So you think you can make it as an online ghost writer? In an open environment like the Internet, there is a lot of room for competition. There's no way you can possibly eliminate this competition. What you can only do is to beat them to the projects that you wish to pursue.
First of all, before embarking on that writing career, you should first have a very competent portfolio. By that, I meant to say that you should be able to give your potential employer a chance to take a glimpse of the way you write. It would always be best to take out articles that you have written for third-party websites. This gives your potential employer the impression that you are already experienced when it comes to this kind of job.
Therein lies a problem. A lot of employers want people who already have experience, but to get experience, you have to be employed first. The paradox is like that of the chicken-and-egg story, actually. How do you go about this? This should not be hard.
There are a number of third-party websites out there, primarily web magazines, that offer visitors the chance to be published online. You get published online for free in exchange for the free article that you put on their web magazine. Credit goes to you, naturally. Here is a long list of blogs that allow guest posts you can use to post original content.
Another way which you can use to show off to your employer that you do know how to write well is by keeping your very own blog, for how can a writer do so well if he/she does not have enough practice? Your blog should be at least three months old, just to show that you are consistent when it comes to writing.
You can also earn money from such a blog with Google Adsense, Chitika and others. Write with a focus toward readers in the United State to help with such earnings.
Add to that the usual application stuff that we have like CVs, and then you're ready to go and search for those online writing projects.