Time is one of our most precious resources – especially when you’re a freelance writer hustling to find work. When you spend all day chasing down leads, and then making sure those leads aren’t scams or deadbeats? Then you have to find the energy and focus to pitch an editor? Well, that’s not the freelance life working for you. That’s you working for the freelance life. And that’s a ratio you need to reverse. NOW. Don’t waste another second!
To help you with that, I’ve put together a list of 10 of the top freelance writing job boards out there today. Add one or some of these to your daily routine and watch your freelance career take off. Find more quality jobs, better-paying gigs, and spend more time doing exactly what you want.
Problogger Jobs
Problogger’s Jobs board is one of the most high-profile free job boards you’ll find: new jobs are listed regularly and companies have to pay for their gigs to be listed, which should weed out most scammers. You can search for jobs by job type, category, keyword and more. They also offer a host of free resources to make you a better freelancer; you’ll find their blog is updated often with useful content, and then there’s a podcast and selection of ebooks as well. The biggest downside to Problogger Jobs is that many of the job listings tend to pay poorly, but you can find some good clients with patience and attention.
BloggingPro
BloggingPro is well-known (and similar to Problogger Jobs), albeit with less additional resources to recommend it. Still, you can sort job searches at BloggingPro by keywords, location, and category – pay attention to the location to ensure you’re only looking at jobs that are listed as “remote,” “anywhere,” and “telecommute” since they do also list geographical location-dependent jobs. You’ll also find a series of articles here offering WordPress tips, and a selection of books they recommend for bloggers and other creatives.
Freelance Writer's Den
The Freelance Writer’s Den runs on a subscription model with a waiting list – sign-ups tend to go fast, so it’s a good idea to get on that list! Many freelance writers swear by the resources and lessons they find in “the Den,” and one of those resources is their Junk-Free Job Board. Carol Tice's job board pulls from a ton of excellent sources – FlexJobs, Indeed, Glassdoor, Gorkana, and more – and all are carefully screened. You’ll find some of the best jobs on offer here for a membership fee of $25 a month. Considering that’s in addition to having access to 3 live pieces of training each month, 3-4 new boot camps each year, and access to all the archives, forums, Webinars, and podcasts you could want – well, it’s an amazing resource!
FreelanceWriting.Com Morning Coffee
FreelanceWriting.com’s Morning Coffee newsletter is something a little different: a curated newsletter comes directly to your inbox each Tuesday morning featuring 8 of the best writing and editing jobs listed on their site each week. This newsletter has been going since 1998, and it’s a serious resource! If you prefer not to wait, you can visit the FreelanceWriting.com job board whenever you like and sort job listings by keyword, skills, location – and job source, including listings that are exclusive to FreelanceWriting.com. They also have over 600 freelance writing articles on their site, over 700 writing guidelines in their database, and a list of writing contests.
Journalism Jobs
Journalism Jobs is an essential site for anyone interested in journalism – but many other writers can benefit from their job board as well! They post a large volume of gigs each week, and you’ll find listings from local papers, national papers, magazines, radio stations, and even TV listings! You can filter your searches by industry, location, and job type – and then it’s all up to you to pursue any and all opportunities you find. Using the job board is free, and they also provide career advice and a list of journalism fellowships.
Mediabistro
Mediabistro is a great, veteran resource – they’ve been around for over 20 years! Originally founded around media-focused industry professionals based in New York City, they expanded to encompass a job board and extensive resources for media pros (writers, editors, designers, and more) in many metro areas (and for remote workers). You can view job listings and apply to jobs for free. If you’re looking for more help, you can register for AvantGuild at $89 for a 2-year membership: as a member, you'll get access to exclusive content like pitch guides and business how-tos, editorial calendars for magazines, easily accessible editor contact information for magazines, and more. Mediabistro also offers à la carte training courses on everything from the Fundamentals of PR to Social Media Marketing.
All Freelance Writing
Founded over 10 years ago, All Freelance Writing (formerly All Indie Writers) makes it easy to scan through job listings quickly based on pay ranges. It also makes it easy for those of us who love our RSS feeds – just paste their feed address into your favorite feed reader and you’ll get a constantly updated feed with the latest job additions. I also love how they break the pay ranges down into categories like “pro,” “semi-pro,” and “low pay.” It’s a reminder to value your work, charge what you’re worth, and take gigs that are commensurate with your experience.
My Best Tip for Navigating Writing Job Boards
No matter what board you’re visiting, there will be some jobs that are right for you and lots of jobs that aren’t right at all. When you enter the sea of job postings, it’s important to keep in mind one thing:
You shouldn’t apply for everything.
Here’s what I mean by that: It’s better to pick a few areas of interest instead of going into a job board expecting to apply for everything. You should also have a minimum rate you’ll be willing to accept.
Setting these kinds of parameters for yourself — topic and payment — will help you focus when there are so many options.
Profile Sites
These sites aren’t true “job boards” in the sense that gigs are posted and you send a pitch. Most of these sites are mostly run by digital marketing agencies that hire freelancers to produce content for their clients. Generally speaking, you’ll set up a profile, mark your specialties, and wait for assignments.
- ClearVoice
- Creative Circle
- Constant Content
- Contently
- Skyword
Freelance broker sites like Upwork are an option, but many beginner writers feel they can't compete with the cutthroat rates starting out. The upside with sticking it out is that many clients here are loyal. They want to work exclusively with one person they just like the security that comes with these platforms. You have to pay the bills first and foremost, however. If you can't find anything worth your time, move along.
Content Mills
These sites typically hire a large number of writers to pump out an endless supply of blog posts and articles for their clients. While these sites are often open to freelance writing beginners, the pay reflects that. They aren’t worth the time in the long run.
That being said, many newbies cut their teeth on these sites. It’s a way to learn the ropes of creating online content without a lot of commitment. If you choose to test the waters here, don’t stay long.
Keep moving on up.
Here are a few sites to check out if this is an avenue of interest to you as a beginner:
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