These Pro Rules Will Help Freelancers Earn More Money!

• It’s only been 6 years since I started freelance writing to replace my full-time income which I had lost when my firm closed down. I was 56 years old and I have a diploma in writing, so I thought I’d put that qualification to work.

I quickly discovered that my diploma meant nothing in the online writing world.

After a year with no success, I decided to check out successful freelancers and learn from them.

These are the most useful writing rules I learned:

There are many ways to write online.

There is no right or wrong road to writing success as nobody has found one single clear cut path to online writing success, but the really successful writers have paved the way for others to follow them.

By following their writing blueprint precisely, I have succeeded in creating an actionable plan.

Because my time is extremely limited, sticking to a schedule is truly important. I do my best to spend a couple of hours a day doing this. I also set aside one day a week to devote a couple of hours to marketing. I choose another day for brainstorming ideas and another one for research or interviews. I have scheduled the same days and times for these activities and have established a routine.

The Key Is Consistency.

I discovered that I had to remain consistent in my marketing and pitching efforts before the gigs started coming in. I carved out specific times for marketing, pitching, and writing.

Keep learning:

Since I had had a writing diploma, learning how to write, I thought it wasn't necessary for me to take do anymore  training. Man, was I wrong.

There are an incredible amount of different writing opportunities for a freelance writer, and not many were ever taught in a classroom. I learned online, how to dissect news content and how to write great headlines.

Skills which have provided me with the tools I need to determine exactly what a publication is looking for (I definitely never learned that one in my classroom).

Be informed

Never ever contact an editor before you've done your research. I learned the hard way that by pitching blindly, could not only ruin your chances at landing an assignment, but it could potentially also ruin your reputation with that publisher.

Editors seem to have a sixth sense about sniffing out whether you've done your homework or not. The chance to pitch that publication later on may be totally ruined. Patience and the willingness to research well, are vital in the writing business.

Never settle

Don't be complacent, Low-paying gigs will never ever give you the freelancer’s life you are looking for.

When I first started out on this writing journey, I was writing for a publication that paid. Before April 2013, having had no real plan, I had been writing some articles, 250 to be exact, for a company called Wikinut.com. However, their payment structure was pretty non existent (they pay 1 penny for every 1000'th view) which translated to about £10 per year. But in April, that had started to change, I had stumbled onto a remarkable company called Bubblews.com Suddenly, it was now possible to get 1 cent per click in stead of 1 cent per 1000 clicks. I was in business. As long as I delivered 10 posts per 24 hours, I was in the money. 

Unfortunately, the company tanked-out and of thousands of writers were not being paid or were receiving only part of their pay being missing and also posted articles were becoming in-accessible as well etc. I should have had a back-up plan but I did not. I still occasionally  post on Bubblews but as a once vibrant site, it has become quite 'lifeless" with management not coming clean about what has happened. Most of the writers have cut their losses and left. Listening to freelancers with experience taught me that these gigs weren't going to bring me the income I was looking for.

I decided to drop that job and focus my time on finding clients who were willing to pay well. I’m currently working on an article for a print publication that’s paying me 50 cents a word. Now, that’s better.