was able to earn a full-time living as a part-time freelance writer while taking care of my twin toddlers. Check out my free email course Get Paid to Write Online and learn the steps you need to take to be a freelance writer.

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4 Comments

Hi Elna! Great article 🙂Reply to Kezia
Hi Kezia, Thanks so much!Reply to Elna
Thick and helpful article, Elna. I have been creating blog articles for my site and YouTube channel, from 1,000 to 2,000 words, for the past three weeks. When I started listing the sub-topics, the process went so much faster. I turn my blog articles into videos and thus, doing two tasks at one time in about nine hours total. You have sound advice and new writers should definitely follow it. And check out your YouTube videos. Those are just awesome. Thanks so much, Elna. 👍Reply to Kim
Hi Kim, That’s great to hear. Repurposing content is a time save for the most part. I don’t do it enough!Reply to Elna