The simple truth about making six figures as a Freelance Writer

Among many full-time freelancers, there’s this highly-lauded achievement — breaking six figures.

Just a quick Google search shows you tons of blogs and articles on how to supposedly do it.

Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur — all your typical suspects have covered the topic.

This year, I made it. I pulled in more than INR 10,00,000 as a Freelance Writer, something I honestly never really thought I could do, and something that I wasn’t even trying to do. However, thanks to an AI boom, lots of anxiety, and a bad habit of channeling all of my negative feelings into work, I did it.

On top of that, I started publishing this newsletter, and already on the 6th edition.

But hitting this milestone wasn’t at all as glamorous as I once would’ve thought. When little baby Rupak bought his first book on writing (On Writing by Stephen King, fyi), he was really just hoping he could maybe make half that. The idea of making six figures from just writing? Hahahahahahaha…

That was for the already wealthy, the well-connected, and most definitely not me.

If you’re in a similar spot as I was a few years ago, here’s what I learned.

Yeah, it’s not going to be the same for every freelancer, but it was true for me.

Truth #1: I had to abandon my priorities to hit that goal.

I didn’t become a freelancer to make a certain figure of money. I became a freelancer so that I could have agility with my time and projects. I can’t work in a creatively confined environment, and any client who tries to micromanage me receives a contract termination email pretty quickly.

But as soon as I saw that I was within reach of that oh-so-coveted six-figure milestone, I zeroed in on it with laser focus — and my life suffered as a result. I gave up free time, time I could’ve spent with my family, time I could’ve used to do projects like this newsletter, all so that I could reach that goal.

I definitely didn’t have the work-life balance that I wanted when I first started freelancing. I gave up that priority so that I could focus on this new one: hitting this new financial goal. As I went into 2024, my aim was to make a conscious effort to reprioritize and put my time first, and money second.

Truth #2: I had to get tough with some of my clients.

With a lot of my clients, I’m a people pleaser. I crave validation. I want my clients to like — no, love me. That’s led to a lot of detrimental people-pleasing. I let clients slide on payments on occasion. I do work that I know is worth more money, for less money. I give discounts. I work on rush projects.

But you don’t make six figures by letting people walk all over you.

This year, I got tough with some of my clients before I even considered the financial aspect. Maybe it was my ego. Maybe it was just my completely barren field of fucks. But I dug into my soul and channeled all of my stubbornness in quite a few specific instances this year, all of which helped me.

I raised my rates. I let some clients go.

I stopped offering endless revisions. Now, clients get complimentary edits on 25% of a project and anything above and beyond is my usual per-word fee. I stopped taking rush projects. Clients can wait or find someone else; I typically have a waitlist, so are those jobs going to someone else?

Not a problem.

Was this uncomfortable for me?

Absolutely.

But I’d do it all over again.

Doing the right thing for yourself is uncomfortable.

Truth #3: I didn’t make my six figures off of my “big” clients.

Look to a lot of freelancers who boast about their six-figure income and they’ll tell you they spend a good portion of their time either (a) working for retainers that pay the majority of their income or (b) pitching endlessly to publications. But you don’t need to do either and I’m evidence of that.

I hate pitching, so I keep my pitching to a minimum.

I stay away from clients who are going to need more than 10 hours of my work week, every week. When that client’s business shutters or that editor who loves you retires and is replaced with someone who hates your guts, what are you going to do to make up that income? Don’t scramble.

So, yes, most of my clients are “small.”

I work with many different clients over the span of a single week and a lot of those clients are either small, niche publications (as a side note, the biggest publications, with their payment cycles, are usually the worst to work with) or small businesses. But all of that small work adds up in a big way.

Truth #4: INR 10,00,000 is not that much money.

I know that I am incredibly, incredibly blessed to be in my position. I am very privileged that all of my work has paid off. That I’m able to sustain this creative profession. However, if you’re thinking of getting into the freelance game and that you’ll suddenly have oodles of money to spend, think again.

30% of all my money goes into taxes.

Big fat cheque to the government.

Thank you, self-employment taxes.

Another chunk covers business expenses. There are my admin costs, like paying for services that I use, web hosting, etc. One more goes to general savings. And then I’m left with the remains to cover my actual cost of living. So, don’t think that we are jetting around the world, living the high life.

Our 10,00,000 is more like the average office employee’s 6,00,000, or less.

Truth #5: It wasn’t as hard as you might think.

But the weirdest truth to all of this, in my eyes? That I made six figures primarily in my pajamas. Any time someone refers to me as a business, I have a tendency to correct them. I’m not a business. I’m just me. This gig is just Rupak Bid in his pajamas, writing on a computer in my little home office.

It’s simple, and that’s how I like it.

So, I guess my point is, if you want to make six figures, I fully believe that you can. You might not be able to hit that in your very first year. And you might have to reprioritize stuff. But is it possible? Absolutely. Just make sure to acknowledge the truths of the matter before you set out for this goal.