When many think of being self-employed, they think of starving artists, low wages, no benefits, long hours, etc. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. The following are 6 steps to secure at least $50,000/year in your first year as a freelance copywriter.

1. Do the numbers: Believing that you can do it is the first part of the equation. Once you break down the numbers, I bet you’ll say, “That’s it? I can do that!”

So $50,000/year divided by 52 weeks equals approximately $962/week. Easily achievable once you establish your current rate, which we’ll discuss a bit later.

$962 per week divided by 5 days (building on weekends off) equals approximately $192 per day. Any determined person can do this. And, if you accumulate education, experience and the Internet, you should tell yourself: “This will be a piece of cake.”

It won’t, but you should at least be giddy in the realization that this is a more than achievable goal.

2. Sufficient charge: Don’t go into freelancing with the attitude of I HAVE to take low-paying jobs. You do not! My mother used to say, “How you start is how you’ll end.” I wasn’t talking about jobs, but I take this advice to heart in almost everything I start.

a personal story: When I realized I was running this year’s marathon (Thanksgiving, Atlanta, GA), one of the first things I did was print out a training schedule.

My point: I took my goal seriously enough from the start and figured out what I needed to do to get ready. In the case of figuring out how much to charge, this means calculating how much you have to earn each day, week, month to achieve your goal. With your goal clearly outlined, you’ll be much less likely to stray.

So, let’s do some hard numbers. Figure out a 9 hour workday – at first, you’ll most likely put in more than this (I never said it was going to be easy). That’s $21.33/hour you need to earn.

When you consider that, at the low end, professional copywriters make $50 an hour, you can see how feasible it is to earn $50,000 a year. FYI he may only spend 4 hours on a project but 5 hours doing marketing work to bring that project but it all balances out.

3. Target a niche: The reason I believe in targeting a niche is that it’s much easier to promote your services, especially if you have some sort of experience within that niche.

For example, I target real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and insurance agents. In my professional career, I have been a real estate agent and mortgage broker. These two industries make you very familiar with the insurance industry.

Don’t have experience in your target niche? With the advent of the Internet, it is quite easy to acquire enough knowledge about a sector to market it.

How to choose a profitable niche

a payment: You don’t just want to target a niche, but you also want to target one from that country well. This usually means reaching out to the business community. Again, the Internet makes it easy to serve customers all over the world, not just those in your community. So don’t let living in a small town scare you.

b) Abundant: For example, there may not be enough organic gardeners to target, but real estate agents are vast and plentiful. Don’t have ideas? Look through the yellow pages. Because? These are all the types of businesses you would find in any community. And, there may be businesses that you may never have thought could use your services.

c) Evergreen: Try to choose niches that are evergreen, ie those that will be around forever. Lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, car dealers – these types of businesses are not going anywhere. Once you establish yourself as an expert, getting business will become easier and easier. Notice, I didn’t say easy, I said “easier.”

4. Prepare for the marketing plan: It doesn’t have to be 30 pages. A basic one will do, for example:

WHO: is your target market?

That: Do you need? How will you reach them? This will also tell you where you will spend most of your advertising dollars (online or offline).

Where: such as, what geographic area will you serve (eg, will I focus only on a local or national/international market (eg, will I solicit business over the Internet?))

When: It’s your season (for example, it’s slow during the summer, busy during the fall, etc.)

because: should they choose me (find out their USP (unique selling proposition))?

Put this where you can see it every day. I divide my marketing plan into quarters. At the beginning of each trimester, I plan what I need to do weekly. Sometimes projects get in the way and I may not complete everything on my list every day, but I do try to complete all scheduled tasks within that week.

Do not forget to calculate the initial costs, for example, mainly getting a website. A basic one will do. Just make sure it looks professional, is grammatically correct, and doesn’t have any frills or whistles (no flickering graphics, for example). Most visitors will be looking for information; make it easy for them to get it.

A marketing program keeps you on point. Robert Collier, one of America’s original “bestselling authors,” said, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day after day…”. A marketing calendar does just that.

5. Prepare your marketing material: Get a website, get a website, get a website – this should be one of the first things you do! I think websites have progressed to the point where phones used to be.

I mean, would you do business with someone who doesn’t have a phone? Probably not. Now, I think a lot of people feel that way about the Internet. Also, how can you talk to someone about web copy if you don’t even have a website? Apparently, this might be the only “promotional item” you need.

But I would also do a basic cover letter, a brochure, business cards (of course), a professional bio, and some samples. Don’t have samples? Give away gifts until you get 5 or 6. All of these can be on your website.

Why different types of marketing materials? Different situations call for different types of brochures. For example, you might be at a Chamber of Commerce meeting one week (hand out that brochure) and at the dry cleaners the next week (hand out business cards).

6. Implement and track — consistently: Many freelancers give up before they even start. I see freelancing like pushing a rock uphill: it’s hard to climb (think of this as accelerating your business), but once you get to the top, the ball rolls downhill on its own.

Being self-employed won’t be that easy, and don’t believe anyone who tells you it will be. BUT, with sustained effort, you’ll start getting assignments, and then the referrals will seem to come effortlessly.

If you follow this plan, you should start receiving assignments within 30-60 days. Good luck!