Article by Wendy McCance
In 2012, I began this blog for free on WordPress. One year later, I took the plunge and switched over to a blog that was self-hosted so that I could make money off my blog. Within a month of setting up the new improved blog, I quit my job in real estate and became a full-time freelance writer.
When I dove into a full-time writing career, I had only written a few articles for a couple different companies. I by no means had a steady workload when I became a full-time writer. It was what I had done to set up my career combined with my plans for creating different streams of income that gave me the confidence to pursue my dream full-time.
I didn’t want any distractions. If I stayed in real estate, I would have put too much time and energy into a career I no longer wanted. I would have put writing to some extent on the back burner. I realized that what would motivate me to find success as a freelance writer was to scare the crap out of myself. There would be no safety net. I had to make my dream come true because I still had bills to pay.
I built a platform before I took the plunge
- I created a blog one year before I took on freelance writing full-time.
- I wrote a post each day.
- I learned what my readers were eager for me to write about.
- I shared my posts on several social media sites. Sharing on a few LinkedIn groups is how I got my first few assignments. A few companies reached out to me.
- I read every day. I researched everything that interested me. I learned how to increase views, how to make money on blogs and how to go about prospecting for clients.
- I outlined my goals. By the time I created my self-hosted blog, I knew the different streams of income I wanted to tap into to create passive income. I was ready to make the jump into a full-time writing career.
I diversified to increase my income
- I prospected for clients for freelance writing assignments every day.
- I offered social media consulting and maintenance.
- I began to do product reviews.
- I set up an Amazon store on my blog.
- I offered sponsored posts.
- I looked into doing some advertising on my blog.
Results
- I was blown away by the amount of companies/entrepreneurs who were interested in using me as a social media consultant or wanted me to maintain their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- I have small amounts of money trickling in from sponsored posts, advertising as an affiliate and through the Amazon store. I see these areas of income doubling within a year. Not bad since once these things are set up, I do very little if anything at all.
- I have a steady stream of freelance writing clients. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard to get clients. The key is to have a good pitch and an understanding of what type of writing you want to go after.
The takeaway is that it isn’t as hard as many people think to become a writer. It’s unreal how many companies are looking for a freelance writer. The fallout from the economy going bust has actually made finding a freelance writing job easier. The reason why is because many of these companies can hire outside help at a much lower rate. There are no benefits they need to pay. Hiring an employee is just so much more expensive. There is no worries of training an employee either. You hire a freelance writer and you are off and running right from the start.
My best advice is to find as many income streams as possible. Stay open to finding creative ways to increase your income. Maintaining social media accounts is actually an area that has gotten me more clients than writing traditional articles.
The money I make from maintaining accounts is well worth the effort. Just look at my price list page. Figure that most of these clients want a post or link 5 days a week. Most clients want Facebook and Twitter maintenance.
With just 3 clients wanting Facebook and Twitter Maintenance 5 days a week, I make $195.00 per day or $975.00 per week. You can figure out just how much you can make a month or year. Figure an hour a day for each client. That’s 3 hours a day to put up a link or post and comment back to any customer who reaches out. Twitter maintenance can take longer when you clean up spam followers and look to follow relevant Twitter users.
My goal is to work 40 hours per week. Besides maintenance of social media sites, I still write articles, blog posts, press releases and have my passive income on this blog. My point is the money is there. You just need to get out there and start connecting with possible clients. If you have the dream and the determination, you can do it too.
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Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
Latest posts by Wendy McCance (see all)
- A Week in the Life of a Writer - August 3, 2014
- Give Yourself a Secret Advantage Before Starting Your Own Business - July 30, 2014
- How to Improve Your Presence on Twitter - July 29, 2014
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Thank you Wendy for such a fine article of advice.
Thanks so much Jacqueline, I really appreciate it.
Wendy,
I’ve had my Blog for several years now but I’m not sure how to guage what my readers would like me to write about. My Blog is very personal and mostly about whatever happens to be on my mind.
There are two ways I was able to figure out what to focus on. Comments are powerful. When you receive several comments on a given topic, Especially long comments, you know you have hit gold. The other thing I have done is used a survey plugin. You can ask what subjects a reader would like to read about and they vote. Wishing you all the best.