How to be a Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines

How to be A Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines

Whether as a side hustle or your primary bread and butter, being a freelance content writer in the Philippines is an excellent stay-at-home career. Contrary to popular belief, the earning potential is quite hefty. In some cases, one may earn more than the average monthly salary of professionals — but that may be getting ahead of ourselves.

If you want to be a freelance content writer in the Philippines, but don’t know where or how to begin, keep reading!

What is the work of a Content Writer in the Philippines?

Freelance content writing may either be a part-time or a full-time career choice for people who wish to make money using their writing abilities.

Being a freelancer means that you’re a free agent. You neither write solely for a company nor are you employed specifically by anyone. Primarily, the writing gigs you get are the product of your pitch or reach out to people looking for writers.

That said, you have full control of your time, and get paid by your own rules. Plus, you can also work on multiple projects at a given time (you know, for more greens).

As a content writer, your main goal is to deliver high-quality content to your client. No matter the niche, you’ll need to sound like an authority on the topic, so in-depth research is imperative. Google is your best friend!

And you’ll be working on various writing projects too, not limited to blog posts. Here are some writing gigs I’ve tried and done before, and pretty much what every freelance content writer in the Philippines has done too:

Blogging
Ghostwriting (you don’t get to keep the by-line)
Staff writing (often for known online publications)
Technical writing
Creating résumé
Writing landing pages or service pages
Writing an ebook
Writing a thesis or a research paper

How to be A Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines?

You’ve read above what freelance writers do, still up for the challenge? If so, here are some actionable tips for you!

1. Build Your Portfolio

You might’ve encountered this word before and wondered, “Is that a photo collage or something?”

No. A portfolio is an actual compilation of materials that exemplify your chops as a writer. You want a portfolio that represents you and your personal brand.

For example, you’re keen to focus on the finance niche. And you have the knack for simplifying complex financial concepts into easily digestible content for non-finance people. The best way to create your portfolio is to include your best finance-related articles in a Google Drive folder.

Reminder: Don’t insert all the articles you’ve ever created in the folder. Only the best, niche-relevant ones, produced no more than two years ago.

A blog can be a part of your portfolio too. In fact, this blog of mine is what I show to my clients.

Simply send a link to redirect a client to your blog, or a blog post you’ve written where you got to keep the by-line.

2. Read a lot, and I mean a lot!

Not that much of a reader? Then that’s gonna be one tough pill to swallow. Freelance writing involves intensive and extensive reading if you want to thrive in this career. First of all, reading enhances your grammar and comprehension. And as I’ve mentioned above, you need to be an authority in the topic you’re writing.

I remember writing about solar panels before, without any prior knowledge of how it works. I spent the whole afternoon understanding volts, watts, amps, installation, and all processes related to solar panels. If you were in my position, you would’ve too.

3. Learn more skills

There is more to writing than just blurting words on a page. It helps if you’re already a talented writer, but you’ll need more than that in this competitive career. Here’s a list of other skills to reinforce your freelance writing arsenal:

Search Engine Optimization. Short for SEO. This is where your article will compete with a vast collection of articles from Google, so you’ll need this skill to rise to the top of results pages.
Proofreading and editing. Give your clients ready to publish articles.
Social media content creation. You might need to make all sorts of content for social media.
Content management. Familiarization with content management systems like WordPress is a must.
Research. Again, be an authority.
Copywriting. Where you’ll be writing compelling copy across all marketing channels like website copy, blog posts, video scripts, digital and print ads, email campaigns, and packaging.

4. Put yourself out there

No one will hire you if you don’t pitch yourself to clients. As much as you can, be as active to check out sites where you can apply for work. If you want to learn how to effectively promote your services, we’ve written an ultimate guide about the 20 Ways to Promote & Market Your Business in the Philippines. Nonetheless, here are some websites that I’ve personally tried in the past, and are great places to start for a freelance content writer in the Philippines.

199Jobs.com. Expect entry-level income on this website, great for beginners.
Onlinejobs.ph. You might land a long-term client here!
Raket.ph. Post yourself as a freelancer and someone might hit you up.
UpWork.com. A bit more competitive, but with great pay!
Fiverr.com. The global, more competitive version of raket.ph.

How much does a content writer make in the Philippines?

There are tons of factors at play here, like experience, writing skills, and in some cases, how hard you negotiate.

If you don’t have the first two, then expect lower income for your writing. You will fully get your bearings on how the industry works when you start writing so I suggest getting a few gigs from 199jobs.

Starting with ₱0.50 per word is good. And once you feel you’re ready for higher rates, then negotiate with your future clients. If you perform as hard as you negotiate, then you may fish clients that pay ₱2.00-₱4.00 per word.

The point is, it’s okay to start small and build yourself from the ground up.

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Final thoughts about being A Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines

Being a freelance content writer in the Philippines is an awesome career. But it’s far from easy. There are a ton of things you must learn first before you can thrive in the industry. Nonetheless, the money is great, the learning along the way can be useful too, and you’ll surely meet awesome people. All it takes is a bit of effort and a leap of faith.

How to be a Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines