Freelance Blogging Jobs Everybody Wants and How to Get Them

Want well-paying blogging jobs? Don't rely on the job boards.

I'm not saying never check the ads. I check them regularly. What I'm saying is don't rely on the job boards as your sole source of income. Not if you want to find the best paying work.

My best paying clients never posted an ad online. In fact, most of my clients didn't even know they needed a blogger until I told them. I pitched, I scored. If you've got the skills, you can too.

Tip #1: Don't be a moron.

If you don't know how to blog, and you don't know anything, don't expect to get a good paying blogging gig. Sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many emails I get each week from people saying, "I want to do what you do. Teach me how to do corporate blogging. Help me blog for lawyers." Then I ask them a few questions. Turns out, they have no blog, they don't know what corporate blogging is, and they don't know anything about the legal field. Would you hire these people?

Tip #2: Figure out what you want.

Before you can find the blogging jobs you want, you have to know what kind of freelance blogger you want to be. There are many paths to freelance blogging. There is no one right way. But you may find one way more suitable to your abilities, personality, and goals.

You can be like full-time blogger Deb Ng and blog for a variety of network blogs and individual clients across a wide range of subjects. You can be like side-blogger Skellie and blog about pretty much one topic across many different decent-paying blogs. You can be like me and focus on one core niche, blogging for several regular clients at a time within that niche. No one way is better than another. We all enjoy our jobs. We all earn a living we're comfortable with. We do what works for us.

You have to decide what works for you. Do you want to blog all day every day, once in a while, or somewhere in between? I enjoy blogging every day for primarily demanding, over-caffeinated people with little patience. My job would kill most bloggers I know, but I thrive at it. On the other hand, I wouldn't be happy blogging about celebrities, while that is many bloggers' dream gig.

To get the freelance blogging job of your dreams, you first have to know what your dream is.

Tip #3: Know your potential clients.

Once you know what kind of blogging jobs you want, you have to get to know your potential clients.

Learn about their industries. Read their websites. Talk to them on forums.

Learn how they make their money and what their goals are. This is information you need, whether you're hitting up a fellow problogger for a guest blogging gig or you're knocking down the door of a CEO to get him started blogging. You have to know them before you can blog for them.

Tip #4: Learn the benefits and sell them.

Once you know how a prospective client makes his money, and you know what his goals are, you have to find out how a blog could help him.

Want that network to hire you? You have to convince them you can offer valuable information with a unique perspective which will bring them more readers, thereby increasing their revenue. Want to convince that smoking cessation counselor she needs a website? You have to convince her it will bring her more business, thereby making her more money.

To make someone believe you, you have to know what you're talking about.

When I first started blogging for lawyers, I found the best way to convince a personal injury lawyer to get a blog was to send them a link to injuryboard.com. It's the "it" blog for these people. "If you want clients to find you online," I'd say, "do what these guys do." Pointing out the competition's stronghold can be a beautiful thing.

You've got to be smart enough to figure out how to convince your prospective clients that they need you. If you can't figure out how to do this, then you aren't cut out for the job.

Tip #5: Don't take on too much too soon.

If you're new to freelance blogging, pitch and score one client at a time. Don't apply to every blogging job you see, send email pitches to a dozen prospective clients, accept every offer that comes along, and hope you'll still have time to work a tidy 9-5 and sit down to dinner with the family.

Start with one decent paying blogging client. Once you know how much time that'll take up, add another. Add enough work that you're financially set if one or two clients flake. But don't overwhelm yourself or drive yourself to carpal tunnel.

Most of all, keep at it. If it's what you want, it's worth working towards. Don't expect instant financial success to land in your lap. You'll have to work for it, be choosy, and constantly perfect your skills. But in the end, it's worth it.