A freelance writer can’t rely on a regular salary at the end of the month. Because they work on a self-employed basis, they earn as they work.
It goes without saying, that the more diverse a writer is, the better chances they have of getting work and good pay.
Written content is part and parcel of the online world. Many freelance writers take advantage of this opportunity. The question uppermost in their minds is what they’ll be earning. ’How do they earn? Per word, per article, per project? How much do freelance writers make per hour?’
Blogs are a popular way to make money, and freelance blog writing rates for 2020 are scarcely below $100. It seems that the average freelance writing rates for experienced freelance writers with their own website aren’t less than $120 a blog, come what may.
Freelance Writing Rates – by Word, by Hour and by Project
If you are willing to do research, you’ll see that often freelance writers are interviewed on this topic of freelance writing pay rates. They give a multitude of answers.
It’s not so much on how much do freelance writers make per article but rather per hour, per word and per project. The thing is that different types of writing provide different earning potential.
There is much that depends on what you earn. Freelance writing pay if you’re a qualified person – a doctor, scientist, architect or engineer – will be much higher than the freelance writer with no tertiary education.
A Huge Spectrum of Freelance Writing Rates
Every business wanting to increase the amount- and kind of traffic to their website wants quality content. They count this as an investment. They’ll ask ‘how much should I pay a freelance writer?’ Freelancers on a writing platform will do the work for much less than a private freelancer with their own website.
You’ll find organizations wanting one hundred small posts of 150 words each with a specific keyword in them. You may find a freelancer willing to do the entire pack for $20.
Businesses do well signing up for these writing platforms where they can find an excellent caliber of a freelance writer at very reasonable rates.
Freelance writing rates 2017 shows that entry-level freelance writers were earning roughly $15 an hour while sought after expert freelance writing rates per hour were roughly $100 an hour.
Freelance writing rates 2018 may have been good too, but the forecast for 2020 is even better. Every business needs content – web pages email campaigns, case studies, etc. and a freelance writer is in demand for these jobs.
Content Mills or going Solo?
There are some freelancers who aren’t content to belong to a writing platform – referring to them as content mills. There are experienced freelance writers who say that 2020 is the year for freelance writers to go it on their own.
Yes, finding high paying clients isn’t easy, and it will require superb marketing skills by freelancers, but it can be done.
They prefer to build their own freelance writing business. They have a website and they charge what they like. Where a content mill will pay $10 to $12 for writing an 800-word article, going on their own will see them charging $80 for an 800-word article.
Freelance writers like this will put a price on their profile – they’ll say for instance 500 words – fixed priced $20 while another freelancer writer will accept work where the buyer pays $5 for a 500-word article.
It is why research is imperative to find out what you can be getting.
Freelance Writing Pay Rates can Differ Significantly
As a freelance writer, when you sign up for certain writing platforms such as for Freelancer.com, iWriter or Upwork, you typically write for more than one client. You read what the client is willing to pay and apply for the work if you’re satisfied with the rate. You are paid per writing assignment or per batch of assignments.
Among the clients you work with, there will be some high-paying freelance writing clients who provide you with recurring projects. Certainly, freelance writing rates per project usually apply to bigger writing projects such as for advertising campaigns or ebooks.
How much do Freelance Writers Make? Nothing is Clear Cut
Payment for freelancers varies greatly depending on what you are writing and who you are writing for. There is actually no one clear-cut method when it comes to establishing your freelance writing rates.
There are just so many variables at play:
- your experience
- your skills
- your niche
- your speed and so on
Some tertiary-educated freelancer writing rates per word can be anything from 10c a word and some even get $1 for each word. The Writers Association says that for advertising material writers shouldn’t get less than $350 per page.
How much do Freelance Grant Writers Make
Some freelancer writes have a niche – they focus on just one topic, and then they become an authority on that topic. One of these niches is grant writing. This is a lucrative niche.
Grant writers earn more than regular freelance writers as they have to craft proposals so as to secure funding for nonprofit organizations. Some writing platforms will offer $12 a page in 2020 while some businesses or government agencies have paid as much as $10 000 for a 4 000 word proposal.
The bottom line is – don’t be held up by what your research reveals. There are low- paying and high-paying freelance writing jobs, and with determination and creativity, you can make a living from this amazing niche.