6 THINGS I LEARNED FROM MAKING MY FIRST $1000 AS A FREELANCE COPY WRITER

When I first started FREELANCE writing, it was nothing to write home about. I did everything I could just so I could get gigs no matter how little the pay was. And thinking about it now, I’m cringing and squeezing my eyes because I still can’t believe I did that.

But you know what? I naturally love to write and so I worked on myself, my writing a bit more(I’m still a work in progress) and got a part time job.

One day something happened, a friend of mine posted on LinkedIn that her company was looking to hire someone who could write a very compelling ad copy and so I said to myself

Is this for me Jesus?’

I applied via the comment section as that was where the application took place. Fast forward to 3 days later, I got an email from the company congratulating me for being their best fit. I was so over the roof because finally, I get to earn from my passion and also get to work with a leading company.

I was to earn a whopping $200 and sincerely, I didn’t care about the pay, all I wanted was to build my portfolio and ofcourse, prove to myself that I could do the job.

And I did. I delivered even way beyond the company’s expectations(how it happened, I’m not sure I can say how). But it leveled me up. Made me warm up to the fact that I could earn a decent living as a freelance writer.

And it didn’t just end there, I got a paying gig from a Facebook group titled https://www.facebook.com/womenhelpingwomenentrepreneurs nd then another one from https://www.sheleadsafrica.org and some more and by the time I knew it, I had earned a little over a thousand dollars. Wooohooo!

And now more than ever, I’m convinced freelancing isn’t as bad as some people make it to be. You just need to position yourself strategically where your potential clients hang around often. And be PATIENT!

And now here are the 4 things I learned from making my first $1000+

1. Learning how to market yourself is like learning how to wield magic powers. Once you succeed in learning how to sell yourself, you won’t have much problems getting clients.

2. The more clarity you get on what your specific selling point is, the more you attract paying clients.

3. Do not chase clients. Instead, create a formula that attracts paying clients to you.

4. Never underestimate the power of writing FREE! I know you want to get paid but then how sure are you that you can deliver? Sometimes, doing some gigs for free also helps horn your writing craft, gets you recommendations from people, builds your portfolio. I’m not saying you should work for free forever, you set a 1 or 2 week deadline to offer your service for free (not because you don’t like money but because you got a goal in mind). Truth is if your free is good then imagine how great your paid work will be.

5. Patience. You have to know that in order to be a successful freelance writer, you must be patient. There will be times when no client will want to work with you despite your high ⁷. There will be times when you’ll want to give up but don’t. That’s why you need 2 to 3 sources of income so as not to get stucked.

6. Finally, whatever service or product you offer, keep improving on yourself, your skills, your services or product. If you wouldn’t want to settle for less, also know that your potential clients wouldn’t too.

I’m not where I want to be in my writing career. But I’m doing some great things and making an impact in my own little way. And I’m so proud of myself for that. And so should you!

#writingtip #freelancewriting