In yesterday’s article titled Best side hustle ideas to make extra money, the USA Today stated that “freelance writing is a simple side hustle” and “for most, it only involves setting up an online profile and searching for your first paying gig” (via Upwork and other sites). I’ll give you a minute to process what you’ve just read……..now that you’re back, yes, the USA Today is wildly out of touch with this sentiment.
The rest of the article isn’t bad, but YIKES. Anyone who has written professionally or attempted to write professionally as a freelancer knows that the USA Today is full of horse manure on this one. There are scores of guides, books, videos, and courses on how to become a freelance writer. It takes grit, determination, and continuous learning to get regular writing work. Just visit Reddit or the Warrior Forum and you’ll find many posts asking how to land more clients/jobs.
The USA Today has an estimated daily readership of 7 MILLION. For them to carelessly characterize freelance writing as easy is inexcusable for a publication of their size and influence.
Consider the following, previously posted in our article titled Freelance Writing Isn’t Easy Despite What Bloggers Say:
- New freelance magazine writers often pitch dozens or more queries before landing a paid job. There’s an article on The Write Life titled What 200 Rejections Taught Me About Being a Freelance Writer. It isn’t uncommon for new writers to experience a high failure rate. Does any of this sound easy?
- New freelance B2B writers that operate as generalists often struggle to land that first client. There’s a reason that there are so many courses designed to help people land their first client. More on that later.
- New direct response copywriters are up against A, B, and C list copywriters that have proven track records of copy that sells.
- New bloggers and content writers are up against cheap labor and high failure rates. If you’re starting your own blog, know that at least 80% of blogs fail. If you’re writing content for others, there’s a ton of demand, but also many roads to failure.
Freelance writing is a great side hustle, but it isn’t simple, nor it is easy. Do better, USA Today.