It’s not exactly a secret that one of the easiest places to find freelance blogging gigs is on popular industry job boards.
That said, why is it that some people seem to luck out and secure the “cream of the crop” jobs, while others apply time and time again without seeing any results?
In fact, it might not be your skills that are preventing you from getting hired. If you’re making any of the following mistakes, your odds of gaining new clients go down significantly – so get your act together ASAP!
Mistake #1: Not following instructions given in the listing
I’ve been working online since 2007 and in that time, I’ve both built a freelance writing career finding jobs on freelance job boards and used these resources myself to hire writers for personal and corporate projects.
So as somebody who’s seen both sides of the job board coin, let me tell you that one of the most frustrating things you can do is to not follow instructions that are explicitly stated in the listing.
Often, when I post a job, I’m looking for somebody with specific experience – which is why I’ll ask applicants to describe their past work on the subject or to share examples highlighting their work in a certain way. And yet, at least half of the responses I receive come from writers who have copied and pasted a template response into the message.
Yes, having stock responses makes it easy to apply for more jobs in less time – but you aren’t likely to get any jobs at all if you frustrate the person doing the hiring. If a listing asks you to provide some specific information or take some certain action, do it – no ifs, ands or buts.
Mistake #2: Not matching your tone to the listing or the client’s website
Let’s say you’re applying for a freelance gig with a legal firm you found on your favorite job board. I’m hoping you wouldn’t start your application with, “Whaddup, legal dawg?” but I’ve seen stranger things happen.
So, let’s kick this mistake to the curb once and for all.
Freelance writers need to be able to handle drafting content using a wide variety of tones and voices. Your first chance to show off your ability to do so comes in your job listing response, so make it a habit to check the hiring company’s website and match the tone of your application to what you find on their pages.
Mistake #3 – Not including relevant samples with your query
If you take nothing else from this article, make it a point to remember that the people posting writing gigs on freelance job boards can receive hundreds upon hundreds of responses to their listings.
As a result, it’s up to you to distinguish yourself and show these hiring agents that you’re the right person for the job!
One of the easiest ways to do this is to include blog post samples with your response letter that are as closely targeted to the job you’re applying for as possible.
Say, for example, that you’re applying for a job writing mobile app reviews for a tech blog. In this case, sending samples from your past work in the personal finance niche might show off your writing abilities, but it still forces the reviewer to make the mental leap of determining whether or not your style will translate to this second niche. And again, the fewer mental leaps that hiring agents need to make, the better your chances of securing job board gigs will be!
If you don’t have relevant samples in the niche you’re applying to, you can always write up a quick sample article to send along (though doing so for every job you apply to could become tedious).
If you’d rather not take this extra step, consider adding a statement to your response message that spells out any past experience you have with the new field and explains how well your writing style will translate. Doing so will take the guesswork out of matching things up on the part of the reviewer.
Mistake #4 – Addressing your query generically
This one goes back to traditional job seeking advice, so you probably already know that it’s best to address all of your application materials to an actual person – rather than to a generic, “To Whom It May Concern” title.
To do this consistently, you may need to do a little digging, as job board hiring agents don’t always include their full names on their posts.
But I’ve always found that the extra time needed to either search the hiring company’s website for a contact name or reach out to company representatives for this information is time well spent, as it lets me form a more personal connection with application reviewers right off the bat.
Oh – and can we all agree to stop addressing responses with “Dear Sir”?
Maybe it’s a petty, small thing, but as a lady who does an awful lot of writer hiring, it’s a huge turnoff!
Mistake #5 – Using unprofessional contact information
Let’s just nip this one in the bud…
If your application comes from an email address like “sweetbaby69@yahoo.com” or “highman420@gmail.com,” I’m deleting your response without reading it.
If you want to be taken seriously as a professional blogger, step up and register for your own writer’s website URL. Then, use a customized, domain-specific email address like “sarah@arborbusinesswriting.com” to send your job board response messages.
Building a website is cheap and easy to do these days, so there’s no reason not to take this important business step.
Mistake #6 – Not applying right away
Usually, when people post to job boards to hire writers, they do so because they need help – and they needed it yesterday.
I’m totally guilty of this, but it’s often difficult to plan ahead and source writers before you need them. As a result, if I get a great response within the first hour or two of my listing going live, I’m not going to sit around and wait to see who else replies. I’m going to hire that writer so that I can get back on track as quickly as possible!
If you see a hot job listing, don’t wait to apply. Make it a priority to check in to your favorite boards at least once a day and then drop everything (as much as possible) to respond to the gigs you really want.
Sure, you might encounter listings that won’t hire until a few weeks later, but if you catch a hiring agent who’s pressed for time, you’ll set yourself up to be in the right place at the right time by applying right away.
Mistake #7 – Not demonstrating your enthusiasm for the job
Finally, remember that people want to work with the people who want to work with them! It’s human nature to gravitate towards those who demonstrate interest and excitement for our projects, so make it a point to state exactly why you’re interested in a particular job in your response letter.
You don’t have to go over the top here, but you should make it a point to let the reviewer know what exactly about the position interests you and how specifically you plan to help the hiring agent. As an example, try something like this:
[Your topic] has always been something that’s fascinated me, and I’m sure I could put my past experience and knowledge of the subject into practice in articles that will help your blog to attract even more highly-engaged visitors.”
Simple, sweet, to-the-point and guaranteed to make your application stand out from the tons of more generic responses the listing reviewer will receive. Give it a try today and see if your application success rate doesn’t immediately improve!
Obviously, these are just my experiences – so your mileage may vary. However, they’re mistakes I’ve encountered repeatedly when hiring out thousands of dollars’ worth of paid writing work, and avoiding them has helped me to secure as much as $5,000 a month in job board work.
I’m guessing there’s at least one thing in this list that you can use to improve your own job board success.
Which mistake is your worst habit? Can you think of any other job board mistakes to avoid?
Sarah, all of these were fantastic tips. The first thing I do when looking for work online is to take the time to carefully research the company. I’ve found that LinkedIn is a wonderful resource for quickly discovering who to address a pitch to.
Savannah – researching the companies you want to work for is so huge and LinkedIn is a great tool for doing so. There’s nothing better than showing clients how excited you are about working with them!
Good post Sarah
Every newbie freelancer who reads this post should copy the headers into a spreadsheet or checklist before they submit their applications.
Points 1-5 are schoolboy (or girl) errors but sometimes we can forget.
But points 3, 6 and 7 make the difference between that 80% of applications being tossed and the final 10-20% that are considered.
If you take care of point 7 on enthusiasm you are well in the running for the job. The odds stacked well in your favour (favor if you’re American) – with examples of previous, relevant work (point 3) . Even if you don’t get the gig – you’ll probably get the next one.
Which leads to…
Useful tip: if you don’t get the gig – you could get a friendly “sorry but we’ll keep you in mind” type response.
This is when you add them to your notebook and contact them in a months time – reminding them that they probably need some work done on x, y, z. Oh, and that you can squeeze them into your busy schedule (they don’t know you’ve been eating rice and beans all that time:)
Sophie – please stop blogging, I keep reading it when I should be writing instead:)
Jamie
Jamie, that’s the nicest reason anyone’s ever given me to shut up. 😀
Not that I plan to. This weekend: Star Wars analogies and geeky blogging lessons with my next guest!
Good stuff, looking forward to the learning – and doing:)
Oooh – thanks! Following up with projects that didn’t turn out is a great point. There are plenty of times when the writer a client chooses doesn’t work out for some reason and if your follow-up message comes at the right moment, you could wind up being hired before the job ever goes up on the boards again.
Sorry, but it’s misleading to call people you find on a job board “clients.” That’s putting lipstick on a pig. They’re just trolling for suckers to exploit. Please, do yourselves a favor and find real clients the old fashioned way, not by using these bottom feeder “job” boards.
Sorry, but it’s trolling to call other people’s clients “lipstick on a pig”. This is 2013, so why stick to the old fashioned way? Tons of reputable companies use job boards and broker sites to find a freelance when they need one. I don’t feel exploited when I’m making $100 to $200 per hour working for well-known brands, no matter where I found them! 🙂
It might be casually said but I learned something. So job boards are ok as long as the client is reputable. I guess, it’s within the writer’s control on the issue of where to find credible clients. Well, when I was younger, I encountered a client in a low end food house. Didn’t expect to find a future client there.(“,) And he was a good one too!
Haha – in the past, I’ve used job boards to find long-term contracts with two reputable marketing agencies paying $2,000-3,000/month, ghost blogging work with one of the top names in my industry and a website contract that pays me $250 for a 500-word post.
I’m sorry if job boards haven’t worked out for you, but if that’s lipstick on a pig, I’ll take another side of bacon 🙂
I agree – there are plenty of legitimate job boards out there. I got my blogging client from ProBlogger.
Ugh, Sarah! You got me! The timeliness factor is SOOOO huge. I feel like getting up right now and applying for saved jobs. I also recommend tracking ones you apply for and follow up if you haven’t heard back and it’s been a month.
Yes, yes, yes – do it now! Clients want you to start right away, so stop saving jobs and start applying 🙂
Mistake #6 is my problem – big time! In fact, I just saw a job posting today that looked pretty interesting and I said, “Oh, I’ll get to that later…” But guess what? I say that SO MANY times and NEVER get back to that(those) job posting(s). Hmm…And I wonder why I don’t have more jobs/money coming in? I think I’ll go back and apply for that job! 🙂
Yes – go for it! Applying quickly does both you and the hiring agent a favor 🙂
I’m not a newbie to writing, but I am to moving into the Freelance arena. I really appreciate the advice and encouragement from this article, and the community that many of your are a part of.
Welcome to the freelancing world! Please feel free to shoot me an email if there’s ever anything I can help with 🙂
LOVE all this, Sarah! I often wondered about the “write as soon as possible after the posting” aspect, as I usually try to get to some of those listings within 2-3 days. If I go past a week, I’m less inclined to spend my time writing them because I assume they have already gotten too many applicants for them to care to look at mine (even if it is an AWESOME application).
Quick thought for freelance bloggers out there who don’t like the job boards: don’t just stick to the everyday ones you can Google. Remember that places like LinkedIn and Gorkana require companies to pay to post blogging job ads, and these are far less utilized by freelancers than they should. Just today I made a list of 3-5 blogging jobs I found on LinkedIn I want to apply to that look legitimate (one’s even for General Mills!).
Great point, Bree! I’m definitely partial to the Problogger Job Board, but it can get pretty competitive. Gorkhana and LinkedIn are other great resources that writers should be using on a regular basis.
Good luck with the job applications 🙂
I’m the managing editor for a couple of business blogs and was just on the other side of this, hiring on behalf of a client. I saw all of these mistakes and more besides. One person actually called the company by the wrong name. (You can so tell when they copy/paste.) I know I must have made all of these rookie mistakes in the past and now I’m paying by having to slog through all these submissions. On the other hand, there were plenty of good ones. And one of the best ones did everything right except for have a professional email address. I still considered her because the rest of your application was so awesome. So I suppose here is hope!
Pretty amazing what you see, isn’t it? 🙂 Thank goodness the bad applications make the good ones shine so much brighter!
My worst is definitely not including samples. Most of the time I do include them, but sometimes I am just lazy and click send without digging through for a relevant sample. I’m especially bad about this when it comes to topics that I have written for previously, but lost the saved samples in previous computer upgrades (I’ve been going through computers every six months for the last few years and I’ve lost a lot of data in that time). Often the samples till exist in email attachments, websites and job boards, but I’m not always willing to spend the time and spoons to dig them out. Thanks for the reminder that it is always important to include those samples – otherwise I might as well not apply.
It can definitely be time-consuming to include targeted samples, but it gets easier once you’ve done it a few times and can pull from the same lists.
But as somebody who’s done the hiring process, I can tell you that having niche-specific examples makes it so much easier to figure out if you’ll be a good fit for my needs. I’d start by pulling samples for the jobs that you *really* want – once you have a solid base to choose from, you can always add them to more applications in the future.
Put your samples on your website. I have 3 sections of my portfolio for different types of projects. I send a link to the main portfolio page and say “Check out the ___ section of my portfolio.” The samples are always easy to get to, and I’m not overloading anyone’s inbox with attachments.
Wow! Really a great post and I’m so guilty of several of these! I check out job boards, but not as nearly as much as I should. Right now, I’m working my angle on LinkedIn to find more clients. That’s where I’ve been fortunate so far. I find that no matter where you find your clients, it’s a heck of a lot better than slaving away at content mills. Thanks again!
Haha – yep, pretty much anything is better than the content mills! Glad to hear you’re seeing success with LinkedIn 🙂
Most of these are traditional Job Seeking advice. I love that you throw that right up front. It’s amazing how many forget general sense behind a keyboard!
#2 – I never really thought about matching a client’s tone, but that’s a super idea for tweaking submission requests.
#6 – I take this one little step forward and schedule board checking / responding daily. It’s on my daily to-do’s. Sometimes nothing is interesting, and I’m left with an extra 30-40 minutes of “me” time.
Thanks for taking the time to write this up!
-Stu
Exactly – it’s astonishing how many people forget basic application etiquette just because you’re submitting an email response instead of a paper resume! It really doesn’t take that much more time to put together a great response than to fire off some template BS.
That said, I worked a few years in HR and can say with complete confidence that plenty of traditional job-seekers forget these basics as well… 🙂
Thanks for this post. I just got my first assignment on a job board, and it must have helped that I added related work samples to my pitch. That was the first time I’d done that (I didn’t see that function before–oops!). I’ve also set up an alert to check that job board daily, in the afternoon. Before, I would get an email alert from them every morning, but by then, the jobs were 12 hours old.
Congrats on the first assignment! Glad to hear that adding samples was helpful for you and that you’ve taken steps to be even more proactive about applications in the future 🙂
A perfect list, I must say. I can only add from my own experience.
I search for freelancers to help me with my multitude of creative ideas, so I routinely sort through dozens of applications from fellow writers, illustrators, editors and so on.
I must say my biggest difficulty is deciding between several awesome candidates… really a torture. Sometimes I can’t decide on the info alone, and just go with my intuition. I believe the level of professionalism out there is very high.
On the weird side, I had an freelancer contact me the other day whose application was a bitter critique of my job post. She expressed displeasure at the tone of my post, told me off for a joke I attempted, and ended up ordering me to hire her because she was superior to others. Ho-hum.
Hahaha – that’s incredible 🙂 I wonder if the tactic of tearing down the person who’s trying to hire you ever actually works when it comes to getting jobs?
Glad to hear that you’ve had such great luck hiring freelancers!
But was she ‘on the money’ with her critique albeit somewhat rude? I noted more than one error in a job advertisement I recently applied for and upon reading up on the company’s website, I found it, also, to be littered with errors. One of the criteria sought from an applicant was ‘attention to detail.’ I found that quietly amusing and naturally thought I could use my discovery to cover that point. The biggest decision was to do so or not. Would I be seen as a smart arse and not get the job or would it be taken in the spirit that I intended ie. save them from further professional embarrassment and equally, make me stand out from the other applicants? I secured an interview based only on my CV and still being undecided on what to do, I printed out the job advertisement, highlighted the errors and kept it in my folder for a possible spontaneous action during my meeting. I ended up spilling but in a purely professional way..I offered the corrections of the job advertisement but downplayed the website errors not wanting to spend anymore interviewing time on it. At the end of the meeting I was invited to make further contact about the job, myself being suitable for the role and the website errors. All done and sent in, I now await a callback…or not!
I think critiquing a job board listing is an incredibly delicate situation. I tend to err on the side of, “Obviously they know they need help, since they’re hiring writers.” If you handled it in a professional way, that’s great and I hope that it reflects positively on you when it comes to getting the job.
When I’m the one doing the hiring, I tend to prefer candidates who focus on what we can accomplish in the future – instead of being nit-picky about past mistakes. It might not be fair, but I’ve seen situations where writers who do this come across as humorless grammar nazis (basically, people I’d never want to work with).
Sarah; Timely information as I am spreading my wings and trying to court the blogging sector. (Sorry my email fit into the pitfalls you mentioned of email addresses 🙂 With that said, what is the best approach to gaining the mail with your website? I am working on my site now and its WordPress, so does it come with their platform?
Thanks again.
No worries – I don’t even follow all of my rules all the time 🙂
As for getting a professional email address, if you’re running a self-hosted WordPress blog (rather than a free site on WordPress.com), you should be able to log in to your hosting dashboard and find an icon that allows you to set up email aliases and forward them to your current accounts (if necessary). Your hosting company’s help section should also have documentation on how to do this.
Hope this helps!
Great list! I’d also add “not proofreading.”
Two things can cause the most mistakes: 1) hurrying to respond; or 2) being so focused on editing that words are left out/in as you move things around.
Taking an extra 5 minutes to carefully proofread can make all the difference.
Oh, dude – I can’t believe I forgot that!
Yes, x 100. Proofread, double check and then check once more – there are very few things that turn hiring agents off more than glaring spelling or grammatical errors.
Thanks for the tip 🙂
Applying quickly is key. I apply as soon as I see the job. Since I only apply for a job I’m enthusiastic about, it comes through in the letter. The point about matching tone is important — people forget it. I create a fresh cover letter for each job, even if some of the information (such as my bio paragraph) is pretty standard.
Something I avoid doing, though, is writing project-specific samples for free. I’m happy to include relevant samples, but I’m not going to do a portion of the project for free, be told I didn’t get the gig, and then discover what I wrote under a different banner somewhere on the web.
Not that you’re advocating that at all in your post, but I think it’s important to emphasize that the relevant samples are in your portfolio (or, if this is a stretch job, created as samples), but NOT specific to the project you’re pitching until you’re on contract. Does that make sense? 😉
Great distinction, Devon. When I say to share relevant samples, I mean ones that are already in your portfolio that you’ve already written (just to double clarify). Writing new samples for free per the request of the job listing is an easy way to get ripped off.
Thanks for the tip!
I think all the points you mentioned are extemely valid but a balance must be applied while following them. For example you must show your interest or passion for the job but it must not look as if you are dying for it. Secondly your approach must show if you find that job it’s wonderful otherwise it’s not the end of the world. You have make your hirer believe that you always try to give your best and whatever you give perfectly match with the stuff your hirer want.
A typically unique post after a long long time I found that refresh my mind about how to be hired on your own terms and conditions. Great job
Definitely agree. Being obviously excited about a job is one thing – being desperate is another. Nobody wants to read job board responses from writers who whine about how they’re one paycheck away from bankruptcy!
Hey Sarah,
Thanks for posting the blog. Really important things that we don’t pay attention to, or even know. It is helpful to know about freelancing instructions for the freelancers seeking for job opportunities. I do believe in the things you explained. Keep posting.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Cleta!
Thanks for commenting.
This was a great post. Luckily, I think I’ve avoided these mistakes while trying to secure jobs, but wish I would have run into this right when I was starting. It would have put my confidence factor up a little bit initially. Thanks for the these tips!
Sometimes knowing what not to do DOES end up confirming what you’re doing right. Funny how that works, huh? 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Camika!
I’m a newbie blogger from Jamaica, but I have a journalism background. I notice that many hirers on job boards do not want anyone who do not reside in the US. Have any advice for a Jamaican freelance writer on how to break into the US market or know of some boards that do use international writers?
Hi, Karen!
From my experience, if your writing is good enough–and you really persevere even in the face of multiple rejections–you can get hired pretty much anywhere!
For instance, I’m based in California, but Sophie (the owner of Be A Freelance Blogger) is in the UK! I’ve also worked for people in New Zealand and Guatemala and Spain.
Try looking for telecommute opportunities.
Best of luck!!
Most of these tips are great, but I still refuse to give up my Gmail address. If beth.parker.writes@gmail.com is a turnoff, that’s a chance I’m willing to take. So far, I haven’t found an e-mail management program I like. And the webmail that comes with my hosting account is about 100 times worse. Using Gmail doesn’t mean I’m too cheap to buy a domain and pay for hosting. I have about 30 websites, and I always include a link to my writer website in my pitch. If you can point me to an e-mail program that can manage 30 custom e-mails, make it easy to send or reply to an e-mail using whichever one I want, and handle spam as well as Gmail, then I’ll reconsider.
I still use my Gmail as the dashboard to manage all my other email addresses, and I share that email address with most of my clients because so many of them use Google Hangouts or Google Drive.
There are definitely levels of professionalism with Gmail addresses. If your email handle were something like coolcat79, I’d think twice about hiring you because it only takes a moment to set up a second email account for business. But beth.parker.writes@gmail.com would be OK by me!
I didn’t know you could use Gmail to manage other e-mail addresses. I am going to have to look into that.
Hi Sarah. Enjoyed visiting your post. For a new writer, I’ve learned alot reading each site I visit. Until I understand a little more about what I am doing and what resources are at my disposable. For the time being Google and following Twitter is good. Improving skills and using other resources as needed, will give me a better edge in being accepted by as many clients interested in hiring me!
Hi Sarah,
Wonderfully helpful article. Thank you so very much.
Great inspiration! Thank you! Off to improve my email address on my website…
Hi Sarah,
I am just a month old with writing and just a couple of weeks old with freelance jobs on a job board. I am already guilty of mistake # 1- not following the client’s instructions to the T. I am getting better at it though.
I work up a sweat to meet deadlines, though.
Thanks for the above post.