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This week Sara Hagen discusses the buzz around making a six-figure salary as a freelance writer.
Our culture is flooded with get-rich-quick schemes. We hear the phrase, "Work hard and you'll get rich."
In the world of online jobs, there are dozens of blogs with viral posts claiming to have the secrets to making a six-figure salary. These are some of the actual headlines: How I Make 60k a Month Writing Online, How to Make $200,000+ a Year Freelance Writing, 21 Signs You’ll Become a Writer that Makes 6 Figures.
A title that is perhaps more realistic is How to (Realistically) Make Six Figures as a Writer. Sounds better! However, the first tip the writer gives is to get a six-figure advance on your book. Not very realistic. Oh, and he mentioned he has dozens of published books already. It seems there is always a catch or some misleading claim.
Blogs/websites also offer secrets they claim only they have. You can access all of the secrets for a hefty price of a course. Courses can be the freelance world’s pyramid scheme and some have similarity with Multi-Level-Marketing. They reel you in, prey on your motivation to make your passion into a career, only for you to discover the key to making heaps of money is to sell a product yourself.
To even approach the magic six-figure number would require a tremendous amount of labour. The marketing, writing copy, and development of products would lead to burn out for many writers. And is making a six-figure sum even the goal or motivation for freelance writers? Or does it simply miss the point?
Money motivation?
Katrina Robinson, a freelance magazine and online content writer, said she made the trade off between earning more from copywriting and having the time to write about topics she is passionate about. Meanwhile Elna Cain a successful content writer, freelancer, and blogger says too many people have the expectation of making six figures in the first year. Her conclusion? People making six figures within the first year are rare at best and may not be legit.
The notion of bringing in six figures may be trendy and make the perfect click-bait. But as most freelance journalists will tell you, money isn’t the first or even second reason why they pursue their career. One of our founders, Emma Wilkinson, posted on Twitter that flexibility, variety, and independence are the reason she pursued freelance journalism, plus she is happy and not burnt out. Some of us just want to earn enough to support ourselves, our families, and our hobbies.
Burn out
The six-figure salary is not only exceedingly rare, it can be harmful as well. To be successful, freelancers must take good care of their mental health. No matter what stage you're at in your freelancing career, this money-driven myth can induce anxiety, self-doubt, and frustration. We start asking ourselves why someone can write 500-word listicles and make six-figures while we are pouring our passion into a transformative piece of journalism.
People who truly make six figures freelancing are surely exhausted and indeed burnt out much of the time. The labour required to maintain a ridiculous amount of side hustles is beyond healthily ambitious.
So perhaps it's time we start ignoring these spurious six-figure claims and instead concentrate on setting our own life-work goals.
Don’t miss
While we have come to the end of this series of the FFJ podcast, you can of course access all our back catalogue by clicking below or searching wherever you get your podcasts. We will be back in the Autumn with a new series on getting back to freelance basics and honing those key skills we all need!
Also if you need some freelance help check out our Quick Guides on everything from pitching to finances. You can see more information at our PayHip store by clicking the button below.
Triumph of the week
Getting paid within two weeks when you had been warned it may take some time!
That feeling when
You get back from holiday and can’t quite remember what you are supposed to be doing.
We love to hear your feedback on everything we do, so feel free to drop us an email anytime at freelancingforjournalists@gmail.com
Bye for now!
This right here, is what new freelancers need to read! I don't need or want a six-figure salary from wiriting (would be nice) but as you say the emotional, health costs and wellbeing are not worth it. But time and time again, I found through my own research that people selling 'become a writer overnight dream' were just selling their $300 course, while they weren't actually writing much!
You get it. There are two ways to make a huge sum money as a writer;
1. Focus on selling digital products like courses or sell your writing services by writing for someone else.
2. Be determined to gain a following/ community, get sponsorships or ask people to donate.