Freelance magazine writing is an area of the industry that is not only high paying, but one of the most competitive.  Therefore, you won’t see many experienced writers or agents encouraging new talent to pursue article writing for magazines.  There’s just too much competition, and the odds of getting steady pay are quite slim because of this.

Most freelance writers who have magazine publications on their resume don’t do it for the money.  If they were fortunate enough to get staffed, then that’s a different story, but 9 times out of 10 they are doing it more for hobby purposes than anything else.  They submit articles to magazines on topics that they share a passion for, or publications which they truly enjoy and read frequently.  Getting and article accepted to one of these magazines would be a bonus because of their genuine enjoyment of it’s content.

Don’t go giving up on your dreams to be published in a magazine, but know that unless you are a staff writer, freelance writing for a major publication is a cut throat industry.  Be sure to diversify your writing mediums and don’t rely on magazine submissions to pay the bills.  Spread out your income before you go chasing the magazine dream!

Let’s take a look at a few different ways writers can boost their business into a profit-pulling machine by implementing a few tweaks and suggestions:

Make sure your rates are right

This is probably mistake number one with regards to new or struggling writers who are seeking freelance writing jobs.  If you’re charging too much compared to your direct competition, your potential clients will be seeking services elsewhere rather than fork up %20 more than various other talented writers in the marketplace.  On the flip side, if you are being overly modest with your rates interested clients might not take you seriously or be expecting some sort of “catch”.  Balance is important with every business, regardless of the industry.

The going rate seems to be between $6-$15 per 300-500 word article.  If you’re going to start off charging $15 per article, be prepared for the possibility of more demands from your clients.  At $6 per article most clients won’t even bother to ask for a change or revision.  I suggest starting off somewhere in between, for example you could start your rates at $6 for 200-300 words, $9 for 300-500 and $12 for 500-700 etc.

As time goes on it won’t be that difficult to introduce a standard rate for your work within a more broad per word range.  Do you really think it will be that hard to get people to pay $25 per article for anything between 500-1000 words?  Not at all.  Your clients will pay for quality, reliability and rapport.

Daily marketing is an absolute must

When you’re beginning to search for freelance writing jobs you must market yourself on a daily basis.  Visibility is crucial from the get-go and you should be taking full advantage of the many online writing communities which allow clients and writers to interact, find each other and secure business relations.

There are two great places to start:  elance.com and odesk.com.  Both of these communities receive thousands of targeted clients each and everyday who are looking for high quality, affordable writing solutions.  Set up your profile and make it a routine to search the marketplaces first thing in the morning, sending out response to any and every job posting available within your writing medium, niche or style.

Before marketing yourself, I would highly suggest setting up a website that you can send potential clients to.  Have pieces of your work, contact information, and a blurb about yourself/company/objective.  It’s equally important these days to also maintain a blog – because believe it or not this is where business oriented traffic will look first.  They want to see what you’re about, what type of community you have and how you’re using it to promote your services.

Follow these guidelines and you should be on your way to a $100/day freelance business in no time.  Remember, customer service is crucial, so brush up on your email etiquette and don’t be shy to make the occasional phone call to let your clients know that things are moving along well with their project.

Even if you’re not an experienced writer, there are many opportunties available for educated homemakers and college students to make money online by providing various writing services.  If soliciting your writing skills is something that you’ve been considering it’s important for you to realize that even though there is plenty of work, getting your foot in the door and producing a salary requires lots of research, hard work and determination.

One of the most vital pieces of advice I give to newbie content providers is to make sure you expand your horizons and spread yourself out across a healthy playing field – preventing yourself from getting pigeon-holed and relying on a single medium of writing to produce your monthly income.

Here are a few ways you can expand your writing horizons to increase visibility and earnings:

• Provide a monthly blog posting service on a recurring subscription basis.  For example, you will write and publish 5 blog posts per month for $57.  Set up your client via Paypal’s monthly subscription option and enjoy the benefits of a steady monthly payment for a modest amount of work.  Acquire 20-30 of these clients and you’ve got yourself a fruitful business model that can be outsourced and expanded.
• Provide a customer service/email answering package for your clients.  Have them outsource various support related tasks to you for an adequate monthly fee.  You can charge them by the hour or for a flat rate per month – which includes x-amount of hours.  Anything over the allotted time banked would be extra.
• Provide a content editing service for web publishers who speak English as a second language.  This may be tricky regarding your regular communications with potential clients, but once the ball is rolling you will have yourself a nice monthly source of income for a few hours of work per day – depending on how much work you decide to take on.  This could also be an add-on service available to your blog post clients.

As you can see, there are many ways for individuals to make money writing online – regardless of the economy.  The Internet never slows down, it never shrinks and it will never go away.  As long as there are websites, there will be a need for talented writers who can churn out quality content.