How to Make Money Online as a Six-Figure Freelance Writer (My New Book!)
A year ago, I was working from a cute lil’ cabin in Flagstaff, Arizona. My partner Kyle and I were on a let’s-get-out-of-Los-Angeles roadtrip where we almost moved to NYC, then almost moved to Portugal, and finally decided to keep traveling. (The last few years have been filled with an abundance of travel and “should we move here?” moments!)
One morning I was drinking a latte on the front porch in the Flagstaff forest, bundled up in the spring morning with my journal in front of me.
I wish I could tell a younger version of myself how I got here, I thought to myself.
In fact, as I thought about my seven years as a working writer, I realized that the younger version of myself would be over the moon with the life I was living: I had written for TV, wrote and produced a scripted podcast about the last radio station at the end of the world, and these days I’m writing and publishing a thriller novel for the world to read.
That life of a full-time writer I had romanticized growing up? I’m living it. I get to wake up in Florence or Lisbon or San Francisco and write for my life’s work. Insane.
When I was coming up as a writer, there weren’t any good books on how to master the nuances of what it takes to be a freelance writer. The job is part business, part art form. You have to be great at customer service and negotiating, but you also have to stay on top of your craft and accumulate skills and knowledge to keep adding value for your clients.
Being a six-figure freelance writer is difficult but deeply satisfying. And as I’ve connected with readers like you in my community, I saw there was a need for some of the things along my journey.
And so Six-Figure Freelance Writer: A Holistic Guide on Finding Freedom in Freelancing was born.
The Reality of Books About Freelance Writing
Most books about freelancing suck.
Not because the author isn’t successful or doesn’t care about helping their community.
In reality, teaching is a muscle. Giving good advice takes practice and time. Think about all of those challenges on my favorite reality show Survivor where all the contestants are blindfolded except for one, and the non-blindfolded caller has to lead them around obstacles to find puzzle pieces.
We’re all blindfolded, and great teachers and mentors help us gain more sight and awareness for the things that we want to do, like starve ourselves on an island in Fiji for a million dollars.
Let’s take Alex Fasulo’s book Freelancing Your Way to Freedom, for example. Even though I’m not a fan of Fasulo, I was excited to read her book. But when I actually dove in, I realized that it wasn’t a book about freelancing: it was a book about side hustles and outsourcing. Those things fall under more solopreneur/part-time entrepreneur territory.
And it makes sense: Fasulo’s model is built on $100 blog posts that she has a team of virtual assistants write for her. If you need a hundred blog posts for cheap, she’s got a good machine made to help you with that.
Another big problem I had with the book is that Fasulo’s Fiverr profile was boosted by the company itself (which she admits!). So, her success was augmented because the platform she was freelancing on featured her in commercials.
Like I said, no shade to Fasulo: she put in the work to capitalize on the momentum she was given, and built out her side hustles from there.
But as someone who has played with the idea of low-scale offerings, I realized that any projects under $5,000 are usually not worth it. Unlike Fasulo who doesn’t meet or really interact with clients (she has templated emails her assistants send to everyone, including an “angry client” template) I spend quite a bit of time getting to know my clients so that I can do great work for them.
This is the fork in the road when it comes to freelancing: are you going to be an artisan freelancer who gets paid more per project and takes on fewer projects? Or are you going to move into a business model where you start a freelancer agency and charge lower prices for a higher quantity of projects?
I couldn’t find any books on the artisan freelancer model, so that’s why I wrote it myself.
The Difference Between Freelancers and Entrepreneurs
There are two paths in life: you can be a craftsperson or an operator. This thinking really helped me stay on the right path, so stick with me, here!
A craftsperson is someone who…
Spends their time learning skills and educating themselves on their industry and craft
Takes time to be intentional with fewer projects
Often has their own personal art projects, and then earns a living from commissions as well as from selling their own work
An operator is someone who…
Spends their time learning how to recruit and manage people
They are business-focused and know how to negotiate, and also learn what they need to about taxes and legal things
Gets satisfaction from finding a great deal, happy customers, and continued growth
Now here comes the important part: both of the above are great paths. And you might be a craftsperson who can do some of the operator stuff (like I can!) but those tasks are not what puts you into a flow state — making stuff does.
The goal of this exercise is to pick the path that will make you the happiest.
If you’re a craftsperson, you derive joy from creating and generating your work. You don’t want to outsource your core work because it brings you happiness. You love learning, teaching, and being fully immersed in what you do. You find yourself in a flow state and hours can pass by when you’re working on your craft and you barely register them. You will probably find the most happiness as a solopreneur or freelancer who may collaborate or hire other freelancers, but you don’t want to scale up your operation in a way where you can’t be fully focused on the craft itself. You are most likely an introvert and love spending hours just focusing on your craft.
If you’re an operator, you derive joy from building a system and recruiting people to make your dream machine run. You love empowering others, leading, and working on your business—not inside of it. You spend your days doing deals, recruiting, hiring, motivating, and also finding ways to optimize tax savings and protect your business legally. You also spend your days working on improving your business and its core product or service, and love chatting with customers and clients to get their feedback. You will probably find the most happiness as a serial entrepreneur or side hustler, and you should scale up and outsource as soon as possible. You are most likely an extrovert.
Doing this exercise made me realize I’m squarely a craftsperson, which is why I’m happiest doing my writing thing and building amazing things for my clients and myself. I’m not really someone who wants to be a serial entrepreneur: I love finding intense depth in my craft and that brings me infinite joy.
If you’re a craftsperson, keep reading—if you’re an operator, you may want to click away and check out my other posts on how you can improve your business and scale mindfully.
Why Becoming an Artisan Freelance Writer is the Best Way to Make Money Online
If you’ve made it this far — welcome, fellow craftspeople!
Let’s return to this phrase I coined: Artisan Freelancer.
I created this title to describe craftsman freelancers who…
Are creatives first
Take sabbaticals from client work on occasion to focus on their own creative projects
Are obsessed with skill-building and leveling up their craft
Artisan Freelancers get the privilege of working on some of the coolest projects with the best clients who prioritize creativity and quality when it comes to the finished product.
As an Artisan Freelancer myself, I’ve loved lending my skills to these top-notch projects and clients. My clients regularly fly me out to work with them, pay me bonuses for lending extra brainpower to make sure their project is a success, and they also support my art and personal projects.
This new type of freelancer is disrupting the traditional view of the “gig economy” where people work for next-to-nothing and put in crazy hours. It’s also disrupting traditional industries like Hollywood. If top-tier talent is available on-demand, more creative work begins to be democratized.
In short? Music to my ears.
If you want to learn all my tips and tricks for how to become an Artisan Freelancer, pick up a copy of my book!
The Next Stage of My Freelance Writing + Creative Journey
In my freelance work, I’ve been spending more time working as a memoir ghostwriter. I’ve ghostwritten quite a few memoirs at this point, and it’s such a gratifying experience to create art for someone that will last lifetimes, and have such an extraordinary impact in the here and now. I’ve also been ghostwriting and editing nonfiction books for entrepreneurs and other experts, and it’s been neat to learn alongside my clients. I’m also headed to NYC for a month to give a talk at a tech conference, so headed back into the world of tech!
In my creative work, I’m currently writing my novel LET ME BE YOUR GHOST chapter-by-chapter, week-by-week on Substack. Subscribe if you want to follow along!
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