I can remember when it was tough to figure out how to get a freelance writing gig. You typed and physically mailed query letters to editors, mostly. Or went to a lot of Chamber of Commerce meetings, hoping to meet marketing managers.
Now, of course, if you have an Internet connection, job listings are hard to avoid. Online job ads are everywhere! But finding one that pays anything substantial — and getting hired — isn’t always easy.
I hear from tons of writers who’ve had job-hunting experiences like this Freelance Writers Den member recently did:
“What am I doing wrong? I’ve applied and applied for online writing jobs, but I don’t get any response, ever.”–Hannah
As it happens, there is an art to getting a response from an online writing job-ad poster. I know because when I started freelancing in 2005, I started reading those Craigslist ads, just like everybody else.
After a few years, I realized spending hours each week combing through mass job ads was not the best way to find good-paying clients. But along the way to that insight, I got my job-ad process down to an art form.
I started getting replies, and found several decent-paying clients via online job ads.
If you’d like to start getting positive responses to those applications you send in, here are my five tips: