Recently I splurged on a cozy gray oodie, a jug of iced caramel macchiato and a bag of milk chocolate salted cashews with Himalayan pink salt. All of this was completely unnecessary, yet my mental health was beyond thankful. Especially now.
I managed to pay for it all and then some by writing two blog posts, each about 500-700 words in length.
Here’s what I did to get paid to be funny by writing silly, albeit useful, content (despite being told my whole life that I take everything far too seriously):
- I went online to ZipRecruiter and typed in “blog writer” and “remote” in the search bars.
…
That’s it.
It took me less than two minutes to scroll through with those settings and find a job that paid well.
I don’t even have an account on that website.
I didn’t even have to make a resume, nor a pitch, nor sell myself to get it.
I just found a posting for a comedy writer, wrote a sample blog post based on their style of choice as seen on their website and emailed it to them. They loved my work; they paid me just three hours after I sent my email in and asked me to write them four more blog posts. Fortunately, they also offered a great pay-per-word rate, especially for an entry-level copywriter/guest blogger with no examples of prior work.
The work I did for the job posting spoke for me. See, as a writer, people don’t seem to really care about who you are, what education or credentials you have or even what experiences you come in with. As long as you can write well, you’re good. Everything else just helps to imbue your work with your originality.
I genuinely think anyone can be paid to write in any way they like as long as they are willing to write, make mistakes, rewrite and share their work. If you do it every day, you’re bound to get something.
One tip I’ve been relying on for handling constructive criticism well is to take my work seriously, but myself less so. Getting feedback on your writing is not an attack on your worth as a person. Once you swallow that pill, it becomes easier to think objectively about your writing and ease the burden of feeling like an inadequate imposter from your mind. You’re always enough. Your writing is what may fluctuate.
All you need is your first “yes.” I’m still looking for more, especially since I’m not even close yet to the point where I can solely rely on writing for a living. But, the first one has kept me going. Once you see that it’s possible, that you can get paid for doing what you love, you’ll never be able to settle for any less.
There are new postings on various freelancer websites all the time. You just need to actually apply instead of saving the listings and continuing to scroll aimlessly onwards. You have what it takes. Go out and get it.
Good luck!
Blogging Mindfully 