Top Income Sources Where, How Much, & How

Welcome to the Five Figure Writer community! You’re now tapped into a community of writers who are ready to refine the way they write. Let’s do more with less time and make better money doing it!

One of the hardest parts of freelance writing is just getting started. There are so many questions: Who will hire me? How do I negotiate a rate that will give me time to write the way I want? How do I find clients who pay the great rates I hear about?

Whether you’re an established freelancer or brand-spanking new, it’s always worth reviewing information that can help you refine your income and tap into higher-paying markets.

If you’re ready to learn more about my top three income sources from my first year freelancing — the year I made $59 — and how you can break into them, just read on!

Warmly,

Sarah Greesonbach

Source 1: B2B Digital Marketing & Copywriting 40 percent of my income came from business-to-business (B2B) website development firms in the digital marketing and copywriting industries.

This breakdown includes the following types of assignments from companies that identify as digital marketing or inbound marketing firms:

‣ Monthly blogs for the firm itself ‣ Monthly blogs for the firm’s clients ‣ Website copy for the firm’s clients ‣ White papers for the firm’s clients

Get the experience Don’t dismiss this income stream if you don’t have marketing experience. Like many topics for writers, digital marketing is something that is very easy to learn about for free. And if you invest time in some simple background information, you will be able to tap into an incredible list of clients and enough ongoing work to keep you afloat indefinitely — digital marketing is only on the rise.

Start by familiarizing yourself with basic digital marketing and inbound marketing concepts using these reputable websites:

‣ www.HubSpot.com ‣ www.SocialMediaExaminer.com ‣ www.MarketingProfs.com ‣ www.Business2Community.com

When you feel comfortable with the topic and parameters of digital marketing, sign up for HubSpot’s free training program to be HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certified. This will be the first thing you can share with prospective clients to show them that you have basic competence in the field.

Then, write two or three 500-800 word posts on digital marketing topics such as blog strategy, SEO, social media, or content management. Use these posts as spec work for the clients you find by posting them on your own blog or submitting them to be free guest posts on aggregate sites like Business2Community and Social Media Today.

Find the clients Using your digital marketing clips and HubSpot certification, approach website development companies to see if they need a reliable copywriter. They almost always do because every firm has had experience with an unreliable or simply untalented writer that delayed client work or made them look bad.

Start with a local search of website development companies in your area, then move on to companies you find on Twitter, LinkedIn, and in comments on the sites listed above. You can also network with graphic designers and SEO specialists who come in contact with website development firms all the time. They will often be in the position to refer a good writer, and that could be you.

Source 2: Ghostwritten Articles for Publications 30 percent of my income came from ghostwritten articles for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) publications.

This breakdown includes the following types of assignments from companies that identify as publications, individuals, products, or service providers:

‣ Ghostwritten articles for a client’s website ‣ Ghostwritten articles the client takes and

places with publications ‣ Ghostwritten articles I place with

publications on behalf of the client

Ghostwriting can be a controversial topic for writers and the high-profile customers who hire them. If you aren’t comfortable writing for someone else and not getting credit, you might want to skip this section to look at how I made money with bylined articles (that is, articles for which I was paid and my name was listed as the author).

If you’re all right with working with a client’s ideas to shape it into an article and charging a premium for not being listed as the author, this can be a very lucrative source of income.

Get the experience The first step in attracting ghostwriting business is to be a good writer with clips in the places your clients want to post. Sign up to be a

contributor to aggregate content websites like www.Business2Community.com and place a few of your own posts, then connect with business owners and individuals who want to have a byline but aren’t strong writers.

I work with clients like these by phone to review their ideas, then I shape them into finished pieces and submit them to the website under their name. I also connected with a thought leadership firm Influence & CO , which finds the clients and places the articles. They outsource the writing to me for a per-article rate, allowing me to get my ghostwritten work on websites like Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Inc, and more.

I now work with a few clients solo to generate ideas, outline, write, edit, and pitch them to or place them on websites I have relationships with such as www.Business2Community.com, www.Tech.co, www.SocialMediaToday.com, and more.

Find the clients Ghostwriting clients are easy to find because “thought leadership” is a very popular marketing concept right now. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

‣ Connect with website development and marketing firms that wish to offer this service to their clients

‣ Find LinkedIn connections with corporate jobs (they are often looking to branch out on their own as consultants)

‣ Make it clear on your website that you offer ghostwriting services and indicate whether or not you place the posts for the clients

Source 3: Bylined Feature Articles on Publications20 percent of my income came from bylined articles for online publications.

This segment is a far more traditional form of writing where I used my name and experience to write about a variety of topics for websites and online publications. Paid assignment topics included the following:

‣ Digital Marketing ‣ Personal Finance ‣ Career and Career Transition ‣ Technology & Security ‣ Staff writing

Get the experience Tapping into this market is a lot more straight-forward: it just takes a lot of work! First, you must establish yourself as a writer using your educational credentials (if you have them) and your writing clips (once you get them). The best way to do this is to start a blog on the topics you wish to write about.

My story went something like this: I started www.LifeCommaEtc.com to write about money, food, and career for fun. I used this blog to network with other bloggers and write unpaid guest posts at www.BrazenCareerist.com on career and www.AddVodka.com on money (among other sites). All of these articles went into my clips folder to eventually negotiate paid posts with other publications.

Start by reading blogs you love every day. Share your thoughts on your own blog in a formal

format (500-800 words, titles and headers, calls to action and questions for audience engagement). Use this background to make it clear you are a reliable writer with an understanding of how to write for the web when you email prospective editors and website publishers.

As a bonus, start following writing blogs that can help you evaluate and improve your writing. Here are some of my favorites:

‣ www.CopyBlogger.com ‣ www.ProBlogger.com ‣ www.MakeALivingWriting.com ‣ www.RenegadeWriter.com ‣ And of course, www.FiveFigureWriter.com ;-)

Find the clients Start with websites you love! Use the contact page or email the editor to ask if they accept guest posts or are looking for paid contributors.

Use Peter Sandeen’s list to find new websites that accept guest posts. Use the ProBlogger job board to find publications that want paid contributors. Deliver on time and include as many bonus touches as you can (Suggested Creative Common Image, SEO Keywords, Suggested Meta Description, etc) to stand out as a go-to writer.

Online assignments tend to be easier to get because of the pressure to have tons of content, but you can also use these skills to break into traditional print articles. The website www.MakeALivingWriting.com shares more detailed information about tapping into that market.

I hope you’re excited to expand or refine your writing into one of these markets! Just keep in mind that if anyone can do it, then it is also possible for you to do it. It just takes dedication and intensity until you achieve your goals.

Just one last thing: I wanted to let you know that the full Five Figure Writing eBook goes into much deeper detail into how I made $59K my first year as a freelance writer.

If you’re looking for a deeper dissection into that plan (as well as all of my best freelance writing tips for dealing with the lifestyle, the people, and the process), head over to the website and invest in a copy:

www.FiveFigureWriter.com

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions at www.FiveFigureWriter.com/Contact!

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