3 Niches Where Freelance Writers Can Make Some Easy Money -- Fast!

Dec. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- The holidays are right around the corner. Why is this important? Well, following are three niches you can target as a freelance writer right now to pick up some pretty easy freelance writing and editing jobs.

1. Writing Resumes

With the New Year almost here, many will be down-sized, laid off and/or just looking for new career opportunities. Hence, it’s a great time to go after this client base. I’d start by putting a free ad on sites like Craigslist and backpage in the “Business Services” section.

Be sure to price it right to attract the easy jobs. For example, at a super low price of $50 (I've been quoted rates of $250 just for a resume), you’d only have to land a couple of clients per day to be making some decent money.

Resume writing can be very lucrative for freelance writers. How do I know? When I ran my editorial staffing agency in New York, I had an office for about four year. This was one of the services we offered and it was one of the most frequent requests. And you know what, it was usually a quick turnaround time and clients almost always paid in cash.

Furthermore, upselling is pretty easy, eg, offering to do a cover letter and reference sheet for “$X” more.

2. Students

Ahhh, lovely, broke, students. With the end of the term near, many of tired, overworked and DESPERATE for help because they either don’t have the time or the skill edit their own work. And many will gladly pay a freelancer – like you – to do it.

Again, a free ad on Craigslist and backpage in the “Business Services” section can get the ball rolling.

Tip:Offer a really quick turnaround. In my experience, students usually wait until the last minute to get stuff done, so they’re usually really pressed for time.

The best part about this is, if a student uses your services once, they’ll almost always come back if they are pleased. And, they’ll recommend you to their friends.

Other Services Students Need

Resumes and grad school essays were common when I had my office in New York. Students tend to be easy to work with simply because they are usually desperate for help – at the last minute – and are just happy to find someone who can work within their deadlines.

Once Service I Would Never Offer Students as a Freelance Writer

To outright write papers. There are many companies online who offer this service and I just think it’s unethical. Editing a paper – no problem. Outright writing one – no way.

3. Screenplay Writers/TV Writer/Playwrights/Ebook Writers

This can be a very lucrative niche and the reason it’s a good time to target hem this time of year is that many will make “finally getting that screenplay, novel, TV script, play, ebook, etc.” their new year’s resolution.

You can offer to edit, format, proofread it for them.

FYI, in case you don’t know, when screenplay and TV writers, for example,  submit their work to official agencies, producers, guilds, etc., they must be formatted a certain way.

When I ran my editorial staffing agency in New York, we offered this service and I loved it. Why? Because it paid well and we used a software to do the work (ie, FinalDraft).

Back in the late 90s, I paid about $250 for this software, and it paid for itself on the first job we did – which netted $375.

The great thing about soliciting this type of client is that they always need revisions, updates, extra copies, etc. All of this means ongoing work. And they tend to recommend you to their friends (just like students).

I had a couple of clients who must have worked on the same screenplay for more than five years. Over this time, they easily paid my firm a few thousand dollars as they added stuff, deleted stuff, changed the plot, etc.

Customer Loyalty Tip: At my firm, we always offered to store the most recent version of a client’s work for free (this included resumes). Why? I’ve that many artists are a bit unorganized. So by offering this "FREE" service, they knew that if ever lost their “baby”, all they had to do was contact us and we’d send them a new copy.

This built customer loyalty -- and led to a ton of repeat business -- over the years. The fun part about working with artists is that you get to see the creative process in motion.

There’s more than one way to skin the freelance writing (http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/freelance-writing-ecourse) cat. The three groups listed here are pretty easy ones to start with.

Good luck on your freelance writing job hunt!
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About the Author: Yuwanda Black heads New Media Words, an SEO writing company. She's also the publisher of two blogs – InkwellEditorial and SeoWritingJobs – leading sites for info on how to start successful, home-based freelance writing careers. She says, "With propertraining as a freelance writer (http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/freelance-writing-ecourse), you too can work from the comfort of home – or anyplace else you choose like I do!,” Ms. Black has authored over 50 ebooks, most of which cover some aspect of freelance / SEO writing. They can be found on major outlets like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, in addition to her own website(s).