I love how there are so many ways to make money from home. You can actually make thousands of dollars every month just off of your love of writing. Anyone can become a freelance writer, you just need a passion for writing, a computer, and a lot of determination and you can start living the life you want.
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One of my goals when I first became a mom was to figure out how to earn some income by working from home. I have earned a steady income from blogging and it works for me.
I know that not everyone wants to start a blog but they still want to work from home. A good way to do this is to become a freelance writer.
What is a Freelance Writer?
A freelance writer is someone who writes for various publications. They can range from magazines, blogs, local businesses, and more. You will be working for different publications at a time.
Freelance writers are self-employed and can work on their own schedule. The more diverse your are the more work you will get.
You can write full articles, newsletters, menus, and more. The type of work you can get is very vast and diverse depending on the client.
How Much does a Freelance Writer Make?
As of May 2011, freelance writers earned a mean of $97,300 per year (or $46.78 per hour), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
How much you make will depend on what clients you take on. If you reach out to them directly or just use a content mill (which pays very little).
By doing some research, it seems that the average hourly rate for beginning freelance writers is $35-$50.
You can also charge per project instead of per hour. This will give you more incentive to work faster and increase your hourly rate.
There are freelance writers who make $100’s per month and some who make $10,000’s per month.
Who is this Career for?
Anyone can become a freelance writer. It’s great for stay at home moms, college students, retirees, people looking for extra income, etc.
You do need to have some qualities in order to make a good freelance writer:
- organized
- Ambitious and driven
- passion for writing
- Social media skills to help market yourself
- dependable
If you have these qualities and are tired of the 9-5 lifestyle, becoming a freelance writer may be for you.
Where do you find Jobs?
There are several ways you can go about finding freelance writing jobs.
- content mills ( I don’t recommend because they pay very little)
- Upwork (takes 10% of your earnings)
- Guru
- Indeed.com
- Finding clients directly
To have clients find you, you need to be able to market yourself and have a website that they can go to so they can see your portfolio. It makes you look very professional and it is easy to set one up. You can actually set up a website for only $3.95/month.
You can also check out this article. They have the top writing sites that you can apply to or reach out directly.
I also like this article on how to find clients directly. She made $1200 her first three months working part time!
What Skills do you Need?
This will depend on what type of work you will be doing but don’t think that you need to be amazing at grammer to get good jobs. You will need to know how to use spellcheck and Grammerly to help you with that.
You will also need to understand how to use social media to your advantage. You need to know how to market yourself online so that clients will want to work with you.
If you are serious about becoming a freelance writer, you may want to invest in some actual training just for freelancers. You can take the class, 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success.
The class is taught by Gina Horkey who has made a very successful living as a freelancer and virtual assistant. She even posts her income reports so that you can see just how much money she is making. In November, 2016 she made $31,000 in one month! She knows what she is doing!
The price for 30 Days of Less to Freelance Writing Success is as low as $200! That’s it! You can’t get a college course anywhere near that low price. You will make that back after one job. She teaches you things like:
- Creating your business
- Setting rates
- How to Find Clients
- How to Pitch Clients
- Launching your website
- Promoting your Business
- and everything else you need to know to be a successful freelancer
If you don’t want to take the plunge and purchase her full course, she does offer a Free Writing Course that you can sign up for. It is 5 lessons that can really jump start your career. This is a great chance to see if this is something that is right for you.
Working from home has been a life changer for me. I love having the freedom that it gives me and the opportunity to stay at home to raise my daughter. I am just so much happier than I used to be.
If you want to make a life change or just want to earn some extra income, sign up for Gina’s free class and see how becoming a freelance writer can make a dramatic impact on your life.
You may also want to check out my other posts:
Awesome Ways to Make Money While in Between Jobs
Free Classes to Help you with a Career Change
How you can Make $10,000’s Every Month as a Virtual Assistant
Colleen Keating says
I want to make money from home as that is really my only option. I just do not know how to narrow down my ideas in order to focus my attention on what will work. I had a vast array of skills and talents. I could use an assist.
Thanks.