Depending who you talk to today, you might hear freelance writers say the industry is dead or that they can’t pay the bills any longer. Some say that AI killed freelance writing, and others blame Google’s ever-changing algorithms. The reality, however, is that multiple forces are at work. While they are wreaking havoc on the industry, it isn’t dead. It’s evolving. While you want to see how things shake out in the long run, however, you’ve got bills to pay today. How can you boost freelance writing income and continue doing what you love in an ever-changing world?
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How to Boost Freelance Writing Income
1. Know When to Let Go
One of the great things about having stable clients is the ability to have steady income. However, most clients won’t simply offer to pay you more out of the kindness of their hearts. You have to regularly increase your rates to keep up with inflation. Of course, your expertise improves over time as well, and there is value in that.
Raising your rates for an established client isn’t always easy to do. The fee for your services is built into their budget. Have they planned to increase your writer pay year after year? Probably not. Upon stating your higher rate, you may get push-back. Negotiations often ensue. The end result may be a modest increase that you’re unhappy with. This increase may not keep up with industry standards.
You have to decide 1) when to increase your rates, 2) how much your skills are worth, and 3) how much you need or want the client. If you’re unsure about whether it’s financially feasible for you to leave a sure thing, start looking for other clients who are eager to pay you what you’re worth.
2. Explore More Profitable Income Sources
Many freelance writers get their feet wet with content writing mills. These are great places to find work with little or no experience. The pay is generally lower than what you would get elsewhere, though. When you have enough experience under your belt, take a look at other writing jobs. For example, there are tons of marketing agencies and SEO firms that are looking for writers. These companies generally pay competitive rate than mills do.
You don’t necessarily need to leave a content mill that you enjoy writing for in order to earn more money. Some content mills enable you to earn a higher per-word rate by advancing to a higher rating. This is done by writing a certain number of assignments, doing error-free work and satisfying clients’ expectations. Another way to earn more money on writing mills is by getting regular clients who send work directly to you. Many mills let you set your own rate for these situations.
3. Improve Your Skills
You’ll make more money in your career by charging a higher rate or by writing faster. We’ve already covered increasing your rates, so let’s look at how to write faster. One of the most important things you can do to improve your speed is to gain experience. This goes beyond simply typing faster, which will come naturally. It extends to your skills related to SEO, HTML, online research and other factors.
While your skills will naturally improve over the years, you can speed things up by educating yourself. Look for topics related to creating an optimized blog post as well as other SEO strategies. When you know how the whole puzzle fits together rather than just where to put your keywords, you’ll have a better understanding of what to do and how to do it. Likewise, you can find information on HTML online to improve your formatting speed. If you’re new to the world of freelance writing, this is an excellent resource to launch your writing career.
4. Stop Looking for Work
It seems counterintuitive to stop looking for work when you need or want more money. However, the process of actually searching for work is time-intensive. More than that, this is time when you aren’t earning actively earning income. If it takes you two hours to find a gig that pays you $50 (for two hours of work), you’ve actually spent four hours altogether for that job. You aren’t making the equivalent of $25 per hour. You’re making $12.50 per hour.
Rather than focusing on finding one-off jobs, focus on jobs that will keep you busy for days, weeks or indefinitely. The exception here is if you’re looking for jobs to gain experience. If you’re trying to build a resume, income doesn’t matter as much as the work itself.
5. Focus on Passive Income
With some types of gigs, you get paid once for your efforts. When you rely exclusively on this type of income, you must actively work for each penny. With passive writing income, however, you continue to generate income of your effort. For example, you write a book once, and you continue to receive royalties from it. While you understandably need to pay the bills today, it makes sense to gradually develop your passive income streams as well.
In addition to selling books and ebooks, you can sell digital products to boost your freelance writing income. Using your writing skills and personal expertise in specialized areas, you could create how-to guides, author resources, digital courses and other products.
6. Take Advantage of Tax Write-Offs
While the IRS code changes from year to year, self-employed workers have benefited from write-offs for years. Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify to write off a home office expense, business supplies and technologies, business use of your vehicle and more. For some people, these write-offs directly reduce their taxable income by thousands of dollars. As a result, they keep your hard-earned money in your pocket.
Work closely with your accountant to determine which deductions are available to you. In addition, keep receipts and a detailed accounting of your expenses so that you can maximize your deductions.
You work hard for your money, but you don’t have to work harder than necessary. Put these tips to use to boost your freelance writing income today.