Career change advice >> Freelance copywriting service?

Total disatisfaction with my current employment has led me to thinking about the viability of working for myself.





Has anyone got an experiences to share, any pearls of wisdom etc on trying to make it as a freelance copywriter?





My professional experience so far has seen me collecet marketing qualifications and experience, as well as design and development of websites and various digital media (creative techie). I've written technical quides for experienced users, beginners learning materials, marketing materials. I havel also successfully optimised websites for search engines etc. I think I should be able to turn my hand to a wide variety of assignments.





Any info / suggestions welcome. Please be honest. Willing to start building a portfolio with non-paying assignments should anyone know of any.





Thanks :)Career change advice %26gt;%26gt; Freelance copywriting service?
Check out odesk.com and Craigslist. It is difficult at the start but you need to take what you can get and then use word of mouth from the clients you do get to recommend you. Having a good portfolio and some references will help you get started.Career change advice %26gt;%26gt; Freelance copywriting service?
Hi,





I do freelance copywriting and find all of my work through two specific websites: Elance and Guru. I started in late January, and since then have earned about $4,500. I know, that's peanuts, but hey, I'm home (which happens to be Ghana, by the way), and do the work whenever I want. I have several repeat buyers for whom I provide website content. I like it.





A word of advice, if you don't mind -- don't do pro bono work. Create a profile and portfolio on the sites and take a chance. Elance offers free membership (very limited activity though) and for $15 a month, basic membership (which I have).





If you decide to join up with Elance, I hope you'll give me a referral (Referral ID: 18S12). I'm listed under provider profile Barbzzz on both sites.





Good luck!





Barb
Forgive me if you've considered this already, but it's what I'd think about--for concrete perspective if nothing else--were I in your shoes: Contact an agency or few in your periphery.





Speak with the Creative Director and see if he or she is willing to look at some of your writing/sketches/ideas over lunch, just to get a feel for what their reaction is and/or what they'd suggest you look into.





Maybe they'd know of even a single reference who happens to need specifically what your strengths are.





I know this may seem trite but, next time you see an ad or piece of pr/promo work out there which you KNOW you could improve-upon, seek out the owner of the business or the people who did the creative, and show them what your take is.





Grab some generous ambition for yourself in so doing, and off you go to rewards untold!