- 1). Learn the basics. If you’ve never written for money before, look into taking a class or talking to a professional freelance writer to learn what goes into a successful article. If you’re doing this on your own, you can get a book to teach you the ropes or practice writing a piece by imitating articles in the magazines you read.
- 2). Make a list of your areas of expertise, hobbies and past experiences. If you have a degree on a certain area, you may look into writing something related to that topic. That’s especially important if you have no previous writing experience.
- 3). Research the market. You can do that by studying the magazine you want to break into and making a list of the different sections of it (front matter, departments, long pieces), the type of articles it publishes and the tone and style of the content. You can also subscribe to Writer’s Market or buy their annual book, which contains an extensive listing of magazines and newsletters looking for freelancers.
- 4). Consider writing an e-book. If you have expert knowledge in a specific topic, try putting it together into a series a comprehensive pieces and selling it as an e-book. You don’t need any special software to get you started and you can always sell the e-book through affiliate programs or by offering it as a download on your own blog or Web site.
- 5). Write for the Web. If you want quick turnarounds, short articles and quick pay, writing for online markets is your best bet. Whether you write articles or create content for Web sites as a ghostwriter, this is a good way to get started if you have no other writing credits.
- 6). Look for writing jobs on boards and forums such as OnlineWritingJobs.com and Sunoasis (see Resources below). Both places post daily opportunities available to freelancers, many of which require little to no experience.
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