Freelance writing is one of the best side hustles, and I’m going to tell you why. As a freelance writer, there’s always a gig that suits your current lifestyle. For example, let’s say you’re working a full-time job and want to take on work as a freelance writer. You could work out a contract with the client to complete only one article per day in order to fit it with your schedule. This means it may be one of the best side hustles for high school students.
However, you may be wondering if being in high school as a freelance writer is possible. Is there an age restriction when it comes to being a freelance writer?
There is no age limit to being a freelance writer. As long as you have the skills and knowledge to write well-researched articles, anyone can become a freelance writer. In fact, being in high school may be the best time to start writing as a freelance writer. This is the time in your life when you are constantly researching things for school papers, and those skills can easily transfer over to freelance writing.
Below we will go over things you should take into consideration when becoming a freelance writer as a young person.
Start With Your Own Project
The first thing you should do as a young writer looking to eventually get into freelance writing is to start your own project. Putting together your own niche site and learning how to get traffic is essential when you go out and try to get clients.
It’s one thing to show them examples of your writing, but it’s another to show them your website that gets 10,000 visits per month in traffic. You don’t have to wait for all the way to the point of getting 10,000 visits, it could be 4-5,000. This shows the client you know how to research, write, and market your content.
The main reason clients are looking for you to write in the first place is that they want you to get traffic to their website. So there’s no better way to do that than by showing them your site that you wrote for and are now getting traffic to.
You already have a barrier to entry that you’re so young. Clients may not look at you as seriously so you need to show them why they should work with you.
Start With Lower Prices To Build Your Portfolio
I don’t recommend starting off with the lowest prices for your freelance writing rates, but it’s definitely smart to start off a little lower when first starting out to build up your portfolio.
$15 per 1000 words is a good place to start as it’s not too low, but also reasonable for clients who are just starting out in their business or have a smaller budget.
After you get a few clients under your belt, you can start to raise your rates as you gain more experience and add even more value for the client.
If the website you started is really successful, you may be able to start out at a way higher rate as clients will see the value in having you write for them, but if not, starting off lower is a good way to build up your portfolio and gain experience.
When you’re young, luckily for you, you don’t have many expenses, and in most cases you have a lot of extra time. This is why writing for lower rates at first can be a great way to start off as a freelance writer.
Be Willing To Constantly Learn
The world of blogging and writing online is constantly changing and evolving. In order to stay successful as a freelance writer, you need to be willing to constantly learn new things.
Google updates come around every so often and throw off the game for a lot of writers and websites. Staying on top of these updates, learning about SEO, and knowing how to adapt to changes in the industry is essential for continuing success as a freelance writer.
One thing you should definitely learn off the bat is the Google Search Guidelines, which in most cases don’t change too drastically. When people get hit hard on Google updates, it’s usually from staying away from things Google recommends within their guidelines.
You’ll be surprised how many writers/bloggers don’t read the Google Search guidelines (or search essentials).
What Are The Benefits Of Starting As a Young Freelance Writer?
By The Time You’re In Your Twenties You Could Be a Full-Time Freelance Writer
If you work hard enough, by the time you get through college and are in your twenties, you could have a good enough business where you work full-time solely on your freelance writing business.
If you don’t know already, freelance writing is a highly scalable business. Once your rates are high enough you could outsource the work to newer writers and make a difference.
This will allow you to scale your clients and in return,w you could scale your business and make more and more money every year.
The thing you need to improve with this process is your knowledge of bookkeeping, managing money, and staying organized.
More Time And Flexibility In Your Schedule
We stated above that as a younger person, you typically don’t have as much to do on a daily basis as someone who’s an adult.
You should definitely take advantage of this factor and use the extra time to work on your freelance writing business and even learn other skills.
Although you have more time, don’t forget about your regular responsibilities, like school or a part-time job.
Expand Into Other Streams Of Income Earlier
Once you learn to make money as a freelance writer, and even get to the point where you’re scaling. You could start to explore other streams of income.
This is something you may not have the time to do as an adult, as one side hustle is often just enough to handle.
But as a younger person, you have the opportunity to try out different things and see what sticks.
What Is The Hardest Part About Becoming a Freelance Writer?
The hardest part about getting started with freelance writing is getting your very first clients. When you have no work under your belt, people are likely to look else where. That’s why the very first tip was to start your own blog so you had proof of success.
The key is to not give up. The most successful people in life keep on going until they get what they want. A few days without getting a client is nothing in the long term picture of your freelancing businesses, and is only a part of the learning process.
In Summary
We hope this answered your question of whether or not it’s a good idea to start a freelance writing business as a young person.
If you have any questions about getting started please leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to help out. I haven’t been a freelancer since I was a teenager, but I have a little over a year of experience now and if I could’ve started at a younger age I definitely would’ve!
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