How to Start a Freelancing Side Hustle

If you're at university, money is probably tight, and you're likely looking for some kind of side hustle that can earn you a few extra dollars. If you're skilled at writing and editing, you may want to consider building up a freelance writing or editing job to help pay your way through school. Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.

Boost Your Skills

Your first step toward a successful freelancing side hustle is to boost your writing, proofreading, and editing skills. Since you're likely writing papers for your lectures, start with those, and work on making them as clear, concise, and flawless as possible. However, you'll be doing a completely different kind of writing for freelance jobs, typically less formal and more geared toward general interest and marketing. Practice these skills by creating a blog for yourself or offering to write or edit promotional pieces for local newspapers, including your student paper. You can also sign up for free courses at The Red Lounge for Writers.

Build a Portfolio

Pull your best writing together into a portfolio that showcases your work. Choose a variety of pieces, some academic papers, some blog posts, some marketing writing, and some general interest spots. If you don't have much yet in the way of marketing writing, create some sample pieces for your portfolio. Read press releases, SEO blog posts, product descriptions, and service pages online, and write a few of your own. Do not copy — you need unique content that is all yours. Proofread carefully, too. Your portfolio must be pristine.

Find Work

Finding freelance writing or editing jobs can be daunting, especially for a beginner. You might check out various online job platforms and freelance writing job sites in Australia or beyond. If you offer book editing services, for instance, you may have to bid on jobs, so determine what you're willing to charge and accept ahead of time. You could also apply to one or two content companies or editing companies (for papers or for editing books). You'll have to fill out an application, sometimes take a grammar test, and submit a writing or editing sample. Read the instructions for the sample closely, and follow them perfectly.

Meet Standards

When you get a job, make sure that you know exactly what is expected of you. Examine the client's instructions carefully, and ask questions if there is anything you don't understand. If you're working for a content company, you'll likely have to write at least one training article that will be critiqued by an editor.

Again, follow the instructions to the letter, and examine feedback from the editor carefully so you understand the company's standards. You'll have to commit to these standards and sometimes put aside your preferences to write what is expected of you. Don't take criticism personally. Make revisions as requested, and keep working to improve your writing or editing.

Set Limits

Finally, you will need to set some limits on your freelancing. You are, after all, still a student. Earning money is wonderful, and your freelancing could give you the extra funds you need. But don't go overboard. Focus on your studies.

Above all, as you begin your freelancing, write or edit well, and get advice from the Red Lounge for Writers.

Guest post from Lance Cody-Valdez @ Free-lance-now.com

Tips for Being a Writer in the Gig Economy

 Are you looking to make the most of your time and money and finally take control of your career? Then perhaps right now is the perfect time to take the plunge into the gig economy.

 “Gigging” is a term traditionally thrown around by musicians and other entertainers, where you are booked and paid for a single performance or job. This model of business can be applied to many other kinds of short-term work, from delivering food to designing websites. Each of these jobs allows you to become a master of your own time and practice. You pick when, where, and who to work for and get paid for your services.

 While working in the gig economy has plenty of benefits, it can be difficult to settle into if you come from a more traditional work environment. The Red Lounge for Writers shares four tips to get you started.

Diving In

Getting your feet wet with your first few gigs is easier than ever these days. As you likely are well aware, remote work blossomed when the pandemic broke out, and all the tools and platforms for workers to thrive were already in place. It’s simply a matter of connecting the dots.

 For instance, you can look to specialized job boards, like Bookkeeping Side Hustle or TutorMe to connect with people or companies who need your services, or you can go to sites that cover a broad range of fields, like Fiverr or FlexJobs. Another option is to market your services yourself through social media, personal outreach, your own website, and so forth.

 Save, Save, Save

 When starting out, you might only have enough capital to cover the expenses for your new business. When you start earning from your gig-based job, you should set aside a sizable portion to go back into your business.

 Online magazine Home Business points out that saving is especially important early on, and any revenue you make should be redirected back into better equipment or marketing strategies to increase your exposure. By investing in your own small business, you significantly increase your chances of succeeding.

Stay Organized

As your business steadily grows, you’ll notice that the names and numbers quickly begin to pile up. The more organized you are moving forward, the easier it will be to keep track of your clientele, as well as your income and expenses. Having this information easily accessible is key for you to remain aware of where your business is coming from and how to improve your business so that you make the most amount of dollars for the least amount of cost.

An easy place to start is simply by keeping a planner and notebook, but there is organizational software at your disposal that can help you keep track of profits, orders, tax information, and other statistical data to help run your business. For example, payroll software can make it easier to process payroll by calculating employee wages and tax withholdings. Effective software will also let you track employee time and pay them using direct deposit.

Create a Functional Workspace at Home

 Many small businesses begin in the home, which can be great for convenience and also provide a nice deduction on your taxes. However, just because you’ve decided to set up shop at home doesn’t mean you’ll find success working from your kitchen table. In short, as Mashable notes, you still need to create a functional and inspiring workspace to maximize your efficiency when working from home.

 The best way to manage your own workspace is by dedicating a specific room or area of your home to your small business. You can buy office furniture fairly cheaply, or you can hire a carpenter or handyman to build out a custom-made desk, shelves, and organizer for your cords.

 Nothing is more liberating than being your own boss. If you work hard, stay positive, and stick to your business plan, overtime you’ll begin to see your own business start working for you.

Guest post by Lucy at www.gigmine.co

Why you're afraid to finish your book (and how to get past the four biggest fears of any writer)

Are you a writer who’s too afraid to keep going? Don’t leave your work on the scrap heap.

If you talk to any writer, at some point, you’ll discover fear.

It doesn’t matter if they’re a newbie, learning and starting out or they’ve published 20 books. Fear is always there, just below the surface. And it can stop anyone in their tracks. There are plenty of never-started or half-finished books hiding in drawers or on hard drives out there in the world.

There are also plenty of insecure writers finding all sorts of reasons as to why they aren’t writing.

“I don’t have time.”

“Life gets in the way.”

“I can’t decide what I’m going to write.”

I wonder: if you dug a little deeper into why a writer isn’t writing, would the real reason be fear?

What are writers afraid of? I’ve heard these comments before.

“No one will want to read what I’ve written.”

The world is a big place. There are a whole lot of people out there. Many of them can read (that’s what school is for) and many of them are looking for something exactly like what you’ve written.

If your story is unique, people will enjoy the fact that it’s different from other people’s stories. If it’s similar, there are people who love to read the same-but-slightly-different version of a story over and over.

There is more than likely an audience out there for you, whether it’s broad or niche, big or tiny.

“People will attack, belittle or criticise me for what I’ve written.”

First, there’s a difference between taking useful critique and feedback, and being attacked. All writers need to toughen up and put a bit of distance between ourselves as people and our stories, even though they feel like one and the same thing. (Spoiler: they aren’t.)

However, it is true that we live in a ‘cancel’ culture where sometimes the mob can pile on if they don’t like your opinion. Let’s be real: there are social media platforms that can be scary places. It’s easy to be rude on social media. If you’re truly scared of it, you’ll need to consider whether what you’re putting out is likely to be jumped on and decide if you’ll take the risk or not. Perhaps you could write something different at first. Perhaps you could stay off the platforms you’re nervous about.

“No one will ever publish this.”

You don’t know that. Honestly, you don’t. The world is full of amazing books that were rejected over and over but ended up being the first in their genre. Yours might be one of them. And these days, self-publishing is a great option too.

“My writing game isn’t strong; my skills are rubbish; I don’t know what I’m doing.”

A tiny percentage of people are born with the ability to throw words on a page, re-arrange them slightly and present the world with a masterpiece. Most writers have to learn their craft, however, just like cooks have to learn knife skills, plumbers have to learn to lay pipe and economists have to get higher degrees.

Like anything else in life, if you don’t have skills to do something you want to do, you go get the skills. Read a book, do a course, join a critique group. There’s a world out there dedicated to upskilling writers. You can find your information for free, or you can pay for it, but it’s out there. Don’t hide behind your current lack of skill – you can learn and grow.

And don’t think that those naturally talented, brilliant writers don’t get frightened like you; they’re bigger scaredy-cats than the rest of us.

I know two writers who are exceptional. They don’t just sketch a scene; they daub it so that the light is dappled, the shadows subtle. They can gather and group words in ways that make me melt with satisfaction.

I’ve said to both these writers, ‘This is so good it’s crazy.’ But neither writer is published. In fact, in the years I have known them, neither writer has finished their manuscript to their satisfaction. I can only put it down to fear of some kind. Maybe we just need to say this to ourselves: I’m good enough. My writing is good enough. It’s good enough. And then, whether we believe it or not, pretend and act as if we believe it, and keep writing.

I’ve read their work, and I get excited by it. But it makes me sad that it isn’t out there for the world to enjoy and learn from.

Don’t let fear stop you.
Breathe through it.
Get what you need.
Keep going.

---

If you’re terrified about writing your memoir, we can help you with both the writing skills and the planning and structure. Check out our comprehensive Write Your Memoir course.

---

Give us some Pinterest love.