Welcome to the final day of Freelance Writing Week II!
So far we’ve covered:
- How Much Do Freelance Writers Make?
- Should Freelance Writers Ever Write for Free?
- The “Right” Pay for Freelance Writing Jobs
- How Do Freelance Writers Get Paid?
Now finally to one of the most important freelance writing topics out there:
How can you tell whether freelance writing job offers are legitimate?
One of the hardest parts about being freelance writer searching for work on the Internet is deciphering when a job offer is legitimate and when someone just wants to get something for free–or worse.
Here are some tips from separating the wheat from the chaff, as Willym said:
- Don’t answer blind advertisements.
I rarely, if ever, answer blind advertisements, i.e., those that don’t offer the name of the client seeking writers; I can’t imagine many situations in which a potential client should have to be a secret. If you had a solid name and reputation, wouldn’t you want to put it out there so potential writers knew they could trust you?
But if you think you’ve found the perfect job and simply must respond to a blind ad, pay special attention to their return email address, so you can….
- Google!
Check out any websites or names attached to the job offer. Most legitimate freelance writing job offers will come from people who already have *some* sort of online presence, so if nothing at all turns up, I’d probably start to be suspicious.
With so much social media out there these days, it’s highly unlikely that reputable clients have no online presence whatsoever.
- Ask writer friends.
One of the best ways to find out whether something is too good to be true is to ask around and see if others know anything about the client. If you don’t have writer friends you feel comfortable asking, scour writer message boards and forums.
Included here is my recommendation to keep up with “Whispers and Warnings” in Angela Hoy’s Writers Weekly newsletter, which names clients who haven’t paid writers or are otherwise being difficult regarding payment.
- Trust your instincts.
If something sounds fishy, and you just have a feeling you’re never going to get paid, don’t think twice about turning down the job offer.
Now believe me, I *know* how hard it is to turn down job offers particularly when you’re first starting out, but if something feels off to you, it probably is—and you’ll be saving yourself a lot of hassle by avoiding the situation entirely.
And this concludes Freelance Writing Week II. Thanks so much for reading, and as always if you have more questions you’d like me to address, leave them in the comments!
Do you have more advice on how to spot legitimate freelance writing jobs?
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