This is my main hustle, difference is I am the owner and main writer, with an extensive portfolio of clips to bring to the client. Unsolicited emails are definitely assigned to the spam folder. At this point, most of my new business comes in via word of mouth, and I have a writer referral pool I use for overflow work and clients I don't want to write for. I also offer full editing and SEO services. I spend a lot of time fixing content for people who went cheap and tried overseas content providers or start-ups with little skill and minimal understanding of the business.
You need a good understanding of SEO, and you must stay on top of Google changes or your business will tank overnight. To be honest, I'm not sure it will work if you don't have strong writing skills, since that makes it more difficult to set up usable writer guidelines, judge writer's work, and maintain consistent style rules across clients and websites. I've seen some noobs to the business do well because they managed to snag a good writer that undervalued themselves at the start, only to flounder later when said writer discovered they could do better elsewhere or on their own.
You can make it work, but phone calls, in-person visits, and industry events are how you find business. The standard blogger isn't the clientele for this service, either. Those that run successful lifestyle/finance/mommy/whatever blogs provide their own content or tap the vast pool of up-and-coming wannabe bloggers in their niche for guest content. You'll be writing for plumbers, lawyers, electricians, and if you lower your morals enough, fly-by-night get rich/get skinny/get laid schemes (which I don't do, but I hear it can be lucrative).
