In my experience, the assumption amongst people who want to make money online is that they will be able to do it without spending a great deal of money.
That was certainly my attitude — in fact, when I first decided that I wanted to leave work behind, I was loathe to spend anything. For instance, back in May 2011 I remember spending quite a while deliberating whether or not I should buy the excellent Market Samurai app (which I still use to this day).
This attitude can be pretty damaging, as I have discussed before. Generally speaking, you do need to spend money to make money. However, when it comes to establishing a successful freelance blogging business, the amount required is very little indeed.
In fact, I believe that you can establish a six-figure income from freelance writing without having to spend any more than $40.49 up front. In this post I am going to explain why, and show you how.
Money Isn’t a Necessity
The inspiration for this post actually came from an article I read recently over at Make a Living Writing – The Essential Item You Need for Freelance Success That No One Dares Name. The item in question is of course money.
I read Carol’s post with a great deal of interest and was compelled to leave a comment (something I rarely do these days):
I think you can launch a successful freelance career without spending a penny. Don’t get me wrong — it would be tough as hell and you’d have to hustle like mad, working harder than you might if you invested some money in key areas (e.g. hiring a web designer), and you might not advance as quickly as you would otherwise, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is possible. I pretty much did it myself.
You may be left temporarily puzzled by the fact that my comment runs contrary to the purpose of this post, but whilst I believe that you can launch a viable freelance business without spending a penny, I believe that spending a little will help you a great deal. And if I’m honest with you, if you can’t bring yourself to invest $40.49 in your fledgling business then you may want to reassess your priorities — I’m sure that 95% of the people reading this (if not more) can afford the cost.
Why Freelance Writing is a Low Overheads Business
Let’s consider the two very simple steps involved in getting paid to write:
- You write something
- You get paid for it
On the assumption that you already own a computer and have access to the Internet, those two steps don’t require any further financial investment. Whilst you can invest in any number of items that will help your business grow more quickly and effectively, they are not entirely necessary. By the time you need to invest money in certain things (such as an accountant), you’ll be making enough money to recoup the costs.
And you can make enough money — trust me. To prove it, let’s do a bit of quick and simple math. If we assume that you will write for six hours per day for 50 weeks of the year, you will need to earn $67 per hour. In December 2012, after twelve months of fulltime freelance writing, my equivalent hourly rate was $92. I don’t say that to boast — I say it to make absolutely clear what is possible in the freelance blogging business.
When it comes to making a start with freelance blogging, your required financial investment is merely a function of spending a very modest amount on the right things. And that’s where this post comes in.
Your First Investment: a Domain Name and Hosting ($18.50)
Freelance writers don’t need a blog, but if you want to be a successful freelance writer you should have one. If you want to know why, read this.
Whilst you can create a blog for free with the likes of WordPress.com, “http://yourfreelancesite.wordpress.com/” doesn’t project a particularly professional image. Ideally you should have an identifiable and branded standalone domain — something that you can hang your hat on and refer to with pride. “http://www.yourfreelancesite.com/” is much better than free the alternative.
So, you should invest in a domain name and a hosting account. For that purpose, I have held accounts with many of the major hosting providers (such as BlueHost and HostGator…ugh) and have just one effusive recommendation: WestHost. In my personal experience, the quality of their service and support is far better than the alternatives and their prices are comparable or even cheaper than the competition.
To start off you will need no more than their most basic package, which will cost you $6 per month for hosting (over a 12 month period) and $12.50 for the domain name. You’ll then need a copy of WordPress (which if you don’t know is a really easy-to-use content management system) which is completely free and can be installed in a couple of clicks. If you’re a complete WordPress newbie then I would recommend that you begin your education here.
Your Second Investment: The Yahoo! Style Guide ($21.99)
There is no such thing as a perfect writer — there are those that just write, and those that strive to be better. You need to be in that second category to grow your income, and as such, you need to learn as much as possible about writing for the web.
Whilst you could (and should) trawl blogs in an attempt to learn more about the art of writing for the web, the Yahoo! Style Guide is too good a resource to ignore. It is a complete guide to writing for the web, and when I say complete, I truly mean it. It is my bible — I learned more from reading it than I did from all of the “how to write for the web” blog posts I have read in the past 18 months.
Please note that I have stated the retail price above — at the time of writing the Yahoo! Style Guide is available for just $13.19 on Amazon. Grab it while it’s cheap!
Your Third Investment: Freshbooks ($0)
Whilst you could track your time with a spreadsheet and raise invoices manually, you’d be better off putting that wasted time to better use (i.e. by using it to make more money). That’s where Freshbooks comes in — a complete solution for time tracking and invoicing.
You may be wondering why this requires a financial investment given that I’ve put a big fat zero up in the header, but that is because Freshbooks offers a free 30 day trial. You get a month to figure out how awesome it is, at which point you do have to start paying $19.95 per month.
To put that in perspective, you should expect to be earning that much (or more) per hour within your first month of operation as a freelance blogger. And let me tell you — Freshbooks will save you a great deal more than an hour per month in the long run.
That’s All Folks
That’s it folks — above is the sum total of the investment that I recommend.
I am however going to mention one more thing. Regular LWB readers will know that I am not the salesman type, which is why I have deliberately neglected to mention my freelance writing guide up until this point. However, it would be odd of me not to mention it, since I consider it a complete A-Z guide to launching a successful freelance blogging business. I would of course heartily recommend that you grab yourself a copy, and with it costing just $27, you’re hardly breaking the bank.
With the above tools in your back pocket, you’ll have everything (and more) that is necessary to start a successful freelance blogging business. You’ll be able to:
- Create a blog and start writing posts to use as samples
- Submit guest posts to blogs to use as samples
- Scout potential jobs (both on job boards and elsewhere)
- Submit pitches and land your first set of clients
- Track your time and invoice your clients
I’ll sign off with a caveat, which brings me back to Carol’s argument that the essential item you need for freelance success is money. You already know that I disagree, so the question therefore is, what do I think is the essential item for freelance success?
The answer, in one word, is hustle (tweet this). You need a solid work ethic, courage, and a willingness to fail (and subsequently learn from your failures). No amount of financial investment will be enough if you do not have a strong will to succeed — always keep that in mind.
I appreciate that what I have outlined above is a blueprint — not a complete guide. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask them via the comments section below!
Photo Credit: mag3737
Tom, I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but I’m pretty diappointed to see this. Have you made a six-figure income by only spending $40 bucks and a lot of sweat? This reminds me of an old cliche – know who got rich during the gold rush, the shovel salesman.
I’ve been a big fan of yours since you started your gig on one of my fave WordPress sites, and I’ve followed you through your story of making it on your own. But, I’m sad to see it turn into selling a dream that won’t come true for the vast majority of folks who by into it.
MaAnna, I don’t think Tom would write a post about how to launch a six figure freelance blogging business without having created a six figure freelance blogging business himself.
Hey MaAnna,
With the greatest of respect I think you need to read the article more carefully. Here’s two key sentences:
“I believe that you can establish a six-figure income from freelance writing without having to spend any more than $40.49 up front. (Emphasis added)”
“By the time you need to invest money in certain things (such as an accountant), you’ll be making enough money to recoup the costs.”
I stand by those above two statements and I stand by the post in its entirety. I am not literally saying that you only need to spend $50 in total to build a six figure business but I definitely am saying that your upfront investment can be minimal (or in fact non-existent).
I wholeheartedly believe that I am “selling” a process by which people can establish successful businesses. Sure — this post doesn’t hold all the answers but it does lay down a framework that you can work to.
I hope that makes sense and lessens your disappointment, because to be honest I’m not really in love with the idea of being likened to a shovel salesman!
Cheers,
Tom
Nothing wrong with being a shovel salesman and selling the dream Tom! I live in the epicenter of where the 49ers Gold Rush occurred here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I can tell you there is A LOT of money that was created back then from shovel salesmen. They were the smart ones who sold the dream of riches, knowing that it wouldn’t last. By the time the masses pandered for gold, whether they found some or not, the shovel salesman already collected, invested, or spent their money.
Just walk around the old Victorian mansions here in Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights. You will be amazed at what their money has bought for them and for their children.
The trick for you in the lifestyle space is to sell the dream without making it seem like you are selling the dream. Definitely not an easy thing to do, but with practice, I’m sure you’ll get better at it.
Hey Sam,
I appreciate your sentiments but I’m definitely not here to sell a dream! At least not in a sense that it cannot be achieved. I’m here to sell a reality if you’re willing to work hard enough for it.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom, my perspective is definitely influenced by the fact that I’m not a freelancer. I’m a business, and most of my clients run a business too. (Freelancer=1 employee, business=more than 1.) For over a decade, most of my clients have been second site owners, meaning that they followed the no-cost or low-cost investment model until they woke up from that dream and realized that all businesses have to spend money to make money, including spending money investing in your education.
In other words, most of my clients have already wasted money being ripped off by schemes promising a no-work, no-investment success. The links to those product squeeze pages look just like the title of this post.
How many commenters here actually thought that you had already hit the six-figure mark and even defended that you certainly wouldn’t write a post promoting something you hadn’t actually done?
One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about your writing, and the MAIN reason that I’ve shared so much from this site with others is because it has been a reality check on what it really takes to be successful, warts and all. That includes the realistic income that you’ve been reporting and how many times you’ve had to try-this-try-that and tweak what you do.
I’m super happy for you because you’ve done the hard work, taken the risks, and landed some super freelance gigs. But, I’ve also noticed the tone has changed since you started promoting products to show others how to do what you’ve done.
As Financial Samurai said, nothing wrong with being the shovel salesman. Lots of folks are doing it all the time.But, too many of my clients have gotten ripped off by it too.
Maybe it’s different for freelancing. Maybe it takes very little investment. But, headlines that are this intentionally misleading give me pause. The fact that you haven’t done what you’re promoting gives me pause.
You’re still one of my fave WordPress writers and I’ll continue to follow you all over the Internet for that. But for this site, we’ll see.
Hello MaAnna,
I’m disappointed to read what you have to say and I find your implications pretty unsavoury. But it is of course your prerogative to have an opinion and I respect that.
The fact that you are not a freelancer and don’t know what it takes to succeed in the writing business makes me feel it’s more than a little unfair that you pass judgment on this post. The fact is that you are wrong — you can launch a successful freelance blogging business with very little (or even no) investment so that you can start earning money before you have to spend it. I feel that I made that perfectly clear in the post and I also feel that my headline is not misleading (it says “How to Launch” — “launch” being the key word). I stand by every word in this post with absolute confidence.
I’m not promising no-work, no-investment success. The content on my site couldn’t lean any less towards that path. I constantly remind people that they have to work hard for success. From this very post (the one you imply is in some way a scheme to rope people into a pipe dream):
“I’ll sign off with a caveat, which brings me back to Carol’s argument that the essential item you need for freelance success is money. You already know that I disagree, so the question therefore is, what do I think is the essential item for freelance success?
The answer, in one word, is hustle. You need a solid work ethic, courage, and a willingness to fail (and subsequently learn from your failures). No amount of financial investment will be enough if you do not have a strong will to succeed — always keep that in mind.”
I feel like your past experience of clients being ripped off is coloring your opinion of this post and my site. This post is intended to be inspiring for those who are worried that they need to spend a great deal of money to launch a successful freelancing business, and I think I have done a pretty good job of it without feeling in any way that I am misleading or selling a dream.
I suppose there are always going to be people who accuse you of “selling out” when you start promoting products and I just have to learn to deal with that and not take it to heart. To my mind nothing has changed in my approach.
Cheers,
Tom
I’ll be in the front row cheering when you hit that six-figure mark. Will be happy to see you, and everyone else here, prove me wrong.
No where in this post did I see this as a NO WORK scheme. In fact, Tom states that you need a solid work ethic, and will need to hustle it.
“The answer, in one word, is hustle (tweet this). You need a solid work ethic, courage, and a willingness to fail (and subsequently learn from your failures). No amount of financial investment will be enough if you do not have a strong will to succeed — always keep that in mind.”
As someone who wants to turn a love for writing into a secondary career, I appreciate the blueprint Tom is providing.
Thanks for your support Tracy
Is about “how to launch” not “how to make”. Women….women….
Too bad when I try to download your “free” ebook I get a message “digital download not supported.” Really? I thought you were an innovative, cutting-edge internet personality. I’ve been a fan, and find it hard to believe you have thrown up a roadblock like this. A marketing ploy? Is that what it is?
Too bad you can’t execute a simple download of a free ebook and try to blame it on the ebook’s creator.
What free eBook are you referring to Dave? I can certainly assure there are no marketing ploys or deliberate roadblocks.
Nice job building a 6 figure business Tom! How long did it take you to cross the $100,000 figure mark, and were you surprised?
Also, just for clarity, are you talking about $100,000+ in revenue, or $100,000+ in operating profit?
Cheers
Hey Sam,
I have not built up a six figure business (yet) — I hope my post didn’t imply that too strongly as it certainly wasn’t my intent.
If you check my last income report you’ll see that I made nearly $5,000 (gross) from the freelance writing portion of my business, which is of course only $60k gross per year. However, I only did around three hours freelancing work per weekday and my equivalent hourly rate was $89. I’ve actually now put a cap on my freelancing hours (as I don’t want to work any more than around 3-4 hours per day) but I could expand it into a six figure (gross) business just by working say 5 hours per day. That was the logic behind the headline, which is why I went to the trouble of providing a hypothetical breakdown of how you could achieve “six figure status” in the post itself.
Hope that makes sense! If you want a complete breakdown of my income (for instance I made nearly $7k total (net) last month from all income streams) then check out my income reports
Cheers!
Tom
Gotcha Tom. I took your post title literally, instead of figuratively. $60,000 is still not bad. I figured you had generated another $40,000+ elsewhere to get to $100,000 or something like that.
Is there a reason you aren’t willing to work more hours to generate $100,000 in revenue a year? I would encourage you to work harder while you are young and still have the enthusiasm and energy and then kick back. Although don’t let me convince you otherwise.
Sam
Hey Sam,
Don’t let me make you think I’m not working hard
I work 3-4 hours per day on freelancing and the rest of the day on my passive income pursuits. I am working plenty of hours, trust me!
Cheers,
Tom
Good to hear. Passive income takes a tremendous amount of effort in the very beginning. But once the effort is put in, it is a rather glorious ride.
Good luck, and learn from the feedback in the post. Selling without selling is a skill that times a lot of time and punches to learn.
Amazing. So proud of you and honoured to have followed your journey! Bravo!!! BTW, I never read the Yahool guide so I can’t comment on it’s usefulness; I also didn’t use Freshbooks, though I understand it’s a great resource (and I believe Canadian!). I did, however, have business cards made – an important investment IMO if you plan to pedal your freelance writing services offline. I also joined a local networking group (BNI) which was helpful to start. Just my 2 cents…
Hey Ruth!
Thanks
You’re awesome.
Business cards is a good suggestion for many but not so much for my “style” of freelance writing — I had some business cards made a few months back and have handed out a grand total of zero to prospective clients so far! I’d imagine that definitely comes with the territory of focusing on blogs rather than the corporate sector and beyond. And I bet a local networking group would be an awesome thing to get involved in — especially if you’re in a built-up area.
Cheers,
Tom
Interesting post, Tom. I’m fascinated with how people like to mentally cancel out costs of operating a freelance business.
If you owned a computer and Internet access…you still paid for them. And now they are an expense of your business, along with your printer, paper, ink, and so on. And when that computer breaks, needs more memory, needs secure backup for your important work files…it all costs money.
Hey Carol,
I think it is totally acceptable to “cancel out” (as you put it) the cost of certain things. For instance, I didn’t start considering my lunch a cost of business just because I ate lunch before I launched the business and I still each lunch now. If I folded my business tomorrow I would still have this laptop in the same way that I would still each lunch. Therefore I do not consider it a business expense in literal terms.
If however I went out tomorrow and bought a shiny new high-end laptop, justifying the reasons for doing so because it will allow me to get my work done more quickly, I would definitely consider it a business expense. But I would only ever do that if the business had the income to support the expense (and if I could justify the expense).
As for printer, paper and ink — if you are using them specifically for your business (as an ongoing expense) then that should be added to the cost of business. But then I could’ve quite happily gone through the last 15 months having never printed anything out for the business so that’s not an issue for me.
I can’t think of one single thing that I needed to launch my freelancing business (i.e. get it to a position where it can support the cost of necessary future investment) that I didn’t already have for my own personal use.
I have a feeling we may have to agree to disagree on this…
Cheers,
Tom
Good post Tom,
Not that I’m defending you but in response to MaAnna I think this article is about how to LAUNCH the business not how to HAVE the business.
All big things start small.
Except for the heads of the people who disagree with me, they are always waaay too big.
Hey Darnell,
I’m glad someone caught onto that! I see you read the post in full
And you’ve hit the nail on the head — in this post I’m talking about getting the business into a position where it can fund future necessary investment — not a six figure business with zero overheads.
Thanks buddy,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Great post. I’m always especially impressed by how personable your emails are. I have just downloaded your guest blogging book. I love that you give initial free downloads to those on your mailing list. Thanks again for the tips!
Kind regards,
Candice
No problem Candice — it’s my pleasure!
Ah yes, everyone forgets the Internet costs money…even if you have to get bus fare to the library.
Also, you may want to doublecheck your math. Westhost definitely has a great deal, but you still have to pay in advance several months: so that’s a minimum of $36 (for 3 months of hosting) and that doesn’t include the domain purchase. Thanks for the recommendation!
Oh lord I stink at math – that’s $24 not $36. I will definitely take advantage of this.
Hey Willi,
You are right in literal terms — I actually considered at length how to list the pricing and decided to go with one month’s cost on the basis that you could make back the investment within a month of freelancing, but perhaps I should’ve gone the way you said. Either way it’s still a very small amount of money!
Cheers,
Tom
I have never seen a lower price! Definitely using them in a few weeks.
Nice post Tom!
I am really amused that people take things so literally. It, in my opinion is supposed to be an inspirational post about how you can get up and running for as little as possible.
I think it is definitely possible to have a six figure blogging business, there are many already doing it and showing it in their income reports!
You are well on your way! The other major expenses are, time, blood, sweat and tears
Keep at it!
Tim
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the support — I really appreciate it! And I’m glad you get the message of the post, which is of course supposed to be inspirational as well as actionable.
Cheers,
Tom
Wow. Odd responses here from people! I can vouch for the fact that you can definitely start a freelancing business for next to nothing. My income is around the 1200/month mark after just 6 weeks of half assed effort (that’ll be $14000 or so for the year with no extra customers). Not 6 figures but with concerted effort I’d definitely be able to get there. I’ve not spent a cent on top of what I was already spending. Already used the Internet and my computer. I have a blog but it hasn’t even been necessary to reference it to get writing jobs. Haven’t needed to print a thing, nor will I in future. I shouted myself your freelancing guide which gave me the confidence to put myself out there. I don’t think the tone of this site has changed at all. Maybe you just realize how much is achievable now! Keep up the great work. I eagerly await every post!!
Hey Tracey,
Congrats on your progress so far! I’ve no doubt that you’ll continue to grow your business. And thank you for your support
Cheers,
Tom
I would drop down to $2 if theyused a voucher for a GoDaddy domain name lol
That’s assuming someone has a job to pay for rent, food, internet, etc.
I think anyone could be pedantic and go to either extreme, but if you’re just telling someone how they can build a side-business I don’t see what the argument is about.
Hey Jamie,
Yep — pedantry can really get the best of us here! My overriding point is that you don’t need a lot of money (if any) to launch your freelance writing business on the side — people should not be put off by feeling that they will need to invest a great financially.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Fascinating, quite a dichotomy of opinion! I’m jumping in with my bit as a fan, both of you and Carol. Not being a starry-eyed internet ingénue anymore, I can only say that if people are silly enough to fall for the myriads of snake oil salesmen out there, then they deserve the walloping their wallets are going to get! I’m no Einstein but being really, really broke kept me out of a whole lot of trouble and forced me to do “due diligence” everywhere I turned.
Something impressive to me, is both you and Carol emphasize that nothing close to success can be achieved without solid, hard work and plenty of it. The money you need to start often depends on how hungry you are to succeed. My husband and I have bootstrapped three fairly high-ranking websites, learning as we go. And by following both you and Carol, I have launched a freelance career (for less than $20). Not bragging at all. It’s been hard slog and hopefully, it’s going to get worse
But here’s the deal, I’d never have had the guts to even begin without the reams of pointers and advice found at LWB (the comments too, have a wealth of information). Please, please don’t stop with the transparency, the info and the freebies. Especially not the freebies, at least not until I can afford your book.
Keep up the great work,
Cari
Hey Cari,
I’d like to think that Carol and I can disagree on points like this and still be friends
I think the reality is that Carol is coming at it from a different perspective — that of a more “traditional” freelance writer, where as I am coming from the perspective of a freelance blogger.
I’ve never had to pay to promote my services, do offline marketing or anything of that nature, so my freelancing overheads have been so small as to be almost non-existent (you only need take a look at my income reports to see that). So in a way I think Carol and I are both right when one appreciates that we’re approaching the issue from different perspectives.
It’s so great to read that LWB has helped you and I hope that it continues to for the foreseeable future. The freebies will keep coming
Cheers,
Tom
I agree…now it’s like the Lincoln-Douglas debates! I’m Lincoln, of course.
Tom does make a point that if you’re only shooting for blogging work that can make it a bit easier. But Tom, I still think you have to say you’ve had some luck with inbound marketing that many others might not enjoy.
They might have to get out and meet people in person, proactively do some direct-mail marketing…or other things that cost more money in order to find those first clients.
Hey Tom!
You know I’ve been following you since you started and, while I don’t always comment, I always share your gems with my audience.
I just thought I’d jump in on this one because I can relate. I started out online before you. Although we’re not quite in the same industry, (I provide general transcription services) I am a freelancer like you. I started following you when I saw what we had in common even though my story is a bit different than yours.
I started my business upon being laid off and pregnant. I had no money to invest in creating an online freelance business. Just will, determination and a drive to be my own boss and raise my son.
I wanted to say that it is definitely possible to “launch” your business for the price you stated in your title. I believe my startup cost was about $40 including domain name, hosting and an ebook I purchased about how to start a transcription business. So, I totally get what you were going for here and I agree with you.
I’ve since started a new site where I encourage women to go for the same if they’re willing to put in the time and the effort, which I think everyone should note that you mentioned in this post. That’s certainly the sticking point. No one should assume that they are going to purchase anything for any amount of money, create a website and have customers flock to them.
You need to be willing to put in the effort, do the work, learn as much as you possibly can about your field and the best ways to market to your target audience. That’s where all of the hard work comes in but it sure can be worth it to see what you can achieve.
Thanks for always being an inspiration and I’ll certainly continue to stick around:)
Thank you Alicia, I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts
Tom
Great post very useful; I knew what you mean’t and at no point felt you were hoodwinking anyone. If read in context it’s clear your offering a road map not a destination.
Much respect, big fan!
Rob
Thank you Rob!
Thanks for this post! It is rare to read posts that give you a step-by-step of how to start from the absolute beginning. I’m bookmarking this right now!
No problem Paul
Wow! They say power corrupt “absolutely.” Your title is very misleading if read at first glance. You give the impression that you can really start an online business for $40.49 which is untrue. Because in reality a person would be dishing out over $300 for the products and services that you recommend.
This blog post does your audience a disservice with this type of hype piece; you are just detracting from your creditability.
There were two things I took away from your blog post that were true and that was about the Yahoo style guide and what you said about having your own domain name to hang your hat on. So, in the near future post insightful, truthful blog posts that your audience can hang their hat on and not hype pieces to get traffic to your blog.
lottoal, where exactly is Tom recommending products that cost $300? Perhaps you need to read the post again. In the near future, post insightful, truthful comments and not hype pieces designed to draw attention to yourself.
I did read the blog post several times and I stand by my comments Tracey. I’m just pointing out what is really being presented here and nothing else. I think that Tom has a great blog and it would be a shame to ruin it by writing such hype pieces.
When it’s so easy to research a topic and give your audience something that they can afford and accomplish. If I had written this piece, it would have been just as the title meant and anyone could have done what the blog post said that they could do for the exact price without the extra cost.
After the free 30 day trial Freshbooks offer, it will cost you $219.45 for the next 11 months. A Domain Name and Hosting for $18.50, this is for the first month but after that it will cost you $66 for the rest of the year for hosting, plus The Yahoo! Style Guide at $21.99 comes to a grand total of $307.44. I’m not hyping anything just giving the true facts of what Tom is telling his audience. Anyone can see that this is more than the $40.49 that the blog post title alludes to, plus Tom has not, as of yet, built a Six Figure Blogging Business.
Hello lottoal,
The headline of the post is “launch”, not “sustain over a prolonged period of time.” Let me give you the definition of that word:
“Launch: to start or set in motion (an activity or enterprise)”
In the post I make two clear statements clarifying the issue of ongoing costs:
“I believe that you can establish a six-figure income from freelance writing without having to spend any more than $40.49 up front.”
(Just in case you’re not spotting the key words I’m going to repeat them: up front.)
“By the time you need to invest money in certain things (such as an accountant), you’ll be making enough money to recoup the costs.”
It’s great that you spent time doing some math but it’s completely irrelevant. The total in the headline is the cost for your first month of being in business — the cost of launching your business (there’s that word again). Within this month you should be able to land a client or two and as such have income coming in that will cover the absolutely minimal ongoing costs.
You said the post’s title is misleading. On the contrary, I would argue that it is precisely reflective of what is laid out in the post itself. Not only that but I stand by this post as potentially game-changing for anyone who feels like they have to invest a notable sum of money to launch a freelancing business. I have proven through my past actions that you do not, and this post is a blueprint for those who would like to do the same.
Cheers,
Tom
This thread reminds me of the one student in every writing class who would announce their learning goal as “To make the reader read what I’ve written!”
And my reply, “Even if you issued a gun with the manual, you can’t force anybody to read anything.”
Like the man (that would be you, Tom) wrote, this post is about the initial investment to launch your business.
And you can’t make anybody read “launch” when they are determined to read something else.
Now, where is that gun (or water pistol)? Snort.
Come to think of it, if you borrow the Yahoo Style Guide (YSG) from the library, you may be able to further reduce your initial launch costs.
I borrowed the YSG from my library and kept it 9 weeks before deciding I wanted my own copy.
Of course, a feasible library strategy depends on the policies of your particular library. Mine allows as many renewals as I want provided the book is not on hold for someone else. And my maximum library fine for an overdue book is $2.
(I love my library!)
That’s an awesome tip if you’re strapped for cash Rose — thanks!
Rather than entering too fully into this lively debate I’d simply like to point out that writing a good, attention-grabbing title for a blog post – particularly one that provokes much discussion among all those that read it – is a sign of a good writer
)
Hi Tom, Regardless of the comments I have seen here I still love your post. I am just starting as a freelancer and I do not think your information is misleading. I already have a computer and internet and I plan to “launch” using your strategies. Thanks
Thank you Catherine
Best of luck!