How Real Writers Make $4k+ Per Month

This post was originally published on Colleen Welsch - Freelance Writing Coach.

If you’re a loyal reader (welcome back, buddy!), you already know that I’m all about teaching people how to make money freelance writing. If you’re new here, come on in and pull up a chair because we’re actually talking about how real writers make $4k+ per month. Ready? Good. Let’s get started. 

Get on LinkedIn

“I publish content relevant to copywriting as well as ‘why’ articles on hiring a copywriter. Sometimes people just contact me but mostly I receive requests from LinkedIn ProFinder.” – Lori Smith, Write Word Studios

Related post: How to Market Your Writing Business

Think Local

“I recently moved to a new state and immediately started positioning myself in the local scene. It’s made a world of difference in just three months. I'm now working on projects for three different regional magazines and one local business.” – Rachel Curry, Writings of Rachel

Keep On Learning & Improving Your Skills

“The most important thing anyone can do as a freelance writer is to hone their skills, then hone them some more, and never stop learning. The online business world is constantly changing so content marketing, writing tactics, and techniques, etc. are going to change as well. Your job as a writer is also to stay on top of the latest content trends and strategies in order to deliver a quality product.” – Lori Smith

“I invest in the best tools, the best training, etc. because I want to stay at the top of my industry so I can keep charging accordingly.” – Laura Briggs, Laura Briggs PR

Related posts: 7 of the Best Books for Freelance Writers, How to Become a Better Writer

Choose a Niche

“Once I niched down my writer website I had leads coming to me easily.” – Elna Cain, Freelance Writer & Coach

Related post: Why You Need a Freelance Writing Niche

Outsource Your Work

“Once you have a little experience under your belt, the best way to scale your writing business is by outsourcing (using subs to do the writing). It's not easy finding good writers to hire but it's worth it because you can scale up your income exponentially.” – Lori Smith

Stay Consistent

“It's all about networking and consistency. It's a business and I find that a lot of writers don't have a consistent plan for getting clients. For about 6 months straight I applied to 4-5 job board postings per day, started like 15 conversations on LinkedIn, and send 10-20 cold emails. Each day. I was picking up 1-2 clients per week at that time and I'm closing out this month at around 8k. I currently have 5 clients paying me between $1500-$2000 per month and I work around 30hrs a week.” – Coty Perry, Rank Republic

“Take client acquisition as seriously as you take client management. Send 10 cold emails every single day. If time is a limiting factor, hire a VA to help.” – Megan Grant, Freelance Writer & Coach

Related posts: How to Get a Writing Job, Cold Pitching 101, How to Get Copywriting Clients as a Beginner

Build Your Network

“I networked a lot. Not many people mention this, but word of mouth is how business is done. Usually, my clients referred me or I referred to other writers and developed a nice relationship. This leads to bigger and better clients.” – Elna Cain

Related post: How to Market Your Writing Business

Master Sales Calls

“Become an expert at sales calls. I close 90% of the time when I get the client on the phone and they are the right fit.” – Laura Briggs

Start Guest Posting

“I also feel guest posting and getting your name out there really helps. Walmart approached me from a round-up post I did...go figure.” – Elna Cain

Look for Jobs on Social Media

“Keeping notifications on for reliable job opportunity groups on Facebook is smart, and searching keywords on LinkedIn and Twitter are also super helpful. Keep your nose to the ground and you'll eventually strike gold.” – Rachel Curry

Related post: How to Get a Writing Job

Ask for Retainers

“I went from making $3k a month to $10k+ a month by asking my clients for retainers. I went from doing low-paying one-off projects to predictable, ongoing work. That predictability gave me more freedom to grow my business instead of grinding every day to find more clients. My hourly earnings skyrocketed because I no longer had to worry about pitching; I could finally focus on the writing work.” – Kenzi Wood, Kenzie Writes

Get Involved in the Writing Community

“This strategy won't be right for everyone, but another thing that has really helped is inserting myself into the world of female writers. 95% of my clients are women, and in most cases, I work better with them. Realizing this and flowing with it has been awesome. Joining and interacting with Facebook groups like Female Freelance Writers (among many others) have landed me some pretty high-paying and rewarding gigs.” – Rachel Curry

Be Picky About Clients

"I am picky about the type of client I target. They need to have a healthy marketing budget and respect that copywriting is a professional service. I usually work with government or larger businesses, with the odd small-to-medium business. I never work with start-ups and never micro-businesses. My clients tend to be in technical or regulatory environments: construction, oil and gas, supply chains, SaaS, etc." – Nicole Leedham, Black Coffee Communication

Set Strong Rates

“Come in at a strong rate. Undervaluing myself has been a root of many past struggles, and I hope to get better at this as time goes on.” – Rachel Curry

Related post: Freelance Writer Rates

Post on Medium

“Medium is not only the biggest existing publishing platform, but it also pays writers according to their reads. If your articles on Medium are read by lots of people, you can make several thousand dollars per month just through their partner program. The highest-earning writer is currently making $30,000 per month by publishing on Medium. Additionally, having a credible Medium profile is a massive door opener when pitching clients. In my case, clients even found ME through my work on Medium and reached out for paid collaborations.” – Sinem Günel, Medium Writing Academy 

What about you? If you’re a freelance writer making more than $4k per month, share your secret sauce in the comment section below!