Being a freelance writer comes with many advantages and unique challenges. While you’re technically able to set your own hours, work from wherever you want, and accept and decline projects as you please, the reality is that you’re often at the mercy of your clients. During a busy period, this can mean long hours, busy schedules, and little time for handling other issues in your personal life.
It is thus important to have a plan for your finances. One idea is this: how freelancers should invest their money. If you have something extra, make your money work for you.
Top 5 Investments for Freelance Writers
As a freelance writer, it’s essential that you learn how to best invest your time and money for optimal success. The trick is to pay for things that will further your career, while avoiding the ones that provide minimal ROI. While there are hundreds of ways to invest your money, these four stand out as the best moves for your career:
- Outsource Tasks That Aren’t Worth Your Time
It’s important to remember what your primary skillset and core competencies are. Unless you double-dip into other areas of marketing, your focus should be 100 percent on writing. While you may get offers to do things like social media management, web design, campaign development, and more, these likely aren’t cost-effective tasks for you to take on.
You always have to think about how your time is best spent and what will produce the best results. However, that doesn’t mean you have to turn down these requests. By outsourcing something like web design to another contractor, you can satisfy your client, continue focusing on your writing, and still make a small amount of money off the top.
- Pay for Quality Technology and Tools
There are tons of tools, software, and technologies specifically designed for marketing professionals and writers. Depending on what areas you need help with (i.e. organization, planning, file storage, etc.), you may be able to increase your efficiency by using certain tools. Things like auto responders, project management software, and video conferencing technology can completely change the way you interact with clients.
- Find Passive Income Opportunities
As mentioned, being a freelance writer often means you’re at the mercy of your clients. This can be particularly scary if you have to support a family and need steady revenue to pay bills. One trick is to use your downtime to research new business opportunities that will eventually allow you to accrue passive income. This could be something you’re already good at like writing and selling an eBook, or a completely new venture like investing in real estate and becoming a landlord. If you’re able to find any success in these areas, your slow periods won’t hurt as much.
- Invest in Personal Branding
As a freelance writer, you are your own brand. Whether you like it or not, people will associate your name with your work. This means it’s extremely important to invest in personal branding. Yes, actually pay for branding. This will help you establish yourself as a thought leader, attract better clients, and portray your services as having a higher perceived value.
Making the Right Investments
There is currently great demand for quality content – and the future looks even brighter. While that’s the good news, you also need to remember that an increasing number of skilled writers are entering the workforce to match this demand. If you want to differentiate and position yourself for long-term success, make these four investments priorities.
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