How I Quit My Job to Become a Full Time Freelance Writer

I have been meaning to write this article for a long time but I never got the chance to do it, so today I will finally talk about how I became a full time freelance writer.

It was in March last year when I realized I absolutely hated my job and I needed a way out. Blogging was a good option, but my personal blog wasn’t a niche blog and I knew I couldn’t earn much money from it, so I decided to check out freelance writing online

I have been meaning to write this article for a long time but I never got the chance to do it, so today I will finally talk about how I became a full time freelance writer.

The first website I checked out was Freelancer, and it only took me a week to realize that it was a hell hole.

I didn’t understand the payment system, I was being charged even for accepting projects and clients were only looking for low-paid writers.

I also checked out Naukri and I did find a client there. But, he was the rudest client I have dealt with till this day. Back then I got really scared and didn’t even apply for any job for a week. So, I never went back to Naukri either.

Then I moved to Elance, which was my favourite place to get clients till the moment it died. Elance emerged with oDesk and its now called Upwork.Extra bonus Tip – How I kept earning more and more

I was increasing the rates every 2 months for new clients.

If I realized a client was dumping way too much work than what I was getting paid for then I let them know that politely.

I asked them for a raise since it was taking way too longer for me to complete everything or I asked them to take off some responsibilities over me.

In most of the cases, the clients didn’t want to pay me more, so we had to end the contract.

But, I didn’t care, that only meant that I had more time to find clients who would be willing to pay me better rates.

The mistakes I made (which I later corrected)

I let the clients decide rates, because I didn’t knew the right rates going on in the market

I didn’t set the contract terms beforehand, and that meant some clients were asking me for unlimited revisions

I wasn’t focused well and I didn’t track my time

I wasn’t editing my work that well

I didn’t review the project details completely before starting an assignment

I didn’t research about the clients before moving forward

Do you want to become a full time freelance writer?

I am not going to say its easy, it is hard but if this is what you want to do and you love writing, then you shouldn’t stop yourself from trying. Worst case – you would have to go back to a boring job but the best case is – you could become a full time freelance writer and work according to your terms.

Have any similar stories? Share with me