Hi everyone,
I wish to follow up on an earlier post with a question. I am proposal writer/ manager. It was suggested to me in this forum that I look into working freelance as a technical writer via the web. I do not have a scientific, medical, or engineering background. I am curious if anyone is working as a freelance technical writer via the web and how they are finding it? Could someone with my background do that work? How is the Pay? Thanks!
Technical Writing Freelancing?
Re: Technical Writing Freelancing?
Isn't technical writing a lot broader than "scientific, medical, or engineering" writing? I'd say technically it is! There's probably a ton of different kinds of writing that can be done.
You could try creating a profile on odesk.com (or other freelancing sites) and see about getting work that way. I'd treat it as more of an experiment, rather than a long term strategy. However, it would be possible to develop clients from odesk and get referrals and go from there in building a consulting business. There may be other sites that are dedicated to technical writers where you can land better paying work that way.. Perhaps look for technical writing forums & work sites.
I personally had success with setting up a profile on odesk. Since it's a global market, I highlighted being in local timezone, canadian, and fluent in english. I also scored high on a ruby test, and set my hourly rate to $20/hr initially. About a month or two later, I started getting a trickle of job invitations. I accepted one, and then the feedback gave me more job invites. On these freelancing sites, I would not bother applying to the job postings out of the blue, success rate for that seems low, instead focus on making a profile that stands out in searches. And actually if you were serious about consulting online, you'd end up setting up even better profiles - such as a business website
You could try creating a profile on odesk.com (or other freelancing sites) and see about getting work that way. I'd treat it as more of an experiment, rather than a long term strategy. However, it would be possible to develop clients from odesk and get referrals and go from there in building a consulting business. There may be other sites that are dedicated to technical writers where you can land better paying work that way.. Perhaps look for technical writing forums & work sites.
I personally had success with setting up a profile on odesk. Since it's a global market, I highlighted being in local timezone, canadian, and fluent in english. I also scored high on a ruby test, and set my hourly rate to $20/hr initially. About a month or two later, I started getting a trickle of job invitations. I accepted one, and then the feedback gave me more job invites. On these freelancing sites, I would not bother applying to the job postings out of the blue, success rate for that seems low, instead focus on making a profile that stands out in searches. And actually if you were serious about consulting online, you'd end up setting up even better profiles - such as a business website
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SimpleLife
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Re: Technical Writing Freelancing?
I am glad you are taking me up on my suggestion brookline. I used many freelance technical writers in the past both local and remote, and was surprised at how much money one can make freelance tech writing. I had this one girl who made $800 for maybe half a days work, if that, for example.
Re: Technical Writing Freelancing?
Hi James R,JamesR wrote:Isn't technical writing a lot broader than "scientific, medical, or engineering" writing? I'd say technically it is! There's probably a ton of different kinds of writing that can be done.
You could try creating a profile on odesk.com (or other freelancing sites) and see about getting work that way. I'd treat it as more of an experiment, rather than a long term strategy. However, it would be possible to develop clients from odesk and get referrals and go from there in building a consulting business. There may be other sites that are dedicated to technical writers where you can land better paying work that way.. Perhaps look for technical writing forums & work sites.
I personally had success with setting up a profile on odesk. Since it's a global market, I highlighted being in local timezone, canadian, and fluent in english. I also scored high on a ruby test, and set my hourly rate to $20/hr initially. About a month or two later, I started getting a trickle of job invitations. I accepted one, and then the feedback gave me more job invites. On these freelancing sites, I would not bother applying to the job postings out of the blue, success rate for that seems low, instead focus on making a profile that stands out in searches. And actually if you were serious about consulting online, you'd end up setting up even better profiles - such as a business website
Thanks for the explanation. That is really interesting. Have you seen any similar websites for proposal or grant writing, which is my specialty area? I would like to leverage my existing skills rather than starting over.
Re: Technical Writing Freelancing?
Hi SimpleLife,SimpleLife wrote:I am glad you are taking me up on my suggestion brookline. I used many freelance technical writers in the past both local and remote, and was surprised at how much money one can make freelance tech writing. I had this one girl who made $800 for maybe half a days work, if that, for example.
Thanks for the recommendation. That having been said, I am not sure it is the way to go. I have an existing specialty and wish to leverage it if possible.