When the COVID pandemic, like many people, I ended up making some unplanned for pivots in my business. These weren’t the first pivots (nor the last) that I would make in my business. In fact, I have 10 revenue streams that monetize my overall brand. In this post, I want to talk about one of those revenue streams because it can be a great side-hustle, lucrative with the right approach and a wonderful way to amplify your voice in areas that matter to you.
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What is the revenue stream? Freelance writing. But, I’m going to admit something that may surprise you. For a really long time, I didn’t enjoy freelance writing. Especially at the beginning of my freelancing journey. My clients stressed me out, sometimes they didn’t pay on time and my biggest client at the time insisted on weekly team meetings which drove me crazy. I wanted to work on projects and move on. There was no “we” in freelance. I thought it would be helpful to share how I grew my freelance income (so that you can too) and some helpful lessons learned along the way. If you’re looking at how to make more money as a freelancer writer because you love it as a side-hustle or it’s part of your online business, listen on. It’s time to learn how to make more money as a freelance writer.
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How to Make More Money as a Freelance Writer
Sometime this year, or maybe it was last year, I got in a somewhat heated exchange with a guy online. He was asserting that .10 a word was a great rate for his freelancers. I asserted that people could and should earn more. He pushed back and insisted that his writers loved that rate and I just wasn’t interested in arguing with a guy who was benefiting from that arrangement. For those of you out there freelancing or thinking about making extra money to pay towards bills, to grow your savings or jumpstart a new freelancing career, here’s what to consider.
- Free and low-paying projects used to build your writing portfolio should last a short season in your business. If you’ve been freelancing for 3 years and getting .10 a word in year three-that season has lasted way too long. Working on free content such as blog posts for your own website or other websites totally makes sense as a content strategy. I’m currently focusing on breaking into a new content niche: the outdoor space and content about the Western US. I’m absolutely ok with lower paying projects to help build my authority in that niche. You can publish the type of content you would like to get paid for on your own personal platforms.
- Be Intentional-Sit down and design a strategy. Ask yourself the following:
- How much would you like to get paid and how much work does that represent?
- How many hours of work does it take for the type of project you just said “yes” to?
- Who would you like to work with?
- Who do you know that is already working with companies and organizations that you would like to contract with.
- How much would you like to get paid and how much work does that represent?
- Don’t Let People Gaslight You-There is money in freelancing and content creation. There are literally millions of websites, projects, initiatives out there. Some of which are needing hourly content. Others need daily or monthly content. There are projects that have a once or twice a year push to get as much content done as possible. They may tighten their budgets are pivot their content push during a Recession but goals still have to be met for their brands.
How to Earn More Freelancing
Fortunately, there are some strategies that you can use to grow your freelance side-hustle or business. Most of these strategies are pretty easy to do and don’t take a lot of time. They do, however, require you to be thoughtful.
- Be honest about how many projects you would like to work on a month-Freelance writing is great, but it does take some focused energy. In the beginning I loved that I could write from home vs. doing a fun side-hustle with people. I should say that my fun side-hustles ranged from $15-$25 an hour. I was making $15 a writing project. But, not having to work with people was great. However, as my expertise grew-so did my awareness of what I wanted to get paid per project. Now I earn significantly more per project and have a pretty clear idea of how much time it may take to work on a project based on the scope of work that I’m doing.
- What do you want to earn per month? If you’re looking to earn an extra $500 a month that could happen in the following ways:
- 33 posts at $15 (Not ideal)
- 20 posts at $25 a post (Not ideal)
- 16 posts at $30 a post (not ideal)
- 10 posts at $50 a post (Not ideal….)
- 6 posts at $75 a post (This is ok)
- 5 posts at $100 (This is ok)
- 2 posts at $250 (This works)
- 1 post at $500 (YES!)
- Become a Member of Freelance Communities-If there is one piece of advice that I STRONGLY suggest you follow it’s this one. Its who you know that will really propel your freelance side-hustle or full-time gig forward. Your community will connect you with leads, cheer you own when you’re feeling down and validate you when you want to raise your rates. Here are a few suggestions.
- Me-I don’t know how much longer I will be on Twitter, but I regularly share leads over $300 a project. Why? Because I was stuck at $250 for a really long time and it drove me crazy.
- Michelle Garrett who runs #FreelanceChat on Twitter. I’ve included a link to her profile in the show notes.
- Facebook-I’m a member of both private and closed freelancing groups based on different interests, niches and criteria. Search in Facebook for groups based on the niches you are interested in writing in. Members of these groups share: which editors they love working with, project referrals, talk to each other about pricing, share their goals and give you community. How to find these groups? Tell people you’re looking to be a part of a freelancing mastermind, or create one yourself.
- Meetup Groups-I’m a HUGE fan of Meetups. You can also create your own meetup group if you’re unable to find one that meets your needs.
- Reddit-Not really my thing, but it could be a really powerful place to connect and get information about how to approach freelancing.
- Local and National Associations-It’s likely that there is a local or national association that you could become a member of for free. Freelancers Union is one of my favorites.
- Write in at least 3 Content Niches-I make more because I don’t just write in one niche even though my primary niche, personal finance, is pretty lucrative. Here’s the thing, time of year can impact demand for the content that you work on. If you have all of your eggs in one basket that could severely harm your ability to earn money. Here’s what I’ve observed
- Personal Finance-Picks up during tough financial times, January when New Year/New You kicks off and Back-to-School August-October.
- Travel Related Content-I specifically focus on the Colorado, the West and access to the Outdoors for Black and Brown outdoors enthusiasts.
- A few months before ski season
- A few months before summer travel season
- Before large local events with national reach such as: The Great American Beer Festival.
- Online Business Content-Demand for this type of content is steady but legislation, social media platform changes or a global pandemic can change demand for the type of content contracted.
Earn More By Pitching
I will admit that I do have companies that reach out to me on a regular basis with project leads. However, my goal is to earn a significantly higher amount of money than the leads that are coming in. This means I had do something to connect with more projects. Remember that there’s more than one way to pitch.
Here’s what I Do and You Can Too
- Create a professional website that shares who you are and what you do. It DOESN’T have to be perfect or beautiful. Just solid. This is my main website. It’s solid. I would love to have the “Michelle Jackson” url but the last time I checked it was $26,000. Seriously.
- Updated my social media with my email address so that clients can contact me easily. I do get DMS, but there are companies that prefer a more formal approach.
- Quarterly updates to my LinkedIn profile-I’ll admit that LinkedIn is my least favorite platform. However, it is great for making business connections and attracting project leads. Keeping my profile “tight” making sure that it’s up to date and clear what I do and what I’m looking for is so important.
- Share on social media that I’m looking for projects-A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.
- Reached out to friends who run websites and may be needing content.
- Followed Editors on Social Media-In particular, Twitter. Each time an editor crossed my path on Twitter whether they were announcing that they just started a new job, or announcing a job lead I would follow them and screenshot their profile. As a result, I have a list around 50 editors that I follow. I don’t write in all their niches btw.
- Designated Pitch Day-If you’re looking for freelance writing projects, grants or scholarships you have to allocate time towards generating enough leads to get the results that you want. I now pitch every Monday. I chose Monday because I typically don’t work on projects until Tuesday. Also, I don’t necessarily love pitching so I like to get it out of the way. Don’t wait for companies and projects to come to you EVEN IF THEY DO.
- Create a podcast pre-roll-Telling listeners the type of work that you do and how people can reach out to you.
The key here is to take sustained focused action to develop constant leads. You want to do this because of the following:
- It can take awhile to onboard new clients, work on projects and actually get paid.
- You might not get the rate that you want for the scope of work you’re looking for OR you get the pay that you’re hoping for but it’s for a limited number of projects.
- Time of year and how it impacts content demand for the vertical you’re working on.
- Avoid creating lags in revenue.
You Can Earn Good Money Freelancing
But, you have to be proactive. You can’t wait for companies to connect with you. Especially as we head into financial headwinds such as a localized or National Recession or other events that affect the flow of business.
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