Freelance Writing Tips: Become a 6-figure Freelancer Without Starving
Posted by Online Freelance Writer in Freelance Writing Business
You want to kick-start your freelance business into overdrive and make a six figure salary. But you don’t know where to start or how to get clients.
Thankfully I’ve learned a few freelancing tricks from industry professionals and years of making mistakes as a freelance copywriter.
Learn how to say Bon Appetit to work, wealth and success as a six-figure freelancer. Memorize these 5 secrets of 6-figure freelancers, and dominate your industry without missing a meal.
Perfect one innate money-making skill at a time
If you were born to write, then write. If you decide to become a freelance writer, then explore every option that can use your writing skill.
- Write screenplays.
- Develop advertising copy.
- Teach a writing class.
- Create an outline for a how-to book.
But don’t launch your freelance writing career while becoming an interior decorator, chef, photographer or psychic palm reader.
You might think that you need two or three extra side jobs to survive as a new freelancer, but really you are spreading yourself too thin. You can have more than one job, but make sure it is in your field of interest.
Focus on ways to expand your one money-making skill set, instead of taking on other jobs, that you are not qualified to do, or don’t have the passion to execute. You are diluting your brand by appearing to be unstable and unfocused.
Taking on extra jobs, outside of your skill set, for the money will only make you miserable.
Make weekly, monthly and yearly freelance revenue goals
If you want to make six-figures as a freelancer, you’ll have to make a minimum of $50 dollars an hour per 40 hour work week. Put this goal on paper.
- Staple it to your laptop.
- Crazy glue it to your refrigerator.
- Believe this goal is possible and apply it to every hour of your day.
For example, as a full-time freelance writer, research and interviewing is a necessary evil. Think of ways to convert your hours spent researching and not writing into cold hard cash. If you spend 3 hours researching, you should be earning a minimum of $150 on whatever you sell, using that research, this week.
Your three hours of research becomes:
- One press release for a client.
- Ten 400-word how-to content articles sold to an online content aggregator.
- An opening paragraph of a 500 word magazine article sold for $1 per word.
- One hour of telephone consulting for a client.
Study the top freelance writer in your field and mimic their habits
Find a six-figure freelancer in your field and use their success for inspiration. Read their books. Buy their tools. These folks have made mistakes that you don’t have to repeat. Drink freely from the fount of their freelance knowledge.
Make sure your marketing doesn’t suck
Want the big bucks? Invest in your marketing.
- Have a professionally designed website and business cards.
- Dress well.
- Invest in a 1-800 number for your clients.
- Hire a virtual receptionist to maintain a professional image.
Image matters to 6 Figure Freelancers
Would you give 10,000 dollars to a Merrill Lynch broker if he wore tattered clothes, met you at Starbucks driving a Pinto and used bigstanmakingmoney08@hotmail.com as his email address?
Your clients are investing in your freelance talent as an investment in their future. Ask yourself one simple question, if you had one million dollars to spend and could hire yourself, based solely on your marketing presentation, would you?
6-figure freelancers create products instead of using services as their main revenue stream
Time is the secret currency of freelancers. We receive compensation for our creative concepts and ideas, and the time it takes to execute them.
With only a maximum of 24 hours in one day, a person is limited to the amount of time they can bill when the revenue is dependent upon the hours. If you learn how to do the work once–and sell your effort multiple times–you are increasing the amount of money you can make exponentially.
If you focus on creating multiple streams of product revenue : books, seminars, CD’s and merchandise–that can be created once and sold numerous times– you’ll make money faster than soliciting new clients to buy your services.
For example: A freelance writer can write an e-book in 8 hours at a cost of $400 of labor. (The writer normally charges $50 an hour for their writing services.)
The freelance writer uses 4 hours researching and writing, and 4 hours editing and creating the marketing materials. If the freelancer prices the e-book for $29.00 and sells 100 copies, the gross revenue is $2,900 and the profit is $2,500.
$2,500 for 8 hours of work for a freelance writer who thinks in terms of products sold instead of services only.
Remove any thoughts of becoming a freelance starving artist. Practice these steps so you too can sit at the head of the table as you feast from the abundance of money, success and happiness as a 6-figure freelancer.
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Tags: 6 figure freelancer, become a freelance writer, six figure freelancer
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