Top 5 Freelance Writing Sites/Services

It is often said that content is the king. The internet is literally bursting at the seams with the number of websites, blogs, etc. And all of them need well-written content. 

The content should be appropriate and engaging for the visitor to remain on the page and read it. It is for this reason, that content writing and creation have become a serious profession.

Many individuals or small organisations create written content as freelancers. They have the requisite skills and in accordance with the client’s requirement content is created and delivered to the client and payment received for the job. 

These individuals or small business acquire clients through:

• Cold pitching- that is contacting individual customers and seeking projects
• Find projects through family and friends
• Network with other freelancers.

These conventional ways to soliciting business are very time consuming and the result may not be as expected. 

WHY FREELANCING SITES?

This brings the options of FREELANCING SITES into focus. The freelancing sites provide a platform for the employers/businesses and the freelance professional to come together, interact and do business.

The projects are posted on these sites and freelancers can bid for it. After a discussion between the employer and prospective service provider, the job is awarded to the freelancer. 

The delivery of the project and the payment process are managed through the freelancing sites. To execute these services, they charge a service fee and this is how the business model works.

The employers get an opportunity to tap into a huge talent pool, from across the globe and end up hiring a good talent at a competitive price.

The freelancers, see this as a great opportunity to get work, without really wasting time on marketing activities. They can utilize their time to generate quality content.

The freelancing sites, make decent money in this liaison activity. 

Hence these days, Freelancing sites are very popular and are used by lots of newcomers and professionals as well.

With so many freelancing sites, it is very important to get associated with the right ones. That could mean the success or failure of your business.

How do you know which sites are good?

Generally, there is a tendency on the part of freelancers to register with the most popular freelance writing sites to bag writing jobs. This apparently looks logical, but if it is a popular site, it must be having lots of freelancers too. 

For a beginner, it is very tough to find projects on very popular sites, as the seasoned ones generally get awarded with projects. 

The selection of a site would very much depend on the current situation and requirement of the freelancer.

However, there are certain parameters that need to be checked before you get associated with any freelancing sites.

It would be advisable to check;

1. Whether the sites are authentic and the projects and payments do happen. Read reviews on the internet.
2. Try to find out the history of these sites. This will give you a fair idea about their expertise in getting freelancers and employers together.
3. Browse through the site to check if the jobs posted there, do suit your skill sets.
4. Check how the delivery and payment would be done.
5. What formalities are to comply with to register?
6. Do they have any support team or system, in case you need one?

On the basis of the above parameter, certain sites can be listed as the best ones

• FIVERR:

This is an Israel based organization, with its office at Tel Aviv. Micha Kaufmann created this site on 1st Feb 2010. It has a global reach and is very popular. 

It offers assignments in various genres of writing, like blogs, articles, web pages, research, academic and so on.

It is very popular for writing reviews and the average revenue is $ 4. Actually, it is $5, but 20% being the service charge the net is $4. Though you can bid for more now after 2013.

Most of the employers and freelancers on FIVERR are young. The general feedback about this site is good, but newcomers may find this site intimidating as lots of professionals are found here. Buyers sometimes feel short-changed here.

• UPWORK:

This is a US-based organization, which was started in 2015. It provides jobs in various categories. It is good for beginners. 

It is said to be the largest freelancing platform. The rates offered to the freelancers are less here, but there is lot of learning for newcomers. 

User registration is mandatory here and they do need some personal documents to verify identity.  

• TRUELANCER:

This is relatively a new entrant in the domain of freelancing aggregation. It was started in 2014 and is Delhi based. It is an ideal platform for new beginners as well as experts.

They post all types of projects from a single assignment to multiple all-year-round jobs. 

They have got an excellent support team to help and guide the freelancer through the bidding and executions process. 

The site and app are very user-friendly. The registration process and the bidding are fairly simple and straightforward. They have employers and freelancers from all over the world.

• PAYPERCONTENT:

This freelancing site probably intends to offer quality service to the employers. Apart from the normal registration process, this site makes it mandatory for the freelancers to appear for a ‘writing’ test. The freelancer comes onboard only on clearing the test.

They have got a very strong policy against plagiarism. You can do any number of projects on this site. However, one job will be allotted at a time.

• FIX POCKET

This Ahmedabad based service provider is relatively new in the field. The business model is the same as any other freelancing site. A very good platform for beginners. The rates are not great, but good enough to begin. The support system needs to boost up, which will happen with time. It is a global platform with bidders and providers from all over the world. 

If you have the skill and passion, whatever be the site, keep writing.