If you’ve been considering starting freelance writing, this question has probably crossed your mind or your browser’s search bar. Plus other questions like, “Does online writing pay in Kenya?” Or whether it’s as legit as touted by blogs like this one and other successful writers out there.
Well, the answer to these last two questions is, from
experience, a sure yes. But when it comes to how much a freelance writer can
MAKE, there’s no one-size-fits-all amount. It’s the plain truth about freelance and online writing.
Let me explain why…
First, there are various billing methods, including pay
per word, per hour, and per project. For example,
the same project might cost more or less when billed per-hour compared to
per-project. Pay-per-word is the most popular, easy to work with, and the one I
would recommend for beginners.
Second, it’s unlikely for a freelance writer to earn an income
that’s regular like in the case of a fixed monthly salary. It’s always a range,
depending on factors like the types of content they worked on, whether they had
an ongoing contract or one-off projects, and so on.
So my answer to today’s article title is always, “It
depends.”
In my several years of writing, I’ve learned that it’s
nearly impossible to determine how much you can earn as a freelance writer
without considering these important factors below.
Freelance Writing Experience
When starting, you’re still learning the ropes, which means
that most of your time is spent learning and implementing, instead of the
latter alone. It also means that you don’t have past work or an extensive
portfolio to show potential high-paying clients.
As a beginner freelance writer, your rate per word will
likely fall around $0.01 to $0.03 if you’re good at what you do, and when
you’re finding clients from freelancer job boards. I say this because not
everyone has to start at the lowest extreme, which sometimes can be lower than
what we’ve mentioned here.
Some writers start lower than this depending mostly on the
type of employer as we’ll see below.
As you gain more experience, your writing will improve. If
you feel that the time you’ve spent learning has paid off with better writing
than when you started, it’s up to you to decide how much to bill for your
projects. Most writers who have mastered the necessary skills charge anywhere
from $0.05 to $0.10 per word, with some rightfully asking for a higher
price than this.
Type of Employer
Your type of employer is going to have far-reaching effects on
how much you make. It’s important that you understand why this is so.
In Kenya, I would group the different types of employers
you’re likely to come across in three categories: local employers, content mills, and
direct clients.
Content Mills
These are websites that typically sell large amounts of
content to both companies and individual site owners. Examples include Textbroker, iwriter, and ContentFly.
Because these mills rely on producing loads of content for
profit, quality is not a priority. This allows you to churn out thousands of
words in a day. Unfortunately, these companies are known for paying writers as
low as $0.01 per word.
Content mills can be ideal for getting started, building
experience, and a portfolio, but I would recommend against working there for
too long. I’ll talk in-depth about content mills in a later article, including
their pros and cons.
Local Employers
Local employers are those Kenyan writers (or entrepreneurs)
that take assignments from either a direct client or a content mill account and
then assign them to a local writer. But since we’ve mentioned how a mill can
have low pay, writing for a local employer has even lower benefits because they
also need to make their profit.
Some examples of rates I’ve seen from local employers
looking for writers range from the lows of 0.5 ksh to a high of 2 ksh per word.
Direct Employers
Having a direct employer is probably the best arrangement
you can have as a freelance writer. They can either be individual blog owners,
companies that need content for their website, or marketing agencies that write
content on behalf of other businesses.
The best thing about having such an employer is that
the pay is higher, and it gives you the opportunity to develop long-lasting
relationships with clients. In addition, if your work is good, a past employer
can hire you again or refer your services to another person.
You can find this by applying to the employer directly on
websites like Problogger and Content Writing Jobs instead of
signing up and creating a writer’s profile on job boards.
Type of Content You’re Writing
The type of web
content writing you specialize in or is required of a project might
also determine how much you earn as a writer.
For example, search engine optimization (SEO) writing,
copywriting, technical writing, and fictional ghostwriting can pay a higher
rate than plain content writing.
Some niches like medical and financial writing are also
likely to pay more because explaining such concepts almost always involves an
expert.
Specific Project Requirements
Remember to review all project requirements besides the word
count before deciding on your rates with an employer.
A blog article where you only have the title to work with would take more effort and time to write than one where the project brief comes with a title, an outline, keywords, etc. Your time is precious so ensure that you consider such factors when deciding how much to charge for your work.
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