A writing side hustle is a fun and lucrative way to earn some extra cash or a full-time living. I started writing on the side when my kids were young, and it’s now my primary source of income that’s always in demand. There are always companies, bloggers, and groups looking for help with their content. On average, I earn $6,000 a month as a freelance writer or copywriter, and an additional $1,000 as a marketing assistant doing everything from social media scheduling to WordPress maintenance. My income does fluctuate, so I also employ an aggressive savings strategy to ensure that I’m covered from month to month.
That’s not to say a writing side hustle is always easy. It does take a business mindset where you’re always focusing on ROI, your marketing efforts, and following-up with clients.
Deciding Which Writing Side Hustle to Start
I started out trying to sell articles to magazines and newspapers, and it worked, but took forever. I’ve also written travel guidebooks and content for trade publications. It’s much easier to work with companies that need ongoing digital content. One of my clients is a relocation company and I write destination guides, moving tips, and lifestyle content.
Re-purposing Your Own Experiences
Most freelance writing is about re-purposing the experiences you already have and turning it into desirable content. Whether you have children and want to write for a parenting site, or are running a six-figure business, you can use those experiences to pivot into freelance writing. Many clients aren’t particular about your writing experience if you have a strong skillset in the area they want you to write about.
Balancing Your Passions with a Lucrative Niche
I love writing about travel and tourism and parenting, but those niches do not pay that well. I still enjoy it and find it easy and work it into my regular workflow. However, if you want to make serious money with a writing side hustle, you have to think about where the money lies. Magazines have little profit margin, but a custom content magazine or B2B publication usually does. There are hundreds of niches to choose from, however, here are some of the more lucrative ones:
- Healthcare
- Technology
- Business
- Finance
- Manufacturing/Supply Chain
You can also develop sub-niches. For example, several of my clients are travel SaaS (software as a service) and I write B2B content for their blogs. It ties into travel, but is directed towards companies who need their software products. When it comes to a writing side hustle, you should always think about diversifying and overlapping your niches.
If you’re interested in a freelance writing side hustle, you can get up and running with no experience. The Writer’s Den helps you get your first client, even if you’re coming into the field with no writing experience. You can also learn to grow and scale your career, whether you want to write for blogs, magazines, newspapers, corporations, and more.
Learn more about freelance writing and The Writer’s Den here.
Where to Find Clients
Finding freelance writing clients feels like a complicated, opaque process. However, it’s not that difficult. Here are the top ways to find clients for your writing side hustle:
- LinkedIn – ask connections of they’re looking for help with newsletters, emails, website content, blog posts
- Local businesses – many need help creating content for their social media channels and advertisements
- B2B or B2C magazines – pitch an idea that draws from your skillset and fits their publication
- Upwork – I find a lot of work here, but you do have to give it time and only bid on well-paying gigs from reputable clients. Otherwise it’s just a race to the bottom of the pay school.
- Cold emails – I carefully study a potential client’s website or publication and pitch them an idea. I love writing cold emails and have a pretty decent conversion rate for landing work with this method.
How to Make More with Your Writing Side Hustle
Once I finally got the hang of freelance writing, I realized that treating it like a business meant I could scale it. Instead of waiting for my clients to come to me with work, I started asking for assignments or pitching new ideas. I also started offering:
- WordPress services (uploading content and optimizing it)
- Going through old content and working on its SEO
- Offering social media copywriting
- Looking for ways to take work off my client’s plates
Figuring Out Taxes and Your Writing Side Hustle
I cannot overemphasize the need for an aggressive savings strategy for your freelance writing side hustle. I am not an accountant and everyone’s tax bracket is different, so I’m in no position to offer customized advice. However, based on my own situation and deductions, my account recommends I save between 25% to 30% of my freelance income. You may need to save more or less, and should always speak to a CPA.
There’s nothing worse than getting hit with a huge tax bill every year because of poor financial planning. I did it several times before I decided I was never going to put myself in that position again. Now I use a budgeting app called Every Dollar and budget “every dollar” I earn down to $0. I put up to 30% in my estimated tax fund and then build out a reasonable budget between my income, as well as my husband’s.
Our budget includes saving for travel, going out, and non-essential activities. From there, I roll over any excess money into savings and earmark that for lulls in my writing side hustle income. At the end of the year, I usually max out my IRA and add some to our emergency account, which I keep in a brokerage account. I almost always have a tax refund that easily pays for my account and I reinvest the remainder into our IRA or a house project.
Launching a writing side hustle is fun, lucrative, and not terribly difficult if you’re willing to put in the work and persistence to make it happen. Focus on the experiences you already have and repurpose them into wining content to land your first clients.