I came across a question on Quora.
A freelancer wanted to know the best site in her niche for finding high paying jobs.
I responded: “Your self-hosted WordPress blog.”
Anybody can join a freelancing website. Anybody can put up a profile. This does not take expertise. Hiring individuals or companies know this and pay appropriate rates.
But it does take big time expertise to publish a well-stocked, fully branded, self-hosted WordPress blog. Buying a premium or bespoke theme, writing insightful content showing off your freelancing skills and showing off a branded, impressive blog can skyrocket your rates because hiring parties perceive you differently, as an expert.
Authority freelancers own their websites. Top paying jobs go to freelancers with branded sites showcasing their skills freely.
The Concept to Embrace
The more generously you work for free the more money you make over the long haul as a freelancer or in any niche.
Most freelancers try to get paid for everything they do. This is a scarcity-based, fear-driven approach often leading to failure and always leading to sustained struggles. Join a run of the mill freelancing site. Look for work. Work for peanuts. Slowly work your way up over years to be paid decent but lackluster rates. No abundance, no generosity.
This is why a freelance site never really pays you. Your skills pay you. Top freelancers develop their skills for free – writing generously offline and on their blog – and over time, become skilled enough and brand themselves effectively enough that they impress folks enough to command and accept top rates.
If you act abundantly, thinking and acting like a pro before a dime rolls in to your freelancing business, the lag time lessens and you eventually earn a sweet penny through freelancing.
Why Most Freelancers Avoid Blogging
Laziness, apathy, or believing that running a self-hosted blog will be a waste of time cripples most freelancers. They subscribe to limiting beliefs, buy in to these lies, then wonder why the freelancer generously working on their skills and branding themselves effectively lands high paying jobs while they struggle to make money.
The other freelancer positioned themselves as an expert through persistent practice and smart branding so they receive expert rates. They put in the practice time and invested money in their brand to make a hefty salary through freelancing.
Most freelancers rarely practice writing for free and never buy their domain and hosting. Of course they get paid amateur hour rates. If you are not a skilled writer – because you refuse to practice writing – and cheap out on branding yourself effectively you impress few folks and get paid low or mediocre rates.
The Ultimate Challenge
Understand that websites, clients and nothing outside of you determines your income. You do.
Your commitment to practicing your writing skills daily and investing money, time and effort in building a respected, authority WordPress blog makes the ultimate difference in terms of your freelance writing cash flow.
Committed freelancers prosper.
Everybody else makes a mediocre or outright pittance of a coin through freelancing.
Video
I see a common freelance writing mistake that cripples many freelancers.
Back in the day I worked for peanuts; $5 articles, or I’d write 1500 word articles for $15. Ridiculous. Of course doing these things aligned me with bottom feeders who tried to pay me as little as possible to get max value out of me for a minimum investment.
I eventually charged handsome rates and moved out of cheapie freelancing circles.
Watch this video from my NJ days – in New Zealand now – as I discuss this dreaded freelance writing mistake.