I’ve earned almost $275,000 as an Independent writer.
Indeed, as a writer, I’ve earned almost one-fourth of a million dollars. Here is a straightforward formula.
Writing internet articles has brought in almost a quarter of a million bucks for me. Impressive?
I probably ought to disclose that I’ve worked as a freelance writer for more than a decade. I could have produced a lot more, to be quite honest. I also took some time off to launch a web design and marketing business.
How I Made Over $275K
Mathematically speaking, earning a quarter of a million dollars as a writer is actually fairly simple… over time.
I spent the majority of those ten years in the United Kingdom. I had a laid-back lifestyle by the pool, went out with friends, and enjoyed the sunshine while living near the beach (sometimes you just grow sick of the beach after having sand in your hair, nooks, crannies, and arse forever). I would occasionally work while traveling to various nations.
Are you prepared to kick me in my grandstanding face through the screen yet? Okay, I know I appear like a cocky jerk.
This is what I did. Writing brought in about $3K a month for me (some months a bit more). It came to roughly $35,000 each year. And I continued doing it for almost 10 years. So $275,000+.
But keep in mind that I only had that life because of the lifestyle decisions I made. It undoubtedly wasn’t a $35K year salary, which isn’t much, let’s face it. I never owned a vehicle, even though I didn’t need or desire one; I always backpacked when I traveled; and my flats were lovely but never ostentatious. You’d be surprised at how many nations you can visit comfortably on less than $3K a month.
How to Live a Sweet Life as a Professional Writer,
So here’s the deal: based on the information above, you too might be a haughty jerk with a luxurious lifestyle and a successful writing career.
To claim that a writer can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars sounds posh.
Even as I type this, I can already picture a New York Times best-selling author posing in their Manhattan penthouse for the cover of their latest book. But in truth, most authors work in their trousers, just as they would at any other profession. Unless you write at a café, where they usually require you to wear trousers.
Simple maths and hard work are all you need to become a full-time professional writer.
- Determine how much money you require to survive. Do you require $3,000 or $7,000 each month? Say for the sake of this example that you can subsist on $5,000 per month.
- Take the average amount you are paid for each article now. If you’re not already getting paid to write, I’ll advise you to never accept less than $30 for 400 words.
- In anything, more is always better. I often charge $50 or more for 350 words (and because I write quickly, it works out to $50 to $60/hour).
- Run the numbers. If you want to earn $3k per month, charge, let’s say, $35 for each piece. You must produce 120 articles every month, or around 5 per day. or seven if you want weekends off.
- Prepare your portfolio, cover letter, and resume now and start applying for writing jobs. Until you have a complete list of clients, work on it part-time (which, in my experience, usually takes at least a few months).
- Recheck your calculations now, bearing in mind taxes and additional costs (such as savings, a rainy-day fund, etc.).
- Continue looking for work over time (even if you already have clients) and keep raising your per-word or per-article pricing. You may either work fewer hours per day or earn more money when you secure higher-paying clients.
I elected to work fewer hours once my rate gradually rose, which is why I mentioned above that I might have earned a lot more money. By the way, it always seems to be better to work with clients that pay more. Keep boosting your price, even if it’s just to attract better customers.
Not that difficult
This is the fundamental framework for a transactional writer. It doesn’t need time-consuming activities like self-promotion, sales, branding, social media marketing, and chutzpah (because selling oneself effectively necessitates either an Only Fans account or real confidence). Simply put, becoming an expert writer of content is a way to cash in on your time.
In comparison to the first strategy of branding and advertising mentioned above, this one is really simple. It only requires some planning and work. That’s the basic reason to write this piece for you. So many “gurus” on this site make becoming a professional writer seem so difficult. However, they are referring to a well-known author. The difficult part to grow into a professional writer is the fancy-pants (literally, you might have to wear trousers) version. And the majority of individuals give up before finding success.
The ‘transactional method’ to becoming a successful writer may be completed in a matter of months as opposed to years if you’re lucky. Not as glamorous, but also not as challenging to complete.
Therefore, if you want to work as a full-time professional writer but creating a brand seems hard. Take the transactional approach to a writing profession seriously.
