How I Made 6 Figures From Writing, And What Mistakes Became Obvious.

My income streams for 2022 added up. In 2023, I need to optimize a few things.

I’ve been struggling to become a 6 figure writer for a while now. A few times, I was close, with over $10K monthly income over a few months.

Then something would happen and ruin my plans.

Finally, in 2022, the stars aligned, and I officially joined the 6-figure writer/entrepreneur club.

Here’s exactly how I did it, how you can do it, and what holes I found in my business.

The most money came from…

Freelance platforms. Specifically, Fiverr, with some income coming from Upwork too. I made slightly over $60K in rough numbers offering copywriting on freelance platforms last year.

Fiverr, in particular, grew the most. It wasn’t by accident, either. I dug deeper into the platform and made key changes that almost doubled my income: from ±$3.5K per month beginning of the year to over $7K monthly towards the end. In fact, in January this year, I almost hit $10K on Fiverr alone (the exact number is $9765), which means I’ve nearly tripled my income on the platform in a year.

Here are some of the specific steps I took to achieve that:

• I applied for Pro Seller and made all my gigs Pro Gig, adding credibility to my profile and allowing for higher pricing.
• I joined their Seller Plus program, which grants you access to a personal Success Manager. I booked regular meetings with my Success Manager and did all the tweaks she recommended. Not everything worked, but some things helped a lot.
• I recorded videos for my profile and improved my gig images.
• I uploaded a more detailed portfolio.

I will say that ChatGTP hit Fiverr hard, but there’s still a lot of money to be made if you know what you’re doing.

Key Lesson:

Each platform has its specific. Whether you’re working on Fiverr or trying to grow in Medium, dig deep to find exactly what the most successful people on the platform are doing, and replicate it as much as possible.

It’s better to master one platform than do just okay on four platforms.

The long game.

The “channel” that did surprisingly well last year, even though I didn’t put any effort into it, was recommendations and return clients.

That’s the great thing about persevering. I’ve been at this for over ten years. I’ve worked with over 2000 clients, and everyone around me knows I write.

In 2022, my former (and last) employer requested I help him with content marketing as he was launching a franchise option, and another client’s business had grown to the point where he needed more help.

Only those two clients brought in about $32K. Then there were a few recommended clients, which made the total return-clients revenue for the year $38K.

Key Lesson:

Don’t be shy about telling people what you do. You can also create a referral system for existing clients: they get a discount if they recommend someone. I’m thinking about trying this soon.

Offering fantastic service is vital. I always try to surprise my clients with something extra: a basic mock-up for their web page, a looming video with a few recommendations, or even just earlier delivery.

When you exceed people’s expectations, people come back.

Then there are the final drops…

I made about $2K from Medium in 2022 but barely wrote that year. Most of my time was dedicated to clients and my kids.

I did very little marketing coaching, which I only offer to my return copywriting clients. This added up to another $4K.

Key Lesson:

It’s a good idea to try different things. In fact, Fiverr used to be a thing I tried on the side while I was running my coaching business. Now, it makes over $50K per year.

Keep your focus on what works best, but give a percentage of your time to learning what else is out there.

And there you have it—a $104K revenue. Let me tell you, it’s easy writing this little summary, but the year was crazy busy. Here’s what I learned.

Growth requires delegation. Learn HOW to delegate.

I used other freelance writers to help me with some of my copywriting projects. At one point, it was too much to do on my own.

Many times, when I used someone else’s help, there would be problems with the clients.

The problem was me, of course. Not the clients and not the other writers. I didn’t manage the process of outsourcing work effectively.

For anyone looking to turn their freelance practice into an agency, I’d recommend the following:

• Get a sales/customer care person first. You focus on the work while they handle the communication.
• Create SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for every project you’re doing before hiring external writers (or designers or anything). SOPs are documents where you outline a task and make it easy for anyone to do it following your process. SOPs are the foundation of a growing business.

I want more revenue streams, but I’m scared.

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about how multiple income streams won’t make you rich. The premise was that doing a hundred things is distracting and that big money comes from one thing when you master it.

I still believe that, but I feel like my main revenue stream isn’t big enough. I want to find a bigger one, so I’m putting more effort into Medium and Substack. I also have a lot of value to give in short & easy to consume digital courses.

I’m scared of being overwhelmed, though. I have two small children and produce five articles, two newsletters, and 3–4 client projects per week. Some days it’s all I can do not to jump in the car, get a hotel somewhere and sleep for three days straight.

But I’m handling it for now. A few productivity hacks do the trick, plus overwhelm helps me learn how to grow. If I want to achieve bigger goals, I have to become a bigger person, right?

My offers are a bit off.

My one-on-one service should be more expensive. It should be my high-ticket offer because it’s personalized and takes the most time & effort.

However, I don’t currently have digital products to replace my services as a primary source of income. Digital products would help me help more people at a lower cost for them.

I already have a few ideas, so let’s see how that works out. I’ll be back to report.

Final Thoughts.

When we achieve our goals, we diminish them and move on to the next. Have you noticed?

I’m trying not to do that. I’ve achieved something that seemed impossible a few years ago. Before I move on to creating courses & SOPs, I’ll take a moment to celebrate.

What are you striving for? And what are you not celebrating?

If you want to celebrate your own success as a one-person business, I’d love to help you get there. Join the One-Person Business Success newsletter here.

Want to learn how to make better financial decisions? Keep reading:

This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.