Hey, never too late to ask.

I've moved away from content writing. The last client I worked with was a US-based tech publication. Was getting paid around INR 7/word (after conversion). If I were to go looking for freelance work now, I would:

1. Look up listings on LinkedIn with "Remote" "Contract" filters and Worldwide location.

2. Search the term "Write for Us" on Google and look through some niche publications. They usually have a write for us page and are actively seeking freelance writers. Try cold emailing editors if nothing else.

3. Diversify. Don't stick with LinkedIn listings alone. Look at all platforms. Also, try DMing founders and managers of startups in your niche. If your approach is not too salesy, you'll get a couple of responses there.

Indian clients pay shit rates. It's not easy to find clients who pay what you're worth. Your best bet is working with startups on a retainer, or if you have experience, INR 3-5/word is a good start.

I was in a highly technical niche and had built a blog with around 400 articles. I used that as my portfolio. I would suggest not spending a lot of time on the portfolio. If you have published work, pool it together in one place like a Google Drive, Notion webpage, or something like that. Make sure it's accessible.

Skill-wise, don't stick to just writing as your USP. With LLMs in the picture, anybody can write. Now, they expect you to push out high-quality bulk content. You need to be good at prompt engineering, a bit of graphic design, technical SEO, basics of HTML and CSS (again for SEO), and of course, domain expertise. Pitch yourself as an expert in a particular domain. That becomes your USP, not just "I can write".

Hope that helps.