Ever wonder how people make money freelance writing?
Believe it or not, a lot of people make money writing for businesses. It doesn’t take a long time to get started, just a good work ethic.
In this post, I’m going to tell you about freelancing as a business writer and how you can get started on a money making career.
The best part?
Your chance of succeeding is very good.
Of course, your success will depend on your commitment to your business.
I hope you’re excited, because before we’re through I ‘m going to show you how to get started immediately.
Let’s take a look at what this is all about…
A Virtual Sea of Gold: The Freelance Writing Business.
To put this business into a nutshell, it’s any type of writing that you do for a client who will use it for business purposes.
For example, you could write a sales letter for someone selling a vacuum cleaner. In this case, you’re writing for someone who is trying to sell something.
There are other avenues of freelance writing that are profitable too.
You can write for businesses that want to:
- Educate
- Sell products
- Motivate
- Persuade
- Inform
Under each of these categories there are multiple opportunities. Let’s look at the most common reason: selling. (Also known as, advertising copy.)
As a freelance copywriter, you can write copy for a butt-load of different venues:
Social media manager – Writing about products and services on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Direct response – Sending out sales letters by email or snail mail to prospects.
Promotional materials – Brochures, business cards, magazine, and newspaper ads.
Online sales pages – Landing pages where persuasive copy is needed to sell.
Email sales copy – You can write a series of crafted email messages for clients that lead to sales.
The most common way is to write sales copy for businesses that re selling something. The best of these are corporations, because they have more money to spend on advertising.
There are other types of clients as well:
- Politicians
- Museums
- Non profits
- Colleges and universities
- Government agencies
- Fund raisers
- Churches
- Trade associations
This list could go on and on, but you get the drift.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Freelancing
Writing for businesses does have quite a few drawbacks.
Drawback #1 – You Are Not Going to be the Next Stephen King
For one thing, freelance copywriting is not a creative venture. A lot of writers want the freedom to write fiction. This is not the case with copywriting; you will have a client and you will have to make sales for them…plain and simple.
It can be tough a tough business because it’s usually driven by your ability to generate sales. The client is spending good money with you because he or she believes you can help them increase sales. Sometimes the client won’t be happy with what you’ve written and you may have to rewrite your material.
Drawback #2 – Clients can be a Pain in the Ass
You need to have clients that want to work with you. I’ve had clients that have contracted me and then they drop off the face of the earth. I’ll ask them for background material from their organization and get silence.
It’s hard to write about a product you know nothing about. If they don’t feed it to you, you’re dead in the water. So, many times you have to keep contacting them and asking them for information, and this can drag on for days.
Drawback #3 – Dealing with a Group of Stake Holders
Personally, I run from situations like this, but if you want to stick your head into a hornet’s nest, be my guest!
The problem that can rear its ugly head, is dealing with multiple stake holders. Sometimes you’ll have to deal with a horde of pain in the ass “geniuses”.
I rarely take on assignments where I have to work with too many bosses; it’s usually a no-win situation.
They disagree on a wide-range of issues and you’ll have to try to navigate through it. Not only that, but the work can drag on forever, because the decision making process takes a long time.
Drawback #4 – Getting Paid
Getting paid can sometimes drain you. Big companies usually need an authorization to pay out. This can take up to 3 months. They’re not out to cheat the writer, they just have a procedure to follow. And yes, this is normal for big businesses.
When I work with individuals, I ask for half up-front and the other half when the gig is done.
Drawback #5 – It’s Hard to Have Balance in Your Work
You’ll eventually be balancing several projects at once. I’ve had situations where I’ve had 3 clients; one that needed resume written, one that needed a monthly blog post, and another that needed a sales letter.
Of course, you’ll have research and revisions to do on all of these projects.
Drawback #6 – You’ll Need to Run Your Business like a Boss
Just like any other business, you’ll have to deal with marketing, accounting, responding to clients, and other business issues. This can be overwhelming at times. You’ll also need to add in some time to exercise and spend time with your family.
However On the “Gravy” Side Of Things…
Advantage #1 – Money Flows in Much Easier
Writing for businesses is FAR MORE PROFITABLE than other types of writing.
Writing novels can take forever before you see any success or make any money. Not so with copywriting. You can generate a cash flow much quicker.
Advantage #2 – Freelancing Writing is Not a One-Shot Deal
If you wrote a popular novel, your chances of getting another book deal are slim. However, if you write for clients and you deliver your services like a pro, you’ll have repeat business that can come in for years.
Advantage #3 – You Won’t Get Bored
With this type of writing, there is so much variety. As I pointed out earlier, there are many different categories with a variety of jobs in each one.
Advantage #4 – Big Businesses Have a Need
There is a demand for freelance writers. If you know how to professionally approach businesses, you can always find work.
Advantage #5 – Ease in Getting Assignments
If you know how to market yourself you can always get work. Once you get into a groove of marketing yourself you’ll always have clients.
Advantage #6 – You Can Make Good Money
Unlike writing fiction, writing for commercial purposes is much easier and far more profitable. You won’t have to eat beans and rice long-term to enjoy a decent lifestyle.
Advantage #7 – Freedom to Run Your Own Life
If you work for an agency, you’re at the mercy of a boss. With freelancing you can pick and choose when and where you want to work. Don’t get me wrong, this is a business and you’ll have to treat it that way. But, if you get sick or need a vacation, you can take it whenever you need it.
How to Kill The Dream of Making Money Freelance Writing
Now that I’ve told you the different sides of the coin, let me tell you what kills most freelance copywriting careers.
YOU.
(There I said it.)
You need to go into this business with the mindset that you can make excellent money and that you are in demand. So, instead of shooting for $20,000 a year, why not aim for $200,000? Of course the idea behind this is if your goal is higher, you’ll probably make more.
Having a sucky attitude by thinking work is scarce, is a bad idea.
Just to show you what I’m talking about, I’ll tell you a story.
I know this guy that started a blog, and he took a course on how to write guest posts. He had very low self-esteem and he could barely speak the English language.
He learned as much as he could, but he was afraid to approach anyone in the blogging community about writing for them.
Finally the dude got around to approaching blog owners. Once he started this process, he became less fearful after each rejection. After just a few approaches, someone was willing to give him a shot.
So he went all out. He spent 20 hours writing a masterpiece and did all sorts of research to make sure the post nailed it.
To cut a long story short, the owner of the blog loved the post. Spurred by that victory, the writer approached several blogs and before he knew it, he was writing a lot.
But here’s the thing: because he worked it every day and perfected his pitch, he not only got more opportunities to guest post but they started paying him.
And the freaky part about this is not only do they pay him; they tell him he’s indispensable.
5 Immediate Steps to Making Money Freelancing
Hopefully, I’ve held your attention and convinced you of the opportunities in freelance writing. If you want to get started right now, here’s how you can do it.
Step 1: Start writing. If you don’t have your own blog yet, you can always practice writing on sites like Quora. You can answer questions people are asking on Quora by writing an article on the subject they are asking about.
Step2: Start gathering resources. You can buy excellent used books on Amazon cheaply that cover the subjects of blogging and copywriting. Also, start scraping the web for the best sites on the subject. Here are my favorite places to learn about writing:
Bob Bly’s Copywriting Site: Bob Bly is the copywriter’s copywriter. He has over 95 published books and hordes of clients. (Check out his portfolio page it is worth it’s worth its weight in gold.)
Neil Patel: Neil writes the most in depth posts on just about any avenue of Internet marketing. He has extensive posts on writing for the Web.
Jon Morrow: The uber-blogger. You can learn so much about writing blog posts from this guy. His site has loads of in-depth information on how to write blog posts and it’s all for free.
Step 3: Build a blog or a site. Once you get more confident in your ability to write, build your own blog and start working. You can get a WordPress platform with hosting for less than $5.00 a month from businesses like Blue Host or Host Gator.
Step 4: Once you get good at writing blog posts and answering questions, you can start approaching people to guest post for. You can find a list of blogs to guest post for here.
Step 5: Start approaching online sites and magazines to write for. If you don’t know how to pitch, here’s a post on how to do that: Be a Freelance Blogger
Conclusion
You can make money freelancing, you just need to pull out all stops to get it done. Dig in right now and get started. Please leave a comment below and tell us about your writing experiences. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing online or off, we want to hear about your adventures!