Once you find the “right” site and settle into writing online for money, it can be very tempting to remain where you are and hammer away at it. While at first glance this may seem like a sound idea, the truth is that in this position you’re only one downgrading or site outage away from completely losing your new-found livelihood. Spreading your efforts across several sites and clients is an important technique for staying afloat, a skill that successful freelancers use every day they work.
Here are the types of sites that need to be in your arsenal (I recommend making a folder of bookmarks in your browser for easy access)
1.) A list site. These sites have lists of jobs to be picked up and completed, making them the most popular go-to choice for general freelancing. These sites include CloudCrowd, Textbroker and MediaPiston.
2.) A bid site. These sites require writers to place bids on various projects in the hopes of being chosen. These sites include Freelancer and Odesk.
3.) A sales site. These sites allow writers to put pre-written articles up for browsing and (hopefully) sale to prospective clients. These sites include ConstantContent and GhostBloggers.
When you spread out your efforts, you’ll never have to worry that a slow flow of work or a quality rating issue will keep you from earning money. This is a true and current cautionary tale, with several writer colleagues wrestling this week with a complete lack of work over at MediaPiston. Work will ebb and flow, but sitting on your hands while you wait on the next upswing won’t do your career a bit of good. Sign up for the sites of your choice and at least get the ball rolling – you’ll be grateful you did the next time your “home” site becomes difficult to work with.
The Freelance Writer Guide 