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Different Content Writing Career Options

  • Writer: Tarasekhar Padhy
    Tarasekhar Padhy
  • Mar 28
  • 4 min read

Updated: Apr 1

Just like in software development or coding, there are plenty of flavors in content writing. You can choose one or more fields based on your interests and capabilities. The first step toward making the right selection is learning about different content writing roles.


There are two primary methods of classification:

  1. Based on employment type

  2. Based on content type


In this chapter, I’ve given a brief rundown of various content writing roles based on the above two classification methods.


Content Writing Career Options Based on Employment Type


You can be a freelancer, a professional writer, or a content creator.


1. Freelance Writing Career


This is a great option for absolute beginners who have no experience in the field. The barrier to entry is quite low. For most occasions, you just need to provide a sample, complete an assignment, or show a previously published article.


If you know the basics of content writing and SEO (covered in the next section of this book), you should be able to land a decent freelancing gig. 


Usually, you’ll work with a middleman who communicates with the client. As you can imagine, they will take a cut out of your payment for their managerial role. Over time, if you can build a good relationship with these folks, you can surely make more.


Try to go for long-form content requirements, such as blog posts and articles, rather than short snippets, like social media posts, especially if you are paid per word. The latter will always give you a lower ROI for your time.


You can look for freelancing gigs on LinkedIn and other job portals. I’d advise against gig work sites like Upwork because it’s a nightmare to just get your profile popping.


2. Professional Content Writer


I have been a professional writer at a leading content marketing agency for over four years, and it’s the best of all three options. You can also take up a content writing role in a company, although it’s slightly different than the agency job.


When you work at an agency, you have the opportunity to write a variety of articles for clients across industries. You’ll be exposed to multiple audiences and writing styles — essential to improve your overall skillset.


A content writing job at a company has its perks too because you’ll be doing some digital marketing as well. This was my first ever job. Although I wrote less on a daily basis, I created different kinds of content, such as social media posts, eBooks, and articles.


To put it simply, this job has many advantages. First, you will always improve, either by the breadth of your skills or the scope of what you already know, provided you want to get better over time.


And more importantly, the workload is predictable and comes with a stable paycheck. Of course, it is demanding in the sense that you must display results. No company or agency will pay you if your articles don’t earn client traffic or search engine rankings.


3. Content Creator


Basically, be an influencer.


You can do it in many ways. 


Plenty of authors write on Medium and make a decent chunk of change through the Medium Membership. Another advantage of this platform is its baseline domain authority. I’ve written many articles on Medium that ranked in Google’s top three results, and several were featured in snippets.


Another methodology is building a blog — something I am doing now. This may take months, if not years before you make your first dollar. So, get into it if you genuinely love creating content in a professional manner.


Writers also make money through newsletter subscriptions. A key challenge in this tactic is finding a niche with an audience that doesn’t mind paying. This also means your content must be top-notch to justify the price tag.


Writing Career Options Based on Content Type


It is not unnatural that most experienced writers can create multiple types of content. However, each professional has their specialty.


  • Social media: Posts related to product/service, brand, humor, or general trends and stories.

  • Blog: Articles, announcements, how-to guides, case studies, or other educational and commercial written pieces on your (company’s) website.

  • Digital PR: News articles, public announcements, and thought pieces.

  • Guest posts: General blog posts to get backlinks.

  • Magnets: Downloadable content like eBooks and reports.

  • Technical: Product or service-related manuals and industry insights that come in various formats, such as blog articles and magnets.


Wrapping Up: First, the Cheese


You may be wondering, “Which career path in the content writing industry is best for me?”


My answer is that you can do it all. 


If you are an absolute beginner, start with freelancing as it has the lowest barrier of entry. The work may not be that exciting or the pay may not be that lucrative, but it gets you in. Later, you can demonstrate that experience to get a full-time professional writing role.


Then, you can start building your brand on the side.


The broader objective here is to make good money while keeping your career options open. 


Some might suggest doubling down on freelancing, professional career, or personal branding but that’s counterintuitive. Freelancing doesn’t pay well forever and finding good, respectful clients is harder than you think.


A professional writing career is as ideal as it gets, especially if you have a nice work-life balance. My role is forever remote, so it works out well for me. The challenge here is remaining competitive through the years to ensure you get healthy raises or don’t get laid off.


Finally, building your personal brand takes time. Even if you publish one great article per day, on average, which is a tall order, it can still take you at least six months before you start making some decent dough.


In the upcoming chapters of this book, I’ll tell you how to balance it all. We’ll start with the fundamentals that explain the skills you must develop. Then, I will give some tips to make the most out of this lucrative and rewarding career.


Until next time,

Tara





Index (Prologue): What is Content Writing


Different Content Writing Career Options

© 2024 By Tarasekhar Padhy

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