By N Williamson
A freelance writing career is one that allows you to have the flexibility to work at home on a schedule that you set for yourself. However, while it may seem simple, it actually takes work and time to build this kind of career. If you want a career in freelance writing that is lucrative and successful, here are a few important steps that you can follow.
Keep Your Day Job
When you are starting out in your freelance writing career, it's important that you keep your day job in the beginning. It's a good idea to begin developing your skills while you are still working at least part-time. While you can earn enough money in this career to support yourself, it will take some time before you begin making that much money and there is also a bit of a learning curve. Until you get to the point that you think you can support yourself solely with your writing, you'll want to keep another job.
Take Time to Diversify
As you are working to build a freelance writing career, you need to take some time to diversify the companies that you write for. There are a variety of companies out there that pay up front for writing. Others may offer you some residual income as well. While many people like to be paid up front, there are also benefits to residual income. Starting out with various projects and various websites is a great idea in case writing for one gets a bit slow. If you diversify your writing, you'll be able to make sure you can make enough money to support yourself.
Don't Forget About Taxes
Many people who get started in a freelance writing career never think about taxes. Most companies that hire freelancers will not take out the taxes. This means that you should be saving money out of your paychecks to make sure that you can pay the taxes when tax time comes around. This way you won't be hit with a huge amount of tax debt on April 15th.
Realize You May Not Always Be Able to Choose Topics
While it is always great to write about topics you like, when you first get started in your freelance writing career, you need to realize that you may not always be able to choose the topics that you want to write about. You will probably have to start out writing about a variety of different things.
Be Ready to Work
There are some people who have the idea that a freelance writing career is easy. However, it does really to take a lot of work. You'll need to do your research, there is time spent writing, and you'll have to edit your own work as well. There are plenty of benefits you can enjoy and so long as you work hard and stay disciplined, you will increase your chances of being successful.
