The day I made a decision to become a freelance writer on the web, I was heavily in debt and had no idea how the bills were going to be paid.

Although I had a lot of previous experience as an offline publisher, I had no idea of how to get things done online or how somebody could become a freelance writer on the web. However I was eager and determined to learn.

Actually the main reason why I took the decision to become an online freelance writer was because I virtually had nothing else except free access to the World Wide Web and plenty of time in my hands. I was heavily in debt and had lost everything of value in my life, except my precious family.

I started my bid to become an online freelance writer by trying to advertise my writing services. Nothing happened. It seemed that nobody was interested in my services no matter how low my price was.

Then I got the idea that maybe the right way to become an online freelance writer was by searching for existing writing opportunities. So off I went to the Google search engine and began my search. Within a short time I was really excited. There were some opportunities that I saw that looked like the sort of thing that would pull me out of debt overnight. Somebody needed a sort of manual written and was willing to pay $9,000 for it. I carefully crafted the most impressive email I had ever written and quickly send it off.

A few days later bitter disappointment returned when I realized that I was in a competitive situation with hundreds of other more experienced writers in those kinds of specialized lucrative assignments.

Up to that point, I did not realize it yet but I had already done the most important thing that is critical to the success of anybody who wants to become a freelance writer online.

I have realized that many folks fail miserably in their efforts to become online freelance writers because they never do this simple but very important thing.

I had taken action to aggressively look for online writing work, any online writing work that I could find. Laugh if you want, but the vast majority of would-be online writers never really get to this point. That point where you are eager to get your feet wet, even if it is for the most miserable pay.

That is in fact how I eventually got my big break. There is absolutely no way that I would have gotten my break without taking this simple step and without the sort of attitude I had then. That is the next exciting part of this story on how to become a prosperous freelance writer and get out of debt like I did.

Christopher Kyalo makes a good living as an online freelance writer and entrepreneur. Read the rest of this article at his become freelance writer at home blog.