My Work from Home Money conducted a survey and asked their readers this question: “Is there a ‘best’ blogging income source?”
Respondents reported that 70% of their income comes from freelancing, even though affiliate marketing is the most commonly used revenue source.
One easy way to make money from your own WordPress blog is offering freelance writing for blogs in your niche that are more prominent.
What is Freelancing?
A freelancer is self-employed and does not have an employment contract with the business they’re doing work for.
Sometimes, you will see freelancers called independent contractors.
People who work via freelancing usually enjoy the control and flexibility they have.
A freelancer can choose the hours they want to work, the clients they perform work for, the rates they want to charge, and the type of work they accept.
Another huge benefit of freelancing is that you can often work remotely.
How Does Freelancing Work?
Typically, companies hire freelancers either individually or through an agency for short-term projects or on a part-time basis.
In some cases, a client will hire a freelancer for a special one-time project, and in other cases, the client may have ongoing work for their freelancer.
Freelancing offers a lot of freedom not just to the worker, but also to the client.
For example, if a freelancer doesn’t meet the client’s needs, they can opt to not work with them again.
Also, there are no up-front costs such as training, office space, and equipment for clients who work with freelancers.
Freelancers typically have their own equipment and come to the job fully trained.
Some instances require a retainer, which is a payment arrangement for a specific number of hours every week (or month).
When freelancing, workers don’t receive the compensation and benefits that full-time employees receive.
Because they are considered contract workers, freelancers aren’t usually protected through programs such as unemployment insurance.
How Much Can You Make Freelancing?
A study conducted in 2019 said that freelancers make between $20 and $28 per hour.
Of course, this varies widely depending on several factors:
- The type of freelancing you do
- Your niche
- How much your clients pay
- How quickly you work
- The tools you use to help you work more efficiently (Grammarly, Hemingway Writer, Google Docs/Sheets, etc…)
Bloggers in specialty or highly technical niches tend to make better money.
The Editorial Freelance Association cites these figures as approximations of how much you can make writing in various niches.
- Trade/Technical: $50-$60 per hour
- Proposal and Grant Writing: $50-$60 per hour
- Fiction and Ghostwriting: $40-$50 per hour
To break this down by job type or project, here are some numbers provided by WriteWorldwide.
- Blog posts: $50-$350
- Long-form blog posts: $250-$1,000
- Web pages: $100-$500
- Press releases: $100-$1,000
- White papers: $2,000-$5,000
- Product Descriptions: $50-$150
- Ebooks: $2,000-$5,000
One thing to keep in mind is this: When you trade your time for money as a blogger, it’s difficult to scale your business.
For your freelance business to grow, you will need to build a team of people to work with you.
How Easy Is it to Start Freelancing?
The great thing about freelancing is that you can start earning money from day one.
The only thing you technically need to get started as a freelance writer is a computer and internet access.
You don’t even have to build a blog to get started as a freelance writer.
However, when you have a blog, you can put a services page on your site, as well as writing samples.
To quick-start your freelance writing career, one option is to sign up with writer directories or content agencies, which are sometimes called content mills.
The pay is usually much less when you work through agencies because the agency gets a portion of your earnings as a referral commission.
However, many protections are built into writing for agencies.
- When you write for an agency, you don’t have to worry about chasing payment from a client.
- You also don’t have to hustle to find your own writing jobs because clients contract through the agency.
However, the best paying writing gigs come from private clients.
To find private clients, keep your eye on the blogger job boards and marketplaces such as Upwork, LinkedIn, and Flexjobs.
Why is Freelancing a Great Monetization Method?
When you have an existing blog, you have a money-making machine that can show prospective clients in your niche exactly what type of great content you can provide for them.
You don’t even have to have a ton of traffic flowing to your blog.
Your goal is to demonstrate that you can write knowledgeably in a niche.
Another benefit of having your own blog as a freelancer is that you can market your services.
If you’re a writer, editor, or designer, what better way to showcase your work than through a blog?
Be sure to put a services page on your blog that outlines what you charge for writing.
Blogs can also bring in money through interesting routes.
For example, a food blogger can hone their skills as a food photographer and get photography gigs from area restaurants.
Along that vein, someone who makes great videos for their own blog can sell their video editing services to other bloggers.