Psst, I make money on some of the links in this post at no cost to you. It keeps the lights on around here. Amazon links are affiliate. I mention Jorden Roper in this article and link to her site; I’m not an affiliate for her in any way. I just like her stuff! 

As promised, here’s the big, bad blog on my side Hustle, Freelance Writing.

In April 2018 I was able to earn over $1,500 on my side hustle. A few readers inquired about how I started freelancing and how I make it work, so here’s my quick guide to making money with Freelance writing.

Do you moonlight or have a side hustle? Let’s chat about it in the comments.

First things first

Let’s start with my big, fat caveat on side hustles.

I know they’re very en vogue. In fact, I’ve written about this obsession before. Every time I turn around, I see another blog telling me I have to get a side hustle to be financially independent.

I don’t think side hustles are mandatory at all. In fact, I don’t think everyone should do side work. It involves a lot of time, brain power, and strugglebus-ing that, frankly, isn’t for everyone.

Before you look into side hustles, consider:

• Maximizing your full-time income: It makes no sense to start dog walking if you should be working for a promotion instead. If you already work a full-time job, maximize the time you spend there first!
• Minimizing expenses: If you’re in a tight financial spot, a side hustle shouldn’t be your first answer. See what you can cut or substitute for budgetary breathing room.
• Do you really have time for it? Seriously. If you’re getting five hours of sleep a night and feel burnt out and stressed, is an extra job going to help you? Probably not. Side hustles are rewarding, but they are hard work. Try the above suggestions if you’re strapped for time or sanity.

That said, with all my misgivings about side hustles, why would I do one?

Why I freelance

I’ve been freelancing in some form for about three years.

I got my start doing freelance marketing projects on Elance (now UpWork). At the time I was frustrated with my full-time job and wanted to take on work that interested me. The extra money wasn’t too shabby, either. I made $100 and felt like queen of the world! Unfortunately I soon started a new full-time job with a strict non-compete clause, so I had to pause freelancing.

Fast forward to 2016. I was in a different job and I was miserable. It was a clock-punching, kick-me-in-the-face, soulless job. I felt creatively stifled and professionally lost. I perused listings on UpWork and took on a few writing jobs.

To my surprise, I loved it!

It’s only grown since then (more on that in a sec), and I’m very happy with freelance writing. It’s time-draining and sometimes stressful, but it’s a side hustle that I find rewarding.

For me, it’s not about the money. It’s about doing something I really, actually, genuinely love. I don’t think you can successfully maintain a side hustle unless you love it.

But the money is nice, too.

How I made $1,500 with freelance writing

Now to the juicy bit! Here’s how I managed to make $1,500 with freelance writing.

I got specific

At first, I wanted to do ALL THE THINGS for freelancing. Writing, marketing, SEO – sign me up for all of it, pal!

But I soon realized I had to narrow my focus. I wanted to find more clients and do work that I was actually interested in. My shotgun approach was confusing clients; they didn’t know who I was as a freelancer.

At first I did strictly marketing. This was fun, but I found that the clients were really demanding. And hey, I did marketing all day at my full-time job. I didn’t want to do it in my off time, too. I needed to do something I loved that wasn’t just marketing.

I switched to billing myself as a general freelance writer. You need a blog on HVAC systems, homesteading, marketing, or mold removal? Sure, I’ll take it on! This was fun and I had a lot of success here. But I didn’t enjoy writing about things like mold and air conditioners. I didn’t want to specialize in writing about things I didn’t like or particularly understand.

I realized I only wanted to write about two things: personal finance and marketing. I narrowed it down to just marketing, since my specialized knowledge meant higher paying jobs. I take on personal finance jobs now just for funsies.

I’m able to score work that’s highly specialized and interesting. That means higher paying clients and more interesting projects!

I found a platform

This is a bit controversial, but I started freelance writing by finding clients on UpWork. A lot of freelance high rollers will tell you to avoid these freelance platforms like the plague.

Yes, you do get lowballed on UpWork. Yes, many of the clients there are shizzy. And yes, UpWork eats 20% of your profits.

I’m still on there because, frankly, I still make a lot of money on the platform.

I only apply for jobs that I’m excited about and that don’t have any red flags. And I’m not afraid to downright reject work from people who won’t pay my rate.

UpWork has only worked for me because I’m finicky about who I work with and I stick up for the quality of my work for fair pay.

I pitched every day

At the beginning of 2018, I realized I wanted to do freelancing as a career. To make a career, I knew I needed more income and more clients. For that reason, I set aside time every day to find new clients.

At first I just started finding people on UpWork, but after learning from famed freelancer Jorden Roper (more on her in a sec), I moved on to cold emailing.

I hate pitching, but it gives me regular paying work. No lulls here!

I worked my butt off

After I acquired writing work, it was time to, well, work! I had a panic attack one weekend when I realized I had to write 6,000 words collectively.

*exhales*

To keep up with my deadlines, I schedule time every day to do freelancing. I wake up weekday mornings at 5 am to write for my clients. On the weekends I hole up in coffee shops for 2+ hours.

I work about 15 hours a week on my freelance writing side hustle. It’s not easy and it’s a lot of work, but it’s paying off.

I went beyond UpWork

I wanted to be the best at freelancing.

Naturally, I consumed every bit of advice I could find on freelance writing. I inhaled everything Jorden Roper wrote and realized I was a damn fool.

I put all of my eggs in my UpWork basket and was doing okay, but I needed to get away from using only this platform. UpWork was chomping away at my earnings and most clients were short term. That meant I had to spend even more time finding clients and pitching, which sucked.

I took Jorden’s cold email course and overhauled my pitching process.

I also connected with potential clients through Facebook Groups and LinkedIn. I have a lot of work to do, but in April I found one $600/mo client just through connecting with people.

Treated it like a business

It was easy to see freelancing as a fun side hobby when I first started out. But if I wanted to do it full-time, I had to stop pussyfooting around and make this legit.

I was particularly inspired by Sean McCabe’s book, Overlap. I learned how to grow a side business while keeping my full-time job. It was a really helpful tool for learning time management.

I also spent money to grow my business. I paid for business cards, software (like RescueTime and Quickbooks), and even plan to buy computer equipment.

It’s all about spending on things that make me work better and faster. Which means more money in the long run.

I set a crazy goal

I love that saying, “Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

At the end of March, I knew I wanted to kick butt in April. I followed the SMART method to set clear, measurable goals for April.

My goal was to earn 50% more in April than I did in March. I thought it was an insane goal, but I wanted to stretch myself. Little did I know, I would make nearly double my goal.

I set an audacious goal for myself and worked my tail off trying to make it happen. In the process, I over-achieved by working harder to make a seemingly “impossible” goal come true.

Dream big, folks.

In a nutshell

I know that was a lengthy overview. In a nutshell, I grew my freelance income to $1,500/month by:

• Being hyper-focused on what I wrote and who I targeted for my services
• Signing up for a platform that connected me with work (In hindsight I only recommend for when you’re starting out)
• I pitched to new people every day to get constant work
• I left the platform and found customers more organically through email, Facebook groups, and LinkedIn
• I invested earnings back into my business
• I set a SMART goal for freelance income – and beat it!

The numbers

I didn’t take freelancing seriously until April 2018. Thanks to setting big, crazy, what-is-wrong-with-me goals, I was able to do even better than I planned.

Just to show you the difference that hard work and focus can make, my March freelance earnings were $560. My April earnings were $1,509.

That’s a big difference, right?

You can make good money from a side hustle, but only if you stay committed to it. I don’t think side hustles are successful if you aren’t passionate about them. They’re still work and still require a lot of your time.

For me, a side hustle has been a great way to start a business while I’m still safely employed. I need to continue multiplying my income moving forward to make it viable, but I’m on the road there.

What’s more frugal than taking back time and mental energy by carving your own path?

We want to know: Do you have a side hustle? How much have you earned with it?

The post How I earned $1,500 with a side hustle appeared first on Picky Pinchers.