5 Incredible Tips That Will Increase Your Freelance Writing Income

If you are a freelance writer in Kenya, chances are that you are in the same predicament with so many writers around the world. Research shows that a lot of non-native English writers are often underpaid and disappointed. This does not mean you have to accept this as your fate. You can make more money writing right here in Kenya and turn your writing hobby into a cash machine by using the tips I recommend in this article.

I personally have a 8-5 job in a multinational organization where I work as a media liaison officer. My job here includes writing blog articles, news, email copies and newsletters for the company; Very hectic work that requires lots of research poured in and a lot of brain wracking to find the best way to say the same thing over and over again and still make it sound unique.

I love my job and probably won’t trade it for anything else, but I still want to make more money writing. That’s why, when the workday hours are gone, I rush to my house where I burn the midnight oil freelancing.

{Update: I finally quit my daytime job beginning September 2014 and now work full time as a freelance writer in Kenya. I am also offering training to students who wish to learn how they can make money online in Kenya.}

How do you make more money from your writing skills?

As an upcoming writer, there is an alternative way to maximizing your income! Other than writing for organizations that won’t sustain your income, online freelancing remains the best option for many writers trying to earn a secondary source of income. With the knowledge of where to look for, and what type of revenue you would like to make, you are just one step away from building an online job empire for yourself. There are sites that pay you to write content for them, others that require you to write on their sites and share the advertising fees and others that connect you with possible employers in search of a good writer.

Whichever way you choose to build your online earnings remains your sole discretion, but I prefer trying my hand in all of them.

make more money writingThe first thing you may actually want to do is to find a genuine online website or blog that hires content writers. Start by heading over to blogging.org. The website lets you register for free and write three to four articles for evaluation before you start writing paid content.

These four articles are used to rate you. There is a withdrawal threshold of $25 via PayPal once you start earning. If you are not landing jobs from elsewhere, I would say Blogging.org is the place for you.

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make more money writing

If you would rather work independently, without the rating system of blogging.org you may want to try online blogger job boards.

There are a number of them that offer genuine online writing jobs and pay either per day, per week or per month. Problogger’s job board is the most popular among many freelance writers. Chances are you will find a very comfortable niche that you can handle at Problogger.

To take the hunt even further, you may want to try online job portals for your desired writing jobs. The best portals so far for both writing jobs and other kind of jobs include freelancer.com, odesk andelance.

Now that you have the work at hand, it’s time to start maximizing the available opportunities, but just how do you make sure you are getting the best payment for what you are doing?

1.           Increase your speed of work

How many articles do you write per day? I personally write up to 10 paid articles per day and some more for my three blogs. Depending on the payment rate of my clients, I can make an excess of $50 per day, which is more than most writers make. The trick here is to make sure that you have a very high typing speed and an internet connection that is not bothersome.

I can type at 80 WPM and my Huawei E173 Safaricom Modem has some crazy speed.

2.          Shed off the laziness and get to working.

The reason why you are not making more money writing could be that you are generally lazy. If you do not start on jobs immediately they are assigned, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Stop postponing assignments. Instead, get them and finish them as first as you can. This leaves you open to take more work and any future and impromptu writing projects that might be thrown your way.

3.         Know how good you are

A lot of freelance writers do not understand how good they are and this stagnates them at the bottom of the pit. To know if you are good enough, ask your clients to leave you some honest feedback after you have completed an assignment. This will not only let you know where you stand, but also lets other clients know you are good and opt to hire and pay you well.

Realizing that you are really good also gives you the courage to say bid on high paying jobs.

4.       Never provide free samples

You are wasting time writing a free sample for that client. You really are.  Some clients demand that you write a sample for them before they hire you. Please, for the love of God, do not write it. If they can’t gauge your writing skills from your already uploaded portfolios, then let it be as it may be. You are wasting a lot of your time writing free samples, and by all means, there is a very high probability that you are being scammed. This should be in caps, never give out free samples to clients!

5.       Operate out of your comfort zone

What can I write about, I hardly find jobs in my writing niche, and I am stuck!!

Who told you can only write about what you love writing about? Of course this is the mentality in most writing forums, write what you are passionate about. I will tell you why it is wrong! If you are writing for the money, God knows you can handle any topic under the stratosphere or above it for that matter. I have personally written about Vegas Roulettes and casinos, about how to learn and read Spanish (though I can’t speak a word of it) and many other topics. With the large bulk of resources available in the internet, you surely do not have a reason for being stuck in your comfort zone.

There you have it. If you persistently apply these tips to your freelance writing career, I believe you can double or even tripple the amount you make writing. Also, do not forget to check out these 12 Commandments that Every Successful Freelancer Should Abide By.

Till next time. I am your’s truly, Patrick Kihara Mahinge.

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Patrick Mahinge

Patrick Mahinge is a prolific digital marketer and "serial webpreneur". He runs multiple profitable niche websites and blogs monetized through affiliate marketing and advertising. Patrick generously shares his expertise in affiliate marketing, blogging, and online business through his Facebook group of over 5,000 aspiring entrepreneurs.

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