Technical Content Writer Freelance – Kickstart Your Career

Are you ready to start your freelance technical content writer career? Are you tired of working for a company that takes up too much of your time, energy, and focus? If the answer to these questions is yes, what are you waiting for? Start your career as a freelance technical content writer today by following this guide!

Why Should I Consider Becoming a Technical Content Writer Freelance?

While there are plenty of full-time freelance technical writing jobs online, they often require experience or an advanced degree. Since freelance technical content writers have much more freedom when choosing clients and projects, you can get your feet wet by working on part-time gigs while pursuing another career. Becoming a freelance technical writer is also appealing because it gives you a chance to do what you’re passionate about and make money! Here’s what to do to get started as a freelancer.

The very first step is to ensure that your abilities are up to standard. You will be competing with other highly skilled writers, so if you want to stand out from the crowd, don’t just write for practice; do it for money!

There are many freelance platforms where you can sign up and offer your services, but Upwork, formerly oDesk, is one of my favourites because I find their system very easy to use.

The only downside with Upwork is that they take 20% commission from each project, so be sure that you know how much each job pays before agreeing to take it on.

What Would You Need to Be a Freelance Technical Content Writer?

The technical knowledge you require are determined by your position. If you’re working on marketing content, basic HTML and CSS knowledge will suffice while focusing on developer documentation; you’ll probably want some Python under your belt. But no matter what your job description looks like, most technical content writers freelance agree that you can make it work even if you don’t have an extensive background in tech. They say being able to quickly learn new technologies makes a good technical writer great at their job.

Where Can I Get Additional Knowledge in This Field?

This is one of those situations where you need to bring together all your previous experience, hobbies, and life in general. If you want to do what you love for work, then it makes sense that you’ll put your heart into every piece of writing. If you don’t know what kind of freelance technical content writing is or if you aren’t even sure if it would be a good fit for you, just read some articles on our website and learn everything about it. You will easily get inspired with passion and drive once you see all these new possibilities in front of your eyes. So why not use what you know already? Start blogging about it! You can build up your portfolio and show potential clients that you are a true expert in your field. It doesn’t matter if they won’t pay you right away; we all start somewhere!

How Much Does it Cost to Start This Job?

In addition to the freelance technical writer’s salary, you also need to consider expenses such as business cards, logos, insurance, travel, and marketing costs. These are all typically more expensive than they seem at first glance. However, if you’re new on your feet and starting from scratch, it might be worthwhile to invest in a professional logo. It can cost anywhere from $300-$1000 for basic business stationery alone, not including travel expenses for conferences and marketing materials like company brochures or an online portfolio.

Can I make enough money with tech writing to retire early?

The short answer is yes! Many freelance writers make a full-time living by writing technology blogs, white papers, and eBooks. A freelance technical writing job online pays well; you can earn an average of $60–$70 per hour if you get one of those highly coveted positions with Intel or Hewlett Packard. Before we dig into how much money you can make as a tech writer, let’s first address whether it’s possible to quit your day job early. And if so, how much do you need for a freelance technical writer’s hourly rate before jumping ship? It all depends on your annual salary and your total expenses each year.

The Top 3 Benefits of Being a Technical Content Writer Freelance

You can pick your niche! Technical content writers freelance can find opportunities that suit their areas of expertise and passions. This leads to more focused projects, more profitable paychecks, and less time bidding on gigs outside your wheelhouse.

1. Time is money! As an independent writer, you set your hours. No boss tells you when you have to get in or out of work each day. As long as you hit deadlines, keep clients happy, and stay organized, which we’ll cover later, it’s easy to scale content creation into a full-time job at your own pace, and let’s be honest: setting your schedule is pretty sweet.
2. Start making your own decisions! Nobody needs to know your company more efficient than you. Being an independent tech content writer means no one else decides what types of jobs to take, how much to charge for services, and how much time to spend working on different projects.
3. It is entirely up to you to make these choices in life. And with full control over your future career comes special obligation as well as tremendous liberty. It’s up to you to decide which direction you want to go, but consider these three factors before making any big moves.

Challenges and Solutions

Because you’re looking to become a technical content writer freelance, it’s unlikely that you have any clients lined up when you start. This means that your first challenge is going to be getting some attention. The good news is that you already have an audience in place with your current and future employers! Contact them about continuing with your services by becoming your new business partner. They can market and sell your services for you until you get established in your field. Even if they don’t want to work with you, they may know other companies that need similar work done; knowing how busy hiring managers are, offering referrals is an excellent way of getting their attention!