Best Posts 2016: The Top 10 Things Freelance Writers Need to Know

Every year, at the end of the year, I look back and discover the things freelance writers need to know most.

How can I tell? By looking at which posts here on the blog saw the most readers. Those are the topics freelance writers needed to learn about the most.

This year, there’s an interesting variety to the list of things freelance writers need to learn and want to know. As always, this provides a road map for me to what kinds of posts I should bring you more of next year!

To qualify for this list, by the way, the post has to have been published or re-published in 2016. Oldies-but-goodies that keep getting traffic for ages don’t count! But you can check out the sidebar for those.

Here are the 10 things you wanted to know about the most in 2016:

1. Earn Money Online: 92 Websites that Pay Writers 50+  By Jennifer Roland. Yes, markets that pay freelance writers well continues to be the most popular topic around here! Expect an updated list soon. (Be sure to read the comments in this one — there are more markets, and some markets stopped paying. Boo!)
2. 2016 Forecast — Top 12 Great-Paying Freelance Writing Gigs — Everybody wants to know the future, right? Now’s your chance to see how well I did predicting the best opportunities for writers this year. Watch for this year’s predictions coming in January.
3. The 3 Types of People Who Fail at Freelance Writing — I try to keep it upbeat, but sometimes telling it like it is, is one of those things freelance writers need to hear. This one is a primer on the habits freelance writers need to break, and the mentality that needs to change, to be a successful.
4. Get Paid for Traffic: The Scoop on Writing for Blasting News by Jennifer Roland. Investigative posts about working conditions and pay rates at emerging markets continue to be another popular topic. Be sure to read the comments on this one, too.
5. How One Query Letter Got $6,000 in Assignments — I’m glad I republished this early post, as it proved of high interest for things freelance writers need and want. Concrete examples of exactly how to pitch and get a ‘yes’ from great-paying prospects — we’ll keep ’em coming.
6. How to Become a Freelance Writer — Even If You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck by Molly Carter. Tales of breaking into this career — especially if you’re broke, or having to work a day job — continue to be useful to my readers who are still at the starting line.
7. Online Writing Jobs: The Inside Scoop on 17 Job Boards by Mandy Ellis. I keep trying to discourage freelance writers from relying on job boards. But since I know many won’t listen, this detailed roundup on the relative merits of the popular boards proved a helpful guide.
8. 12 Great Writer Websites That Magnetically Attract Clients — It seems that one of the biggest mysteries to freelance writers is, “What should I say on my writer website?” This fresh set of examples is a sequel to an older post. Best practices for mobile layout and how to display a portfolio keep changing, and it’s helpful to see examples of writers who’ve put together terrific sites.
9. How I Got Freelance Writing Jobs Worth $15,000 — in 7 Days Flat by Jedha Dening. Jedha has been a marketing star in my Freelance Writers Den 2X Income Accelerator (she’s graduated now, naturally). I was happy to get her to share some of her best strategies in a post. Knowing how to scare up a chunk of business fast is definitely a top desire of writers! Learning to market your business and do it consistently is one of the most important things freelance writers need to learn to move up and earn more.
10. Writing for a Content Mill for $400 a Post: This is Happening — Another look at an emerging market, in this case ClearVoice. New places to earn better blogging rates — isn’t everybody looking for that? Any time I can educate writers that they should charge more for blogging (especially with posts getting longer these days), I’m jumping on it.

There you have it! I was excited to see so many guest posts about things freelance writers need to be successful make the top 10 this year. Our standards for posts are high, and I’m happy to see it paying off in strong posts that made for compulsive reading for freelance writers this year.

What’s your writing plan for 2017? If fears are holding you back from earning, check out my Write Big Fear-Busting E-Course — you’ve got a chance to catch it with support, one time only, in January.

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