How To Make Money Freelance Writing
How To Make Money Freelance Writing
How To Make Money Freelance Writing (Ultimate Guide!)
When you search for ways to make money online, one of the most common recommendations you see is making money through freelance writing.
Freelance writing is actually how I make most of my income. In fact, this is what made me quit my day job in 2020. I now travel the world, earn money with my laptop, work when I'm happy.
For me, making money through freelance writing has been incredibly empowering. And, the great news is that anyone can get started with this side hustle. All you need is a game plan, persistence and a willingness to write.
So in this post, I am covering how to become a freelance writer so you can increase your income online and work from anywhere.
Want to accelerate your writing income? Checkout:
Freelance Writing for Freedom: My New Course Provides the Exact Blueprint I Used to Scale a $0 to $100,000 Writing Income!
How to Make Money Freelance Writing
I have been earning money by writing for the past few years. And freelance writing is actually how I quit my office job and started traveling the world.
travel to Colombia
Medellin, Colombia, in 2020. That's when I quit my day job and started making money through freelance writing!
When I first started, everything was scary and confusing.
How do you actually find freelance writing jobs? And when it comes time to write for clients, how do you get started and actually get paid?
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This confusion is very normal. But, luckily, making money with freelance writing is actually pretty straightforward once you know the steps.
1. Choose a writing niche
How To Make Money Freelance Writing, One of the most important reasons to become a freelance writer is choosing a niche to write about.
Your freelance writing niche is basically the topic(s) you write about. This is similar to choosing a blogging niche, and you are basically choosing a category to write about and share your expertise
Picking a niche is incredibly important because it helps you become an expert and get expert advice. This means you can land high-paying clients as you gain experience as you become an authority in your niche.
Personally, my freelance writing niche is personal finance. But I specialize in a few subfields like passive income, making money online, gig economy jobs and saving money.
Some popular freelance writing niches include:
- money
- motor vehicle
- traveling
- Tech
- entertainment
- politics
- Cryptocurrency
- food
- parenting
- Marketing
- sport
Freelance Writing Niche
But, as mentioned, there are thousands of sub-specialists. For example, I know writers who only write about credit cards or specific cities and travel areas.
When you're a new freelance writer, don't stress too much about finding the perfect niche or covering just one topic.
However, in my experience, sticking to a general niche, like finance or travel, helps you land gigs. Over time, you can start to specialize and charge more for your work.
2. Build a freelance writing portfolio
How To Make Money Freelance Writing, The next step in making money with freelance writing is to build a writing portfolio.
A portfolio is how you showcase your work to potential clients. It's essentially a resume, and it's supposed to highlight your writing skills and specialized knowledge.
There are several easy ways you can build a freelance writing portfolio, including:
Start your own blog
Using a free writer portfolio website like Journo Portfolio or Clippings.me
Writing in secondary school
Create a WordPress writing portfolio yourself
Freelance-Portfolio
This is my old freelance writing portfolio site.
Personally, I have used several of these techniques.
I was already writing in WebMonkey, so it was helpful in displaying my content. But I've written quite a bit on Medium since it's free and pretty slick, so it makes for a nice portfolio.
In addition, I created a simple WordPress website to showcase more of my client work and outline the services I offer.
I did this because I have other digital marketing side hustles that I make money from but a distinct writing portfolio makes pitching easier.
Note: Pitching without a portfolio makes it nearly impossible to land paid writing gigs.
If you are a brand new writer, I recommend writing a few articles in your niche for free and posting them to your portfolio. Although these categories are not for clients, it allows potential clients to see your writing so they can decide if you are a good fit for their website.
3. Apply for paid writing jobs
Now you have a post with several articles
This is the hardest part for many writers. But the great news is that there are many legitimate online jobs in writing, if you know where to look.
For example, remote work sites like ProBlogger have a great job board. It's full of part-time and full-time freelance writing gigs that cover almost any niche you can think of.
Problogger Jobs
You can also find freelance writing jobs on regular job boards, such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter. Some writing gigs list how much they will pay. However, many ask you to submit a portfolio of your grades and writing samples.
I'm going to cover how much to charge as a freelance writer later in this guide. But in my experience, I started in the $0.07 to $0.10 per word range. After a year and some experience, I was writing in the $0.15 to $0.25 per word range.
When you submit your pitch, make sure you address the editor in a professional manner. Also your skills or information such as:
How long have you been writing?
Why you are suitable for the role
Several samples of your writing work
If you need help pitching editors, you can check out my Freelance Writing for Freedom course.
It contains five templates that I've personally used to land high-paying clients and get more work from them. And there's also a bonus template for how to scale your rate-per-word over time.
Extra Reading - Best Writing Site That Pays Daily.
4. Write articles for your clients
How To Make Money Freelance Writing, Once you've finished some freelance writing, it's time to actually create some content!
This is an exciting part of making money with freelance writing. But it's important to create great content right out of the gate to delight your clients so they keep you around.
Some critical tips I've learned to keep clients and editors happy include:
Make sure there are no grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes
Interlinking with other articles on your client's website
Adding media like images and videos when it makes sense
Outbound linking to important information such as research and properly citing your sources
Adding keywords to your content and following basic SEO practices
My YouTube video actually covers this concept, as well as a general outline of how to make money, if you want some more tips and tricks!
But in short, create the best content on the internet and follow your client's instructions. Also, never miss a deadline, especially with a brand new client.
If you're ever confused or behind, send an email as soon as possible. This is the best way to keep clients happy and avoid any problems.
5. Payment by Clients
How To Make Money Freelance Writing, If you have reached this step, congratulations! You're now making money with freelance writing, and it's time to invoice your clients for payment.
Personally, I pay freelance writers on WebMonkey after submitting articles. But most of the clients I've worked for in the past request that I submit an invoice at the end of each month to pay for the articles I've written for them.
This is pretty standard in freelance writing and other fields. But once you send a few invoices you'll get stuck very quickly.
Many freelance writers I know send invoices with QuickBooks or FreshBooks. And I've paid PayPal for my work before.
What to include in each invoice, I recommend specifying:
Title and word count for each article
Price per article
Your client's name and business address
Your name and contact information
A thank you note in the footer
Ultimately, you need to choose some invoicing software that works for your currency, country, independent contractor tax laws, and your clients. But sending invoices is quite easy.
Best Freelance Writing Websites
The steps above are a pretty broad outline of how to make money with freelance writing.
However, in my experience, applying to new writing jobs regularly is critical to scaling your writing income.
This is because having more clients helps you reduce the risk that your only client drops you. Also, over time, you'll want to pitch higher-paying clients and find better writing jobs.
My Freelance Writing for Freedom course has a useful list of some of the best freelance writing job websites you can use to find work. There are also some pitching templates to help with this.
However, some other great writing job boards you can explore include:
Upwork - A huge marketplace, wide range of jobs, 20% fee per job completion.
Freelancer - With 14.1 million jobs posted, this is another excellent freelance writing job resource.
PeoplePerHour - This site has 1 million+ workers, 15 free bids per month as a freelancer, 20% fee per job completion.
Reddit - Although it may surprise you, Reddit has many communities where people hire freelance writers.
I have a YouTube video that covers some other techniques you can use to find freelance writing jobs online.
Additional reading - How to make money online as a beginner.
How much should I charge as a freelance writer?
Setting your freelance writing rate depends on many factors, including your writing niche, experience, and the language you're writing in. Additionally, your client's overall budget naturally plays a role in whether or not they can afford you.
As I mentioned, when I was a new freelance writer, I was making about $0.07 per word with my first clients. That means a 1,000 word article paid me $70.
However, finance is a pretty well paying niche. And I had more experience than many first-time writers because of my blog.
Some common freelance writing rate benchmarks I've seen include:
$0.03 – $0.07 per word: Beginners.
$0.07 – $0.15 per word: Moderate.
$0.15 – $0.30 per word: Experienced.
$0.30 - $1 per word: Experts and local authorities.
Just remember that there are many exceptions to these guidelines. For example, some fairly new freelance writers I know make $0.50 to $1 per word because they are into technical aspects like legal and grant writing.
And, making money with freelance writing involves selling yourself to a large degree. You should ultimately set a rate that pays you what you're looking for per hour.
What is the highest paying writing niche
Generally, the highest paying writing niches are industries with very expensive products and services and lots of money in them. This is because website owners in this niche have enough money to pay writers well. They also have to pay top dollar for the best content because the content that sells is so valuable.
In my experience, here are some high-paying freelance writing niches, as well as some mid- and low-paying ones:
Highest paying: Finance, crypto, marketing, legal and tax consulting, real estate, ecommerce, technical writing and software include.
Modest pay: includes technology, travel, education, parenting, and health and fitness.
Minimum Salary: Includes entertainment, general lifestyle content, and food writing.
Highest Paying Writing Niches
Of course there are exceptions here too. For example, I know some travel writers and food bloggers make more trails than most finance writers I know.
However, the general rule of “follow the money” generally holds true when finding the best paying writing niche.
Tips for making money with freelance writing
Now that you know how to make money with freelance writing, here are some tips that I've found incredibly helpful over the years:
Keep Pitching Clients: Landing regular new writing gigs is a great way to get high-paying work and diversify your income.
Raise your rate occasionally: Every year or so, it's a good strategy to raise your rate with your lowest paying clients.
Gradually expand into new niches: Once you've built your expertise in a niche, don't be afraid to branch out a little. I did this after writing about personal finance as well as digital marketing for about two years and it led to some high paying jobs.
Be eager to learn: Editors always give feedback. Sometimes, this response is harsh, but that's okay. Having a thick skin and being willing to learn is the key to making money as a freelance writer.
Offer other services: Over time, you can increase your income by offering supplementary services to your clients. Examples include script writing, creative writing, ebook writing, proofreading and copywriting.
Useful tools and resources for freelance writers
As you scale your freelance writing business, you should get higher-paying gigs and hone your craft.
Some useful tools I've used throughout my freelance writing career include:
SEMRush: This is my go-to tool for keyword research and any SEO work for clients.
Hemingway Editor: This useful app helps you improve readability, run-on sentences and use of active voice.
Canva: A great design tool that's great for creating featured images, infographics, and other media.
Trello: A free and useful project management tool you can use to make sure you never miss a deadline.
Find more tools and techniques in my Freelance Writing for Freedom course!
Do I need a blog to be a freelance writer?
You don't need a blog to be a freelance writer. However, many new writers use a personal blog as their portfolio when pitching their first clients.
This is basically what I did with WebMonkey. Starting and building a blog requires more upfront work and potential costs for you but, once it's live, it makes for an exceptional portfolio.
Also, a blog can be a great source of income. For example, WebMonkey earned $272,000 in 2022.
20k per month blogging
Some of my MediaVine earnings for the last 30 days.
Most of my income comes from Mediavine advertising and affiliate marketing. But I have approached editors through my blog to pay me for freelance writing work.
If you want the fastest option, start a portfolio on Medium or a free portfolio website, consider blogging as a good, long-term option.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do freelance writers earn?
In fact, freelance writers earn an average of $19.75 per hour in the United States. This equates to about $46,000 per year in annual freelance writing income.
But in my experience, freelance writing income varies greatly between niches and people.
Some writers I know are very good at selling themselves to clients. They consistently rate the highest and perform best. In contrast, some are more shy and accept lower rates without negotiation.
Personally, I've made $100,000+ from freelance writing. And my best clients averaged about $100 an hour for the work I was doing. But I know writers in different niches make a lot more and a lot less than that.
Is freelance writing a good job?
In my opinion, freelance writing is a wonderful job. It gives you complete flexibility in your working hours and allows you to work from anywhere in the world. And in my experience, if you build enough clients to work 30-40 hours per week, it pays a lot more than most salaried jobs.
That said, freelancing can be very stressful.
You have to figure out all your payment work yourself. You also won't get benefits, vacation time, or other perks you might get with a 9-5 job.
This is the trade off of being an independent contractor. But in my opinion, freelance writing is very profitable and incredibly rewarding.
final thought
I hope this guide on how to make money with freelance writing will help you start and scale your writing income.
My final piece of advice is to have some patience and trust the process. I mean, it took me over a year to turn writing into a full-time income. And then it took another year to cross $100,000.
However, I strongly believe that anyone can make extra money through freelance writing. And even if it's something you do on the side while holding down a job, this extra income can make a huge difference.
Thanks so much for reading, and good luck becoming a freelance writer!
Remember my Freelance Writing for Freedom course for more insider tips, pitching templates, and the exact blueprint I used to write $100,000+.
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