My writing career started as a suggestion from a professor while I was getting my master’s degree in psychology. I’d been dreaming of writing for years, but never quite felt comfortable or ready to take the leap.

It also didn’t help that the one time I shared my writing dream with someone they asked me, “Who do you think you are? The next J.K. Rowling or something?” Back into my secret writing cave I crawled.

So when my professor suggested I started writing articles, I thought, Great idea! This could be my chance to see if I was any good at it. Little did I know, she meant academic articles. But that one suggestion threw me headlong into writing articles for publications around the world.

Within a few weeks, I’d been published in multiple countries on three different continents. Most of these gigs were free, but I knew that making money was possible with writing. That’s how I found my first content mill. Like so many writers at the beginning of their journey, I was hungry. All I wanted to do was write and get paid to do it.

Content Mill Queen

Like most budding writers, I didn’t think about how much time I invested to produce quality reading material for different sites or publications. All I knew was that someone was willing to pay me to put my thoughts, expertise, and research to work in a way that would entertain people. I was so in!

Gathering bylines became a game I excelled at, and all of a sudden, my writer pipedream didn’t sound so crazy anymore. It actually looked real because it was real—except for one small problem.

Due to the demands of the content mills, I found myself dreading writing. I’d log into my writer dashboard, look for the best paying gigs—which were from $20-$30 per article—and tried to bust out as many articles as I could just so I could buy some groceries.

To everyone else, it looked like I was living the freelance writer’s high-life. In reality, I was overworked, underpaid, and it was killing my passion. I had to find a way out.

Writing for publications was my answer.

Writing For Publications

Writing for publications paid significantly higher than the content mills. I regained creative control, and I could actually buy groceries. This is still one of my favorite ways to grow my career as a writer, but surprisingly, writing for publications wasn’t the highest paying gig. The secret to financial independence for me came in writing for other people.

Ghostwriting, Copywriting, and More

When you’re a writer, you can take for granted how rare your gift is — I absolutely did. The truth is, most people suck at writing. They don’t understand how to weave a story together, they struggle to relate to the reader, and they definitely don’t understand how to turn their words into agents of change for their audience.

That means there are literally millions of people walking around with important stories and messages inside of them that they can’t get out in a way that creates the impact they’re seeking. These people don’t have your gift or skill, and without you, their gifts are stifled. Business owners, companies, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders are happy to pay you thousands of dollars for a single project because they know your ability to put the right words to what they’re trying to say is the difference between creating a legacy and being forgotten.

This is how I started making $1,999 or more per article, and thousands of dollars for other writing projects like websites, blog posts, email sequences, video scripts, and more. I connected with business owners and companies that I believed in, creating content that spoke to their messaging needs.

For example, my audience is made up of predominantly of online service providers, such as coaches, consultants, graphic designers, online course creators, and more. Many of them get stuck in two places: getting the copy written for their website (copywriting) and getting their content written (ghostwriting).

When it comes to copywriting, my clients get stuck because they feel weird talking about themselves, and they also get lost in talking about the things that they think are interesting but that their audience doesn’t really care about. This can create writer’s block that lasts for months, which means their websites are held up, and they feel like they can’t move forward.

So when I create content on my marketing platforms, I talk about how they’re struggling to get their words down, how they’re not sure what to say, and how they have an important message to get to their audience, but it’s stuck inside of them because they’re tripping over their words instead of hiring help to get their copy done for them. The more I reflect their experience back to them, the easier it is for them to feel seen, heard, and understood, as well as admit that they actually do need help.

People often think that they should be able to write for themselves. There’s a lot of shame people can feel around not being able to write in the way that they want to, so when they realize it’s not just them, that most people actually struggle with this, it’s easier for them to come to you and ask for help.

At the end of most posts, I include a call to action for clients to reach out to me if they’d like support with their copywriting needs. Clients who reach out to me to create copy for a five page website from scratch pay $4,999. If there are more pages to the website or there’s something more in depth needed, the investment goes up.

In signing ghostwriting clients, the process is the same, the work is just a little different. I’ve had ghostwriting clients that have me help them with their content on social media, writing their blog posts, and even writing media articles. All of them are different. For a single blog post (usually just under 2,000 words), I charge $1,999. Some clients like shorter blog posts or prefer a monthly retainer. One of my mentors works with companies who are making over $20 million annually, and charges her retainer clients between $10,000 — $20,000 per month based on the deliverables.

If these numbers feel big to you, keep in mind that I didn’t start charging $4,999 for five pages of website copy overnight. I had to build up to it. Going from $30 content mill articles to thousands of dollars for copywriting and ghostwriting felt like a large leap, so give yourself some patience and grace if you feel the same way. You don’t have to start big with your pricing. You only have to make sure you feel that you’re getting paid fairly for your work. You’ll know quickly if you need to charge more. Plus, the more results your clients get from the writing you produce, the more confidence you’ll build in your writing, and you’ll be open to charging more because you’ll have the ROI (return on investment) results to back you up.

My client list grew over time. After years of consistently putting myself out there and doing good work for clients, I now choose to work on the projects that I’m most passionate about. I only have so many spots that I can fill with client work in my day, and I have more prospective clients than I can service. That means instead of feeling the need to take on every client who comes to my door, I only work with the clients that I feel a deep bond and connection with—the people who I believe are making a positive difference in the world.

Take a moment to think about that. How would it feel to have choices in who you work with? To hand select the causes that you are excited to give a voice to, while also giving yourself the time, space, and peace of mind to give to the passion projects that made you want to write in the first place? It’s life changing.

This is the good news for you—there actually IS more than enough work to go around. That’s why I’m going to tell you how you can get more writing gigs for yourself so that you have more time to dedicate to the novel you’ve been working on for the past ten years or write for publications that you love without having to take gigs that make you want to live in the forest without the Internet.

Getting Gigs That Pay Real Money

There is a simple process to closing writing gigs that pay real money.

• Pick a group of people or an industry that you feel strongly about. This can be an area you’re already proficient and well-versed in, or an area that you can get up to speed on quickly that you find fascinating. If you’re going to write for someone, you have to make sure it’s something you enjoy writing about.
• Once you’ve chosen your people, start filling your social media and other marketing platforms with content about how your people are struggling with their messaging. This positions you to fill that void for them and become their voice.
• Work your business. Writers have a tendency to fall in love with their art and ignore the business side of their craft. Don’t be that person. I was that person, and it made me hangry (because I couldn’t afford food or time to sleep). It leads to starving artist syndrome, and hangry writers aren’t at their best. So instead of trudging through the business, marketing, and sales aspects of writing, learn to love or appreciate them like you do the actual writing part. Because the truth is that in working the business, you get to write a hell of a lot more and you get to pick the projects that really call to you because you become a writer that’s in demand.
• Do good work. Get projects in either on time or ahead of schedule. Manage your client’s expectations. Let them know in the beginning that it may take two or three edits to find their message’s sweet spot. When you’re laying out the timeline for your client, remember that projects will take you at least twice as long as you think they will, so quote the timeline three times as long as you think it will take. That’ll give you a small buffer for when procrastination tries to ruin your life. My best advice here is to schedule smart. You’re most in your client’s energy right when you get off of the phone with them. If you can, set aside a day or two immediately after that conversation to get the initial draft of their project done. You’ll be further ahead than trying to wait until the end of the timeline you quoted (especially because when you turn projects in early, you get brownie points with your clients).
• Grow your skills. You’re a great writer as is, but one of the things that keeps me in demand is my commitment to consistently enhancing my skills. By investing in your craft and refining your writing chops, you stay sharp, ahead of the curve, and you don’t get lazy. This means writing outside of your main field of expertise. One of the greatest ways I stay sharp in taking on my client’s voice is by writing fiction or doing character dialogue exercises. When you learn to see and write through someone else’s perspective, it helps you capture someone else’s unique way of communicating so that even though they aren’t writing the words, they’ll feel like you took what was in their head and put it on paper.
• Rock out custom samples. Many potential clients will ask to see samples of your work. There’s two major speed bumps that come up if you do that. The first is a good chunk of your potential clients have decided that it’s very difficult to nail their unicorn voice, and if you present them with a sample that doesn’t already sound like them, you’ve lost the sale. The second is that many clients that will ask you to sign nondisclosure agreements, which means you won’t be able to share your samples. The workaround for both situations (or if you’re new without any samples to share) is to create short custom samples for potential clients. This gives them a chance to see how they resonate with you and how you take direction. It also gives you a chance to see if they’re going to be awesome or if they remind you of that jerkface you used to daydream about knocking out. This is the best way to win writing gigs fast and stand out.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing you can learn on your writing journey is that your voice matters. Your skills are highly sought after. You don’t have to hope and pray that someone will publish you. You can save the hail Mary’s for when you need an actual miracle. There are so many people out there begging the Universe to send them someone like you.

The secret to making great money as a writer is learning to value your writing the way someone who can’t write does. When you learn to value your writing like they do, you’ll not only attract clients like crazy (because you won’t be afraid to market to them), you’ll also make a massive difference in the world.

PollyAnna Brown uses her 10+ years experience in entertainment, communication, and personal development to help business owners and entrepreneurs grow their audience, impact, and income. She is the founder of Storytelling Marketing® and co-owns a Business Growth & Publicity firm where she specializes in profitable publicity™. PollyAnna’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners leverage their time, make more sales, and create a positive impact using publicity and storytelling. Her work has been seen in Thrive Global, Kindred Spirit Magazine, Wake Up World News, and more. To connect with PollyAnna, check out her LinkedIn here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollyannawrites/