How To Increase Your Monthly Freelance Earnings in 2 Easy Steps

What’s on the iPod: Built to Roam by Shakey Graves

This week got away from me a bit. The workload was limited to a few small revisions. The rest of it was split between working on side projects (which are actually primary projects that will pay off later) and sending invoices.

In a few conversations this week, I heard a theme — earnings every month are scattered and there’s no way of predicting what’s going to happen next. Well hell, we’re freelance writers, so that comes as no shock, right?

What if I told you we could reduce the uncertainty fairly significantly in just two steps?

Let’s just put it out there — we’re not going to be able to predict everything that’s coming. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have left on a mini-vacation just as seven projects came flooding in at once. But there are things we can control about our earnings. It starts with the simple plan:

Step One – Set an earnings goal
Step Two – Hold yourself accountable


That’s it. Not brain surgery, is it?

So let’s look at these in detail a little.

Set an earnings goal: This is easier than you think to do. I like to set monthly goals, but you can choose weekly, biweekly, whatever you like. Just don’t go too far out or you could find yourself way off your target with little time to recover.

For this example, let’s stick with the monthly goal. What do you want to make annually? Let’s go with a nice round number – $50,000 (you can go higher or lower — it’s what you want, not what someone says you want). Divide by 12. That brings you to $4,166.6666…..you get the idea. Why not round up to either $4,500 or $5,000? There’s nothing stopping you. Just make sure it’s a number you’re happy with, and one that gives you enough money to pay your bills, invest a little in a retirement fund, pay your taxes, and have some fun.

Hold yourself accountable: This is where freelance writers often fail. Right here. It’s so easy to decide how much you want to make each month, but if no one is looking over your shoulder, are you going to do it? You need to answer to someone other than yourself. It’s way too easy to say “Dang it, I worked hard enough — $2,000 this month is plenty.” Better to say “Dang, I have to check in and report my progress. This isn’t going to wash.”

To whom you are accountable is up to you. I’m accountable to anyone who reads this blog (my monthly assessment is my report on how I did). You can use the comments on that thread to be accountable, or you can choose a fellow writer, a family member, a trusted friend and arrange to talk at the end of every month (or the start of every new month). Report what you’ve earned, how you found the clients, what you need to do to increase the results or maintain the status quo.

Another note about earnings — you decide how to calculate earnings — I use invoices sent. Paula uses invoices paid. You decide what works for you.

Writers, do you set earnings goals?
Do you have accountability for reaching those goals? 
What are your methods for both steps?