Top Sports Writing Jobs For Week Of February 23, 2009

J. Chad Barnett, Contributing Writer



There seemed to be an influx of job postings this week. One again I have sifted through them and found my favorites for you.

1. This one is merely for experience. Not much pay, but you have most of the control over your posts.
2. Someone's dream could come true at this Video Sports Journalism job. Good pay, and a career.
3. A variety of sports are covered on this blog-site. Passion for sports is a must!
4. You can become a Sports Marketing Project Manager if you land this job. $$$$$$$$$
5. If boxing is your sport of choice, then this is the job for you. Not many positions though, so you'll have to fight for it!

That's it for this week. Next week will be a 10 job special! I'm going to do 5 sports writing jobs, and 5 regular freelance writing jobs! Become a subscriber, and keep track of events so you won't miss out. It's just going to get bigger and better! Enjoy the journey.

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."--Charles R. Swindoll

An Awesome Free Service To Help “Kick-Start” Your Writing Career

J. Chad Barnett, Contributing Writer

When I first started freelance writing, I admit, I didn't have a clue as to what I should do. I was pretty sure that I would be able to do my job, but the problem was that I didn't have a job, or know how to find one. I did a couple of Google searches, and after some trial and error, I finally landed my first job.

I will say that the first service that I used cost me a little money. I've always been sort of a gambling man. You can't make money, if you don't spend money. Thankfully, the gamble paid off, and I'm able to do something I enjoy.

I try to help out other freelance writers too if I come across something helpful, or interesting. Let's face it, I wouldn't be where I am today without a lot of help from others. So let me tell you a little about a completely free service, that will help freelance writers the world over.

I'm talking about http://www.freelanceportfolios.com/. This service allows you to create virtual portfolios. Use the portfolios to display client lists, services offered, and samples of your work. It takes minutes to design your personal portfolio, and then you can begin looking for work, in the job finder.

The best thing about this site is that it is absolutely free! Along with the portfolios, there is an article database with helpful information to freelance writers. Go on, check out http://www.freelanceportfolios.com/, and see for yourself. They have a lot to offer, and it's free. No gamble there at all.


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Great Career Resource for Sports Writers

If you're looking for full- or part-time sportswriting employment, JobsInSports.com is a great place to look. It has a wide variety of job postings and, from the number of postings, is widely accepted and used by all forms of sports-related franchises, publications, organizations and businesses as a "go-to" place to post jobs.

It is a pay site, but from the look of it, it is well worth the money. A one-week trial (with some free bonuses included) is available for $9.95. A full membership, month-to-month, is $29.95; six months membership is $79; and a year can be had for $99.

Give it a look. By the way, this blog has no connection to JobsinSports.com. It just looks like a great site.

Finding Sportswriting Assignments

If you're a beginning freelancer, one of your first questions may be, "Where do I find sportswriting jobs/assignments?" There are several ways.

One way is to find a site like Suite101.com (discussed in an earlier post). Suite101.com is a large, general interest website with several sections, one of which is the Sports section. With Suite 101, and others like it, you can apply to become a writer. Pay for your work depends on revenue sharing from ads placed on your articles. The more traffic to your articles, the more money you should make. If you go this route, most of your income will come after you have built up a portfolio and traffic to your articles. There are sites that pay per article rather than the revenue share model. There are advantages to both. With Suite101.com, your main benefit, at least initially, is the legitimacy that writing for them will provide. That legitimacy will lead to other, higher paying jobs, with persistence, of course.

Another route you can take is with sites that let you bid on job postings. The website typically accepted as the best of these is Elance.com. On Elance, you join, post a profile and examples of your work (optional) and bid on writing or other projects that fit your interest and ability. As with anything, being selected for projects come more readily once you've established a good rating and a few completed projects. Most anytime, you can find sports-related projects that need good writers on Elance.

Whatever road you decide to take in beginning your freelance writing career, beware of avenues. For example, there are other job posting sites that aren't as respected as Elance. At Elance, you can join free of charge or pay for premium placement when bidding, and several other perks, which has the effect of weeding out low bidders (someone who offers to write full articles for $2 or $3 each, often possibly using programs that re-write the work of others quickly). Some other sites are more conducive to such people.

Most online writing will pay less than print publications, but it is financially worthwhile and your portfolio is growing all the while.

Here's a link to the articles I've written on Suite101.com, just to give you an idea of what can be done in a year - Golf Feature Writer Articles. I published nearly 100 articles last year, and that wasn't even near the top on Suite 101.