For most freelance writers, obtaining new clients is the lifeblood of their business. If you are capable of securing new work on a regular basis, you are going to succeed. Of course, you will also want to work hard at keeping the clients you currently work for. After all, recurring business is the best kind.
I have been lucky enough to secure some pretty big contracts over the years, but one of them sticks out head and shoulders above the rest. About 15 months ago I came across an ad on one of the many freelance writing job boards that I check every morning. From what I can remember, the ad was actually posted on several different boards including the one at journalismjobs.com.
The job description was simple and to the point. They were looking for somebody who could write approximately 500 words per day on real estate. Being that I had experience with this type of content in the past, I fired off a quick note with some samples and my resume attached. Not expecting to hear anything back for a few days at the least, I began to move on to the rest of my work. But much to my surprise, within five minutes, I received a call from the company that I had just emailed. They liked what they saw, offered me the job, and gave me some basic details on getting started.
But while all this was going on, I was still wondering about one very important detail. What was the pay for this job? The ad did not mention the rate, and the client had yet to say anything. Right then, he said to me, “What is your going rate for a job like this?†I quickly responded that I would be glad to help at $.10/word. He said great, I said awesome, and that was that.
Each month, like clockwork, I receive $1,000 or so from this client. I always wonder how I got so lucky as to secure this client. It is obvious that the hiring individual was reading emails at that time, and mine happened to roll in. Talk about great timing!
Wouldn’t it be easy if every contract was this simple to secure? These are the ones that every freelance writer dreams about, but of course, the ones that are most difficult to capture!
How much money can you earn by working full-time as a freelance writer? This is a question that most aspiring freelancers ask time and time again. But unlike some jobs that have set salary ranges, this is far from the truth when it comes to freelance writing. The fact of the matter is that earnings change from person to person, and are based on everything from writing skills to marketing prowess.
To give you a better idea of what type of money you can make as a freelance writer, I am going to detail some of the projects that I work on each month. They range from high paying gigs that I located on journalismjobs.com to lower paying website content articles. Although everybody would like the high paying jobs, even full-time freelance writers have to give in from time to time.
First off, let’s take a look at one of my highest paying jobs. Generally speaking, this job entails writing at least one article per day. That sounds easy enough, right? Well it gets even better. The article can be on any topic I want, and it is up to me to determine the length and direction. What does a gig like this pay? This particular one gives me $.10/word. As you can imagine, this is a nice deal because for a 500 word article I can pull in $50. And since it only takes me 15 to 20 minutes to complete these, I make out just fine in the end.
On the other side of things, there are some jobs that I take on that do not offer nearly as much in the area of finances. But of course, there are a couple of reasons that I stick with these jobs. There are two requirements that I consider before taking on a low paying job. The first one is ongoing, steady work. As long as the client is always sending work, the small pay will add up in the end. The other requirement is that I must feel that the articles can be written at a highly fair rate of speed. After all, I am not going to work for $5/hour or so.
One example of this is a client that pays me $.012/word. Does this sound like a rip-off to you? If so, I don’t blame you. But even though this is far from being the best pay, it usually works out to right around $50/hour in the long run.
As you can see, you will have the ability to make up your mind on which freelance writing jobs to accept. Remember, the faster you write, the more you can write. And in turn, you can increase your average hourly rate. But of course, you should never give up delivering quality work just so you can make more money. If you do, your clients will see through this, and your job will be gone before you can blink an eye.
Determining how much money you will make as a freelance writer is not possible. In fact, it is not even possible for me and I have been doing this for quite some time. There are some months that I earn nearly $10,000 and others that are around $5,000. My goal is to get as close to $10k a month as I can, without having to sacrifice more time. No matter who you are, you should have earning goals in mind for your freelance writing career.
It is amazing how many people think that being self-employed as a freelance writer is a joke. They honestly believe that freelance writing is a career that anybody can excel at in no time at all. In fact, I have had more than one person say to me, “Freelance writing? I have been writing since I was in first grade!†True, these people probably did learn how to write that early in life. But it is amazing to me that they are so ignorant and clueless as to what it takes to be a successful freelance writer.
All in all, there is nothing easy about freelance writing. Although I would never trade in my career for another, it does not mean that I live the good life where work is a walk in the park everyday.
Below is a list of three things that a freelance writer has to handle that a corporate employee would never be able to sympathize with; unless they become self-employed of course.
1. As a freelance writer I am responsible for drumming up my own business. If I do not do this, I will not make any money. As you can see, this is quite different than somebody who works for a company and relies on others to keep the wheels moving.
2. When you are self-employed there is no way of escaping your work. While it does not bother me, some people have a major issue with this. Since I run my entire business alone, I think about work a large majority of the time. In other words, there is no leaving my work at the office. After all, my office is in my house!
3. Not only do I have to sell my services to obtain more work, but I am also responsible for collecting the money that is due to me. Unless you work as a collector or in the accounts receivable department, you really have no idea what this is all about. If I do not do a good job as a collector, once again, I do not get paid. This is far from the way that things work in the corporate world. Try telling an executive that their salary will be paid when the company’s clients decide to send some money. Trust me, it wouldn’t work; not even for a second!
The freelance writing life is a great one. I am the first to admit that I love everything about it. But when people think that being self-employed is a joke, it really irks me. The next time that you catch flack for living the “easy life,†point your critics towards this post. They will see where you are coming from right away!
