As a writer – beginner or life-long – I’m sure you have googled terms like: ‘how do I earn money by writing’, ‘pay for my writing’, and ‘writing jobs’.

I was one of those people too. I have always had an intense passion for writing. It didn’t matter what I was writing, or even if it was for school, and finding out I could get money for it was the cherry on the cake.

There are a few ways you can earn money by writing. This could be writing for an established company as part of their staff, writing your own ideas (stories, scripts, blogs, etc.), or freelance jobs.

Today I’ll be talking about freelance jobs.

It can be very hard to find a company that not only allows freelance writers to work their way up from zero experience, but also give them the opportunity to earn dollars instead of cents for their work. There were a few websites that I tried, but, about two years ago, I found one I absolutely love.

Upwork (formerly Odesk and Elance) was a godsend to me. While there are tests you can do to show future employers you are a good fit for their job, I don’t think any of them have impacted me at all. There were a few jobs I immediately applied for, including writing articles, reviews, and transcribing audio files. I didn’t know what I wanted to focus on, but as long as I was making money for my work, I was willing to give any job a try. There is also no limit for a pay-out (but there is a $1 fee for it so you have to at least have $1).

Almost straight away I landed a couple of long-term jobs, and was even recommended to another employer outside of Upwork. So, it’s now been about two years, and I am still loving working with them.

Even if you don’t want to remain a freelance writer, you can use it to hone your skills and make some important connections.

Let me know if you’ve worked on Upwork or if you have another site you would recommend.