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Saturday, April 23, 2011

$3,500 a Month Challenge

I always see writers talking about how they just are not making money. How they keep getting distracted or they had a bad day so they didn't write, etc, etc, etc, the list goes on. Let me pose a question. If you were working a brick and mortar, would you call off of work every time you had a bad day? No, you wouldn't. You would be fired if you did. You absolutely have to take the same approach with freelance writing or else you will not make any money. I am not saying this to be harsh and trust me, I have the opposite problem: I never take days off. Never taking a day off isn't exactly healthy either, but that is an issue I will tackle at a later date. My point is, freelance writing is a real job and has to be treated like a real job. We will discuss this more throughout the next five weeks as well.

So, I am going to show you how to be a full-time freelancer. No excuses. If you have the sniffles, get the Kleenex. If you are having a bad day, take that energy and turn it into productivity. If you want to be a full-time freelancer you have to treat it like a full-time job. Taking off willy nilly is not helping you at all.

Why $3,500 you ask? Well, it is $875 a week. $875 is an amount of money that is achievable and it is an amount that the majority of people could live off of. Now, for the next 5 weeks (rest of April and all of May) I am only going to write online content. No hospital work, no pharma work, no fancy stuff. I am going to make sure this is fair. Online content only. To make it even more fair and more in tune to really new writers, I will concentrate my efforts on content mills and farms. I will not even include my private client work in the $3,500 total. Basically, I will be farming it to show you that a no excuses, hard-working writer can make a living do this.

Now, for the last week of April, we will just look at making $875 of course. Then, for the month of May, we will focus on making the full $3,500. This is based on the online content terms. No medical trials, pharma, etc. I will take PayPal screenshots and all that so you will see where the money is coming from.

I am also a full-time student so I will talk about the challenges this presents. I will provide tips to shorten research and writing time, tons of links to cool resources, helpful tips and advice for you, info on the clients I am writing for during the challenge, etc. By the end of May, you should be able to mimic exactly what I did and succeed at it.

Main sites I will be concentrating on for this challenge include: Yahoo and YCN, Demand Studios (both Livestrong and Ehow to keep it fair because not everyone has Livestrong permissions), BrightHub, Daily Glow, Gather, Examiner (yes, I decided to give it another go), TextBroker, Content Current, Writer Access and I believe that is it. I will also be applying for new gigs throughout this time and will be reporting to you on this because all freelance writers should also be always applying for new gigs.

I will be reporting in several days a week letting you all know about my income, energy levels, who I have been writing for, gigs I've applied for, tips and advice, etc, etc, etc. You will basically be living vicariously through me for the next 5 weeks. I highly suggest you either follow my blog or bookmark it so you can find it easily.

Shortly, I will be providing you with my writing arsenal. Some sites I use religiously to ensure I am on point and on my game that provide tips and points that are critical for online writers.

I hope this helps some folks. I know I preach often about how you CAN be successful as a freelancer. Well, now I want to show you how it is done. Also, if you have questions or comments, drop a comment. I am happy to address them.

Photo Credits: Jorg Greuel

16 comments:

Mike said...

Go for it!
I'm in!
Thanks in advance.
Mike

Unknown said...

I've never set my sights this high before, but I believe I can do it and am going to give it a go. Thanks for the challenge.

Marie Anne said...

I've got other goals for May so I'll have to sit this one out (my goals would be pitiful compared to yours anyway).

I'll definitely be following you, though!

LA Nickers said...

Go, Rose!

Linda Ann said...

Now following ...

Karen said...

Going to jump in on this challenge since it's specific but not specific as to what I can write.

With your challenge and Marie Anne's I should make it or get very, very close to it.

Tracy Moore said...

Good for you! I'll be cheering you on and watching your progress. :)

Loki Morgan said...

I know you'll rock it! :)

Unknown said...

Not sure I can do that much but I'm shooting for my own goal of $300 a week. I'm going to check out Content Current and Writer Access now too. More places to add to my list means more money in my pocket! I wish you the best of luck in this challenge. I'm sure you will succeed!

pbquig said...

I very much enjoy money and feel if I just have a few years left I should live them in first class.

So need to make writing pay more than it is. So old as I am I'm checking it out. BTW I am the person that would call in with a bad day, have I ever been fired, weeeelll leave it to your imagination.

Pam
Pirate Knitting

Theresa Wiza said...

One day I hope achieve the same level of success your are enjoying. Right now, though, my priorities are helping my children with their children – sometimes until midnight. I look forward to the day I can write without chronic interruptions, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't offer my time to my kids now. Besides I enjoy the great bond I have with each of my grandchildren.

I look forward to reading your results. Thank you for sharing them.

My latest A-Z Challenge: Under Pressure
http://myheartblogstoyou.blogspot.com/2011/04/under-pressure.html

pbquig said...

Rose, Check out the blog WRITE MOMS at http://www.writemoms.com/. She writes about all the online blogs and lists them on the blog. It is very useful for something like this.

Pam

pbquig said...

I meant, all the online writing sites. Duh, I need to learn how to edit comments.

Pam

Langley Cornwell said...

This is fantastic Rose. There is so much I can learn from you. Thanks for your willingness to open the kimono.
I look forward to following along.

SJerZGirl said...

I wish you well on all of it. Because I'm not used to it, I have to take it slow or I feel a bit overwhelmed, but would like to be able to write the occasional article. I applied with Content Current and was given a test assignment before I realized what it was. Since it was in an area I didn't know, I deleted it only to learn it was my "make or break" test assignment. I have an open ticket still there with no response except mine seeing if they were there. This has been two days now and my test will expire in one more day. Should I be worried?

Tony Payne said...

This is great Rose. You are a great example to us all.