Make £100+ An Hour Writing for a Living

Simply put, a freelance writer is someone who writes for money but isn’t tied to a single organisation. A freelance writer offers his or her services to anyone who needs a job done, getting paid for that job and then moving onto the next one.

It’s often said that freelancers are their own boss and that no one dictates what they do. This is true, to an extent. But freelancers actually have many different bosses. And they need to meet deadlines and to work to specifications just like any other employee.

A freelance writer can be tasked with completing a number of jobs. The most common job is simple content writing. There are are over a billion websites out there and they all need content. A freelance writer is often the one tasked with creating that content.

Other jobs include:

• Novel Writing: Personal memoirs, fiction/non-fiction for publishers.
• Script Writing: Everything from TV pilots and film scripts, to commercials and animations.
• Marketing: Press releases, brand stories, slogans.
• Academic Writing: Essays, academic non-fiction.
• Technical Writing: Instruction manuals, guides and how-to’s.
• Legal Writing: Terms and Conditions. Privacy Policies.
• Editing/Proofreading: Correcting all of the above.
• Critiquing: Providing advice on personal projects (novels, short stories).
• Consulting: Providing guidance on publishing, writing, SEO and more.

There is very little you need to get started as an online writer (apart from talent that is!). Basically you need:

• Computer: You don’t need anything flash. If it connects to the internet, it’s good enough.
• Word Processor: Clients will usually expect to receive work in .doc or .docx form. However, most word processors can convert, so you don’t need MS Word. There are free alternatives out there.
• Planner: When the jobs roll in, it’s easy to lose track. So, make sure you stay organized.
• Bank Account/PayPal: You will need a bank account for Upwork to pay you, or sometimes a PayPal account to receive payments.
• Skype: Many clients will want to connect with you via Skype or over the phone.

You’re also going to need to sign up to Upwork. There are other freelancing platforms out there, but this is the biggest, the best and it’s where most of the work is.

Upwork uses a system of ‘Connects’, which you need to apply for jobs. The more you charge, the harder it will be to find work and the more Connects you will use.

Upwork now charges a small fee of $0.15 for each Connect, so it may be necessary to spend a little money before you secure a job. If you have a good CV and offer an attractive service, you should hopefully land a paid gig without spending more than a dollar or two.

Upwork also takes a cut of your earnings (from each client) based on the following sliding scale.

• First $500: 20%
• $500 to $10,000: 10%
• Over $10,000: 5%

This may sound like a lot. But they put you in contact with the client, they ensure the working relationship is safe and they act as a mediator if there is an issue.

They also take care of the web hosting and, as Upwork is a trusted platform, it gets a lot of traffic from potential clients. So, it’s a small price to pay.

As a freelance writer on Upwork, you can expect to earn a maximum of $100 an hour for contracts paid by the hour (consultants and grant writers can earn more). However, many contracts are paid on a fixed price and if you work quickly, this can increase to $300 an hour.

The rates vary quite widely on Upwork, so take a look at what others are charging and set your price on the lower end as you get started. As you start writing on more complex topics and get a feel for the market, you can adjust your rates accordingly.

Remember it makes sense to base your price on the competition, not on your speed.

If you’re a mediocre writer but you’re also very slow, that doesn’t mean you should charge 3x the going rate just to make a decent hourly wage.

As with anything, you should soon speed up as you get used to the work, and can decide after a few jobs if this is something you want to seriously pursue.

There are many freelancing platforms out there, but none come close to Upwork. It’s bigger (which means more projects), it’s easier to use and there are more benefits for both the client and the freelancer.

It also has its flaws, but it used to have many more and they are steadily being ironed out.

The first thing you need to do is setup your profile. Use a picture that shows your face, and make sure it’s professional.

Your portfolio needs to be visual. You’ll be prompted to upload documents and writing samples, but no one pays attention to these. In fact, if a client wants to read a sample they will expect you to send them one during the interview.

Instead, post images that represent your work. They can be covers of books, comics or anthologies you wrote/edited, stills of videos that you scripted; marketing posters you helped to compose; and even screenshots of websites you wrote for.

You should also include a single document of your best written work. Use samples from fiction, non-fiction, scripts, website content and marketing. Paste them all into a single document and use headers to describe each of them (for example, “a marketing piece written for a leading UK beverage company”).

Most clients assume that writers can only write in certain genres or niches. This way you can prove otherwise.

In this industry you live or die based on your previous success. Your references might not count for much in an office job, but as a freelancer they’re what separates those who scrape by on minimum wage from those who earn a six-figure salary.

In the beginning, a single piece of bad feedback could end you, so you need to make sure you only work with clients who have a track record of leaving good feedback.

Using the options on the left of the Upwork search, narrow the results down to include the following:

• Experience Level: Expert—At “Intermediate”, clients will expect to pay no more than $20 an hour; at “Entry Level” you’ll be lucky if you make $5.

• Client History: 10+ Hires—Nine out of ten clients posting a job for the first time will disappear before hiring anyone. And even if they remain, they don’t have enough of a history for you to trust them.

• Client Info: Payment Verified—Only those with a track record of paying freelancers will be shown.

• Budget Price: $100 to $100k—This helps to weed out the clients who expect the earth for $0.50 an hour.

Once you find a job that suits, you need to check the feedback of each client before you apply. The trick is not to look at the feedback that others have left them, but at the feedback that they have left others.

You don’t care if freelancers think they are a little slow, incomprehensible or annoying, just that they have a tendency to leave 5-star feedback.

Do what you can to keep your average rating high and be prepared to give a refund if you receive poor feedback (a refund will delete the feedback). This should hopefully be very minimal, but will protect your high feedback rating.

Freelancing will open a lot of doors. It will introduce you to publishers, publicists, web-masters and business owners. If you stay connected to all of these, using social media to keep them close, then a simple job could lead to something massive.

Work will dry up on occasion, but the good thing is that this rarely happens once you have an established profile. Until you get to that point, here’s what you can do to keep the work coming:

Not only will a good client continue to provide, but they’ll introduce you to other clients and open many doors.

Whether you work on a platform like Upwork, or you do all of the legwork yourself, keep the following in mind:

1. Always go out of your way for a client you respect. Never take liberties and apologize profusely if you make a mistake.
2. Always be prepared to strike a deal. Offer cheaper rates for bulk jobs in the hope they will increase your workload.
3. If you haven’t heard anything for a few weeks, send a message to enquire if they have anything available. In a competitive marketplace, freelancers can be forgotten.
4. Give them advice. You’re the expert here, so if you notice an area of their site that could be improved or added to, tell them. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll get more work.

The work isn’t always going to be there. It’s important to keep trying, because it’ll get easier. But there are also other ways you can make money.

So, if you have the time but you don’t have the jobs, and if you’ve done all you can in terms of applying and being interviewed, you can try some of the following: