3 Steps You Can Take Today To Be A Full-Time Writer
As easy as 1, 2, 3…sort of.
At the end of 2020, I was in IT sales — but I longed to write for a living.
I posted about it constantly, including a Snapchat story of a personal piece with the caption: If only I could write for a living.
So, I started to write on Fiverr in March 2021. By October, I was a full-time Jr. Copywriter with two monthly freelance clients. All thanks to three steps: doing the work, flaunting the work, and landing the gigs.
Here’s the thing: writing online is exploding, and has been for some time now. You no longer need to be J.K. Rowling to make money with words, and it’s all thanks to the internet.
Blogging, Fiverr, Upwork, Medium, Substack — the avenues are limitless nowadays.
Despite ChatGPT’s entrance and “threat” to the copywriting workforce, people continue to gravitate towards the writing life out of sheer love for the craft and the flexibility it offers.
Can’t say I blame them. For me, switching from IT sales to copywriting took me from a place of emptiness to full-on job fulfillment.
Needless to say I’ll be doing what I can to write for the rest of my life, just as my childhood self intended.
Deciding to Write
The crux came when I realized that I thoroughly loathed sales.
I direly wanted to slam my keyboard for a living from the comfort of my home, rather than cold calling 100+ strangers a day in a suit and tie. The monkey suit made me itch. But switching careers isn’t the easiest effort.
I expected things to move quickly, and while six months is pretty fast, I still failed to practice an important virtue.
3 Steps to Writing Full-Time
Patience — and consistency — is key, whether you’re building a blogging empire or blasting applications on Indeed.
Here are the three steps I took to make the switch in under a year:
- Built a portfolio on Fiverr to share with potential employers
- Applied and called around until I landed a freelance magazine gig
- Used my portfolio of Fiverr orders and magazine work to land a full-time, hybrid copywriting job with an agency
You might be thinking, Will, I thought you’d give me ways to quit my job and go it alone as the next Jon Morrow.
Apologies if I misled you. But hey, the title rings true.
Income Trajectory
With a bit of grit and penny pinching, my earnings went from:
- $40K/year IT Sales Rep (Aug. 2020– March 2021)
- $20K/year Freelancing for 6 months (March 2021– Oct. 2022)
- ~$80K/year Full-Time Copywriting + Side Gigs (Oct. 2022-Present)
The hybrid schedule lets me work on side projects on my remote Mondays and Fridays. I love the balance.
It definitely hurt when I dropped my sales job in San Diego and moved back home to save money.
I was making far too little to be on my own in California. And at 23 years old, the last thing you want is an indefinite family reunion.
I wanted to spread my wings.
Then, it happened.
Six months after returning home, I landed that Jr. Copywriter role.
Six months after that, I transferred to their San Diego office.
Talk about full circle. And a year into it, I’d get promoted out of my junior status.
With consistency and intent, a radical career switch to full-time employment or freelancing is within your reach.
Choosing Your Path
Generally, freelancers have honed their skills in the private sector before going solo.
As a 23 year-old in 2021 with little professional experience, I wouldn’t say I was qualified to freelance.
My writing chops and copywriting knowledge were skin and bones. And to land big clients in my freelancing future, both refined skill and experience are key.
With this in mind, I thought it best to join an agency and learn the nuances of the trade from industry vets.
On the flip side, I can see why so many aspiring young writers are gunning for the freelance life on a Bali beachside from the get-go, what with the countless avenues of self-education (YouTube, Masterclass, Udemy, etc.) available nowadays.
To wrap, you can make a conscious effort to spark a full-time writing career by building your portfolio online, using it to form private freelance relationships, and then landing a role with a mix of references and your newly-built portfolio.
Here’s hoping these tips give you some insight into how you can sink your teeth into writing full-time.
For a more detailed version of the story, check out this article.
Did this article help you in any way? Did you like my words?
If so…
*Subscribe here
You’ll receive 3–5 articles per week on:
- Writing
- Digital/Content Marketing
- Mental Health x Workplace
- Communication
- A poem or two, if whiskey is around.
In the meantime, check out these recent articles:
