If you're new to working at home, Freelancer.com is by far the easiest way for you to make money and begin making a name for yourself. Naturally, since this blog is about online writing jobs, that's where I'd start if you meet the following criteria:

Can spell better than people you know

Have ok grammar (conversational writing is usually good such as in this article)

Have time to do the work

Have a paypal account or can get one.

Freelancer has a lot of proofreading and content writing jobs most of the time. It's simple to pick up something like "5 articles about Diablo 3" and get paid at least $25 for them. Now if you type fast and already know about Diablo 3, you can bang these out in about an hour or two. BAM you've already got much more than minimum wage and with some effort, 4 hours a day doing this is WAY BETTER than a 9 hour shift with 1 hour forced unpaid lunch at Taco Bell or some gas station.

Check out Freelancer.com to see what's going on. Prices aren't the best for beginners but if you have a blog up somewhere (like Blogger) that shows you can spell in English, you can find a good long-term client pretty quickly.

(I made 3 x $27.00 today in 3 hours and spent the rest of the day playing Skyrim)

GOOD LUCK

Business Cards Can Help You!

Business cards really help you stand out in your community. It sounds like something from the 1980's that people would do to look cool but it is really effective. I'm sure you have seen flyers, ads, or other printed material from your local businesses that are horribly done. What they need is a good writer like you.

The best way to start in this way is to sign up for everything in your community you can. This can be annoying so getting a P.O. Box is highly recommended. Then you browse through the flyers, brochures, and other business documents you receive.

You will find many things that you can probably improve upon easily. This is when you make your move. Take that flyer to the business that sends it out and point out the mistakes and tell them what you think they should do to improve it. This will generate more business for them so they will usually listen.

Nice looking, professional business cards can help move things along. Even if they don't use them right away, eventually something could happen and they will reach for your business cards first.

This approach isn't for everyone. Many people stick with online jobs just to avoid a face to face situation. That's perfectly fine too! You can e-mail companies just as easily.

Good luck.

I will look into Virtual Business Cards as well and post my findings here.

GetAFreelancer

Well, what can I say about GetAFreelancer?

GetAFreelancer is a site where people post projects and look for people to complete them. Sounds easy enough right?

You can either post a project on GetAFreelancer and have people bid on it or you can bid yourself on projects you find interesting.

A good example is:

Bob posts a project on GetAFreelancer that says "10 articles on real estate needed".
Helen, while browsing the GetAFreelancer job listings sees this posting and places a bid stating her experience and how much she will accept to do the job in full.

In theory, this is a good site with a lot to offer. Unfortunately, most of the people you will bid against for a job are not from the US so they will work for a lot less. If you are from the US, UK or Canada, or can write with perfect English spelling and grammar, you will win many jobs. It can be pretty frustrating competing with super low bids but the project posters know quality costs more.

GAF does have awesome jobs once in a while though and it shouldn't be overlooked. Even if you don't see anything now, sign up anyway and keep an eye on it. For writers, I'd stick to the Proofreading, SEO, and Copywriting areas. If you can make websites or flash games, you can make quite a bit of money there.

If you'd like to sign up with them and give them a go, here is my little referral link.

If you don't like the idea of being "referred" use this link instead. I don't mind!

If anything, browse their job boards and you may see something just right for you.

Coming Soon!

I will do my best to find tons of freelance writing sites and forums that are actually somewhat useful. There is a lot of crap out there and I will weed through it personally to give you only the best available.

Some sites that I don't necessarily like will be posted for those interested in that type of work! Check back often!