Five Ways to Get Writing Jobs Fast

February 17, 2010

Last week I shared five tips for filling gaps in your writing schedule and this week I wanted to suggest specific ways to go about drumming up writing work quickly. Maybe you’ve got a gap in your schedule or maybe you need to make some extra money quickly. Not everyone will agree with me about these methods but here are some things I do when I want to drum up some work.

1. Bidding Sites

Not everyone loves job bidding sites but what I like about them is that when I have a gap or foresee one coming, I can often find a gig in 24 hours or less. I can bid on small and fast jobs to make fast money as well. I use Elance and their escrow service makes doing this a minimal risk. I have a rate I won’t go below and they have recently raised their membership connects so that you can bid on up to ten projects with their free membership. I’ve given up my $20/month premium membership (which some months had been wasted due to lack of use) because the need to resort to this (thankfully) happens rarely for me. I’ve had scenarios where I’ve started bidding in the morning and had cash in hand that evening. A few of those quick projects have developed into regular clients as well.

2. Existing Clients

It never hurts to touch base with an existing client to see if they need help with anything. A quick email to a client to check in has brought me large projects on more than one occasion. If you can, develop a relationship with at least one really busy but flexible client that pays fast.

3.Marketing the Writing Website

Working to drive traffic to my website regularly brings in a flood of new traffic and inquiries. I build links to my site through blog comments, linking to my site through other articles, through article marketing, and through social bookmarking and networking and this often helps me get writing gigs.

4. Other Writers

I’ve made some great friends in the past four years as a freelance writer. I have developed great relationships with other busy writers and at times have drummed up a project quickly through writing friends with overflow work. I have a writing friend that regularly offers me overflow, I have a lower-paying client / writer friend that offers an almost all-I-can-write buffet. Although it’s lower paying work, she pays fast, and I have several friends that have given me job leads or referrals when I’ve mentioned a lighter workload. One writing friend recently helped me learn a new writing skill and referred me to a new regular gig where I can use and develop that skill. Developing relationships with other writers can be beneficial. For me it has been very symbiotic.

5. Social Media

Talking about my writing work on social sites, linking to articles, and networking via sites such as Twitter and others has frequently brought in new queries and writing jobs quickly. I highly recommend social media as a great tool to get writing work. You can also post ads about being available on writing forums, internet marketing forums, and social media sites as well.

What do you do when you want to find work quickly?