Freelance Writing Business
Earn Six Figure Income Part 1
Written by Charles Mburugu for Gaebler Ventures
Freelance writing can yield very good returns for someone who enjoys writing and is good at it. However, there are many good freelance writers who work very hard, yet have little to show for it. How can you earn a six-figure salary as a freelance writer?
Making a six-figure income is an attainable goal even for an average freelance writer. The following are ideas that can help you reach and surpass the $100,000 a year mark.
Get serious about earning cash
If money is not an issue, you can write whenever you want, whatever you want, as little or as much as you want, without giving thought to how much you will be paid, the time it will take to complete the piece, and the possibility that you will sell the piece. If you want to constantly earn $100,000 yearly as a freelance writer, avoid the "poverty mindset" that prevents many writers from earning a high income.
Have a daily revenue target
To earn $100,000 a year, you should make $2,000 every week for 50 weeks. That comes to $400 per day for a 5-day work week, which is a very modest and achievable amount. The question then is, for what kind of writing-related work would people pay you $400 a day? Proofreading might not hit the mark, but annual reports, ghostwriting books, ad copy, or fundraising letters probably would. However, you don't have to make exactly $400 each and every day. You are safe as long as your average earning is about $9,000 a month, $2,000 per week or $400 per day.
Know the value of your time
If you make $100,000 a year and put in 40 hours per week, your time is worth about $50 an hour. Decisions about how you spend your time should be based on that figure. Between the two resources money and time, time is more precious. You can always earn more money. However, time is a resource which cannot be renewed. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
Improve your personal productivity
Besides product sales and royalties, writers are only paid for their time. You make more money if you are more productive and efficient, and if you can write faster. Nurture habits that help you do more in less time. The simplest is to wake up and begin working an hour earlier – say at 7.30 am instead of 8.30 am. The first hour will be the most productive, since you can work in peace before the phone starts ringing and messages start pouring into your inbox.
Outsource
As a writer, you are only paid to research, think and write for your publishers and clients. All other activities don't pay and should be given to other people who can carry them out better and more cheaply. Services such as administrative tasks and routine office work can be outsourced for a modest fee.
Eliminate writer's block
Productive writers are profitable writers. You must write consistently, daily, even when you do not feel like it. The best way to avoid writer's block and sustain a continuous output is to have various projects in different formats and on various subjects. The variety is refreshing and prevents fatigue or boredom, which are the main causes of writer's block.
Charles Mburugu writes for us from his home in Nairobi. He has a graduate degree in Business Management from Kenya Institute of Management. He is interested in writing about branding, CSR and intellectual property.
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