How To Start A Freelance Writing Side Hustle: A Step By Step Guide

The working world has changed dramatically over the past decade. Today's workers understand now more than ever that the world is their oyster. Much of that is thanks to the internet and the freedom it offers.

It's what I discovered back in 2009 when I was laid off from my legal administrative assistant position. I had graduated with an English degree that was somewhat limiting in my town before the internet exploded—I was the epitome of an underemployed worker.

I wasn't working as the freelance music journalist I had dreamed of becoming for over a decade, but at least I was paying the bills. However, my layoff was a gift because I quickly discovered that the world wide web needed content and loads of it.

I was thrilled and went for it and tried to figure out how to start a freelance writing business, which I did, thankfully.

For me, it was the answer to my dreams of writing for a living without having to move to New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. I could stay in my medium-sized city and live comfortably doing what I had always wanted to do and on my own terms.

Do you want to start freelance writing, but you aren't completely sure how to go about it? You aren't alone! There are approximately 1.2 billion freelancers, which is 34% of the global workforce, as of 2023.

Whether you want to work as a full-time freelance writer, or you want to launch a bustling freelance side hustle, there are some steps you can take to make this life-altering move. You can start living the freelancing lifestyle quickly and successfully when you take a strategic approach.

What Does a Successful Freelancing Business as a Writer Look Like?

Sure, a significant part of the success of a freelance writer is frequently measured through earnings. However, there is so much more to it than that. Right? I love earning great money for my work, but I also love the lifestyle I get to live. I get to write when I want to, basically. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of times I get a stack of deadlines coming in close together, but most of the time, I can control that to some degree. It's a matter of working with clients who understand what you value most, which for most freelancers is a combination of great pay for our work and the work-balance that we have decided we need.

But there are even more ways to define success for a freelance writing business or freelance side hustle, including the following.

Consistent and Reliable Income

Let's face it, freelance writers need consistent payment. By finding regular clients—and by doing regular client prospecting—you can start building a freelance business that generates the steady income you need to meet and exceed your financial goals.

Preferred Lifestyle

Do you like to travel? Maybe you like to work at the local library, a co-working space, at the corner café, or in your bed. As a freelancer, you can do any, all, some combination of the those ideas, or something else entirely. Further, you can work the hours when you are most productive. Outside occasional client calls and specific time-specific deadlines, you can work any time you like. Whether you're a night owl or an early bird, you can write when it works best for you. Just set your favorite task manager, and it's easy to organize your workload, regardless of your writing schedule.

Best of all, you don't need to commute to an office, using your own fuel, and you don't need to invest in a work-specific wardrobe. Work where, when, and how you want, wearing what you want.

A Diverse Clientele and Positive Client Relationships

It's healthy for your freelance writing business to have a diverse range of clients, whether across various industries or within your writing niche. In either case, working with a three or more diverse clients helps keep your work interesting and helps spread and enhance your reputation as a versatile and reliable content or copywriter.

Further, enjoying positive client relationships, whether new or long-standing, indicates a strong relationship wherein you have delivered content and copy to the client's specifications and on or before the deadline every time.

A great way to share your positive client relationships is to ask for glowing testimonials about your work and to post them on your website.

A Comprehensive Portfolio

Building a portfolio you can share, especially blog posts with bylines, are highly coveted in the freelancing writing world. The reason for this is that it is so challenging. So much of what freelance writers compose or businesses is either ghostwritten under the name of an internal subject matter expert (SME) or without any attribution at all. On top of that, you might have a terms of service (TOS) clause or a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) prohibiting you from divulging the client in question, which means you can't even mention the blog post without risking penalties, which might include a lawsuit.

Therefore, having a portfolio filled with originally created pieces or those openly posted on a client's website are the hallmark of writing success. They provide you with ready samples of your published writing, showing the trust clients have placed in you and your work.

8 Steps to Launch a Thriving Freelance Writing Business

Now that you more ideas about the life of a successful freelance writing professional and some of the benchmarks of success, you're probably ready to get started. The question is whether you know how to become a freelance writing expert. Most of us don't when first starting out. Even if you studied marketing, communications, or English in college, you might not feel equipped to start freelance writing. You might wonder how to become a better writer or what you should charge. It's a lot to think about it.

Let's break it down and approach it step-by-step to show that it's not as difficult as you might fear, as far as how to start a freelance writing business or a freelance side hustle. Many writers have started from square one just like you, and they are now thriving!

Let's help you get started with these eight steps.

1. Find Out as Much as Possible About How to Start a Freelance Writing Business

Do your research to find out as much as possible about how to become a freelance writing professional and what the profession is like once you've made the leap. This step might sound obvious, but some people take the plunge without knowing what's involved. If you're giving up a stable income, do you really want to risk it on what work better as a low-key side hustle.

Find out details like the following:

How much you are likely to learn when getting started.
The value of choosing a writing niche that interests you enough to write about regularly. As a bonus, find strategies to decide on your writing niche.
How to find writing clients, whether through cold email pitches, networking, or working on the best freelance writing platforms.
How to charge for your writing, striking the right balance between getting work and not selling yourself short and undervaluing your services.
The nature of the freelance writing balance, such as slow periods and the “feast or famine” factor. It's important to ride out times when there is no work and times when there is an overabundance of work.

2. Conduct a Self-Assessment

It's important to understand what you're getting into as a freelancer. By conducting a candid self-assessment, you can have a conversation with yourself about the realities of freelancing and if you're up to facing them. For example, do you like writing? I mean, do you like writing enough to write thousands of words a day several days a week? That's crucial.

Take time to reflect on some of the factors discussed in the first stamp to determine whether you can enjoy the freedom of freelancing without the security of a regular income from an employer.

Here are some things to consider:

What are your writing strengths and how to become a better writer?
What topics or industries interest you most? Can you imagine writing about them day-after-day?
How do you feel about marketing yourself regularly?

3. Choose Your Niche

Most freelance writers and industry experts agree that choosing a niche and becoming an expert in your area are the keys to freelance writing success. It's true. Many people mention specializations like cardiology: would you go to a generalist physician if you have a dangerous heart condition? While writing is often far less dire than a potential cardiac event, clients want to know that you know what you're talking about, relying on a depth of knowledge that allows for quick, effective, insightful, and accurate work.

4. Get Started – Build a Portfolio and a Website

You might start this step by writing a few samples that showcase your subject-matter knowledge and show off your writing skills. That's the foundation upon which you will build your freelance writing career, so get to it! Once you've composed a few blog posts, you'll have the makings of a solid portfolio.

Try to either choose an industry-based writing niche for your portfolio, or focus on a type of writing, such as blog posts, white papers, case studies, or social media posts. The latter option is a good strategy if you aren't sure what industry niche will suit you best. In that case, write a series of blog posts, using your best SEO tools and strategies while providing helpful and engaging information.

Next, either create a Google Docs folder that you can share or, better yet, create a website using WordPress and a top hosting platform. With a website, it's best to go to a paid platform and use your website as an investment in your freelancing business since you'll have your own domain, featuring your business name. The better to search you with, my freelancing friends.

5. Invest in an LLC

Investing in a limited liability corporation (LLC) designation is crucial for freelance writers since it can help you steer clear of or manage any legal issues. It can also help with the following:

Offers greater tax flexibility and more deductions
Boosts your image as a professional freelance writer

6. Prospect for Clients

Prospecting, marketing outreach, and client hunting… No matter what you call it, trying to find your first clients is challenging and frequently—and mostly temporarily—stressful and demoralizing. Ask any writer, and they're likely to tell you this is the worst part of freelancing, at least at first. But for some, it's a career-long slog. Most writers would rather get to work and just write. But we all know that's not how it works. Clients aren't going to magically find, contact, and hire us without any work on our part. Sure, it happens once in a while, especially through networking and peak SEO practices, but more often than not, we have to hit the cyber bricks to find work.

7. Price Your Services

You might do this step before finding clients to put it on your website, but many writers prefer leaving that out of the equation until talking to a client. It has become common practice to send a cold email pitch and, if you get a bite from a client asking for your fees, ask for a call. Once you find out the parameters of the project and whether you can upswell them on more services or work on retainer, let them know you'll draw up a proposal with your fees and send it over for your review.

If the client ones a single blog post, you might not worry about sealing the deal, so price it higher. When clients agree to three or four blog posts per month, you can offer package rates, reducing your per post fees. Clients who want a services package, which might include several blog posts, a landing page, a case study, and a white paper, will make your pricing calculations challenging in all the best ways. You might stand to earn $2,000 or more from a single client when you upswell your services.

8. Manage Your Freelance Writing Business Professionally

Once you have some clients and steady work, it's not all composition and submission. You have a lot to do as a freelance writing business owner, so it's important to establish excellent time management skills with the right productivity apps and bill clients with invoicing apps. It's also important to invest in additional freelance writing tools like plagiarism checkers, AI detectors, and grammar checkers.

Additionally, maintain sterling communications with clients using their preferred methods when possible, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams calls or traditional phone calls.

When you're ready and if you want to, consider expanding your services to satisfy your favorite clients' needs. Rather than having them seek another writer to write YouTube scripts, learn how to do it and offer your services.

Are You Ready to Start Your Freelancing Business?

Hopefully, you'll find some good information, tips, and steps in this blog post to help you dive into the freelance writing business with ease and confidence!

What do you think? Are you ready to give it a try and enjoy the life you've always wanted?