So Where's the Money Coming From? What Freelancers are Working On

Last post, I shared the income results from the 2012 Freelance Income Survey. Now let's take a closer look at what types of work freelancers are doing to produce their income.

Here are the results to question #5, which asked what kinds of work you performed for pay in 2011:

What types of work were you paid to perform during 2011? (Select all that apply.) 

Consumer magazine articles.   110   11.43%   Trade magazine articles.   79   8.21%   Custom magazine articles.   88   9.15%   Academic magazine articles.   18   1.87%   Newspaper articles.   59   6.13%   Online/Web articles.   133   13.83%   Reprinting/reselling previously published work.   32   3.33%   Writing your own books (for traditional publishers.)   24   2.49%   Publishing your own books (for POD publishers or as ebooks).   8   0.83%   Ghostwriting/coauthoring books/book proposals for clients.   30   3.12%   Blogging.   85   8.84%   Speaking/teaching (any kind--in person tele seminars Webinars etc.)   39   4.05%   Editing (any kind).   79   8.21%   Copywriting/writing for corporations/businesses.   71   7.38%   Writing for nonprofit organizations.   33   3.43%   Consulting.   29   3.01%   PR/media relations work.   21   2.18%   Other (please specify in comment field.)   24   2.49%

But are the most common types of work paying off? Yes, according to the answers to question 6, where I asked respondents to list their top five sources of income, by work type:

Trade magazine articles.   41   9.86%   Custom magazine articles.   30   7.21%   Academic magazine articles.   8   1.92%   Newspaper articles.   15   3.61%   Online/Web articles.   64   15.38%   Reprinting/reselling previously published work.   2   0.48%   Writing your own books (for traditional publishers.)   5   1.20%   Publishing your own books (for POD publishers or as ebooks).   3   0.72%   Ghostwriting/coauthoring books/book proposals for clients.   17   4.09%   Blogging.   38   9.13%   Speaking/teaching (any kind--in person tele seminars Webinars etc.)   17   4.09%   Editing (any kind).   41   9.86%   Copywriting/writing for corporations/businesses.   39   9.38%   Writing for nonprofit organizations.   16   3.85%   Consulting.   11   2.64%   PR/media relations work.   6   1.44%   Other (please specify in comment field.)   9   2.16%

So, more respondents are making money from writing online articles (15.50 percent) than any other one specific type of writing, followed by consumer magazine articles (12.83 percent), trade magazine articles and editing (tied at 9.69 percent), copywriting/writing for corporations and businesses (9.44 percent), blogging (9.20 percent). 

I'm sharing the complete answers to these questions so you can see what type of work your fellow freelancers are doing and determine whether it's time to add it (or more of it) to your repertoire. If one in ten freelancers are making money blogging, and you're not, that may be an area to explore. But the opposite is true, too--if less than 1 percent of freelancers are making money publishing their own books (whether POD or ebooks), that may mean there's an opportunity that not many writers are currently pursuing. 

Regardless, I hope you find these results thought-provoking, and helpful. I know it will be for me as I plan future blog posts; after all, the primary purpose of this blog is to help my readers. Let me know if I'm doing my job. :)

***Are you a full-time freelancer who's constantly pestered by people who want to know how to get started in the business? :) Or are you new to freelancing, and want to make the jump from unpublished newbie to published writer? Check out my new ebooks, Dollars and Deadlines' Guide to: Selling your First Article and Dollars and Deadlines' 10 Essential Freelance Templates. Each is designed for writers who are new to freelancing, and will help you transition from unpublished to published writer. 

2012 Freelance Income Survey Results--The News is Good

First, thanks so much to the 171 freelancers who have participated in this year's Freelance Income Survey. (Click here for the 2011 survey results and the 2010 survey results.)


In short, the results are promising. Out of the 171 respondents, more than two-thirds (69 percent!) made more money in 2011 than 2010, and 12 precent made about the same amount.


And how much money is that? In 2011, our full-time freelancers grossed the following amounts:

• 16.96 percent made less than $20,000
• 22.81 percent made between $20,000 and $39,999
• 16.37 percent made between $40,000 and $59,999 (including me)
• 15.79 percent made between $60,000 and $79,999
• 12.87 percent made between $80,000 and $99,999
• 15.20 percent broke the six-figure mark, making more than $100,000. 

Breaking those numbers down, more than one-quarter (28 percent) of full-time freelancers made more than $80,000 last year, and a full 43 percent made more than $60,000. That's pretty awesome news, especially compared to the 2011 survey which asked freelancers about their 2010 income:  

• 27 percent made less than $20,000
• 23 percent made between $20,000 and $39,999 
• 22 percent made between $40,000 and $59,999 
• 14 percent made between $60,000 and $79,999 
• 7 percent made between $80,000 and $99,999 
• 7 percent made more than $100,000 

So, overall, freelancers (at least the ones responding to my survey) are making more money. That's great news! Next up, I'll share what kinds of work freelancers are doing, and which types are the most lucrative. 


***Are you a full-time freelancer who's constantly pestered by people who want to know how to get started in the business? (I know I am!) :) Or are you a new to freelancing, and want to make the jump from unpublished newbie to published writer? Check out my new ebooks, Dollars and Deadlines' Guide to: Selling your First Article and Dollars and Deadlines' 10 Essential Freelance Templates. Each is designed for writers who are new to freelancing, and will help you transition from unpublished to published writer.  

In the Chicago Area? Come See me Live & in Person!

I've got two Chicago-area speaking gigs next week. On Monday, January 16th, I'll be speaking on stress management at the Woodridge Public Library at 7:00 p.m. No, you can't completely avoid stress; that's unrealistic. I focus on ways to handle it better, and reduce its impact on your mental and physical health.

On Wednesday, January 18th, I'll be making the trek up the Vernon Area Public Library to present "From Pen to Publication: How to Get your Writing in Print." This is a great program for newer freelancers, and I'll cover everything from writing articles to today's book publishing options to setting writing goals.

I hope to see some of you there--please let me know if you follow my blog! And thank you to everyone who has taken my 2012 Freelance Income Survey. I've already collected 137 responses, but it's not to late to participate. Please take a few minutes to take the survey, and pass it along to other full-time freelancers you know. Thanks! :) 

Straight Talk about Money: What One Freelancer Made in 2011

How was 2011 for you, income-wise? Longtime readers of the blog will recall that I do an annual income survey for full-time freelancers, and the latest one is live. Please take the time (it should take less than five minutes!) to fill it out, and ask other freelancers to do the same. I'll report on results in a future post. (You can read more about the 2010 income survey results and the 2009 income survey results here.)

I can tell you that 2011 was a rough year for me. For the first time in more than a decade, I failed to meet my income goal of $60,000. Instead I grossed $51,818--and next post I'll explain why. For now, let's look at where my money came from. 

• The majority, about $26,750, came from book income--primarily advances for books I wrote under my own name, and for ghostwriting/coauthoring for clients. This included work I did for a book packager, work for private clients, and the small advance to update a book I coauthored.
• Another $2,842 came from royalties from traditionally published books, POD books, and ebooks. Royalties are my favorite kind of money to make, and a reason I continue to promote books like Goodbye Byline. Every time someone buys a copy, I make (a little) money. 
• I made another $600 or so from "hand-sales" at writers' conferences and other speaking gigs. No, it's not a lot of money but people often want to buy your book after they've seen you speak, so if you're an author, you should plan to carry along a box of books whenever you do a public event. 
• From speaking gigs, I netted another $5,150. This included speaking at writers' conferences, libraries, and other events. This isn't as much as I've made in other years, but it's better than what I made from speaking in 2010.
• I also sold another $3,556 worth of reprints. Again, this isn't a huge amount of money, but the work involved is minimal, and another source of "free" money.
• The rest of my income came from writing articles and consulting (primarily for would-be authors who need help considering their book publishing options). 

Even though books (both my own and those for clients) constitute most of my freelance income, you can see that I have other ways of making money, too. I've found a diversified approach works best for me, and helps me make money in a limited number of hours. Next post I'll tell you what I did wrong in 2010, and explain more about why having a variety of work helps you produce more money overall. 

**Didn't take the 2011 income survey yet? Please do it now, and ask others to do the same! Thank you! :)  

Eight Popular Posts from 2011 You May Have Missed

Yup, 2012 is around the corner and I've been working on my list of topics I'll cover on the blog next year. I'll share what I made money-wise in 2011 (newsflash: not as much as I expected to!), why I failed to meet my income goal, and how I plan to avoid that in 2012. I'll also be conducting another freelance income survey so we can compare 2011 to 2010 and identify some of the most lucrative areas for freelancers. 

But first, let's take a look at some of the most popular posts from 2011 you may have missed--and that  are definitely worth reading: 

• Struggle with writing queries? Most new freelancers do. Follow this proven query template and boost your pitching success rate. 
• Many freelancers find that an LOI, or letter of introduction, is one of their most effective marketing tools. Here's how to write one. 
• Miss a deadline, and you risk alienating your editor or client--for good. I've never blown a deadline in 15 years. Follow my advice and you'll never miss one either. 
• Plenty of new writers break into national magazines with few or no clips. Use these tips and you'll see your byline in a major glossy, too. 
• Networking with other freelancers is essential to your success--as long as you're able to sidestep certain writers. My post on Explosives, Waifs, and Users (and other writers to avoid) got lots of traffic (and probably had some writers worrying I was talking about them!) :) 
• Email is an essential tool but a potential time-waster. My post on ways to use email more efficiently also garnered a lot of interest. 
• More freelancers are adding ghostwriting to their repertoire, so it's no surprise that my roundup of ghostwriting posts was popular. 
• Finally, writers were interested in what freelancers are making. The results of the 2011 income survey (and the 2010 income survey) always get a lot of hits. 

Want to be a more successful freelancer in 2012? Why not preorder Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success. You can write it off your taxes this year--and be one of its first readers when it releases in May. Win-win! If you're just looking for an entertaining read (which got good reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal!), I suggest White Bikini Panties, or Did You Get the Vibe?, my first novel. Enjoy! :) 

 

The State of Fulltime Freelancer's Income, 2011

First, thanks to all of you who participated in this year's income survey; we collected 176 responses so far. (Didn't get around to it? You can still take the quick, confidential survey. Thank you!)

Now for a snapshot of the results:

Both new and experienced freelancers took the survey. Nearly 10 percent are newbies, freelancing for a year or less; another 21 percent have been freelancing for 1 to 3 years; 24 percent for 4 to 6 years; 13 percent for 8 to 10 years; 12 percent, 11 to 15 years, and nearly 19 percent have been freelancing for 16 years or more.

The good news is that nearly two-thirds of freelancers--65 percent--made more money in 2010 than 2009. Twenty percent made less, and 14 percent made the same amount both years.

And just how much is that?

* 27 percent made less than $20,000 in 2010
* 23 percent made between $20,000 and $39,999 in 2010
* 22 percent made between $40,000 and $59,999 in 2010
* 14 percent made between $60,000 and $79,999 in 2010
* 7 percent made between $80,000 and $99,999 in 2010
* 7 percent made more than $100,000 in 2010

So, there's good news and bad news. Half of full-time freelancers are making less than $40,000. Yet more than a quarter--28 percent--are making more than $60,000 as freelancers. Better yet, when asked about how they expect to fare in 2011, 60 percent said they're on track to make more in 2011 than in 2010. Just 15 percent expected to make less; 19 percent expected to make about the same both years; and 6 percent said it's too early to tell.

Coming next--I reveal the kinds of of work freelancers are doing today.

***And now for my big news! I've inked a deal with Writer's Digest for my new book, which will release in April, 2012. Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success will build on my earlier books on freelancing, Six-Figure Freelancing and Ready, Aim, Specialize! I've been working on the book for several months and am excited about it. Stay tuned for more facts about what freelancers are making today, and how we're succeeding even in a challenging economy.

Survey Update: Glitches are Fixed

What can I say? I'm a doofus. The survey glitches (which are due to me trying to multitask--remember, I'm in the midst of unpacking, etc) are FIXED as of 3:09 p.m., CDT, July 3, 2011. You can provide multiple answers to the questions that ask for them! And I've deleted the duplicate questions! Yay!

If you've already taken the survey, THANK YOU. If you haven't, please do. Thanks!

And tune in tomorrow when I'll share what I've made so far this year, where my money is coming from, and whether I'm on target to make my own annual income goal.

New Survey: The Current Condition of Freelancers' Income

Last year, I conducted an income survey to help determine what full-time freelancers were making. The 127 responses revealed that while the majority (64 percent) made less than $60,000 in 2009, the remainder made more than that--and 16 percent made more than $80,000 that year, including 10 percent that were six-figure freelancers. More than half (54 percent) expected to make more in 2010 than in 2009.

So, how are we doing today? How was 2010 compared to 2009, and how is this year looking? I've set up a new survey to take a closer look, and hope to garner at least 200 responses this time around--hopefully more.

If you freelance full-time (i.e., regardless of how many hours you work, you make your living as a self-employed writer/author/scribe), please take this brief survey. It should take you less than three minutes to complete and is completely confidential. The results will give us a sense of what freelancers are making, and the kinds of work we're doing, today.

Thank you for participating, and please ask fellow freelancers to do the same. I'll post results in a few weeks.

Myth, Busted: Freelancers Work for Peanuts (or "Exposure")

Earlier this year, I surveyed fulltime freelance writers about what they're making this year, what kinds of work they're doing, and whether they're making more this year than in 2009. Since then, I've been collecting more survey responses.

The latest results? With 127 fulltime freelancers responding (admittedly a small sample), 51 percent plan to gross $40,000 or less this year. However, that means that 49 percent plan to make more than $40,000 this year. Nine percent plan to make $60,000-80,000; another 6 percent plan to make $80,001-100,000; and 10 percent plan to break the six-figure mark in 2010, a year that's been tough for just about every self-employed businessperson.

The fact that 25 percent, or one in four, of those surveyed plan to make $60,000+ this year should help defeat the myth that freelancers work for peanuts. Sure, some do, but many aren't just surviving but in fact are thriving in a turbulent economy. And if other writers are doing it, you can too.