A peek behind the scenes of a thriving freelance writing enterprise.
After I first started freelancing, virtually three years in the past, I used to be paid $27 for 1,000 phrases. I didn’t know any higher and thought that writing was merely a low-paid profession path, a false impression I’d graduated from school with an English diploma. As a substitute of pursuing writing, I went to work for a tech.
Quick ahead greater than a decade, and I’ve come full circle. I’m a full-time freelance author. I cost round $1/phrase and most of my work is inbound.
Lots of people declare that freelancing earns them six figures per 12 months, however don’t share the main points of how they acquired there. You don’t have any thought how well-connected they’re, what number of hours they labored, and the way a lot they had been incomes after they began. It’s uncommon that there’s a “fast path” to a profitable freelance enterprise.
I write this for transparency in order that different freelancers can know the precise steps of 1 freelancer’s journey.
Constructing a portfolio within the early days
I first started freelancing for lower than three cents per phrase as a result of I needed to pivot from working at a software program firm to content material advertising and marketing.
I wasn’t seeking to freelance long-term: I needed a full-time job. And I noticed in a short time that nobody would rent me with out a portfolio. I discovered a content material mill that was keen to rent me as a contract author and started working (alongside my 9–5 tech job).
I knew nothing about content material advertising and marketing however the company gave me a guidelines of issues to do for every article. There was a large queue of labor and I might choose what I needed to jot down about. I caught to matters I knew nicely, based mostly on my work experiences in tech. However I additionally ended up writing about dentistry, promoting a house, and display screen time for youths.
This can be very exhausting for a freelancer to discover work with out a portfolio. It showcases your experience and the standard of your work to potential purchasers. So whereas I very a lot imagine that corporations ought to pay their writers nicely, I additionally have a look at this starting interval as needed as a result of I don’t know the way else I’d have established a portfolio.