Methods and Resources for Finding Ghostwriting Jobs Online

Current market of Internet jobs shows a positive growing tendency and this fact can do nothing but excite freelance workers, who are always hungry for well-paying online work. Part-time and full-time jobs for freelancers differ a lot: starting with programming and ending with various forms of writing.

The art of putting words into meaningful sentences and combining these sentences into coherent paragraphs is not characteristic to everyone that is why this art is highly valued by Internet employers. Freelance writing business is getting more interesting and attractive to me, especially after days of research, which I were dedicated to researching of this niche a putting a list of resources for freelance journalists and copywriters.

To make further contribution to the list mentioned above, I decided to say a few words about ghostwriting business online, provide my vision and earning potential of this freelance writing niche, as well as provide the best methods and resources for finding and taking up ghostwriting jobs.

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What is ghostwriting?

Ghostwriting is a type of content creation work (both online and offline), which requires the creation of content pieces (articles, ebooks, biographies and other types of impersonal writing) for the employers. In a more simple way, I can state it the way I understand it, ghostwriters work directly for the employer and with their writing services they sell full rights for their work and agree that it may be attributed to other person, usually to the employer.

It might sound weird at first but this type content is in a big demand on contemporary market, so skilled writers should have no problem finding ghostwriting work thought numerous sites, which I will list or by starting their own portfolio and recruiting clients offline.

Just a quick note about structure, for those, who are looking just for resources for writing jobs, I will include them closer to the top of the article, i.e. the practical part will come before theoretical. Please scroll down first, if you are looking for tips and ideas on securing freelance writing jobs, then practical information can be found below and in the follow up posts, then links to which will be added later.

10+ Best Websites for Ghostwriters

Freelance job boards

Freelance job boards are special types of websites, which showcase employers’ projects and allow participants (freelancers) to bid on these projects in order to get the right to accomplish them. The winner of the auction (person, who bids the most suitable price for the auction and fulfills employer’s expectations gets to start working on the project and receives money upon its completion):

Careercast.com (US and Canada only)

Careercast.com a premier resource for finding various types of both online and offline jobs, including copywriting; this marketplace targets residents of the USA and Canada and helps the applicants find local jobs by entering their zip code. The application process requires submission of a resume and content samples.

Donanza.com (International)

Donanza.com practices a new approach to freelance work online. With innovative job search tools and hundreds of project listings in store, Donanza marketplace should not be missed by any skilled freelancer. This project is for those willing to expand their client base, do a better job at selling their freelance skills and gain access to hundreds of outsourcing companies.

Odesk.com (International)

Odesk.com is a global freelance/crowdsourcing work marketplace offering their workers a superb opportunity to make money with the help of their computers by participating in various projects (some of which have openings for both newbie and experienced writers).

vWorker.com (International)

At vWorker.com employers post various types of work, which they need to be done and list their budget. Registered freelancers bid on projects by using a reverse auction system to try and win the right to complete a selected range of work. On vWorker.com freelancers can take up programming, web design, writing and scripting jobs.

Guru.com (International)

Guru.com is a service similar to the ones stated below. It is used by thousands of experienced workers for showing their skills in specialized portfolios and offering services on the job board. Guru.com can help anyone become a successful free agent and earn money either part time or full time online.

Freelancer.com (International)

Freelancer.com is probably the most popular job board for finding freelance ghostwriting jobs but I am in two minds about whether it should be included in the list or not. While writing a separate review of this service, I found a lot of letters of complaints (mostly from employers) stating that the administrators of Freelancer.com are dishonest and there are some instances of fraud going on. So please be careful, while using this service and work only with reputed employers.

Elance.com (International)

Elance.com is a source of international outsourcing and crowdsourcing jobs. Elance.com has developed a set of tools for employers, which lets them monitor the process of their projects and communicate with workers in order to guide them to the desired aim.

Jobs.ProBlogger.com (International)

Jobs.ProBlogger.com – a job board set up by one of the most influential bloggers serves as a great tool for finding Internet blogging tasks. The main reason for checking out this site is that ProBlogger.com job board is being visited by thousands of employers every day, so this can be your lucky ticket.

EthosContent.com (International)

Skilled freelance writers can contact EthosContent.com managers with a request to become a member of their writing team. This company deals with various types of Internet writing including blog posting, SEO content creation, technical manual writing, etc. Writers are to contact the representatives before applying.

More about the offer: http://www.ethoscontent.com/careers

Startuply.com (International)

Startuply.com is an interesting online project, which helps Internet start-ups to find qualified workers to power their projects. As a job seeker, you can browse a list of open positions (personally I have spotted several good opps for copywriters) and apply for a part-time or full-time employment online.

Content and article marketplaces

Content and article marketplaces serve as a platform for selling ghostwriting work and reaching the maximum writer’s potential. It allows writers to create content within the niches, which they specialize at and sell them (full rights for content) on specialized content marketplaces.

Constant-Content.com (International)

Quality, original and unique content will always be highly valued by search engines and usually well-written gets half of the webmaster’s work done because it is capable of driving traffic without search engine optimization. Constant-Content.com is a great site for showcasing your articles and selling them for decent amounts of money.

Content publishing platforms: even though some people might tell that revenue sharing websites cannot be treated as ghostwriting jobs, I wish to list the best ones here too, mainly because they helped me practice my writing skills and even find clients for copywriting and blogging services. So these factors should be considered by you before getting into this type of writing business.

Squidoo.com (International)

My all time content publishing platform, which has no decent rivals in terms of earnings (at least for me). Some of my articles showed incredible performance and increased my PayPal account balance by dozens of dollars (currently my record is the revenue of $76 from just one article). Squidoo.com accepts members from all countries of the world and helps them not just earn money with content but also communicate with other users and improve writing skills and content structure, which is not less important.

Earn money from resumes

Earn money from resumes: while looking for legit work for ghostwriters you are sure to send out your resume to different locations and will get hang of the process of creating, editing and updating resumes, so here are some interesting ideas to turn these skills into money:

Resumark.com (International)

Resumark.com service offers money for listing your resume of their service. Their system works in a reversed order, employers are those, who pay money for downloading resumes, so it is a hunt for the best workers by employers, not vice versa, as it most commonly is.

Job boards

Freelance job boards are also full of requests for resume editing and resume writing jobs. With the right approach, it could be turned into an online business. So you might think about adding resume writing services to your freelance portfolio, provided you have the skills just mentioned.

Local classified listings

Local classified listings: While looking for online work all methods and tools are to be utilized. World wide web gives us access to thousands of local classified ads, among which it has never been hard to find local copywriting or ghostwriting work. The main risk of using these websites is that of getting scammed or running into dishonest employers, so use caution, while browsing such offers.

Craigslist.org (International)

The biggest and probably the best local classified ad community, Craigslist.org, can be used for finding employers, who need their ghostwriting needs fulfilled. Sometimes taking up such jobs can be risky but being careful and double-checking all agreements and terms are sure to minimize your chances of being scammed online.

Pros and cons of ghostwriting jobs

Pros:

– can do as a full-time or part-time income opportunity: students, stay at home moms/dads and other people passionate about writing are sure to like this type of online work; there is no experience required to get started and various assignments to take up.

– work at home opportunity with a potential: popular newspapers and entrepreneur magazines already published dozens of articles about successful writers, who were able to set up their own copywriting/ghostwriting business after having gained enough experience by creating content on the Internet.

– working at the comfort of own home: waking up every morning and getting to work can be not just time consuming but also stressing for some people. I bet such lonely wolves as me, would love to learn more about ghostwriting and would love to give this business a try.

Cons:

– Lack of concentration: like every other type of job, ghostwriting requires you to provide quality services in the shortest available timeframes but at first it can be a bit challenging. The reason lays deep in human psychology: once the article will not be associated with his name in the future, he is less likely to work for quality in his mind but considering quantity to be the main driving factor.

– Dishonest contractors and employers: like with other sorts of Internet work, finding ghostwriting jobs is a process, which requires to some time to secure. By securing, I mean finding a stable source of assignments and spending more time on completing the work, rather than looking for it. Speaking of the application process, this is where some employers get greedy – apart from asking for your resume, they might ask for a sample or a “review article”. According to my personal experience, working for such employers is simply not worth it; usually they just want to get free content from their applicants. Honest companies and contractors would usually be fine with your resume and links to your portfolio or a place showcasing your writing skills.

– Difference in pay rates: while looking thought available ghostwriting assignments and terms of content creation agencies, you will see how greatly the rates differ. Someone may blame employers for setting such low prices for ghostwriting work but, as for me, the real problem is in writers, who are ready to work for the quantity but not the quality, and provide reasons for employers to lower the pay, thinking “there will always be somebody ready to write for us”. What I am trying to prove – top quality workers with always be able to find their clients and even set up a business generating a full-time income.

Tips and ideas to get started

Internet business taught me that the only way to survive in this sphere is to do the planning thoroughly and always think about developing/moving forward. So, those willing to start a freelance or ghostwriting career on the Internet might want to consider taking such initial steps:

1) Writing samples: not to give scammers any chance, always provide only samples of your work, which were already published somewhere on the web (make sure they have your name; in best case-scenario with a link to your personal site). This will eliminate the chance of having your work stolen. Creating your own portfolio on the basis of your personal website may work out as a decent variant too.

According to the feedback by other influential writers, nothing works better as an article on an influential blog/magazine with your name in it or article samples in newspapers or other printed mass media. How can this be achieved? Well, I have some ideas for you. Previously I published a list of blogs, where you can register as a guest blogger or a paid contributor. Not only do they pay for your articles but also include your short personal biography and a link back to your site.

As for getting an article in printed press, local newspapers and magazines are usually open for interesting contributions, so are the non-profit organizations. If you are still a student, you will have no problem at all – universities and colleges have their own newspapers, I am not even mentioning scientific conferences by participating in which you can get both recognition and your scientific article published.

2) A portfolio of a freelance writer: if you are have faith in yourself, you have got to think one step ahead and start setting up your portfolio, while taking initial steps towards entering this business. Why so? Every respectable writer has his own website for showcasing his work and selling his services (the odds that someone reading your article samples might buy copywriting services from you are pretty high). Setting up a website is an easy but time consuming task. Buying a domain name is not that much of investment and to save money you can even go with free hosting from Blogger.com. Creation of portfolio wants a gradual but stable approach.

3) Getting started with ghostwriting jobs is probably the next logical step to take. A list of sites to where you can send your application is already up on this page and will be constantly growing. Depending on the type of site you are willing to work with, you will either have to build an attractive profile to attract your clients via job boards and freelance marketplaces or work on sending our your resume and communicating with editors about a chance of taking up writing jobs.

Professionally set up profile or well written resume with great instances of your previous work can be considered to be a half of the desired effect. Do some research on making your resume more attractive, go on working on your portfolio and increase the number of writing samples. However, everything you list in your profile or personal record must reflect your actual skills and knowledge, it will only make you more attractive in the eyes of potential customers.

4) Winning ghostwriting projects: like any other Internet business, ghostwriting is a constant fight for potential customers and nothing works better in such a fight than well-written articles, an outstanding portfolio/employer feedback and good delivery time. When using freelance job boards for finding ghostwriting work, every writer has to keep in mind a lot of factors, which can help him win a writing project. The most important of them are:

– Bidding rules: the majority of job marketplaces only give a specified amount of free bids to all users. In order to get additional bids, users are required to buy a premium membership but this is definitely not an option for a beginner-ghostwriter. Use your free bids cleverly, try to bid on the project you are willing to work on and have what it takes to complete the assignment on time.
– Picking the most suitable projects: try to bid for projects, which strike a perfect between three main things: topic, writer reward and deadlines. The thing you want the most at this point is to find a freelance project, which fits the niche you have expert knowledge in (or at least you feel that the niche in question can be researched in the suggested timeframe and you will be able to make a good job of this assignment); analyze the time this work will take and compare it with the employer’s deadline and, finally, make sure that your pay matches the hassle you spend finishing the project for your client.

– Bidding on projects you like: as it was mentioned above, ghostwriting business is all about winning the client, so in the competition with other writers you must be the one to provide the most convincing argumentation and show the most suitable writing samples of yours. Please bear in mind that project creator will have to go over dozens of bids and offers from freelancers and we highly doubt that he/she will have a lot of time reading a lengthy bid offer. What we would recommend doing is to be as brief as possible, provide a precise, grammatically correct and typo-free overview of your vision on how the project can be completed and add a final touch by providing suitable samples of your previous work.

– Always be honest with employers: we do understand that every freelance writer wants to take up as many jobs as possible and to earn a decent income on the Internet. But failure in providing the work of expected quality or not delivering the service before the deadline can harm your freelance reputation. So bidding on the project that you don’t think can be carried out by you on the highest level is not a good idea at all. One step at a time attitude has helped many freelancers build a profile with dozens of positive feedback comments by employers and such a profile is already a superb tool for marketing any freelance writing business.

5) Working with your clients: building a powerful client base should be definitely on a to-do list of every freelancer. Having a list of trusted customers will allow you to spend the time you usually waste looking for new freelance writing jobs on something more important, like developing your portfolio or working on new projects of yours.
A successful ghostwriter must be sure to provide the best quality work in the shortest time periods, value his customers and always be ready for development, both as a writer and an online money-maker.

This is a point, where I got a bit distracted and decided to consult some of my ghostwriting friends in order to provide a more precise step-by-step guidance. What you can do now is subscribe to IncomeBooster.org and receive further updates by email. Thank you for your attention and patience.