These 6 Advantages Help Me Make $8K/Month as a New Freelance Writer
There’s a reason I don’t talk about these often.
For every creator claiming fame and fortune in a blog post or video, there are ten huge advantages that helped them tremendously that they don't mention.
I’m guilty of this, and for good reason — most times, it’s simply not relevant to the story.
There is no point in writing about the benefits that are specific to me when my content is created to help you get your career up and running. Also, sometimes it looks like pointless bragging (see #5 on this upcoming list).
But I had an interesting experience recently writing about my immediate financial success as a freelance content creator — I received a lot of comments that indicated an interest in this hidden side, and a lot of angst that I hadn’t included items like “ability” and “talent” when listing what factors helped me reach my levels of stable income.
It’s true —I possess a whole heap of benefits that let me skip the on-ramp and go directly to financial success as a freelancer, that other people may not have. I earned around $8K/month (and you can see my Jan 2021 income report here, if you’re curious how that breaks down) right at the very beginning of my freelance writing journey. And in part, that was due to my inbuilt advantages.
This article will give you that look at the benefits I don’t often discuss, explain how I recommend picking them up yourself, but ultimately and hopefully imbue you with the sense that you have your own set of hidden advantages that help you, too.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. I read mountains of books.
∘ How you can gain this advantage:
2. I write fairly well very quickly.
∘ How you can gain this advantage:
3. I know how to write scientifically.
∘ How you can gain this advantage:
4. I’m a native English speaker.
∘ How you can gain this advantage:
5. I’m charismatic.
∘ How you can gain this advantage:
6. Extra bonuses I have that you probably won’t ever have if you don’t already.
Everyone has unspoken advantages.1. I read mountains of books.
I create content for a living. My job depends on me telling a good story, whether it’s for me or a client. It helps a lot that I’ve consumed absolute piles of fiction books since I was about six years old.
I started writing online in 2018 and quickly reached high levels of success, earning over $1,000/month with my blog about six months in. I started my freelance journey in October of 2020 and have earned an average of $8,000/month since then.
And you know what my shortcut is? I was good at writing when I started writing. I didn’t have to struggle through months or years of learning how to craft a story, tell the rise and fall, develop characters. Because I’ve read on average 2–3 books fiction books per week for a huge part of my life, I already know how to write well simply by imitation.
How you can gain this advantage:
Read a lot, in areas you enjoy.
2. I write fairly well very quickly.
Nobody takes into account how writing speed matters when finding success on any writing platform. I type very quickly, which is a huge advantage that’s let me write and publish more quickly, too.
It’s not just the actual typing speed, but the fact that I can formulate coherent post structures as easily as breathing. I can and have written decent stories in under an hour (and you can see the proof here, as I frequently host Write With Me Live events).
I don’t spend a lot of time on editing or restructuring, since what I put out on the first try is quite good to begin with.
This lets me efficiently create high-qualty work for freelance clients while enjoying a lot of free time, as well as quickly produce quality content for my platforms. I can create content that earns me hundreds of dollars in a couple of hours. This is a huge part of how I earn $8k/month in about 15h per week.
How you can gain this advantage:
Start with a blog post structure template, read Nik Goeke’s excellent guide on how to type faster, and practice a lot of writing to a specific time goal.
3. I know how to write scientifically.
I attended the University of Oxford to get my undergraduate degree. There, a large part of my education consisted of writing weekly essays to create an argument I formulated by reading the scientific literature. Then, I struggled to defend it while it was torn to absolute shreds verbally by my tutors, who were leaders in their respective fields.
You can see how this experience helped me learn how to write well, quickly, and persuasively. It also taught me to use peer-reviewed journals to cite my sources. This means my writing is written to a higher standard than most of what you’ll find on the internet.
How you can gain this advantage:
Read as much scientific literature as you can. Learn to cite those sources in your posts. Read your stories aloud to anyone who will listen and ask them to criticize where they can.
4. I’m a native English speaker.
The part of the internet I write on is English-dominated. Unlike non-native speakers like Sinem Günel, I didn’t need to spend time learning how to include colloquialisms in my writing, or structuring sentences so they read smoothly. That’s a huge head start.
I obviously did not orchestrate the fact that a huge part of the internet is in English, but I did lean into it. I developed my voice and tone to suit the audience I found.
How you can gain this advantage:
Read and write in English. Consume English media to learn the native quirks of language. Practice speaking as much as you can, and be open to criticism.
Alternatively: find the part of the internet where they speak your native language, and focus your attention there.
5. I’m charismatic.
See what I mean? Sounds like I’m showing off to no purpose. But charisma — friendliness, approachability, whatever you want to call it — definitely helped me get to where I am. I make friends easily, I am a great presence in front of a camera, and I build a rapport quickly with my clients.
If you want to build a business around writing online, you have to realize very quickly you’re not an island. A lot of factors beyond your pure writing ability go into your future success, even if you’re not also creating content on camera like I am.
My charisma helps me in a couple of different fields:
- Networking. Let nobody tell you writing is a meritocracy because it absolutely is not. Who you know matters. By being friendly and approachable, I’ve secured freelance writing work and built incredible relationships. Plus, I’m a lot less lonely because I know a lot of very cool people who are happy to chat with me.
- Clients. I know how to hold my own in meetings. I can communicate confidently and I know to value my own skills. I never spent time writing content for $10–15 apiece because, from the outset, I had clients paying me $200+ per item for my writing.
- Consultations. When my clients book consultations, they’re putting a lot of trust in what I will have to say. I repay that trust by actively listening to what they say — their problems, obstacles, and hopes.
A lot of my charisma is driven by confidence. I know my own worth because I grew up in a family that made it clear I was valuable, talented, and skilled. My university helped further. Beyond that, a large part of charisma is just listening to people when they talk. Become a good listener and see how your fortunes change.
How you can gain this advantage:
Understand your value as a person and listen to other people when they speak.
6. Extra bonuses that you probably won’t ever have if you don’t already.
These five significant benefits are ones I didn’t really have to cultivate, but they’re learnable by pretty much anyone. On top of that, I also have a heap of advantages that are not teachable or learnable.
- My dad is an accountant. He helped me with my freelance taxes this year. He also advises me (informally, and often even when I don’t want him to!) on my business.
- I live at home with my parents. I can’t emphasize how much stress it removes to live at home with my parents, with whom I get along very well. Without that stress, I’m more creative. In the States, it seems like there’s a huge stigma against living with your parents when you’re grown. For me, this advantage means I’ve had a much less lonely pandemic, and a much more lucrative start to my freelancing career.
- I’ve been in jobs that let me work remotely. Jobs like retail, service, and teaching jobs are exhausting and don’t leave a lot of mental capacity for creativity. I’ve worked in white-collar jobs my whole adult life, often remotely. Having extra energy is a huge boost. Plus, no commute.
- I love writing. I’ll do it to the exclusion of all else. This helped me build my business when I was working 80 hours a week and just starting to branch out into different income streams. This attitude isn’t really teachable — you have it or don’t.
Everyone has unspoken advantages.
There are probably dozens of little personality traits or inbuilt advantages not listed here that have helped me attain my dream of creating content for my living. The point of this article is not to make you feel like what I do is beyond you. A lot of my starting benefits are learnable.
Instead, I want to highlight that there are areas where you most likely have an advantage over me, or other content creators. Already have a photography hobby? You know how to incorporate a visual image. Over the age of 40? You’ve got life experience I can’t touch.
Everyone has unspoken advantages that will help propel you on your journey to your dream career, whether it’s to be a full-time freelance content creator like me, or anything else. It’s up to you to find them and put them in action.