5 Best Job Boards for Freelance Writer in 2021

Probably, you haven’t been able to see beyond the meaning of the term FREELANCING,

But opening your eyes with some crazy stats should able to do some wonders:

According to Spendmenot freelance statistics, only United State freelancers (excluding other countries) earn about $1 trillion as of 2019,

While the recent stats from Skillscouter shows that by the end of 2020, more than half of the US and United kingdom populations will be freelancers.

Those data look impressive, right?

There are still more to come and it is just meant to show you how far the freelance market has grown over the recent months and years.

Even the on-going Covid-19 diseases crisis has also helped in sky-rocketing those figures which had propelled me in helping others to make money from home through legit jobs or realistic ways. 

And also aided by small business seeing the need to hire a freelance writer.

The simple truth is for you to wake up from your slumber.

Claiming to be a freelancer is easier said,

But the issue lies on where you can find freelance writing gigs,

That is why today, I will be sharing with you the 5 Best Job Boards for Freelance Writer and a few helpful tips on how to land your first freelance writing job.

Before listing out the best freelance writing job boards for beginners, I would like to elaborate more on the difference between Freelance Platforms/ Websites and Job Boards.

Freelance Platforms are websites that you sign up or pay to show off your skills, experience as a freelancer (writer, editor and so on) like Fiverr, Upwork, People per Hour and more.

While Job Boards are mostly blogs because they are often updated with new freelance writing ads or websites that are being paid by brands (employer) to feature their available writing jobs in order to hire the service of a freelancer.

The less technical meaning is that on Freelance Platforms, you are seeking out to companies, brands or top blogs to hire your service.

Meanwhile, on Job Boards, brands watch out for your service or help in building their business with your contents.

But note that there are paid and free job boards for freelance writers. 

Most of the focus will be based on the free ones.

Reasons You Should Start Your Freelance Writing Gigs on Job Boards

I would like to give a few reasons you should start your freelancing journey on job boards even though several people claim that pay is low.

It’s the perfect place for you to start as a beginner

I could remember that I started my freelancing journey on Fiverr, 

I set up my profile and gigs, several month past, I didn’t receive any hire alert.

This made me feel so bad and one day I came across a freelancing blog post just as you are reading this.

The post simplified how you can get hired as a freelance writer from Job boards to Freelancing Platforms, Social Media (Linkedin, Facebook Group & Twitter) and Creating a Hire Me page on your blog/site.

Then, I decided to give it a try, within a few minutes have pitched the brand that wanted to hire and from then have moved on from the past failure to new and more clients.

It’s less competitive

I read recently from Fiverr forum on how competitive is their platform,

An experienced writer said that “competition is increasing faster than the population of China and India” which are the most populous country in the world,

While another person affirmed that it took more than 9 months before landing first client.

Can you wait for 9 months before you feeding yourself or family? 

No!

I am not saying that you shouldn’t try out those platforms,

You could be lucky,

But they are not reliable.

It doesn’t bring flexibility to your work,

The number of people you are competing with is too much.

Only the popular gigs will become popular and the less popular gigs will die in a few hours.

With Job boards, there are many and new opportunity every day, 

If one doesn’t work out, another one will.

It gives you ideas on what’s working

Job boards give ideas or hints to freelancer on niches that is selling in the market

Or the type of content clients is looking for.

This will make you sit tight, up to your game and be versed in other aspect or niche.

5 Best Job Boards for Freelance Writer

Here is the list of the top 5 best job boards for a freelance writer as a beginner.

ProBlogger Job Board

I wondered why it came first on the list,

Maybe because it was the first job board I tried out when starting my freelancing journey.

Since then, it has been my go-to freelance writing job board.

It is one of the free writing job boards for beginners out there.

A lot of people seem to have discovered this job board recently, so it now becoming a little bit competitive.

Don’t lose hope!

All you will need to do is to pitch many brands, company, blogs through this board.

This board was updated not quite long to make the job more accessible to qualified freelancer.

To do this, use the search box and filter your results.

Also, take note that payment rate may not be that hire but worth trying out as a beginner.

Freelance Writing Gigs

This online freelance job board releases writing ads everyday in form of a blog post.

These jobs contents are organised into sub-heading like Content Writing, Editing, Journalism and others which make them scannable.

They also release a quality blog post that helps people in becoming a better freelancer.

Blogging Pro Job Board

Blogging Pro Job Board looks similar to Problogger in term of features and the way they run things.

Blogging Pro also has the feature for you to search for your freelance writing specialisation like Blogging Jobs, Content Writing Jobs, Copywriting Jobs, Journalism Jobs and so on.

They also post everyday.

Also, release blog post for those that want to become a better blogger.

Freelance Writing

This job board is a little bit different from the ones listed above,

In such a way that whenever you click to apply for those jobs,

You are being redirected to the job main source, 

Which can either be from Indeed (have used this job site several times), Craigslist, Problogger and so on.

They also have a similar feature like others for you to filter your search and get what you are searching easier and faster.

All Freelance Writing

All Freelance Writing is a bit similar to Freelance Writing listed above,

Being that they gather jobs from different place or site.

They have a great free market place for freelance writing jobs where they also provide detailed information like Niche and Payment Rate.  

This reduces the stress of you clicking and browsing through another tab.

You can also subscribe to their RSS feed to receive an alert on their new freelance writing jobs.

And you can also benefit from their freelance writing blog tips.

Helpful Tips on How to Land Your First Freelance Writing Job

These are tips to maximize the chance of you landing your first freelance writing job.

Create a Blog

Having a blog will open you to many possibilities.

Presently, I can’t imagine not having my own blog.

It gives you an edge over your competitors.

It helps in easily building a strong trust of your competency in your employer.

In case you are worried on how to go about it, here is a complete guide that will put you through on the step by step process to start a WordPress blog.

Create an Online Portfolio:

A portfolio is necessary and important to the journey of a freelancer because 90% of your employer will ask for it.

What is a Portfolio?

A Portfolio is an online template for you to showcase your work.

You might probably be thinking that, why do I need a Blog then?

Your Blog and Portfolio will hand in hand for you.

Let say, you are good into more than one niche,

You will have to create a different portfolio for those niches.

So, when you are having any client that you want to pitch,

You will send that client to the portfolio that is related to the service they want to hire you to write for them.

Make sure you put your best contents in your portfolio.

Free Portfolio site you can use are Clippings.me, Journo Portfolio, Press Folios, and others.

Develop a Studying Habit

As a freelance writer, I would implore you to always to read, study more and follow the latest trends, ideas in your specific freelance writing niche,

This will make you give your employer quality and latest idea every time you write,

And you won’t easily run out of ideas. 

Pitch More than One Brand

To maximize your chance of landing your first freelancing job as a beginner, 

I will implore you to pitch more than one employer,

At least 10 or more in a day.

With time, when they see how quality your works are,

And you maintain a healthy relationship with them,

You can suggest them to refer you to another person that might need your service as a freelancer,

Or they would retain your service for any other work in the future.

Just try building a strong client and customer connection with them.

Conclusion

There are several places for you to land your first job as a freelance writer not necessary it is from Job boards,

You can do well by leveraging other means.

But to me and based on my past experiences, Job boards are the best places for you to get started as a beginner in freelancing and land your first job.

Apart from freelancing, there are other legitimate means for you to make money online even if you are a student–

I hope have been able to lend you a hand in your freelancing journey in one way or the other.

For Quick recap- this post started by distilling the difference between Freelance Platform and Job boards, to the best Job boards and lastly to the helpful tips on how to land your first freelance writing job.

Please leave a comment below on how this post have able to help you Or kindly share your experience on how you landed you first writing job and the freelancing job board you use whether it is listed above or not, for all to learn?

 

Author –  Fakayode Babatunde

I am Fakayode Babatunde, an undergraduate of law and an astute blogger, who has been passionate about helping people start a profitable blog. I have also developed the habit of guiding others to build a strong income stream online.

Presently running a personal finance blog, where I do share tips on money making, saving and blogging tips @ saynotosmallpennies