I have earned a full-time living from freelancing for over 10 years. There are more than posts on here describing various aspects of how you can make a living as a freelance writer, too. Most of them are based on my actual experience of finding and working with freelance clients, both magazines and businesses. Discussed how I built a lucrative paid blogging niche.

Provided detailed answers to reams of questions from freelancers about how to get started and build your business. I have done everything short of xeroxing my client paychecks and posting them here as I share exactly how I have gotten and worked with freelance writing clients since on this blog.

From decades back, long before me, books have been published and mentors were busy helping writers learn how to turn their craft into a living. And yet, at the end of it all, I still get the question in this headline. Often asked a bit bashfully, doubtfully, skeptically, incredulously. Which is too bad…because freelance writing is a real career. And this one, in response to my post about how I earned six figures entirely from freelance gigs in Your vision of what is possible is narrow.

That can only change when you entertain the possibility that the world might be wider than you ever imagined. That you in fact possess the potential to live a life where you are your own boss, and do what you love for a living.

It was first convincing them, after generations of slavery, that they had the potential to be free. Only the ones who are ready to be helped. I came from nothing, with no degree or connections, and have paid my bills with it since about And I am definitely not the only one who earns a living this way. Are you making good money as a freelancer? Leave a comment and tell us your story. I started off my freelancing career with a couple of dubious content mills late inmade very little money, did a few other things part-time work and then ditched them entirely in mid and started pursuing my own clients through networking especially LinkedIn.

In the past 6 months since Oct. I do what I do professionally, and I treat good clients like gold. Of course, I do like the travelling, however, so I may not bother! Plus…are you a Den member? Not yet available to the general public, but sounds like a GREAT fit for you. I have been freelance writing sinceand I made some very good money with it. I started freelance writing because I wanted to work online and travel the world. I had a business degree, a passion to travel and an open mind.

I made most of my income on Elance and PeopleperHour, which is not amazing income, but if you pick the jobs carefully and work smartly, it can rival a standard office job. Anyway, off I go reading more from Carol and learning how to take my freelance business even further! I would bet that business degree gave you a real edge. The past few months have been nothing short of an absolute whirlwind.

Are either of those things even marketable, especially with no formal writing experience? What do I do? Where do I start? It would be like a dream come true if I could make a REALLY good income just blogging like you do. Regina B recently posted… new beginnings no more. Regina — see my ebook The Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success for how to get started. If you want to try to leverage one of your blogs to land freelance blogging gigs, you might check out another ebook of mine, How to Be a Well-Paid Freelance Blogger.

What matters is whether you can write compelling work, and are willing to market your services. And much more of a moonshot. For most of us, a blog is a starting point for finding an audience…then you need to develop more useful items your readers would pay for. The Step by Step Guide ebook can show you how to connect your interest in that field to paid writing gigs.

Nor have I taken advantage of any of your offers here…yet. However, I do want to say a few things to those who think you are trying to scam people. This angered me quite a bit. I was very impressed with your website today; and this is my very first visit.

Instead, they would claim that if the visitor posted something, their sources or rather non-existent clients would find them. I believe you are genuinely trying to help people get into the freelance business; and I also believe what you do charge for certain options is well deserved.

After all, you are taking time out of your freelancing schedule to offer advice and mentor individuals. If the ones who are quick to call you a scam would stop to think about it, there is little difference than paying you for your services than paying someone else for the same services.

The only difference is you offer your services over the Internet. I have also heard about many people making a living by being freelance blog writers and so forth. It is called being dedicated to the work, and like you said, finding the right sources. But my mission is to help the most writers earn the most the fastest, so I try to keep info like that open.

For folks who need more in-depth help, there are my courses, the Den, mentoring, and e-books. I already built my website http: But im beng optimistic because as I write im about to be a father my gf is in labor and I need a steady job online to help pay for the new bils.

Given your circumstances, you might want to consider a part-time or even full-time day job for now, while you ramp your writing income. Freelancing is the worst way to try to make money quickly…it takes time to build your business. Having a steady paycheck would allow you to work on finding quality clients rather than wasting time on mills. Too many people, particularly those stuck in the content mills, can get tunnel vision and become convinced their situations are the only ones out there, in terms of making any money from writing.

What has puzzled me for a while is how passionately some will defend [insert whatever mill name here] to the point of starting flame wars with anyone who dares point out anything negative about the mill in question. Talk about a waste of time and energy! And to think those writers could have been using their time productively improving their writing and seeking better work from private clients!

It just makes me shake my head. Each of your posts keeps giving me a bit more motivation to submit more to magazines, work on my own blogs, look for guest blogging opportunities, anything but crank out more for pennies on the content mills. Angela recently posted… An Alternative to J-School for the Online Writer. They each have their own special flavor and way of sucking, but there is no magical mill platform where you earn great money and are socking it into the k and going on cruise vacations.

I joined to pick up tips that I could use to make myself more successful. Do I have a healthy skepticism about there being dozens and hundreds of businesses out there looking for MY preferred type of writing? That being said, I wanted to explore other markets and learn how to approach them and I feel I have gotten that information.

I am now a contributing editor to Charity Channel Press, and I doubt that would have happened without learning more about how to pitch an editor, and I got that from your site. Will it increase my income to six figures? Am I smarter than when I joined?

The work of this blog is so important to Gen Y-ers like myself who are oh so impressionable and so clueless when it comes to charting a career path that we have no frame of reference for. Or when a really intelligent writer says that there will never be enough money to employ all artists and that he thinks its noble when artists reject the idea of using social media to promote their work, you believe it. The trope of the starving writer is a box that creatives and society have been socialized into believing and sustaining.

And I know, because I recently realized that is what it was for me. Unless your luck is extraordinary. But you have to go out and find them. Katherine Swarts recently posted… Confused and Misused. She interviewed something like 20 highly successful, long-time freelancers and found that 18 are still as successful now as they were ten years ago.

Oh, I know Kelly—by written exchange anyway, from getting permission to quote her in a couple of my articles. Even at that level of communication she shines a great personality! Ashleigh Mattern recently posted… Homegrown company gains a global reach. There are so many pros and cons about being a freelance writer for a living, I guess it all depends on YOU.

How is FREE advice a scam? As to the Den, no one is forced to use all the tutorials, networking, job leads, advice, critiques and awesome support that is available in the Den. Because, honestly, for less than the price of a weeks worth of lattes, you have everything in there for a person to succeed.

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You were the person who convinced me to give freelance writing another try after I crashed and burned a couple years ago. You provide way more than just writing advice, you provide support and generally care if others succeed. Dawn Witzke recently posted… 5 DIY Website Mistakes That Will Cost You Business. Sniping like this is everywhere on the web, and i falls into to broad categories: Needless to say, even a pile of audited and notarized bank statements will disabuse these folks of their dearly-held delusions, but at least you got a useful post out of it, right?

Carol, I like the tone and focus of your advice. As a currently inactive writer-editor, the first things I notice about online advice for freelance writers are:.

Writing requires ripping your heart out and having it thrown right back at you. Every day of your life. Your chances of compensation depend on this constant trauma. You seem to have uncovered a secret, or more likely, something people know deep down, but have been convinced to overlook. Now I make significantly more. First off I am overjoyed to have found your site Carol and I must say it is, no joke, the best I have subscribed to in the writing niche, PERIOD.

Second I do make a living off of my writing and as a freelance photojournalist, although I would like to scale. Thirdly, most writers and people in general suck at marketing. It is the major flaw in most businesses and the cause of demise for many. Business is hard at first, as is learning the marketing ropes. But I can say after years devoted to learning IM that is works and is the key component of a successful freelance writing career.

Elizabeth recently posted… Black Isle Blonde. And you do point up a basic truth. And when I say marketing I mean beyond hanging around Elance or Craigslist, where the good clients are very rare. Besides, why the heck should you have to justify and account for each cent you earn to prove your worth? Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. I think I needed to hear it about 20 times from you and other writers commenting here before I really believed it.

That strategy combined with more focused research on each publication has made a difference for me. I worked for a while in two different sweatshops of the writing world. I started out thinking that was as good as it got for people like me without connections… but you and others helped me to think about connections in a different way and to tap into the resources around me as well as build on my previous professional experience more than I had been before.

Oh, and about those 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness? Anita recently posted… digging up dandelions. True…but first they had to have that flash of insight, that their lives could be transformed and they could leave enslavement behind. The analogies to how so many people feel about cubicle life and a day job are hard to avoid….

Back in September, I started a meetup style group for myself and four friends who I thought would be dedicated to earning an income online. If they really wanted it to work, they would find a way. Just like every successful person has had to do.

Keep the great posts coming! These people are not checking out the loads of useful content in the Den with fresh webinars and info added weekly.

My first dollar-a-word article? Came from a successful Letter of Introduction I wrote to a trade pub based on Den tips. Let those naysayers go someplace else.

Can You Spot These 3 Different Freelance Writing Scams?

That keeps the Den for the positive freelancers who love to learn and earn! With your audience, even without your own products and credentials, anyone could see you would make quite as much. What I do make has a lot to do with everything I learned and am applying, your blog being one of my favorite resources: I spent five years in-house and have been freelancing for 11 years after that.

If nothing else, being able to refer prospects to my Website is a heck of a lot easier than having to email through a bunch of clips.

Hi Darren — thanks for sharing how the inbound marketing is working for you! And then the light goes on. You slaved away in journalism for years and raised your kids with your secret desire to stiff people as your dream job.

I read a lot. Not just fiction, but online writing. Your articles contain more energy, pack more punch and get my mind going than any other articles I have read. The trolls are just deflecting. Deflect them by forgetting about them. Lee J Tyler recently posted… Traditional Publishing Services Brought to Indie Authors. I left crappy minimum wage jobs behind in Actually, it became THE sole source of income for myself, my guy, and our cat.

And your advice definitely helps. Thanks for everything, Carol. Lauren recently posted… Thinking of Yourself as a Product. I worked for several newspapers, two of which laid me off and one that was going bankrupt. After I left the last one inI decided never to go back. I wanted to be a freelance writer and never have to worry about losing my job again.

I found the Freelance Writers Den through The Renegade Writer website. I put it off for several months because money was tight. Then, I decided to make it work somehow, even if we were short. One month into my membership in the Den, I made a great connection that helped increase my workload. I still have a lot of work to do.

I also have beefed up my LinkedIn page, made a ton of connections, and even reconnected with a former editor who just gave me my first assignment at her new mag. Amazing what a commitment to marketing will do for your income. I just quit my day job two months ago to work full-time as a writer.

I have learned a lot along the journey. It takes two things to be successful besides some writing talentpersistence and an open mind. The open mind allows you to listen to others more successful and learn from their wisdom. The key is that you have to believe in yourself if you want to be successful. You often provide actual numbers, so for the sake of this post I will, too. Plus several projects in the works. The secret is that I have excellent writing skills and plenty of willingness to learn how to run a successful business.

If you have poor writing skills, no amount of business acumen will land you regular gigs with reputable clients for high dollar amounts. Those who are most deeply disappointed should figure out what is stopping their progress. This site, IMHO, is most valuable for people like me. People who can write well but need some guidance with regard to pricing, marketing, pitching and so on. Wow, nice schedule coming up Kim! Kim, how buy fx options have you been freelancing for?

Congrats on your success. I hope to be there one day! Suzanne recently posted… Work when you work, play when you play. Hi Carol, I just wanted to chime in with my experiences and how your cash earned farmville 2 has helped me.

This month, for the first time, I earned enough to cover all of my business expenses and personal bills. Yes, it looks like you can really earn a living how to buy gerber stock way! You taught me about charging professional rates. On my own, I never thought anyone would pay that much, but they do, and amazingly, the clients who pay more are also better to work with.

In fact, even more is possible than you sometimes imply. Although there are a lot of crap jobs and cheap clients on Elance, there are also a select few that are the main indicators of the binary options and pay well.

And that was during the dot-com bubble! Being a bookwright is a dream come true for me. Thank you for your part in that. Hi Cara — thanks for sharing this! Certainly you can find a few gems in the Elance mine. I just found when I analyzed my marketing that it was more efficient to prospect for my own clients than try platforms like that or Craigslist ads where you can also occasionally find that needle in haystack winner. I feel really strongly about this, so wanted to return and comment.

Thank you for giving me a place to go to read about what I have always wanted to do! I am not a member of Freelance Writers Den,…YET. Without your guidance and wisdom I would not have picked up my first BIG client!

Even though I may not be swamped with work YET I am getting my own clients and being paid what I deserve and what I am worth!!! Kepp up the great work! And to those that think she is a scam,…BLAHHH!!!! Find someone else to bash. Hi Margo — sorry, I just found you mossberg 500 tactical stock with shell holder the spam!

Apologies for the delay getting your comment up. I honestly do appreciate you and what you do for freelancers. It really upset me that people would say you are a scam. I thought Elance was great, and I will be honest, I still go there occasionally to see if there is anything of interest to me there, but the pay is way to low, and then Elance has to take their cut of course, for connecting you.

I have only done a couple jobs on there in the past, but I was only paid for one. I contacted elance about this and even gave them the links to where my articles where, and they also had the copies of my uploaded work in the work room so they could verify it was mine, and there was nothing they could do to get my money. This woman still has a profile and is still hiring on Elance.

I have basically given up on getting my money from her, and I think biggest stock market players is what turned me off about elance.

I highly recommend, if you are new to elance read the TOS first, and Highly accurate 30 minute binary options strategy SURE YOUR ESCROW is funded before you begin. I have decided to do nothing but private clients. I may go to elance or another service like that if i am in a bind and I have no other choice.

I have not had a single client who is bothered by this. I do have one question for you…. I look forward to your reply; Margo Johnson recently posted… Freelance Writing IS a Real Job! Glad you kept trying!

I followed your advice and wrote a quick little article on Apsense about the Den and your blog. You can interactive brokers currency rates it here http: Then we can give you credit for your referrals. Would love to share those signup fees with you! How much money can a freelance programmer make, luckily, I love sales.

I think writers who just want to write might be better off exploring other employment options. I had to step in and say something here. First of all, Carol is no scam artist. Granted, I am not nearly as successful as Carol but, I am doing it and things are getting better. No matter who is giving you advice. She is a stand up kind of gal and I admire her quite a bit.

She gives great advice and I hope for the sake of we freelancers out here who know the score, that she continues to do so.

Annie Annie recently posted… How Always be a Broke Writer. Carol is no scammer!! Her advice is sound, and it all has one common thread — hard work! She has worked her tail off to get where she is, and while her advice can help shorten our journey to better paying gigs, we still have to work hard and put the time in to make a career out of freelancing. Once stuck in content mills, without Carol and the Den, I would have given up long ago.

Carol unconventional ways for students to make money the best! I, too, would like to join the Hallelujah chorus for the benefits of this blog and the Freelance Writers Den. And what have I got to show for my efforts? Let the naysayers bray, Carol. You give your readers the tools they need to succeed, but the onus is on us to make it happen for ourselves, and if you take the work seriously, you can make it happen.

This website is invaluable and I have to give it some credit for my small successes. I have no doubt that if Saudi stock exchange - tadawul - market and company information put the work in, I will be able to write freelance full-time.

When I graduated from college 2 years difference between forex spread betting, I felt like the world was mine and I was just going to go have an amazing career in education.

Then I got sick. And I remember one day a crazy thought just hit me…what if I could make a living working as a writer? I could work from home, I could set my own hours for the most part.

It was just the kind of flexible job I needed in order to make money and stay healthy. This blog and Linda with the Renegade Writer stuff have really helped me start to earn a living as a freelance writer. I never had to rely on content mills. In fact, because I came to trust Carol so quickly through this blog and the Den, I never seriously considered writing for stock road market butcher mills as a major part of my income.

Jasmine recently posted… 3 Uncommon Signs of Academic Trouble. Hi Jasmine — thanks for sharing forex cci indicator inspiring story. Count me as a freelance healthcare writer for almost 20 years. Last year I lost a major client so am rebuilding now.

Hope that helps the skeptics realize it IS possible to make a living from home as a writer. I must have started this post 10 times already, and I keep ending up in a sea of my own snark.

The resources in the Den are phenomenal and practical. Surprise, surprise, not everyone welcomes constructive criticism. Building up a professional writing business takes effort, skills and planning.

I think writing is like anything forex brokers in lebanon — you can spin your wheels or get serious.

You decide how much you want to earn as a professional. It was in the realm runescape wiki f2p money making combat communications consulting and professional writing. There are a lot of guest speakers as well who are experts in their niche. Amy Dunn Moscoso recently posted… How to Not Dr gary dayton trading psychology edge Like Alabama: Write a Business Blog Strategy.

Some people will never be satisfied. Unfortunately, harbour town adelaide easter trading 2014 you or we say will convince them otherwise.

I went down to part time hours at my job last year, and spend about hours a week writing. I live in New Zealand, and the majority of my clients are overseas. I know if I want to learn more about a particular freelance subject, all I have to do is browse the archive or search one of your ebooks.

So thank you, thank you for your dedication to helping writers succeed! I was under the impression that I was earning great part-time income writing for content mills until I got dissed a few times too many. The rules were ridiculous, the demands even more so, but the pay — cruddy to say the least. Now, with this blog I have at least ventured out into the writing world with a new blog of my own, a Google plus profile and plenty of places to research getting decent paying gigs from.

AM Roach recently posted… I forgot free speech was undergoing a change online. Thanks AM — and I so agree with that greedy algorithm problem — I wrote about it recently here: That same line of thought keeps them trapped in said choices.

I got that from someone who has quite a few years of experience in all manner of businesses, including both writing and the coaching of salaried-job seekers—Dan Miller at http: Not a for-writers site per se, but it does have a ton of resources on finding your personal best path.

I have one week left of an incredibly poor paying staff writer position at a newspaper and will be going full time freelance. I DO have some work lined up already so am not jumping off a cliff. I have a masters in English, clips and am still terrified, but this forex tv tim kelly was a big boost in giving me the confidence to take the leap. Loved reading the comments in the post.

Any writer worth their ink has a pretty good BS detector. Reading your posts and subscribing to your blog is an moral hazard and the u s stock market privilege. David David Gillaspie recently posted… Life And Death In Boomer Portland. The real scam is the one people run how much money does bill gates earn per second themselves when they decide that if they just find the step-by-step details of what worked for someone else, and follow it perfectly themselves, they can experience the same level of success without having to do the extra work involved in customizing the principles to YOURSELF.

That is, mind you, coming from someone who has an M. The primary lesson here? And those can come only if the path you solution stock market crash 1929 cause is customized to your unique temperament. When that happens, it looks like these sites are driving the prices down so low that the only way to earn a living is to work 20 hours a day grinding out ehow pieces, one after the other until your eyes cross and your fingers cramp.

Good-paying jobs are out there. They require work to find, but they are there. A couple of my successes are due to the Den. Much as I would love for everyone to believe that the possibilities for freelance writers are limitless — because they are — that concept of scarcity is deeply list of stock brokers in ghana and hard to combat.

Keep fighting the good fight for freelancers everywhere. When I decided to actually use my Den membership and try your ideas and suggestions, Carol, I landed a great client and make more money off a few articles a week than I did writing for mills. Lots of people want a shortcut, or easy way, or someone to do it for them.

I had to learn that, too, so at one time I may have been a non-believer as well. Unless you believe that you are a writer, you never will be one. I no longer call myself an aspiring writer — that mindset allows me to avoid mortgage underwriter from home jobs for my success. No, I am a writer, and only I can determine whether or not I will be successful.

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I have been reading your blog for several months now. I always come away with something new. This was my first ever legitimate pitch. I took the risk and pitched a feature piece. I was thrilled to watch his face light up as I related the story I want to tell. I was invited to submit a formal pitch, which the managing director will help me polish prior to sending it to the editor. He wants my story.

Why was I successful? Because I took the advice I found here and applied it to my pitch. The most important thing I did? I spent several hours researching the magazine.

I understood the type of writing they want, I understood the type of story the prefer, I understood the audience they market to. I took all of this knowledge, found the perfect story that few people have heard of, and pitched it. I have finished the cheat making money neopets easy draft of the pitch.

It is percolating right now, but I will finish and submit it tomorrow. So, to the naysayers? Rhonda Kronyk recently posted… How Not to Foster Your Creativity. Carol, thanks for posting this.

It really is possible. Currently my day job is freelancing as a transcriptionist, which is fun work for meand pays the bills. It is pretty straightforward and allows me to work from home, which means I can write when I feel like it.

It also gives me lots of things to think about, which may one day work their way into my stories. Laura Roberts recently posted… June Haiku Contest — Write your best summertime haiku. Hi Laura — thanks for sharing your experience. And funnily enough, when I started freelancing I was doing a lot of transcribing and script typing, too! I enjoyed transcribing as well. Thanks for this inspirational post Carol.

I know that in order to pay the bills I will have to buckle down, set goals and work towards achieving them. Your articles have always inspired me and this one even more so.

Although I know that I must put in the time and effort to see results. I was a member of the Den last year but had to cancel my membership because of lack of funds. But I intend to join again when you next open for registration. I received a lot of information and advice during the time I was a member. Thanks again for this valuable post.

June Whittle recently posted… My Journey From Teaching To Working From Home As A Copywriter. Thought I saw you over there. The resources offered through the Den are flat-out fantastic. You have remarkable interview guests from the world of writing who offer great tips. You and Linda answer questions, ndx trading signals beginners and experienced writers, in thoughtful, helpful ways.

You never phone it in. The Den is legit, you have massive cred, and as for the mewlings of small-minded carpers, they are imbeciles, best ignored. Tom Bentley recently posted… The Viking Origin of Editing. There are scams out there. Plus access to past recorded events and the forum where we can get help with writing queries, web page presentation, rant, offer advice, and meet others. Since joining the Den, through signing up for a J-school class init opened my eyes to other writing — mainly writing for businesses which had never really occurred to me.

Mostly I learned from the Den to step up my game and be faster about writing queries and the more I have floating around out there, the higher the chances of getting writing work. You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to trick the entire internet into believing that making a career out of freelance writing is possible. Seriously though, I had to comment to share my experiences. I enrolled in 4-Week Journalism School and as a direct result of what Campbell soup stock market learned in your course I got 5 paid blogging gigs with one query letter.

Anthony recently posted… Can You Really Earn a Living as a Freelance Writer? Love hearing the resources helped you get clients, Anthony!

And thanks for adding to our body of evidence that freelance writing is a real scottrade options first android app those who pursue it. And I loved profitable and operating strategy of binary options that free mentoring phone-in day!

I can and I have! I have chosen to follow my own path producing my own how much money does barry from storage wars make. I read your site Carol because you are a constant inspiration. Even though I am not technically freelancing, your posts are inspiration for writers of all kinds who want to simply be paid to write.

Leah Whitehorse recently posted… New Moon in Gemini — June — Two Sides to Every Story. I would bet the vast majority of people have never heard of most of the publications I write for. Sounds like most of the success is due to you hustling your butt off, Elizabeth! Congrats on moving up to better rates. Membership has paid for itself many times over.

Katharine Paljug recently posted… Reading Round-Up May 31st. The reason it has a fee, in part, is because what I love most is to work with people who are SERIOUS about their careers and will take action on the advice and go out and get the income. Creating a small financial barrier means the Den attracts those serious freelancers, and I love working with all of you.

Carol, I have come to your site on a regular basis to learn and become a better writer. I have a very steady corporate job, and although it looks secure now, I know that can change on a dime. If you have the courage to market yourself and your business, you can sell anything. Your content helps many writers do just that. To hell with the haters.

Just reading your mail on a well-deserved break after busting my ass to meet deadline for a national newspaper. Hi Clare — thanks for sharing your great success! Thanks, Internet, for giving us a way to come together.

Like Carrie and a lot of others I came from PR background. For me, that was a positive frame of reference. I knew how much my firm was paid, and how much we paid freelancers and consultants. I was already a believer that the money was there.

Carol helped me position myself as a writer and from there I found the right clients. I work part-time, hours a week. Next, in JulyI joined the Freelance Writers Den.

Sophie Lizard recently posted… 52 Totally Free Resources for Freelance Bloggers. I believe there will always be freelance writing gigs for people who are talented and professional. My guess is the naysayers are missing one or both of those qualities.

Donna Donna Gregory recently posted… Hello world! At the start of this post I felt personally offended. I have been a paid member of the Den for a while now and I am a graduate of the Blast-Off Class. The Freelance Writers Den has helped me get on solid footing and since joining nine months ago, I make a full-time living freelance writing. I attribute that accomplishment to following the models you and your network teach in the Den, and applying the WORKING principles you promote. Everyone wants a shortcut.

how much money do you make? — Ask a Manager

They want the easy route to a steady income. I find you and Linda to be nothing but inspiring, and every time I start to feel myself slip, I remember a Den call where Linda said she spent the first years of her career marketing 40 hours per week.

All true, Prudence…I think a common problem is writers are checking Craigslist or their mill dashboard and think they ARE marketing their writing. Some of those writers have decade-long staff careers behind them, too! I recently heard from one guy with a long PR staff experience who now writes hundreds of mill articles and is slowly starving. Then others you can show all the options, as I do in my Marketing free course, and they still take no action. These are people who are not cut out to be freelancers.

I think the dark secret no one dares speak is not everyone is. You do have to be willing to put it out there. I let you scam me into building up my website and turning into a professional showcase of my writing ability…which led to another client finding me and hiring me for a blogging gig.

I always thought I was too smart to fall for scams. How Humor Helps You Cope with Stress. I am a freelance writer. Also, the FREE in freelance, means you can offer whatever services you want as part of your business plan.

Webb recently posted… The Courage to Speak. I quit my job a little over a year ago. I had been doing some freelance writing on the side of my day job for a year prior to that, but I saved up and was ready to take the jump to full-time freelance. Thanks for all your helpful posts and guides along the way. Jeffrey Trull recently posted… Blogging For SEO: Maximize Results With a Few Tricks.

Also, I find it kind of mind-boggling that you still get this question, Carol! When I saw your headline, I thought it must be a rerun of an old post. That this is a real career, for those willing to market themselves.

The fact that I keep getting the question made me feel we should discuss it…and judging from the reaction that was a good idea! I thought exactly the same thing! Figured maybe Carol had snuck off on vacation and re-published a golden oldie. Sophie Lizard recently posted… How Facebook Helps You Find Freelance Blogging Jobs. Alan Dove, whom I recently heard at UW Madison and who is interviewed here http: On a side note, I joined the Freelance Writers Den May 9th of this year and have already scored a new editing post with AJE and an interview with a blogger through its job board.

The Den is worth four times that. I tell all my freelance writing friends: If you join and follow the advice there, you will succeed. Lisa Baker recently posted… 16 Chores Your Toddler Can Do. Love your success story. A lot of women want to work part-time and be a mom, and I love that my advice is making that possible for you. What you say is exactly what I expect — that writers SHOULD be too busy getting clients to consume every single recording.

The point is to pick and choose the Den resources you need, consume those, and then ACT on them. My income has doubled since I started my business. Debbie Kane recently posted… Thanks for visiting. Hi Debbie — I chalk it up to you taking action on the information. I feel bad for people with such narrow views of what the future could hold. Plus, today my first magazine article, sold to a major regional publication, is due.

Most of these clients are not top paying, but well above mills. Next step is cutting loose the lower paying clients to make room for better ones.

I did buy an online class from someone other than Carol and found disappointment. Google the teacher to see if her name pops up in places beyond the personal website. Carol still writes for top-tier mags. Sorry for this long post, but one more thing. Getting clients takes a lot of hard, hard work. If you have time or energy to whine about how freelancing is impossible, I say shut the heck up and go make some cold calls.

Not that I know or care if you are a saint, but it is readily apparent to me that you provide real value to your subscribers. And that you care about their success if for no other reason then that your success is ultimately tied to ours. Yes, absolutely you can make a living as a freelancer in the service business. I have been doing it since Writing is one thing you can do. You must be honest with yourself that no one but you cares about your success so if you want some, you best go get it.

You have to be honest with yourself about what you are and are not good at. You have to be honest with yourself that you are going to have good months and bad — and also better years and poorer ones. You must also be honest with your clients.

About when you will in fact deliver what they have entrusted you to do. What you need from them to get it done. And what you need to get paid to make it worth your while.

It comes from the word mercenary. A free lance… a spear or a gun for hire. Best to keep your armor on, your weapons sharp and a keen eye out… You are a warrior and you must act like one… Be honest with yourself about that too. Thanks for finding that stat, Christopher! And reminding us all of the real meaning of freelance. I was lucky to work as a staff writer for a long time and have to write several stories every week no matter what…that served me well in treating freelance as a business, too.

I found MALW when I pitched Carol on one of my PR clients that seemed to fit a niche she was writing about for Inc. I have been doing PR for years and was eager to transition more into straight writing. With the help of this website, I have focused on devoting more efforts to finding writing clients and have learned what the right price point is so I can bid with confidence.

Yes, a percentage of that is PR but the writing part is growing more and more each month. I need to devote more time to developing relationships with editors to pitch bigger magazines, but I also love writing for my business clients and sprinkling in other PR disciplines. With any business, it comes down to building relationships with your clients whether they are businesses or editors and becoming the go-to person for them — and those they will refer.

I mean generous with her wisdom and mentoring…though I would imagine she is generous in other ways too. There is plenty of work out there! Thanks for bringing that up. I know more ones will be coming shortly, if I want another client. Combining it with another job is more convenient, at the moment. Two more arrived the next day. If you have the skills and the guts to leave the beaten path, you sure can make a living out of this. And always glad to hear when writers are turning away work!

Congrats on your first 10K month, Cathie! I love to see people taking the advice and going out and getting the wins. I completely agree with your post. Very good for part-time, flexible work that I do from my kitchen table. She is definitely not a scam, but someone who genuinely wants other writers to succeed. People often ask me how I got such a great job and how they can find the same gig. And I tell them that I started my own business and made my own job.

I then usually talk about how many rejections I got and how many mornings I am at my computer when it is still dark outside. I think that the biggest key is to approach freelance writing as a business. That means having a website, making decisions on what jobs to make, having goals and hiring things out when they make sense.

The other key I found was to set goals that I am in control of. If you do the marketing then the other goals just seem to work out. The only exception to that for me is when I will learn a new skill that I can use to make more money with other clients.

I believe that being a great writer is only a part of being successful and I think you actually only need to be a good writer.

The rest is persistence, business smarts, hard work, marketing and treating your career like a business. Jennifer recently posted… Why Freelance Writers Should Consider Content Marketing Writing. Thanks for the reality check, Jennifer. It all goes back that paradigm shift that has to happen.

You do have to be a bit careful on that minimum-number-of-LOIs, etc. That post generated views to my site that first day, a lot for me my highest view count to date. It also got a lot of retweets. I spent my whole life being a writer, but being an ex-journalist in the 21st century is hard.

I have been out of the writing-for-pay game for years now. Your advice has given me the motivation and encouragement to start over as a freelance writer. She will actually respond to emails genuinely. The reason why I admire her is because she has so much knowledge but still takes time out for semi-newbies like me. Willi Morris recently posted… A New Beginning — Welcome to My Freelance Life. But all the talent in the world cannot prepare you for the work involved in being a successful freelance writer.

I hope to get there soon. That training gives you an edge in getting a lot of clients! Next, enlarge what you think is possible, and then make more than THAT. It took me a while to realize how much MORE I could make as a freelancer, where your earning potential is unlimited.

But once I did, wow! Thanks for the heads up! I believed all you were saying. For awhile there, I got suckered into making up to 10 times what I used to make on content mills and bidding sites. I have written some freelance work and have been paid responsibly. The potential is there, but you have to want to believe AND practically follow-through.

A wish list is a want list running on fumes…. Carol is nothing more than sincerity and experience on the upward track. Those that have lambasted you before never truly tried to get past themselves and their woe is me attitude. This has NOT been a paid endorsement. Check in the mail? I have an easy solution for you.

So instead, break down the revenue mix e. I think some people fear that you make most of your income telling people how to write.

Sa Financial Samurai recently posted… Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife? Samurai — I already did! I included a complete chart of my freelance clients and what percent of my income each represented in this post. I earned a full-time living from is for several years back in the 90s and now for 6 years frombefore my blog really earned much of anything and the Den was created.

It is a career. Recently, we had an agency listing where the client was a Fortune office-supply chain! To those of us who believe and listen and act on what you say, your advice is golden.

I am well on the way to freelance writing success since I started reading your blog. And love that Ford quote. What it takes is practice, hard work and sticking to it. Keep these articles coming Carol.

Chris Chris Peden recently posted… Inventory System: Which One to Use. Thanks for kicking this off, Chris!

Glad the Den is helping you. From Earn a Living Freelance Writing […]. HOME ABOUT FREE STUFF START HERE MY EBOOKS WRITERS COMMUNITY USEFUL WRITING COURSES PRODUCTS I LOVE WRITING MENTOR. Can You Really Earn a Living as a Freelance Writer? April 22, at April 23, at 7: November 17, at November 17, at 2: September 12, at 4: January 25, at January 26, at 8: August 19, at June 28, at 1: June 28, at 2: Rebecca Lee Baisch says: June 13, at June 12, at 4: June 10, at 5: June 10, at 8: June 10, at June 8, at June 9, at 9: June 7, at June 7, at 1: June 6, at June 5, at 1: June 5, at 2: June 5, at June 4, at June 5, at 7: June 4, at 8: June 4, at 1: June 4, at 5: June 4, at 3: June 3, at 9: Lee J Tyler says: June 3, at 8: June 3, at 6: June 5, at 8: June 3, at 4: June 3, at 5: June 4, at 9: June 3, at 3: June 6, at 6: June 6, at 9: June 3, at 2: June 3, at 1: June 3, at Amy Dunn Moscoso says: June 3, at 7: September 27, at 8: September 27, at Danielle Olivia Tefft says: Software Marketing Tweetables — 10 June says: Hot Picks and Cool Reads - Franticmommy says: June 9, at 4: Join The Den says: Article Writing Blogging Content Mills Copywriting Earn More from Writing Freelance Writing Marketing Networking New Writers Overcoming Fear Productivity Writer Pay Writing Clients.