How to Start Freelance Writing
It Pays to Write is a culmination of my own career failures and successes as a writer.
Mostly a long line of failures. Thankfully, those excruciating years of sucking more recently led to a lot of eye-opening moments and successes I just happened to bump into.
Namely, in 2.5 years I went from making $12.50 per 400-word blog to $200/hour.
Why is this important?
I made those mistakes so you don’t have to.
Your Fast Track to Freelance Writing
This website is the distillation of my 11+ years of experience as a career writer and internet marketing expert ––– to help you totally skip the years of suffering, trial, and error as a writer, and bring you straight to
- The best writing you’ve ever produced
- The highest hourly rate you’ve ever made
- And the most fun you’ve ever had working
In just a matter of months.
I, however, wasn’t as fortunate as you are.
I didn’t have a coach, the best version of the internet ever, and the best software and tools the writing market has ever seen to help me through the painstaking process of how to start freelance writing. But you do…
My Story: Mostly Failure and Some Progress
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“Does he actually know what he’s doing?”
Well, my name is Jack, and although I’m no Hemingway, Tolkien, Dickens, or Rowling ––– I have made a pretty good living as a writer. And I have the banking, Venmo, and PayPal statements to prove it.
But as I said, it hasn’t always been that way
I sucked at writing for a long time. An unnecessarily long time.
When I got good, I didn’t know it, so I continued accepting way less money, even though I could have been charging way more ––– even as a modest, middle-of-the-road writer. That’s all you need to be to make good money writing online.
The picture below of me on an old payphone in the middle of nowhere pretty well sums up the majority of my failures in writing.
I was beating my head against a wall trying to use
- Antiquated writing rules, style, guides, formatting, and standards. Thanks a lot teachers.
- Old tools. Dusty old word, no-auto-save, no Grammarly, and zero AI integration. Hence, the payphone 😉
- And an unfun, non-conversational, non-reader friendly or web-friendly voice
All in a totally modern internet, society, and career field doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about any of that.
My Freelance Writing History
Luckily, I spent the last 20+ grinding it out in the shadows so you don’t have to. I spent that time unlearning the garbage they taught us in school so I could grow in my own career and give you the fastest, most frictionless path possible to becoming a handsomely paid freelance writer.
Just to give you an idea of what you are NOT going to face, here’s a little snapshot of my history as a persistently failing writer…
Part 1
- Being really bad at writing throughout all of gradeschool and high school. Like, getting-a-tutor bad.
- Seeing very little progress through college. Mostly because my teacher’s were super-lenient graders. Still sucked at writing.
- Starting a health and fitness blog on Tumblr. In year 1, went from zero traffic to 2,000 subscribers. Years 2-4, I grew that to 250,000 visitors/year.
- Having no idea how to monetize a website, so I started building courses online and picked up work writing for a content farm.
Part 2
- Over 2-3 years, creating 20+ fitness courses and 150,000 stuents on those courses. Still not monetizing it well.
- Getting kicked in the teeth when the course websites I was publishing to cut-down on promoting the health and wellness niche.
- Throwing in the towel on building my own business, but continuing to write 30,000+ words per week as a severely underpaid content farm writer.
- Further giving up on my dreams, and applying for a highly-stressful, boring, and agregiously-underpaying corporate marketing job.
- After a year of great client results, but thankless 60+ hour work weeks, I hate life, but keep writiing for the content farm for extra money.
Part 3
- In a miraculous transition, I quit my corporate job and on my last day at work get offered a $50/hour writing gig. from a fellow coworker.
- Finally wake up and realize that “okay writers” can make really good money.
- I lose that gig due to contractor cut-backs, but end up finding 5 other clients willing to pay at least that much, and more, for my still-okay writing.
- Spend 1-2 years refining the craft, becoming a good writer, picking up clients, and moving to average earnings of $200/hour as a freelance writer.
Why am I passionate about teaching writing as a career skill?
For me, this is about empowering others with one of the most accessible, powerful, and highest-paying, no-college-degree-required jobs in the modern workforce.
How to Start Freelance Writing Now…
It Pays to Write will teach you exactly what it sounds like: How to Write and Get Paid. This entire project is dedicated to helping you learn how to become a paid freelance writer ––– from your first published words to your first paid client.
No Skills? Haven’t written since high school? Think you suck at writing?
No problem!
It doesn’t matter if the extent of your writing experience is texting your friends, emailing your coworkers, or absolutely NOTHING. This project is your comprehensive, no-nonsense, fat-free course to become a high-performing, high-demand, and handsomely paid writer.
On the pages of this website, you will…
- Learn how become a good writer. Even a great one.
- Choose a high-paying niche or market you actually like to write in.
- Give you the writing tools to supercharge your writing productivity, speed, accuracy, and income.
- Build out your portfolio, website, resume, career and freelancer profiles
- Close your first clients and start making real money writing.
- How to continue to learn, improve your writing skills, and charge more as a freelance writer
Whether you’re looking to pick up a client or two for extra money, write part-time, write your first book become, or become a full-time writer ––– you’ve come to the right place.
Still not sure if this is right for you?
Continue reading below to learn more
Is Writing Hard to Learn?
No. Your teachers made writing complicated and miserable. We don’t.
How teachers taught you is NOT how the working world writes or reads It’s far easier and more conversational than that.
Fact: The average reading and writing level of the entire internet is 7th – 8th grade. That includes the medical industry!
So forget what teachers and professors taught you.
We make learning how to write as easy, simple, straightforward, and fun as possible. Our approach is this: As few rules as necessary to make as much money writing as possible.
Plus, you’ll actually be enjoying what you write because YOU get to choose your industry, niche, and topics.
“Where should I get started if I want to learn how to write?”
Can You Actually Make Money as a Freelance Writer?
Absolutely. Companies, markets, and industries of all shapes and sizes, around the globe, are looking for freelance writers.
The best part? You don’t need years of experience to become a freelance writer. You just need to show your employers or clients you can produce quality writing, which you’ll learn how to create right here.
What Makes It Pays to Write Different?
We Make Writing Easy and Fun to Learn
You don’t have to be a great writer to make great money. We make learning how to write enjoyable, engaging, and interactive.
Learn how to write, choose your niche, and kick off your career.
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Empowering You with the Best Writing Apps and Tools
Gone are the days of writer’s block.
Learn how to leverage the best writing apps and software on the market to actually write for you. Destroy writer’s block, write faster, and generate more traffic and business for you and your clients.
How to Become a Freelance Writer and Get Paid
With this, you’ll have all of the training, tools, skills, and knowledge you need to start attracting clients and growing your freelance writing