2021 Freelance Income Report: Q3

Daycare is glorious. For the most part. It’s been heartbreaking saying my goodbyes to Emelia and seeing her cry because she’s SO SAD I’m leaving her and I feel like the worst parent in the world. Especially since she didn’t ever really get out much, thanks to COVID.

But here we are, and Olivia’s in kindergarten which is another post I need to catch up on. So the kids are out of the house 4-5 days a week and now I have four work days. It’s been paying off, me having more time to work. I had my second highest month in September at over $7,000. So holla!

There’s been a few weekends and evenings I’ve had to work, but for the most part, I’m able to get my work done during those work hours.

Wins

I am currently working with a client that’s an international news organization and I’m STOKED to be working with them. It’s good money, but they’re based in London, and dealing with the contract/payment is slightly obnoxious and 6 weeks later we’re still hashing things out.

I’ve slacked in tracking my time mainly over the non-billable tasks such as invoicing, emails, sending LOIs, setting up interviews, etc. But I’ve been tracking for the articles I write and it’s pushed me to write faster to increase my hourly rate. It’s been interesting looking at what the rates turn out to be for each article and how much they can vary.

For instance, I was paid $450 to write a B2B (business-to-business) article for a software company and my hourly rate turned out to be $105 an hour. Which it’s terrible being that I try to aim for at least $100 an hour. I was paid $525 for a consumer health article for a retainer client and my hourly rate with that one was $700 since it took me less than an hour to write.

I was paid $200 for a travel nurse article but my hourly rate there turned out to be $267/hour. So it’s all over the place.

I also was approached to write a B2B article for a YOUGE healthcare software company and you guys. Amazing. And I got paid $1,000 for it. We’re currently in the editing process for it.

HERE’S WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED THIS QUARTER

• Currently taking a 52-week group coaching class designed for health writers
• Wrote 41 articles for 12 clients
• Did medical review/editing for two different clients
• 6 discovery calls with potential new clients
• Brought on one new client, 2 other clients we’re working out future work
• Gained professional membership to Association of Healthcare Journalists (AHCJ) and American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA)
• Was offered an assignment for $400 after a publication found my profile on AHCJ and have another $800 worth of work lined up

Q3 FREELANCE INCOME BREAKDOWN

July:

• Wrote 13 articles
• Worked with 7 different clients/publications
• Provided editing/medical review services for 1 client
• $4,880 in income

August:

• Wrote 13 articles
• Worked with 5 different clients/publications
• $4,450 in income

September:

• Wrote 15 articles
• Worked with 9 different clients/publications
• $7,234 in income

Q3 total: $16,564

Total so far in 2021: $43,952.25

I’ve been really wanting to hit my goal of $60,000 this year, which is what I made when I left nursing. To do that, I need to make just over $16,000 more. That means I need to make about $5,300 a month.

Here’s to finishing strong for the last quarter.