Well, this is it — the year is drawing to a close. It’s time to compile the best snack-pack of useful writing advice to help you earn real money as a freelance writer. These are your picks, reader — it’s our annual list of the most popular new posts published all year, here on the blog.
One of those popular posts is the Freelance Writing Forecast for 2018 — always great to check year-end and see how the experts did predicting emerging trends and spotting opportunities. Still good writing advice here — and stay tuned for the 2019 forecast, comin’ at ya in just a few days.
This year, I’m doing things a little differently for this top-10 list. Now that we’ve passed 1,000 posts, some classic best-of posts have been republished this year. And if you loved them, I’ve included them here.
As well as spotlighting the most popular new posts of the year, I’ve also included links to our best related content on the topic. Enjoy!
1. Earn Money Online: Monster List of 161 Markets for Freelance Writers
It’s super-clear that one of the top ways I can help writers earn more is by providing lists of paying markets. This one is from January 2018 – you might want to look at this list of 99 markets, too, from summer 2018. Kudos to blog editor Evan Jensen, who is now creating all our paid-market lists.
2. Get Paid to Write: 15 Political Writing Markets for Freelancers
We’ve been cranking out a lot of smaller, niche lists of paying markets in the past year, too. And readers have loved them. Here’s another popular niche list of the past year, for paying humor markets.
3. Master Writing Jobs Exposed: Learn How to Spot Writing Scams
Busting ripoffs that target writers is an important part of this blog’s mission, and Master Writing Jobs is still out there, so please share this one around.
I recently was surprised to discover that “Master Writing” is one of the most popular search phrases that brings writers to this blog! Online scams are a major danger for writers. For more recent exposé work, check out Freelance Writing Scam: Beware of This Offer to Make Money From Home.
4. How to Be a Freelance Writer: 25 Amazing Break-in Stories
Another way we’re tapping the depth of our archives is to curate roundups with many first-person stories…like this one. #getinspired
5. Follow This Persistent Path to $100-Per-Hour Freelance Work
Readers went nuts for freelancer Mitch Bossart‘s tips on going after high-hourly-rate jobs. I’m committed to continuing to share .
6. Free HuffPo is Dead: 7 Moves Writers Should Make Now
Few blogs report on breaking news that affects freelance writers — and we’re committed to bringing you updates on how the marketplace is changing. Since publishing this post, Forbes.com also ended its free-contributor program, so give this a read for how to get good exposure online, as these opportunities fade away.
7. The Habit That Will Transform Your Freelance Writing Income
Providing productivity tips and inspiration for your biz is always top-of-mind around here. Here’s another fun, new productivity post, with a snappy infographic from Linda Formichelli: Freelance Dreams vs. Reality: 7 Truth Bombs About Time Management.
8. How to Blog: The Ultimate Guide to Mega-Useful Tools
We’ve been publishing more resource posts, and you seem to want those nitty-gritty details on how to best get things done, as a blogger and writer. Here’s another recent example you might find useful: Slow Going? Drive Freelance Success With 11 Apps for Writers.
9. LinkedIn Profile Mastery for Freelance Writers
This post was so useful, I turned it into a PDF to stash in my writer community. Social-media marketing is consistently popular around here — who wouldn’t like to get clients with a quick tweet? — so you can expect more tips on how to do it.
10. Writer Websites That Fail: Avoid These Cringe-Worthy Moves
Writer websites are a red-hot topic around here — and why not? Getting inbound leads is so, so awesome. Expect more on this. Here’s another recent one to help you impress more clients: Writer Websites: 4 Fabulous Branding Options That Attract Clients.
Writing advice you can trust
Reading through this list makes me proud of the value we continue to deliver to freelance writers, all absolutely free. The Internet is increasingly clogged with ‘tips’ from faux experts who started freelancing a month ago…so I’m glad to get time-tested, proven info out to the more than 800,000 readers who visited the blog in the past year.
News flash: They’ll be even more of it in 2019, because we will be moving to publishing three times a week instead of just two. Next year’s best-of list will have more competition! Until then, enjoy the useful posts above.
What topics would you like us to write about in 2019? Leave a comment and let’s discuss.
