I never knew I wanted to be a writer.
Most writers grew up with a dream of writing their way around the world. I didn’t.
If I look back now there were signs.
From the age of 7, I was constantly writing my own stories. By the age of 12, I’d created my own “teen comic”. At 21 I started my own dance magazine – the very first in the UK for pole dancing, burlesque and aerial circus enthusiasts.
But I didn’t find my calling as a writer until many years later when I learnt to write content and copy to grow my wedding entertainment company – and discovered I had a real passion for writing.
I was lucky enough to have a mentor. Someone to guide me through my writing journey, teaching me the skills I needed to develop my talent and showing me how to get clients when I was ready to jump into life as a full-time freelance writer.
Fast forward 10 years and my life is drastically different.
Freelance copywriting and content writing has given me more money, more time and more freedom than I ever thought possible.
And it could do the same for you too.
Here’s my top 5 reasons I think freelance content writing is the PERFECT work from home job…
1: You Have Complete Flexibility Over Your Work Hours
Got kids? Looking for a side-hustle to fit around your full-time job? Freelance content writing is probably the most flexible work from home job out there.
Not only can you choose how much you work (just take on more or fewer clients) but you also have complete control over when your work hours are!
Need something you can do during school hours or in the evenings after the kids go to bed? No problem. Want to work mornings only and have the rest of your days off? Go ahead! Are you a night owl that wants to work all night and sleep all day? Fine!
You will need to meet deadlines, but you can work with your clients to agree on deadlines that give you the flexibility you need.
To put it simply, as a freelance content writer you choose your hours so you can make your work fit around your life, not have to make your life fit around your work.
2: You Earn An Excellent Hourly Rate
One of the questions I get asked the most is “How much can I earn as a freelance content writer?”
It’s a good question.
Many work from home jobs pay a pittance. They’re tailored to the SAHM market who just want to make some extra pocket money.
Freelance content writing is a real career and you can make some SERIOUS money from it – if you do it right.
Lots of freelance creatives, such as graphic designers or web developers, have found their rates reduce thanks to the super cheap services available from the Philippines and other countries. The cost of living is low and the exchange rate favourable so you can get a lot of bang for your buck by outsourcing abroad.
But freelance writing hasn’t suffered the same fate.
You see, it doesn’t matter what your first language is when you’re designing, building a website or creating animations. But when you’re writing content you not only need to speak the language perfectly – but you need to understand the tone, style and cultural elements of your target market too.
Most writers who speak English as a second language just can’t quite hit the nail on the head.
This is great news for us.
It means that we don’t have to compete with the super-low rates that the likes of People Per Hour can offer. We can set our rates based on our skills, talent and expertise.
So what kind of hourly rate can you expect to make from freelance writing? Most writers charge per project – so per blog post or per email – instead of per hour. So the faster you write, the better your hourly rate will be.
This means when you first start out you might find you’re earning around £20-30 per hour, but as you develop your skills and get to know your clients better you can make anywhere from £45-65 per hour for content writing – learn to write high-converting sales copy and the sky is the limit! The top freelance sales copywriters make anything from £10,000 – £100,000 per sales letter!
So really, the financial limitations of freelance writing depend on how far you want to take it. If you’re looking for an easy ride, low stress working 10-15 hours per week writing blog & email content then you’re looking at around £2000-£3000 per month.
3: It Gives You A Regular Income & There’s NO Selling To Your Friends Required
When I was 18 I joined Ann Summers.
I’ll be honest – selling sex toys and lingerie to strangers didn’t really phase me – but being expected to constantly try and sign up my friends was a big no for me.
Don’t get me wrong, MLM works really well for some people. But most of us just want to do some work and make some money without having to sell, sell, sell all the time.
I’m not going to lie, there is SOME selling involved in being a freelance content writer. You do have to find people who would benefit from your service and convert them into paying clients. But once you’ve done that once, and assuming you deliver good value, then they become a customer for life and you get a constant stream of regular monthly income from them.
This is one of the serious advantages that writing has over other work from home jobs.
Businesses need blogs and emails ALL THE TIME.
They don’t just need one blog post or a one-off email. They need regular, weekly content and if they like what you do then they’ll keep paying you to do it for them.
This means you don’t need to be constantly looking for new business, once you’ve built a core group of clients then all you need to do it write.
4: It’s Interesting and Creative
So it’s flexible hours, regular income, good money and you don’t have to sell your friends any vibrators… but what about job satisfaction?
There are other work from home jobs out there that can be stable, regular and reasonably paid. But do they bring joy to your soul? Do they make you leap out of bed in the morning inspired and excited to share your gifts with the world?
Probably not.
Writing is all kinds of things. It’s creative, challenging and interesting. It gives you the opportunity to discover new things and learn about stuff you never knew existed.
Through your work as a freelance content writer, you get to become a kind of mini expert on the topics you write about, expanding your knowledge and giving you the opportunity to earn money in an interesting and creative way.
Sure, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you find yourself staring at a blank page, scouring the internet on your phone at 3am in the morning because you really just need to understand the science behind the P Shot (I’ll let you Google that one).
But it’s certainly never boring!
5: You Can Do It From Anywhere
Ok, ok… This was the real motivator for me.
I’ve always wanted to travel. But my first son popped into the world when I was just 18 years old, so I never got to the whole “Gap Year” thing.
Freelance writing gave us the remote income we needed to be able to follow our dreams and travel the world with our kids, working part-time hours and earning enough cash to survive while we backpacked around Europe for two years.
Now, you might not be into the whole “digital nomad” thing. You might love your creature comforts and your own home.
But think about what remote income can really do for you? Want to escape the dreary winter? No problem – grab a flight to the Canary Islands and spend a month working and living there.
Want to explore some of your own home country? Take your time! Grab your laptop, load up the camper van and off you go!
Fancy a last minute holiday deal? You can do it. No need to juggle deadlines or ask for time off. Just take your work with you and earn while you enjoy a quick break.
Most people don’t understand the true freedom that comes with the ability to earn money wherever you are in the world. It truly is a complete game-changer.
And, there’s one more thing, that had I written this blog post 6 months ago I wouldn’t have even known to consider.
Lockdown.
As we’ve seen over the last few months, being able to work remotely can give you some seriously needed stability in case of another pandemic.
My work has been mostly uninterrupted thanks to the fact that I can literally work from anywhere – a plane, a hotel… or my quarantined house!
So Is Freelance Content Writing For You?
I can’t tell you that.
That’s a question you’ll have to answer.
But I can tell you that freelance content writing has the potential to give you time, money, freedom, satisfaction and stability – what more could you ask for from a work from home job?