Are you thinking of going full-time freelancing? I know how you feel. I was exactly like that perhaps a year or two ago (that’s because I went on an on and off freelancing stint). While I read a lot of blog posts and articles about becoming a freelance copywriter, I still committed a lot of mistakes when I finally gave it a try.
I’m sharing some of my mistakes here and perhaps you might learn a thing or two from them. Keep in mind that these are my opinions and suggestions and none of those listed here can be considered general truth.
1. Save some money first before doing the plunge.
I did do this, I saved about 2 months of funds for my food, bills, and other expenses. The only problem was I should have saved more! I didn’t start to earn a decent regularly income until after my 6th month of freelance writing. Unless you are rich or you have a spouse who has a regular work, consider saving for 6 months worth of what you are currently getting from your job.
2. Consider every preparation that you do as an investment on a business.
I told you about saving funds, right now I already consider it as capital for your business, not just savings. What’s the difference? When you start thinking of your money as capital, you are treating your freelance writing as a business. And it is really a business and you wil do everything to keep it afloat.
3. Start to scrimp on the first few months.
This is the stage in your life when being a cheapskate is a really good thing. During my first few months of being a freelance copywriter, I spent money as if I had a regular job with a regular, scheduled pay. I kept subscribing on Dofus (my favorite online multiplayer game), eat at fast food chains, bought accessories to my car, and other unnecessary spending. It quickly depleted my freelance writing earnings until my girlfriend (wife now) thought me how to put a stopper on my spending ways.
4. Fix your writing rates before going on full-time freelance.
This is one tip that I would always give to anyone who is thinking of becoming a freelance copywriter. You should have a list of your rates so that each time you get an inquiry for your services, you can easily and quickly respond. What I used to do back then was when someone first asked about my sales letter writing rate, that’s just the time when I started doing research on the going rates for such a service. The same thing happened when some asked for me to write a whole article marketing campaign for him.
5. Invest in quality equipment.
Before I went full-time freelance, I bought a laptop whose brand does not really hold a good reputation when it comes to quality. And true enough it went down in less than a year of usage. And all that I worked on that laptop was my writing jobs and online research. Now I have Acer and Asus laptops and a Samsung desktop.
Becoming a freelance copywriter is easy, earning a good income from it is a different matter. You can make your jump into the freelancing world a success if you are more prepared than I did. I wish you all the luck and I hope to hear from your own freelancing story.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
nice!
hehe! I can so relate. But still trying to make it work out, I still believe in “Kapag may tyaga may nilaga.” despite the mistakes I had with some of the things you’ve pointed out here 
I put more confidence in my work nowadays to become a successful freelance writer. Thanks to you! 
I am also writing freelance and it did take me a month before I was able to earn a good income. Right now I actually dropped on of my regular jobs because I was getting too stressed out by the heavy workload. Of course, my income dropped but I am still happier now that I don’t have to work until late at night to finish all my writing tasks.
I believe in taking a break sometimes. There’s no sense in stressing yourself out too much.
Welcome, Jasmin.
I don’t know that I would want to go the route of freelance writing, but you give some excellent points.
Excellent work MJ. Finally I found your little spot in the web. Hehe.
Great tips here MJ. I’m guilty of not preparing my rates when I was providing web designing services. hahaha. It’s always nice to meet a fellow Pinoy who’s also an online entrepreneur. Just keep building and continue re-investing in your business.
Wow! Didn’t knew that there are so many pinoy/pinay freelance writers
I started late last year and trying my luck out on Triond. Sadly, the revenue stream is slow, really slow that is. Is it advisable to apply on online freelance writing jobs? Am afraid that my skills are not yet at par with other writers. Here are some sample of my work:
http://bizcovering.com/business/wind-energy-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-renewable-energy/
http://computersight.com/software/know-how-when-to-migrate-from-excel-to-access/
@Yeye,
from experience, I also had a little luck on Triond. I guess I’ll just have to try earning by writing somewhere else. Have you tried other sites like Associated Content and Helium?