This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info.
Over the past two months, freelance writing has become a viable side income stream for me. While I am not ready to quit my full time job just yet, I can see there is a bright future ahead if I stick with it.
I have a goal to earn at least $500 a month from this sprouted income source by the end of the year. Over the past two months I have made some progress towards this goal but am not there yet.
Let’s take a closer look at my second month as a freelance writer.
Month #2 as a Freelance Writer
I earned $75 in my first month back as a freelance writer back in January. This income earned was as a staff writer for a personal finance blog where I wrote 3 articles. After crunching the numbers, I estimated that I spent about 1 hour researching and writing each article. My hourly rate during that month was $25. Not great but a start.
My second month back (February) as a freelance writer was about the same – except I wrote 4 articles instead of 3. Again, I estimate spending about 1 hour researching and writing each of those articles. My freelance writing income was $100 this time – but still the same $25 hourly rate.
I will take $25 an hour for now as a rate, but I need to develop some efficiency into my research and writing. At that hourly rate, I will need to write 20 articles per month to reach my goal of earning $500 from this income stream.
I can write 20 articles per month without question. But it would certainly be nice to earn $50 or even $100 per hour doing so instead of $25. That way I could focus on building several other new and exciting income streams.
How to Earn $500 Per Month as a Freelance Writer
I have a goal to build my freelance writing into a $500 per month income stream. In order to hit this mark, I will need to add some more clients. During the first two months of the year, I earned all of my freelance income as a staff writer from a single client.
Starting in my third month, I was fortunate to pick up a second client which should help me double my current income levels. I expect to earn about $200+ this month from writing for my two clients.
In order to eventually meet my goal of $500, I will need to pick up about 3 more clients over the next couple of months.
Recycling Freelance Income
It is important to point out that the majority of my side income earned from freelance writing will go to feed my dividend income stream. I think it is critical to recycle as much of my side income as possible. In this case, I will recycle my freelance income back into dividend stocks.
On occasion, I will reinvest some of this side income back into growing my freelance business. For example, back in February I purchased a new domain name and hosting for a website dedicated to promoting my freelance services.
Issues Ahead
While I have been able to grow and take on a second client, I am still having some issues. For example, I have been spending a lot of time trying to find other open staff writer positions. Since I am not actually writing articles during this time, I have not included it in my hourly rate calculations above. In order to reach my $500 goal, I will need to find at least 3 additional staff writing gigs.
I am sure this is common amongst other freelancers starting out, but it really does take time finding clients. Hopefully word of mouth will help me grow this business!
What types of challenges have you faced as a freelance writer? What methods do you use to find new clients?
The best way to find new freelance writing jobs (as well as to increase your rate per article) is to just get your name out there. Comment on blogs, interact on Twitter, and guest posting. It may seem counter intuitive to write for free, but it helps get you on bigger blogs, and visible to other blog owners. As you gain experience you can ask for more per post. $25 per post when you’re starting out is the going rate. As you become more experienced, and start valuing your work higher, be sure not to fall in to the trap of “well, getting paid $25 per post isn’t what I want, but it will increase my income.” Maybe you turn down a few lower paying jobs, but pick up one or two higher paying jobs that make it worth it! Good luck!
@Brock – Thanks for the feedback. So it sounds like you have some experience as a freelance writer?