Top 3 Recommended Freelance Writing Sites To Try Out In 2022

 

The holidays are over, and we would love to spread the joy of the holidays into your new year with spontaneous ideas to get through the long 100,000 days of January and the whole of the year financially liberated with your writing skills.

As a writer or a creative mind interested in exploring the writing world, knowing the right path is all you need to channel your creativity. Personally, I have been a content writer since the quarantine. The journey hasn’t exactly been rosy, but it’s been worth every second and minute of the exposure. Here are my top 3 recommended freelance writing sites to hop on in 2022.

This is not in any way financial advice, and all recommendations are generally based on practical experience. This is not an affiliate article, and as such, my recommendations are purely based on my opinion.

1. Upwork

Upwork has certainly been my favorite freelance site ever. Upwork has a user-friendly interface, is easy to setup, and is accessible to not just content writers but to lots of fields of freelancing, which means whether you’re interested in content creation, graphics, virtual assistance, and lots more, Upwork has a place for you.

Pros

Well, just like every website, Upwork certainly has reasons why it ranks top in my recommendation.

• Secured Payment

Profit-making may not be the topmost priority of every freelancer, but it certainly is a serious consideration for a freelancer. Now this is the best part of Upwork for me, and I’m about to explain why. When a client begins to create a job on Upwork, he is asked to create a safe where he deposits the payment money for each job he is about to create. As a freelancer, Upwork shows you the employer’s budget for the work, and it’s left to you to create a bid with the amount your service would go for either as a milestone per project based on when you would complete each one or as a one-time payment at the end of project completion.

If, for any reason, you complete the job and the client approves of the work, you can request payment, which would be transferred to your own cash safe in a maximum of 3-5 days. This is pretty much the same thing with a lot of freelance sites, but the catch here is:

1. Upwork would pay you once the work is completed, whether or not the client is online.

2. Even if your client encounters issues with his or her account and, for any reason, your client's account is banned, it doesn’t affect your payment at all.

3. Upwork always puts freelancers first. This means that a client cannot opt out of payment at the completion of a project because he or she feels like it was not agreed upon by both parties.

• Freelancers Exposure

On Upwork, freelancers who have completed a certain number of projects successfully with credible reviews are ranked, which creates a certain increase in your exposure as a freelancer. Sometimes, you get invites to work on projects without having to bid because Upwork helps you market your account, thereby increasing your job rate.

• Verification of Clients and Freelancers

As a freelancer, having to work with a verified client gives you a certain amount of confidence. You would feel secure and comfortable working, and Upwork knows just how to boost freelance confidence. As a client, this verification becomes a thing of concern when you hire a new freelancer, and Upwork certainly knows about this too. As a new freelancer, after being awarded your first job on Upwork, you are required to go through some security procedures and even a virtual interview to verify the details and image on the government-issued token.

of identification. This makes work interaction on Upwork worth it, as you are sure your work is in safe hands.

• Client/freelancer communication

Nowadays, the need for video and voice interaction between clients and freelancers is on the rise, and Upwork has got you covered. It’s important to know that all business between clients and freelancers on Upwork is solely meant to exist on the site, and as such, the use of other media such as Skype, WhatsApp, and lots of other social sites is frowned upon. Luckily, all those required interactions can be taken care of in the message area of Upwork. Clients and freelancers can video call, share screens, voice call, and share work ideas with ease.

• Hourly tracking

Some jobs on Upwork are awarded hourly, and Upwork makes this convenient through their hourly tracking feature. That means for every hour you work on a client’s project, as long as your hourly tracker has been activated, every second gets counted, and you get paid for the labor accordingly.

Cons

• Buying connects

A connect is cash used in the form of a token that enables you to bid for jobs on Upwork. This may not be a disadvantage if you have quite a budget to begin freelancing or you’re lucky enough to get your first job with the free connects given when you create your account, but if you are like me, who had quite a rough time before landing my first job, you will have to spend a bit of money getting connects.

• Extreme Competition

With a website with such a secure and user-friendly interface, the user traffic is certainly going to be at its peak, and as such, the competition would be massive. When I first set up my account, it was extremely frustrating. I sent in quite a lot of proposals for almost a month before getting my first feedback. It was a sobering situation for me because I felt I was doing everything wrong, from my proposal to my profile, and it was quite depressing. But after my first shot at it, I was really glad I didn’t give up. Even after being verified, I still had hard times landing jobs most times, as over 20 to 50 proposals could already be out for your ideal job, which could be frustrating.

• The struggle of a newbie

Just like new sites, new freelancers have it roughest, as lots of employers prefer working with experienced freelancers. But this is not always the case, though there are usually some opportunities for fresher’s. Bear in mind that there are still thousands of fresher’s on Upwork hoping to get verified.

2. The Blue App: LinkedIn

For some people, LinkedIn is just like every other social media site, while for others, LinkedIn is the home for freelance opportunities, and I have had my fair share of opportunities here. If you’re looking for great job opportunities, LinkedIn can be the ideal app to use.

I opened my LinkedIn account in 2018. Then, I had no idea how to use the app or what to do there, and I certainly had no solid interest in freelance writing. In 2020, shortly after the quarantine, I made my first post in relation to my freelance pursuit, and I had quite a number of offers. I also made attempts to reach out to a number of bloggers. I got my first interview, a content creation job, and other freelance deals. Although using LinkedIn may require a lot of time because you will have to reach out to interested bloggers or blogs to make your interest known, it’s still one of my favourite sites.

Pros

• Job offers are always available, and most of them are remote freelance jobs.

• You can begin your own mini-blog on your own LinkedIn profile.

• You can create personal traffic, optimize your page, and even customize it to an extent.

• You get to see vacancy opportunities in freelancing.

• You get endorsements and recommendations.

• Communication between clients and freelancers is easy, as work can be done either on the site or off the site, sometimes even offline.

Cons

Unlike other proper freelance sites, LinkedIn doesn’t have any secured means of payment. Getting a job and getting paid for it is kind of a gamble. Sometimes it’s wise to opt for freelancers and clients with endorsements or recommendations. In most cases, drawing up a payment contract is most secure where payments are made in installments to avoid scams.

There’s no hourly tapping. Therefore, your overtime cannot be counted, and you get the flat rate agreed for each work.

3. Freelancer

Freelancer was the first freelance site I used in 2019. The interface at that time was friendly and quite easy to navigate. Although a lot of freelancers haven’t heard about it, it's one to get involved with, especially as a newbie. Freelancer can be accessed through your local browser or its app, which is available for free download on the Play Store.

Pros

• Works on a subscription

Just like mobile apps or websites where a subscription is required, freelancers offer free, plus, and even premium subscriptions. This means you could hop on a free subscription as a newbie, which gives you six bid opportunities per time. But if you’re not on a budget, you can opt for a higher subscription, which could give you more bids. Then, if for any reason you decide to opt out of freelancing or take a break, you could easily opt out of your subscription.

• Hourly tracking

Just like a lot of other freelance sites, Freelancer offers the opportunity to track your work hours to prevent wasted overtime. As long as you and your client agree to go on an hourly project or frame, you just have to activate your hourly tracker to get your funds.

• Communication and file sharing are made easy.

As of 2018, when I created my first account on Freelancer, I had issues sharing files on the site through my browser, but it didn’t take a while for the developers to upgrade. Freelancer has upgraded over the years, and video calls have also been made possible.

Cons

• Payments Security

It's not exactly a major issue, but it’s an issue I feel you need to be ready for before you open your account. Payments on freelancers are not automated like those on Upwork. As a freelancer, you must get approval from the client before your payment is released prior to a milestone's creation. In such a case, if after a job's completion your client doesn’t come online to approve the payment or fund release, the freelancer cannot pay you automatically. In any case, it’s best to work with payment in instalments or an initial deposit before beginning any work. It’s also important to understand that some clients and jobs can be scams, and the blame cannot be entirely on the freelancer.

• Competition

Although freelancer is not widely known, the competition is nowhere less than that of other freelance sites. Jobs are updated every minute on freelancer, and most of the time, the amount of bids can be extremely exhausting. I opened a client account a while back, and on the client end, in less than five minutes of job creation, I received not less than fifteen proposals. This opened my eyes to the reasons why I had challenges landing my first job.

However, freelancing comes with its own joy, and I certainly recommend these sites for anyone thinking of trying it out or going full time.