How To Find Clients As A Freelance Writer

Last Updated on 16th May 2024

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Top Ways To Find Clients As A Freelance Writer

Finding clients as a freelance writer can be a tricky concept to grasp if you’re not entirely sure where to start.

Even if you’ve been a freelance writer for years, you might not know of all the best ways to find writing jobs as a freelancer, so I’m hoping that this post will give you a bit of inspiration when it comes to obtaining new clients.

I don’t profess to be an expert in finding clients as a freelance writer, but I have tried and tested almost every single method below, with the vast majority of them landing me paid gigs as a freelance writer.

Job Boards – finding clients as a freelance writer

When you’re a newbie freelance writer, your main objective is to get your foot in the metaphorical writing door in order to find clients and begin working on different writing projects.

One of the most popular ways to find clients as a beginner is to use job boards such as UpWork and Fiverr.

I’ve found some of my longest-running freelance clients on platforms such as UpWork and while the pay can be pretty dreadful (as well as the commission and fees that UpWork take from referring you for the job), it can be a great place to start if you’re wanting to test the waters as a freelance writer.

UpWork

Despite UpWork having pretty low paying clients available (I’m talking $7 for 2000 words sometimes…), as well as the fees and commissions they take, I think it’s probably my favourite job board for beginner freelancers. As I mentioned above, I’ve obtained some of my biggest and longest-running client retainers on UpWork and even though we moved off the platform pretty swiftly in order to work together, it was a great place for me to find my first few paid writing gigs as a freelancer.

If you are thinking about signing up to UpWork, make sure that you only apply to jobs that will pay you a reasonable amount; don’t settle for anything less than you’re worth.

Fiverr

Fiverr is another place that I’ve managed to find a few of my freelance clients who I still work with to this day. Again, after the initial stage of working together, we moved off the platform in order to avoid the high fees and commissions that it takes from you as a writer, but I’m still glad that I gave it a chance when I first started writing.

Freelance Writing

Freelancewriting.com is almost like Indeed for finding writing jobs online. You can apply for many different kinds of freelance writing jobs via the platform; some will actually send you to Indeed in order to apply, whereas some will take you straight through to the company’s website to apply for the gig directly.

You can find a lot of long-term writing jobs via Freelancewriting.com but it’s very competitive, so you’ll likely be competing against many other writers, all trying to secure paid writing work online.

I know that LinkedIn is a very popular method of finding clients as a freelance writer and my very good friend and freelancing “colleague” Katie has had great success with obtaining clients via LinkedIn.

While I have managed to find a few writing gigs through LinkedIn, it’s not actually a platform that I find works too well for me, but I think that’s largely due to the fact that I don’t utilise it as well as I should!

It can be a great place to find writing jobs online however, if you know how to use the platform and make it work to your advantage. You can use the ‘jobs’ tab to find freelance writing jobs, or you can connect with people in a similar position to you or even use it to follow companies who you might want to write for.

Direct pitching

Pitching directly to potential clients has been one of my most successful ways of securing paid work as a blogger, so when I decided to try it out and pitch directly to businesses that I wanted to write for as a freelancer, I was already pretty confident with my pitching skills.

There are numerous ways that you can pitch directly to a potential client; one of my favourite and most successful ways is to email them directly. However, it’s incredibly important that you try and build up some kind of connection first, before you outright ask them for work.

While cold pitching definitely can work, I much prefer to connect with a potential client on LinkedIn first, or follow them on Instagram and establish a connection first. I’ll then find an appropriate email address (it’s a good idea to try and find a personal email, rather than a generic business one) and then I’ll send over my pitch, detailing the kind of services I offer and what I can do for their business.

Pitching can be quite hit and miss and it can sometimes take you dozens of rejections before one client accepts your proposal, but it’s a great way to gain experience of selling yourself and the services you offer as a freelance writer.

Twitter – how to get clients as a freelance writer

While you might associate Twitter with people trying to go viral with silly and often unrealistic Tweets, it can actually be a great place to find work as a freelance writer.

My top tip for finding paid writing jobs on Twitter would be to follow PRs, journalists and editors of magazines and businesses that you might want to write for.

You can also search through hashtags such as #callforpitches #journorequest and #prrequest and you can usually find plenty of Tweets reaching out to freelancers and journalists. You’ll likely have to sift through the irrelevant ones, but you could get lucky and find a job or pitch request for something that you’d be great at.

Facebook

You might not have thought of broaching Facebook as a means of finding new clients as a freelance writer and while it too can be very hit and miss, it can also be a goldmine for writing opportunities for freelancers.

One way that you can use Facebook to find freelance clients is to simply post on your personal page (or your dedicated writing services page, if you have one) and sell yourself with a mini pitch posed as a Facebook status.

If you’re lucky, your friends and family might share your post and you never know who could end up seeing it.

You can also join Facebook groups such as The Write Life Community where you can find posts from people looking to hire freelance writers. Again, you will likely have to persevere in order to find an opportunity that’s right for you, but you might just stumble across a job posting that’s perfect.

Email Newsletters

This is one of my new (ish) favourite ways of finding writing work as a freelancer as I’ve found some awesome email newsletters to subscribe to in the last few months that have presented me with some incredible writing opportunities.

My personal favourite email newsletter for freelance writers is Sian Meades-Williams’ Freelance Writing Jobs newsletter. This weekly newsletter offers dozens of awesome writing opportunities across many different niches and copywriting specialisms and it’s an incredible resource to be signed up to as a freelance writer if you’re looking for high-paying and often long-term writing gigs.

Online portfolio/website

I should have probably put this point at the top of this post as I think it’s incredibly important as a freelance writer to have some kind of online portfolio to act as a place to showcase all your work.

My travel blog (the one you’re reading!) has acted like my writing portfolio for almost four and a half years now and it actually helped me to secure my first role in digital marketing back in 2017.

Alongside my blog, I also have a dedicated website for my freelance writing business We Write Your Content which contains all my services, a brief introduction on some of the clients I’ve worked with in the past and ways of getting in touch with me.

Furthermore, I also have a huge Google Drive folder that also acts as my freelance writing portfolio that I send out to potential clients when I’m pitching or applying for writing jobs online.

Having an online portfolio dedicated to all your previous work is a pivotal step to take as a freelance writer as it enables you to show hard evidence of the previous content that you’ve created for clients. While it’s all well and good telling potential clients what you can do for them, it’s even better to actually show them what you can offer.

Guest Posting – how to find freelance writing clients

Guest posting is yet another way to find clients as a freelance writer.

When it comes to guest posting, you usually have to be prepared to submit a post to another site without compensation (although some websites will pay you for your efforts).

I’ve guest posted on websites such as Young Adventuress and Attraction Tix which have actually resulted in brands contacting me after reading my piece on these websites, asking for work.

Again, this isn’t necessarily a sure-fire way to obtain clients as a freelance writer and you’ll likely have to write many guest posts in order to see some kind of traction, but it can be worth doing, even if it’s just for the backlink alone.

Ask for referrals

While asking for referrals might feel incredibly awkward and sometimes even forced, my mum’s advice of “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” always rings true for me.

Essentially, if you don’t ask for referrals from clients, then they might never take the initiative to refer your services to other people, which could mean you’re not getting as many chances to pitch to potential clients as you possibly could.

Asking for referrals from previous clients, or even just from your friends and family can be a great way to obtain new writing gigs as a freelancer as people are more likely to trust the word of people they know, rather than just reading a random review online, for example.

Indeed – find clients as a freelance writer

Indeed is usually synonymous with more “traditional” types of jobs and employment, but it can also be a great place for freelance writers to check out if you’re looking to secure new work.

Sifting through the job postings on Indeed can be time-consuming and often tiresome, especially if you’re struggling to find something that would work for you, but with a little bit of perseverance, you can often find some great writing gigs on there.

I’ve used Indeed to apply for a fair few writing jobs in the past, and while not every one was a success, I have found paid writing work for a couple of businesses.

Contact local businesses

Contacting local businesses could fall under almost any of the above points, especially with regards to direct pitching, but you could take it one step further and actually connect with a local business in-person.

While it might seem like a slightly unorthodox way of finding a new client as a freelancer, you never know what kind of services local businesses might be looking for.

The best way to pitch your writing services to local businesses is by checking out their website and social media pages first to see if you think they could use a hand with their website copy or social media posts, for example. Depending on your writing speciality, you could then pitch your services to them and offer your help with any kind of copy they might require.

Reconnect with old clients

I think this is probably one of the simplest and often most effective means of obtaining (old) clients as a freelance writer.

I’ve had an awful lot of success in the past when re-pitching to previous clients and asking them if they have any upcoming work they need help with. If you work with a client on a project of a certain length that then comes to an end, it can be worth getting in touch with them a couple of months later, asking if they need any more work completing.

While some clients will just want to hire you for a one-off project, you might be surprised at how effective it can be to put yourself back on a previous client’s radar.

Google Search – find clients as a freelance writer

I know that this seems like a ridiculously vague way of finding paid work as a freelance writer, but it can also be remarkably effective.

Simply Googling keywords such as “freelance writing jobs” or “*your niche* writing jobs” will bring up myriad job opportunities.

Again, this method will have you trawling through many different websites and job postings, but if you’re willing to invest the time looking for opportunities, then you might just find yourself obtaining a fair few new clients.

Digital marketing agencies

My background is actually in digital marketing as I completed a DM apprenticeship before working at two different agencies before I left to pursue freelance writing and travel blogging full time.

From experience, I know that many (usually bigger) digital marketing agencies like to hire copywriters outside of the business so they’re always looking for freelance writers to hire.

You can usually find opportunities writing for marketing agencies by searching through job postings online, or you could even pitch directly to an agency by searching for “digital marketing agencies” and your city and then emailing them asking if they have any opportunities for freelance writers such as yourself.

Collaborating with other freelancers

Oftentimes when it comes to freelancing, many people see other freelancers as their “enemy” or competition, rather than as someone to work with instead of against.

I mentioned my friend Katie and fellow copywriter above and as well as being one of my closest friends and confidants, she’s also an incredible woman to have on my “team” as a freelance writer. In the past, Katie has referred some of her old clients to me when she’s had too much work on and a working relationship like that between fellow freelancers is truly invaluable.

Instead of regarding other freelancers as your competition, try and see them as colleagues and teammates and you never know the kind of friendships and opportunities that can arise.

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