Freelance Writing As A Work-At-Home-Mum

Rule Number Four: Show Me The Money

A 12-part series to help WAHM smash their goals and achieve their dreams!

The “12 Rules of Freelance Writing as a Work-From-Home-Mum” is a series of stories to help WAHM smash their goals and achieve their dreams of a successful freelance writing business!

These are not rules you have to abide by, but they are a great guide to help you on your way to a successful freelance writing business. All whilst juggling parenting too!

And here is rule number 4…all about the money, money, money!

Guess what? As a freelance writer running your own biz you are now responsible for all the bookkeeping and financial side of things. No handy HR department making sure your pay is deposited into your account on a regular basis!

It’s all on you.

Show me the money!

I sincerely hope you just did your best Jerry Maguire impersonation there. (I certainly did)!

There are several things you need to do in order to set up the financial side of your freelance writing business.

The first (and one of the most important) steps is to set your rates.

How to set your rates as a freelance writer.

The number one thing to work out here is how you will charge for your services. There are several different ways to charge:

• Hourly.
• Per project.
• Word count.
• Packages.

Personally, I use the per project and the package models the most often.

This is because it leaves no room for surprises. If you take a thorough creative brief and know EXACTLY what your client wants, you should be able to provide a quote for the whole project.

If you charge hourly, the client may not have a great understanding about how much time it takes to actually finish a project. They may expect you to be able to finish in 5 hours something that usually takes 10. This can cause pay disputes, and we want to avoid that!

Once you have decided HOW you will charge, you need to work out WHAT to charge.

After a lot of research, and asking around, I simply took on a piece of advice by Valerie Khoo at the Australian Writers Centre — charge what you are happy to receive!

A general rule of thumb is to use your normal hourly rate (from your previous or current employment) and add 25%.

Why add this extra percentage?

Because you are the boss! You need to cover all business expenses, superannuation and tax payments.

Work out how long it takes you to write a 500 word blog post, or product description and use this to calculate a per project fee.

For example:

If I earn $40/hr in my usual job. 25% of $40 = $10.

Therefore I would charge $50/hr.

A blog post of 500 words may take 1.5 hours. Therefore you would charge $75 for the project.

Real numbers will vary according to your expertise (as you become more adept and have more clients under your belt you can charge more), turnaround time (I charge more for a quick turnaround) and what you are happy to receive.

My one piece of advice…and I want you to remember this one no matter what….VALUE YOURSELF!

Do not settle for being paid peanuts.

The reason you wish to be a freelancer and balance parenthood is to contribute to the family finances and still be present as a parent. You cannot do this if you have to take on more and more projects at a lesser rate than you are worth simply to make ends meet.

So VALUE YOURSELF, YOUR TIME AND YOUR WORK!

Invest in a good invoicing system.

So, you have set your rates as a freelance writer. What next?

You need to create a way of sending and tracking invoices, as well as income and businesses expenses.

I used to use a simple excel spreadsheet and an invoice I designed myself in Word. Don’t be like me.

Invest in a proper invoicing system.

I now use Rounded, an Australian online accounting software program that is tailored to freelancers and solo traders.

Rounded is exactly what I was looking for. It is simple to use and is fantastic for tracking income and expenses. It even has time tracking!

There are many other options such as Quickbooks, Myob, Freshbooks and so many more. You need to do your research and find one that will work for you, and that you are comfortable using.

If you are an Australian reading this…I highly recommend Rounded!

Be clear about payment expectations.

One of the most frustrating things about being a freelancer is chasing payments.

When I first started out, I felt like I spent 50% (or more)of my time chasing up clients for payment. But then I got clear about payment expectations. This had a two-fold effect.

Firstly, it meant any client who was in the slightest bit dodgy was weeded out.

Secondly, I started being paid on time with the right amount!

What did I change?

I started charging an up-front fee (usually 50%) for most projects.

I also incorporated late fees into my payment structure. I would add a 5% late fee commencing 7 days after failure to pay and accruing for each 7 days the invoice remained unpaid.

But the most important thing that I changed was I became CLEAR ABOUT PAYMENT EXPECTATIONS!

I started using Letters of Agreements or writing contracts to set out expectations of payment. This would detail:

• How to pay (bank transfer, PayPal).
• When to pay — such as 14 days from receipt of invoice or a set date on each month depending on how you packaged your services.
• Up front fees.
• And of course, late fees.

Be sure that your client understands these details so that there is no misunderstanding and you get paid what you invoiced and on time!

How to set up your banking.

Some people will say to use a business account, some say pay into your personal account. What matters is that you are able to track where your money is coming from and what you are spending it on.

I have a personal account that I use, but NO other money goes into it. This is just for my freelance writing business. Rounded has a nifty feature where you can link your bank account to their invoicing software which helps to keep track of your money.

From this account, I set aside a certain amount for taxes and pay some into my superannuation. The rest I use to pay myself a “wage” and the leftovers sit in that account to cover business expenses. Nice and simple!

What about taxes?

I am not an accountant or tax agent…so for in depth tax advice for your business you are best to talk to a small business accountant.

In Australia our tax requirements (such as BAS, GST etcetera) will be different than overseas, so again you need to research the requirements of your particular area. The ATO is a great source of information and can help guide you to set up the appropriate payments and tax.

The best advice I can give you in regards to tax is:

• Always check your local tax requirements.
• Set aside tax from each payment received.
• Keep clear and accurate financial records for all income and expenses — both on your computer and hard copy.

How to set financial goals for your freelance writing business.

Giving yourself something to work towards is a great motivator.

However, be sure to set SMART goals.

S — Specific.

M — Measurable.

A — Achievable.

R — Realistic.

T — Time-bound.

In particular, for work-at-home-parents you need to be REALISTIC. If you can only work 10 hours a week at freelance writing, don’t set a goal of earning a full-time wage from the very beginning.

The very first financial goal I set was to drop one shift a week from my usual nursing job within 6 months of starting my business. That means I had to earn the equivalent of one nursing shift a week (or 4 per month). It may not sound like much, but to begin with it was difficult. I was working around a newborn and trying to learn at the same time.

What would your financial goal be?

Your freelance writing business financial checklist:

• Set your rates.
• Invest in invoicing software.
• Set out your payment expectations.
• Set up your banking (including a Paypal account).
• Research tax requirements.
• Set your financial goals.

Now you know how to set up your finances! Go forth and earn some mullah!

Drop a comment below and let me know how you set up your finances.

P.S Make sure you check out the other rules here:

Rachel Maree is a writer, mum and registered nurse. Bringing you the real truth to parenting, nursing and writing (even when it is downright ugly). You can learn more or hire her to write amazing content for you — Rachel Maree.

To grab your free essential eBook “Best Tips To Create Compelling Content” sign up here.

PS: Get my Medium posts straight into your inbox by signing up here!

If you want to make sure you NEVER miss a great Medium story (by me or the other amazing writers here) sign up here. It’s $5 a month, and gives you unlimited access to Medium. Or you could tell your own stories on here and create a nice little side hustle 🤑, think of that extra money!

Full disclosure, when you sign up using this link I get a small kick-back from Medium.