The Bitter Sweet Truth of Freelance Content Writing

An article by Muhammad Farhan Bashir    2 Comments

Knowing that you have the gift of writing can be overwhelming. This might put you among the talented and creative minority of the world. Also, it opens for you hundreds of career opportunities. However, it is only through trial by the fire that you are able to polish your skills and prove your worth. In its very true sense, the trial begins when you decide to monetize your talent as a freelance content writer.

Creativity – The very truth about content writing is that it is anything but creative. So, the very first thing you need to do is to kill that ‘writer’s conscience’ if you have any. Content writing is not for the sake of writing or language or anything that makes it highly respectable; it is majorly for marketing and product promotion. Yet, if you have the talent to mold anything into a creative piece of writing, that’s a plus for sure.

Compensation- So you are ready to make some bucks, eh! There are definitely too many stories about freelance writers leaving their day jobs and enjoying a prosperous life with the money they get from writing. Sounds fascinating but try your luck and you’ll only get frustrated. Unless you have a solid profile, no one would be willing to pay your more than a dollar per article, or may be two. Compensations are way too low for starters. So, there surely is success but it’s a long and very low-paid path.

Client – Well, there are several different types of client which I do intend to discuss later someday, but generally they are all scary. First of all they think of you not as a writer with a small sensitive heart but as a mirror on the wall. You must know everything about everything and you should learn to lie about your client being the best in whatever that is they do. Secondly, don’t expect to get any appreciation for all the effort. Even for an article worth publishing in a magazine, all you get is ‘okay, its fine.’

So, if you think you are strong and determined enough to make through the three Cs of content writing, there is definitely a career waiting for you.