This Is How Much I Made in My Freelance Writing Career of 6 Years

I had never heard about the term ‘freelancing’, started it all from scratch, and still made it

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe

In my freelance writing career, I have been constantly asked about ‘how I made it into the writing industry’, ‘how much do I earn?’, ‘where do I find my clients from?’, ‘is it easy?’.

Becoming a freelance writer and working on international projects was never a part of my plan. After completing my MBA in Financial Management in 2014, all I wanted to have was a white-collar job, a stable lifestyle, and a sense of financial security.

I had never thought of doing something on my own or be my own boss. TBH, I never had that entrepreneurial mindset. I had doubts about my writing skills since I was not a native English writer.

But guess what, I still ended up being a freelance writer. I chose to take that risk of having unstable earnings. It took me almost a year to see great results, but when I got the results, I didn’t look back.

How it all started

After my MBA while I was searching for my type of job (in the Finance and Accounting industry), one of my cousins told me about freelance writing gigs that I had never heard of before. It sounded like an alien term! Just like anyone else, I was enticed by the idea of working from home, and that’s why I wanted to give it a shot.

I did my research on how this industry worked for a few days and figured out which sites were actually worth trying. I created my profile on a few websites like Elance (now Upwork), Guru.com, and Freelancer.com, and started applying on projects.

I strongly believe in this quote: ‘Time once lost cannot be recalled’. I knew that was the crucial phase of my life. I had the energy and time to explore, and that’s why I wanted to make the most out of freelancing until I got a full-time job.

I started my freelance career with Guru.com. I still remember I sold one of my college assignments for $40 for my first project. After being paid for it, I was like ‘Hm, that’s not that bad’. With my first payout, I was at least convinced about the authenticity of this freelance business.

I did a couple of projects for story-writing on the same website, but I wanted to explore more. The best thing about the freelance business is that you are not bound to just one job or one client. You can work on different projects at one time, provided you have the ability to meet deadlines without compromising with the quality.

Switching from Guru.com to Upwork

Now, I switched to Elance (now Upwork) and created my profile over there. I consider myself lucky to have built a profile easily without going through a tedious process and waiting for days for your profile to be approved like nowadays.

While working on these trusted platforms, I didn’t have to be worried about not getting paid. Thanks to the client’s stats and profile displayed which were enough to verify their authenticity.

So, I created my profile, started bidding on projects, and ultimately, landed another writing gig. Its payout was around 20 cents per 100 words. Yes, that sounds like peanuts, but I was happy that I was at least being paid for it.

More than the pay, I was focusing on learning and having insights about this industry. That was more like an ‘internship’ for me. I wanted to learn how a well-written article or post looked like. Moreover, I wanted to know if I could really write well.

So, after working with this client and learning quite a lot of things like having a proper sentence structure, article formatting, and the essence of unique content, I got another project revolving around the construction industry.

This time, the client paid better, but still, not as per the industry standards. I created content for this project, worked around 7–8 hours a day, and made a good amount of income that was at least better than working full-time (considering the entry-level jobs).

Working at my own pace was getting more comfortable for me. I worked, made money, had my social life in place, and had ample time to spend with my family. This was the time I knew I was going to continue with freelancing no matter what, no matter even if I landed a full-time job.

Making a team of writers

With this thing in mind, I knew that I had to make a team of freelance writers who wrote well and got paid as per the industry standards. So, I started searching for writers using my network and

different social media platforms including Facebook, and with the hit-n-trial approach, I managed to create my own team of writers.

“Don’t think about making art. Just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” — Andy Warhol

So, now my main focus was to find well-paying clients who had bulk writing requirements. I got a client from China who had requirements for product and business descriptions. Having created a team of reliable writers, I was confident that I’d ace the project.

I started working on the project by myself, understood its guidelines and the client’s requirements. Even after assigning the project to my team, I ensured to edit and proofread the content so as to make it look perfect. I received $2.50 per 150 words for that project and that was a pretty decent amount considering it was a bulk project.

Because of the premium content and living up to the client’s expectations, I was referred to another project for writing short product descriptions for a better price which happened to be an added bonus.

The project lasted a year and earned me around a whopping amount of $20k as net income. The amount excluded the payments I made to my writers.

Had it been a full-time job in the Accounting industry, I won’t have been close to this benchmark, especially in the initial stages. Ultimately, the project ended, and it was again the time for hunting for a new project.

I landed a few projects on Upwork that made me around $5k in the first 6 months of 2017. Yes, this was around one-fourth of what I made in the previous year. The ones who are in freelancing can understand how unpredictable this industry is.

If you make huge in one year, then there can be chances that you will make less to nothing in the next year. But this is how the business world or freelancing works. So, you need to train your mind accordingly.

I was up for taking this challenge and had this one basic rule in mind: apply for better-paying projects, get hired for them, and convert them into ongoing ones.

Moving to Canada

As discussed in one of my previous posts, I decided to move to Canada in December 2017 for better career prospects. I wanted to do explore more and get into the professional world simultaneously.

I knew that I could do freelancing from any part of the world having these two basic things: my laptop and Wi-Fi. So, I was pretty confident that I could manage it.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined!” — Thoreau

Freelancing has given me a lot. So, I had decided to continue doing it along with my studies or full-time job. I was not afraid of losing the track because that was a strong second source of income for me. I spent a lot of time and effort in learning how this industry worked, and when I did, I was not willing to look back.

The rule was simple: ‘Get well-paying projects, assign them to writers, check if they meet quality standards, and submit premium content to clients’. Following this approach, I was able to have a secondary stream of income and have more money to save and invest.

Total earnings

I started my freelancing career in August 2014, and in my career of almost 6 years, I’ll admit that there have been times when I was not able to focus on it. The reasons include taking some time to settle in this new country, having a break of a couple of months for my peace of mind.

But again, that is what I love about this line. You are your own boss, you decide your own place and timings to work, and are not answerable to anyone for being at work on time, or having an extended lunch break.

I have got around 87% of my projects from Upwork. The current stats in the picture show that I have made $30k so far. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

The description-project on Upwork, which lasted a year, paid me around 60% of the earnings. Even if Upwork charged 5% to 10% fees on projects, I was fine with foregoing that amount. After all, they have created a platform for both freelancers and clients, and it’s reasonable for them to charge at least some amount/percentage for delivering awesome services.

Now you must be thinking about the remaining 13% of projects. Where did I get those from? I found those projects from FB groups and even got an opportunity to contribute as an author for a couple of them.

Projects where I had received the opportunity to work as a freelance writer, were handled/written solely by me. That was my chance to shine and get more visibility for my work. These projects earned me around $2k to $3k on an overall basis.

Talking about the total earnings, I made around $52k in the past 6 years as net income. The journey has indeed been a roller-coaster, but I like it since it has kept me grounded. I have got opportunities to work with new clients and explore my creative side.

Getting recommendations

As my top priority has always been to meet my client’s expectations and deliver quality content, it helped me in boosting my profile with great reviews and ratings.

There have been times where I have not gotten that 5-star rating, but I have taken it as constructive feedback and strived to apply it in the upcoming projects.

How much I charge now

My current rate ranges between $2 to $4 per 100 words depending on the complexity of the project. I write by myself when the time allows; else, I assign them to my team and handle the work of editing and proofreading.

As of now, most of my projects are from Upwork. As of last year, they have changed their policies though, and ask freelancers to buy connects ($1.50 per 10 connects) for bidding on projects. But I feel that’s worth it. Take it as an investment and you’ll reap benefits in the form of getting worthy clients indeed.

Conclusion

If you are planning to be a freelance writer or start your own business, don’t think much and take action today. Take it step-by-step, be ready to learn, have a dynamic attitude and you’ll be good.

Even if you charge a bit less earlier, that’s fine. Take the risk and think about the big picture. Just keep working hard, stay focused and you will see great results by time.

I didn’t charge much for my writing services, but still managed to earn a massive income from my freelance career.

So, if I can do it, you can too. I hope this story inspires you to embark on your journey of doing anything that you are passionate about or are willing to do. Best wishes! :)