7 Ways to Diversify Your Freelance Writing Income

TL;DR:

• Explore advanced writing niches like technical and health writing to diversify your freelance writing income.
• Invest in broader content skills to learn how to write and produce a variety of content types.
• Pitch higher paying markets and offer ghostwriting, content consulting, and related services.

It’s the eternal question: How can you diversify your freelance writing income? One of the big hurdles that prevents people from jumping into freelancing is a fear of losing income. Good news, though! There’s plenty you can do to diversify your income streams and develop a long-lasting writing career. Let’s dive into seven ways to grow your income, starting with the most basic and working up to advanced techniques.

1. Create and Sell Digital Products

Everybody’s seen videos and heard stories about people making “big money” with digital downloads. Personally, I’ve published a few eBooks. They don’t earn a ton of cash, but they do supply a little extra income each month. Plenty of writers make extra money selling downloads, eBooks, and print on demand products like custom journals. For writers, the most straightforward digital products are templates (think sales letters or romantic Valentine letters!), novels or novellas, and online courses.

How to Start:

1. Find a problem you can solve. For example, teach small business owners how to write SEO-friendly blogs or show novice writers how to plot a novel.
2. Create a solution. For example:
   • Write an eBook like “The Five-Step System to Plotting Your First Novel.”
   • Develop a course on blog writing for small business owners.
3. Use platforms like IngramSpark or Amazon’s Kindle Direct to publish eBooks or create a course on Teachable or another platform.

Pro Tip: Sell products from your website and leverage marketplaces like Gumroad for wider exposure.

2. Offer Coaching or Consulting Services

Everyone needs to communicate, yet many people aren’t comfortable with their writing skills. Coaching and consulting helps you earn income by helping clients communicate better. This can take many forms. Coach professionals through writing thought leadership content. Or consult with college students to help them improve their research papers.

Ideas to Get Started:

• Professional Writing Coaching: Offer one-on-one sessions to help professionals sharpen their writing and communication skills. Build service packages around writing better thought leadership articles or helping them write a book.
• Content Strategy Consulting: Position yourself as a content expert and help businesses create effective content strategies.
• Brainstorm groups of people who communicate a lot, and find ways to help them write more clearly.

How to Market Your Services:

• Create a dedicated page on your website to your coaching or consulting packages.
• Use testimonials on the page to build trust.
• Offer a free 30-minute introductory meeting or discounted first session to attract leads.

3. Learn Content Production Skills

Freelance writing expands way beyond articles and web copy. There’s a lot of work available in writing scripts, social media strategy, online course production, and many other areas. If you can write and create video content, like social media shorts and presentation videos, you’ll open more income avenues. Pro tip: Partner with a video editor to create video content packages for clients!

Action Steps:

1. Learn basic video production skills. Free software from Canva, DaVinci Resolve, iMovie (Mac), and OpenShot have varying levels of video editing features. Canva and iMovie are particularly easy to use!
2. Cut together a few shorts. Write short videos and build them in Canva or iMovie. Add them to your portfolio and promote them on social media.
3. Offer script + video packages like business presentations and social media videos. Or think outside the box and create something fun like custom Valentine’s Day videos!

Pro tip: Look for opportunities to help conference presenters write and create their presentation deck! Content companies charge $1400+ for this service.

4. Branch into Business Writing

Some niches pay more than others. Here are ten writing niches on the rise and how you can break into them. One of the highest paying niches with the lowest barrier to entry is business writing. Specifically, freelance writers make steady income with white papers and case studies. Read on for details on how to break into this profitable niche.

Business Writing

Companies constantly need fresh communications for their employees, shareholders, and the general public. Many of these writing projects are managed by internal marketing teams and farmed out to freelancers. That’s where you can cash in. Some areas to explore include:

• Internal training documents
• Annual reports
• Sales sheets
• Marketing collateral

How to Get Started:

• Learn the tone and structure of professional documents. Purdue OWL’s General Guidelines for Business Writing is a great place to start.
• Highlight transferable skills in your portfolio. Include samples that are concise, professional, and have a confident tone.
• Start small by reaching out to local businesses or networking on LinkedIn. Offer your services as a copywriter and editor, and highlight any professional business writing you’ve done.

White Papers and Case Studies

White papers and case studies are research-intensive. You dig into a company’s value proposition and creatively sell their products and solutions. They’re like sales presentations on steroids because they’re used in business-to-business (B2B) marketing to close deals. Think tens of thousands or millions of dollars in sales. They’re highly valued because they directly contribute to a company’s bottom line.

How to Break In:

• Study white paper structures and case study formats. There aren’t a lot of reputable books on white papers. I learned from the White Papers for Dummies book, and it served me well. I’ve written many case studies and white papers, and that was the easiest to follow and most comprehensive guide.
• Land your first one by offering to write a case study for an existing client. Position it as an “add on” to an existing project, and you’ll get paid!
• Once you’ve got a couple of samples, market yourself to companies. Tech companies, SaaS firms, and agencies serving those industries often need these docs.

White papers typically pay $2,000-$7,000 per project, making it a skill worth learning.

5. Develop Skills in Technical or Medical Writing

AI is the future, and it’s coming for medicine first! At least, that’s the hype. The fact is, technical and medical writing are two of the highest paying writing niches because they’re constantly evolving. Medical and technical writers can get hyper-specific in the topics they cover. And they get paid well while staying on top of cutting-edge developments.

Technical Writing

To succeed as a technical writer, you need to break down complex information into simple communications. Mainly, this includes:

• User manuals
• Software documentation
• Product guides

How to get started:

1. Learn technical writing principles from resources like the Society for Technical Communications.
2. Build a sample portfolio by writing manuals or how-to guides for programs you use. (Make it clear in your portfolio that guides are mock samples NOT client work!)
3. Land gigs through direct outreach to companies. You’ll sometimes find job listings for technical writers, but often these are contract and freelance gigs. Network at local STC meetings and other technical events to meet potential clients.

Pro tip: Technical writing goes beyond software. Any company or industry with a lot of engineers also employs tech writers.

Medical Writing

Want to write about a constantly changing industry? The health care and pharmaceutical industries are for you. It helps if you have STEM or medical training, because medical writers deal with complex biochemistry and genetic research concepts, including:

• Research summaries
• Regulatory documents
• Medical journal articles
• Public-facing content

Getting started:

• If you have a background in science, highlight it in your portfolio and pitches.
• Consider certifications from the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).
• Network with health care companies or agencies that hire freelance medical writers.

Both of these niches offer high writing rates, typically $100/hour or more.

6. Pitch High-Paying Publications

Magazines and corporate media outlets have been on the decline in recent years. But there are still many top-tier publications paying high rates. Getting published in a top-tier magazine elevates your career while netting you a nice check.

How to break in:

• Look through magazine listings on sites like Amazon or Magazine Line. Find a magazine you want to write for, then look for their Editorial Guidelines.
• The magazine’s guidelines should tell you how much they pay and how they want to get pitches. If you like what you see, write a pitch!
• Keep refining your pitches until you land an assignment … and be sure to deliver an excellent piece when you’re accepted!

Whether a magazine pays well or not, it’s still fun to see your byline in print! Keep at it, and have fun.

7. Explore Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting offers some of the highest earning potential in freelance writing. You won’t get bylines, but the pay rate can make it worthwhile.

How to break in:

• Start small with individual clients. For me, I had a couple of C-suite clients who needed help ghostwriting their articles in trade magazines. That led to a couple of book writing projects. Build trust with clients on smaller ghostwriting projects, then move to bigger projects like books.
• Offer ghostwriting services to thought leaders, executives, or influencers who want content to build their personal brand.
• Use NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and clear writing contracts to protect client relationships and your professional reputation.

Ghostwriting a book can pay $10,000-$50,000 per project, depending on the scope and client. Articles and smaller projects can range anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand.

How will you diversify your freelance writing income?

It takes time to diversify your freelance writing income. But you can do it! From digital downloads to ghostwriting someone’s book, there are lots of ways to grow your income streams. It’s an evolutionary process. Take a little time to think through where you’re at and how you’d like to expand over time!

Want a free PDF to walk you through the basics of freelancing? Here you go!