If your goal is to become a writer for a major company, website, or brand, you should know that you’ll need a portfolio first.
A portfolio of published articles with your name included in the byline is your golden ticket. Most major companies won’t even look your way if you don’t have any previously published work.
Here are a few tips to consider if you’re interested in building a portfolio you can use to apply to high-paying writing positions in the future.
And remember… becoming a high-paid writer doesn’t always happen overnight. Building your portfolio could take time! It will be well worth it if you do.
Unpaid writing jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed
Look for volunteer writing jobs, unpaid writing jobs, and internship writing jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed. You won’t get paid for your work, but your name will be published on everything you contribute as a way of getting your portfolio started.
Find low-rate writing jobs on Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer
People who are looking for cheap writers will hire inexperienced writers for low rates on Upwork.com, Fiverr.com, and Freelancer.com.
You’ll find people who will pay you $5 bucks to write articles for their company. They’re not looking for super experienced and expensive writers. They’re just looking for cheap content.
Self-publish your articles on Medium, HubPages, and Substack
The next idea is self-publishing all your articles to a public domain that lets you self-publish for free. Medium.com, HubPages.com, and Substack.com are three options for you if this is the route you’d like to take.
Submit written articles to Listverse, Greatist, and LongReads
Another idea would be writing articles you’re proud of and submitting them to sites that have open submissions.
Listverse.com pays $100 for article submissions. Greatist.com pays $125 for 1,000 words pieces. Longreads.com pays $250.
The main concern with this is that you’ll invest time writing an article, but these sites will reject it. If they don’t accept your article, you won’t get paid for it.
If they do accept it though, you WILL get paid and you’ll have your name published. You can always take rejected articles and submit them elsewhere, or self-publish them.
Sell pre-written articles on ConstantContent and SwarmContent
Use ConstantContent or SwarmContent to sell your pre-written articles to buyers who need content for their websites.
You can write articles about any topic from relationships to fashion and anything in between.
The catch here is you can only post unpublished articles for sale and you have to wait around for buyers to purchase.
Also, you have to be careful about people buying your articles and using them without crediting you. Make it clear on your profile that you are not a ghostwriter and your name must be credited.
Apply to Valnet Bbrands
Applying to Valnet brands is a great way to get started. Valnet pays low rates of $15 to $25 per article, and the articles are pretty long.
Valnet owns ScreenRant, ComicBookResources, TheTalko, Collider, MovieWeb, GameRant, and many other sites.
They’ve been known to hire inexperienced writers who don’t have any previously published work. You can likely get your portfolio started with them.
Reach out to websites and offer free content
Last but not least, reach out to websites you’re interested in and offer to contribute a free article or two in exchange for exposure.
The worst that can happen is a site will ignore you or say “no,” but plenty of sites say “yes” if you’re willing to put yourself out there.
Once you have a portfolio of published articles with your name on them, it’s easier to apply to big-name companies that pay real money. Writing can very well be a six-figure career, but you need to have a portfolio first.
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