Understanding 'Revenue Streams' as a Freelance Writer
Some freelancers do it as their ‘side-hustle’ - something to compliment income they make elsewhere. I have been such a freelancer for close to five years now. The work I do ‘on the side’ as a freelance writer has helped me clear my debt, travel the world and generally not struggle too much when it comes to my finances. I took gigs here and there, letting things fall into my lap and enjoying the financial boost they provided.
And some freelancers do it as their only source of income.
I’m counting down the days to being just such a freelancer now, and it’s called me to assess how I find, maintain and retain clients. Something that’s come up consistently in my search for answers here is the concept of ‘revenue streams’.
Colour me intrigued - I dug in deeper, and this is what I’ve learnt so far.
Lay It On Me - What are ‘Revenue Streams’?
In the tres exciting world of business, revenue streams are the various ways a company makes money.
That’s it. Simple right?
Essentially, as a freelancer, to maximise on your income, you need to consider the different ways you’ll make money and diversify them in ways that don’t demand too much from you so you can focus on doing the work.
It’s rare for a writer to earn a full-time living from a single source of income if they’re freelancing/self-employed. It happens, of course. Maybe you freelance full-time for one publication, and they pay a great rate, or you’re a unicorn who earns enough from the sale of novels (a brilliant writer I know with two best-selling novels to their name still works in a call centre to make a living, so if you’re one of these unicorns, do share your magic).
The ability to develop income streams is a top-level skill for freelance writers, regardless of their current situation - it can help take the pressure off during those ‘feast or famine’ times.
What Would a Freelance Writer Use as Revenue Streams?
It’s really about thinking of other ways you can apply your skills to boost your income. I started by just writing short blogs, and now I’ve expanded my portfolio to … just about anything my client needs when it comes to writing!
After writing for a while, I knew I needed to get better at editing/proofreading to develop my skill set, so I invested in a few short courses.
The results of this investment in my work impressed a few editors, and they asked if I could help them proofread submissions for their publications - I said yes. So, I went from writing a few blogs to:
Writing blog content.
Editing others blog content.
Proofreading digital/print publications before going to print.
I’ve developed resources and courses in my professional field for years (careers services and education), so I started offering my services as an editor/proofreader in this industry outside my day-job. Now I do editing and proofreading for training organisations on their online courses before they go to market. This work makes up a large chunk of my income - and it’s not even writing.
On the writing side of things, I diversified my skillset, so I became a one-stop-shop for my clients on whatever their content needs are including:
Blogs and articles.
Website copy.
Social media captions and copy.
Newsletters and press releases.
Video scripts.
As well as writing for clients and pitching articles to various outlets and publications, I also write on Medium. Medium has a bit of a love-hate reputation amongst writers, and many ‘serious’ writers advocate for avoiding it (writer snobs, I’m looking at you). Judge it, love it, or hate it - last year my income from Medium contributed 40% of my annual earnings thanks to two articles I wrote going ‘viral’.
You can earn an excellent income if you write well, develop consistency and work with some of the big platforms. Your writing also makes passive income based on reader engagement. On average, without viral hits, my articles earn around $400-500 (USD) a month - that’s just existing writing I have on the platform without adding anything new. Essentially, $500 a month for doing … nothing.
And hey, if it’s good enough for Obama, it can’t be too bad.
Freelancing Freedom through Revenue Streams
There are many different ways to be a ‘writer’. I’ve had people I know criticise me for not ‘being a real writer’ because I’m using my skill set to write for others and make money in the ways I do instead of playing the ‘poor creative’ card.
In my opinion, it doesn’t have to be an ‘either/or’ scenario, but you do have to decide what you want from writing in your life. I love writing, I really do, and I know from the feedback I’ve had from heaps of clients and editors I’m good at it too.
And I also love making money from it.
I love being the ‘content expert’ my clients come to with a writing question, and I love making it happen for them. I enjoy the process of applying a ‘business’ mindset to writing and building a day-job that offers me exceptional flexibility, the ability to learn and develop in new ways AND make a comfortable income while I do.
If you know writing is what you want to spend your days doing, think about the different ways you can use writing to work for you and diversify the ways you earn money from it.
It might just take your freelancing career to the next level.
