Freelance Writing
There are several ways you can make money on the internet, and one of the best ways is through freelance writing. This is a good option because there is always a demand for content, and it allows you to work from home. Other options available for those who are looking to make money on the internet include article writing and blogging. You can earn anywhere between $5 to $500 per article (or even $1000, if you write for the top blogs). You don’t need to have your own website or anything to get started, just Google websites that pay you to write.
“So, how do you actually make money off this writing thing?”
In my experience, this is the most common question an aspiring writer has. I know this because my mind was burning with the very same question when I first started my writing journey a little over a year ago.
I intend to make a good living from my craft, so over the past year, I’ve read hundreds of articles on the subject, subscribed to a paid newsletter or two — and even attended a writing retreat in Bali!
I’ve come out of these experiences wiser. After taking the leap to become a full-time writer and having my first $500 writing month, I thought I’ll write an article to share my thoughts on this commonly asked question. In short, what I’ve realised is:
There are only three ways to make money from writing.
And in my opinion, the third one is by far the best.
This is an article I wish I had the opportunity to read when I was first starting out — it would have saved me a lot of time, time that could’ve been spent writing. Consider this a comprehensive guide that answers the age-old question of how you can make a living from your words.
The article runs a little long, but have patience. Read the whole thing, and you’ll be one step closer to turning your professional writing dreams into reality.
Work as a Full-Time Writer
The first and most obvious way to make a living from writing is to, well, get a job as a writer! Here are some examples:
- A copywriter at an advertising agency
- Social media content writer for a startup (think writing Instagram/Facebook posts, tweeting from the company account etc)
- Being a journalist
- Becoming a content writer for a magazine
- And more.
The good thing about working as a full-time writer is that you’ll have a steady source of income with all the standard corporate perks; insurance, pay bumps, a chance to rise in the ranks and to rub shoulders with your fellow creatives — all of which, I cannot emphasise enough, should not be downplayed. The life of a writer is often unstable and lonely.
This is an option I briefly considered —last year, I even went as far as to apply for a job as a staff writer for an edgy online magazine. I got rejected but they offered me a role as a freelance contributor (we’ll get on that in a minute) but I declined. Looking back, it was for the best.
The problem with working as a full-time writer is two-fold.
- There is a fixed ceiling on your income
- You don’t get to choose what you want to write
The first point is true for pretty much any full-time job not involving a sales commission, but that’s the price to pay for stability.
The second point is going to be an issue if you’re someone who relishes creative freedom. I know a girl who’s an editor at a local Singaporean newspaper, and the word she uses to describe her job is “soul-destroying.” Yikes…no thanks, not for all the money in the world.
To solve the second problem, you can consider becoming what’s known as a gun for hire. A freelance writer.
Work as a Freelance Writer
Perhaps the most well-kept open secret in the industry is the fact that freelance writers can make bank.
This is especially true for highly-regarded ghostwriters and sales copywriters. It is not uncommon for these wordsmiths to clear six-figures — I have a personal friend, Lydia, who’s a freelance copywriter bringing home an average of $9–10k a month.
Aside from the potential payout, the upside about freelance writing is freedom. You’re not obliged to accept any clients you’re not interested in working with, and you don’t have to write anything you don’t want to. You get to pick and choose. You are, in effect, your own boss, semi-solving the freedom of expression issue we had previously with the second point.
However, the issue of running into an income ceiling still remains. As a freelancer, you’re trading your time for money. And no matter how skilled you are, you, like everyone else, only have 24 hours in a day. This means that your time is unscaleable, which in turn means your income, though high, is nevertheless capped.
Many business-savvy creatives get around this problem by starting a business. A copywriter at an ad agency might learn the ropes for a few years before quitting to start his own ad agency, for example. But then they’ll run into a problem they might not expect. Once they take the leap, they’ll no longer be an artist. They’ll be an entrepreneur, making an entrepreneur’s decisions, living an entrepreneur’s life.
So the question remains: how can we, as creatives, have our cake and eat it too? How can we make a great living doubling down on what we love — our art?
This brings us to my last, longest and most important point.
Write — and Own — Your Own Content
“The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven’t figured this out yet.” — Naval Ravikant
The advent of the internet has changed the business of writing forever.
Yes, the internet is a great platform that allows you to brand yourself better, market your work further and let your words reach the eyes of more would-be fans. All of these are obvious benefits, but the real paradigm-shift is more subtle:
All artists now have the option of owning 100% of their content and making money from their art in the form of royalties.
Here’s what I mean. A couple of centuries ago, even if you were a transcendental artist like Van Gogh, Michaelangelo or Chopin, you were pretty much stuck with only two ways to make a living. You could either:
- Sell your artwork, or
- Be a commissioned artist patronised by some rich guy
Both of these options mean you no longer own your work. It legally belongs to whoever paid for them. In writing, this is the equivalent of ghostwriting a book for a client. They own the fruits of your genius, not you.
“But what about writing your own book? Authors make royalties from book sales, don’t they?” Ah, this is where things get interesting. Every writer dreams of becoming a traditionally published author with a huge advance — but what many writers don’t know is that traditional publishing is a double-edged sword, because once you sign the deal, the publishing house effectively owns anywhere between 85% to 92% of your book.
Just two short decades ago, submitting your stories to a big publishing house or literary magazine was the only viable option for writers to get published, to get paid for their work. This is not true for today.
The internet has levelled the playing field, allowing writers access to a third option, the option of owning our own work and letting it work for us. Here are some examples:
- Self-publishing your book on Amazon
- Crafting an e-book and selling it on your website
- Writing blog posts for your personal website
- Writing on third party sites like Medium, Newsbreak and Wattpad
- Offering subscription-based services (such as a weekly newsletter) to your true fans on sites like Substack and Patreon
The best thing about this option is it not only solves both the problems we brought up in our previous point, but it also allows us to make an extremely powerful move. Let’s take a look.
Owning Content Means You Have 100% Creative Freedom
Medium is a great example.
Here, you can make great money writing whatever you want. That’s a very real and very understated privilege.
I own every article I write here. A well-written story not only generates a modicum of passive income for me (more on that later), it allows me to make plays like repurposing my best-received articles for a future short story or e-book. And the best thing is there is no disgruntled boss or concerned clients to answer to. I am the boss of my own career.
That’s a very freeing feeling.
Owning a Library of Content is the Leverage You Need to Break the Income Ceiling
Like we touched on previously, no matter how much you get paid monthly at a full-time job or per article as a freelancer, you’ll eventually hit an income ceiling because your time cannot be scaled.
It’s different when you play the content game, though. Every article I write here, as long as it’s well-written and timeless, will continue making money forever. A great example would be that the best-earning article for me in November was actually written way back in February!
The article made me $188 without me putting any further effort into it. Now here’s the clincher; can you imagine if I had a hundred articles like this? A thousand?
, the game is not to write one world-beating story that blows up then dies down. The goal is to write timeless article after timeless article, ensuring that your “net” grows ever stickier, catching more views — and therefore dollar bills, over time.
Make a Name for Yourself — the Big Publishers Will Come Knocking
This last point is the true beauty of this strategy.
Who do you think a big publisher would prefer: A first-time manuscript by an upstart writer with no following, or a proven internet sensation with 30,000 followers on Medium, six-figure monthly views and a 10,000 strong email list?
Scratch that, who do you think will get a better deal? The latter is the obvious pick. The best thing about building a library of content is it gives you options. If the publisher won’t give you the deal you want, you can search for another one that will. You can self-publish whenever you want to. Or you can simply sit back and keep churning out articles, simultaneously growing your content library and fan-base.
The One Problem About Building the Content Library Strategy
The one negative about this strategy is that this is a long game.
It requires a lot of patience. It is not necessary for you to go viral and win big, but it does require you to show up day after day and create with unflinching enthusiasm. For how long you ask? According to successful writers like
Ayodeji Awosika
and Jon Morrow, five years is the general consensus. That seems like a long time…but think about it.
How long did you spend in school? I spent 11 years in the education system learning absolutely nothing. University itself took almost five years and put me in five-figures worth of debt.
But if you’re patient enough to use these five years to create your very own library of content, it’ll earn you fans and teach you how to write a fine line — all the while putting money in your pocket, to boot! So treat these five years as an apprenticeship in the craft of online writing.
This is how instead of selling your time, your art and eventually your soul, you turn the tables around and make your art work for you.
In Summary
There are only three ways to make money from writing, and the last, creating a library of content that you own, is the best.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the first two points. There’s nothing wrong with a full-time job, with taking a cheque. But if you want true freedom and the chance to make an infinitely scaleable income from your writing, the third option is the best.
I believe that content creation is the job of the future, and that the best way to tap into this future is to create a massive library of your own, a library that serves the three-fold purpose of serving as a source of income, a way for you to build and connect with fans, and a giant neon sign of credibility to potential publishers. So let’s get to creating.
I’ll see you in five years — at the very top.