Jan 14 2009
All those writing jobs!
I started my morning the way I usually do by checking out the job listings on www.freelancewritinggigs.com. Sometimes there are a few good ones to apply for but today there wasn’t anything of interest. This site basically rounds up jobs posted at www.craigslist.org and sometimes they actually get companies posting real jobs on their site. I can’t really recall if I have actually scored any work from this site but I do know I have applied for numerous jobs postings. (Hmmm, now that I see that last sentence in writing, if that is indeed true, maybe I should start spending my time more constructively).
Truthfully I even tried out for a blogging position with the site but dropped out after a couple of weeks. The blogging position application process was set up in American Idol style and I found that I was spending too much time creating my blog entries for the contest when I should have been actively pursing paying freelance jobs. I guess the difference between that blog and this one is that blogging at today.com is something I am doing to polish my blog writing skills and I don’t have an entire audience trying to vote me off each week. I can say that trying out for the blogging position at freelance writing gigs was definitely an experience but I would have rather just applied for it like any other job and let my writing speak for itself. I guess in an essence that’s how it was but instead I was being judged by a very large selection audience – visitors to the site.
There are a few other job boards that I visit pretty regularly and have set Yahoo! alerts for a few of them. Don’t ask me how I managed to set up the Yahoo! alerts, I still have no idea how I did it nor can I repeat it but the alerts pump new leads into my mailbox daily so that’s all that matters. On average, I probably apply for two positions daily but unfortunately the only ones that seem to respond are those offer very little pay or no pay at all. One ad that I responded to stated that it was paid position although the poster was seeking an ‘intern’. After being rewarded the position, the poster explained that it was an unpaid position but may turn into a paying gig in the future. After I quoted his ad that it did in fact read ‘compensation’, he ignored that fact and argued that everyone knows internships are unpaid positions. Duh…I guess I missed that part of the lesson in freelancing school!
Until next time…write it real!
Hi Clio
I secure the bulk of my writing work through querying various publications. I study their guidelines and past issues to find a topic that may be of interest to them. I also write resumes and do some business writing which is usually generated through some free classified ad boards that I post on. I have probably secured about a handful of assignments through answering ads on craigslist.org. Securing assigments and anwering writing requests from craigslist (or similar venues) is an ongoing task so it cannot be one of those things that you do once in awhile. Although I have signed up with elance.com, I have not actively tried to bid on anything. Hope that helps.
–Late Night Writer