How to Start Your Freelance Writing Career

The internet has certainly redefined life as we know it, and among the many things it has affected is how the world works. Nowadays, a lot of business transactions are done online and naturally, several industries were born as a result of this new way of doing business.

If you have decent skills in writing, you might want to try out freelance writing. There are many freelancing sites that can be found online but personally I "work" at oDesk.

Signing up with oDesk is easy, and it does not require any membership fees ever. They make their money by imposing a certain amount on top of your bid, to be paid by the employers who hired you. This makes the site very provider-friendly.

Make sure you complete your profile and while you don't have any feedbacks and work history to showcase yet, maintaining a blogsite might help because buyers would always want to see first some samples of your writing work.

Take exams that are related to the category you wish to work on. So if you are an aspiring writer, you might want to take the same tests I have taken, and more:

oDesk Tests Taken
Name of Test	Score	Percentile				Date Taken				Duration
U.S. English Chicago Style Editing Skills Test (For Writing Professionals)	4.40	95% TOP 10%	11/29/2008					17 min
English Spelling Test (U.S. Version)	5.00	95% TOP 10% 1st Place!	03/15/2009					14 min
English Vocabulary Test (U.S. Version)	4.75	91% TOP 10%	03/15/2009					18 min
U.S. English Basic Skills Test	4.60	85% TOP 20%	03/15/2009					27 min
MS PowerPoint 2003 Test	3.40	60%	11/29/2008					20 min
UK English Basic Skills Test	3.90	58%	03/15/2009					10 min
oDesk Readiness Test for Independent Contractors and Company Managers	4.40	55%	11/29/2008					44 min
Creative Writing Test - Fiction (U.S. Version)	3.40	44%	11/29/2008					34 min

You need to take and pass the oDesk Readiness Test for Independent Contractors and Company Managers to be able to bid on projects. Other tests are usually requirements of buyers.