Any writer will tell you freelance writing is extremely lucrative. You can make thousands of dollars using your own laptop in the comfort of your own home.
Finding paying clients can be difficult. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork began to grow in popularity because they connected the bridge between writers and clients.
These platforms might seem like a solution to finding clients, but in reality, it can be quite competitive to start making money on platforms like Fiverr. I love to complain about how difficult it is for new writers to make money on these types of platforms.
Still, one freelancer started slow and scaled up her writing operation to the point where she’s now making $378K a year by writing for clients on Fiverr.
Her name is Alex Fasulo and I recently learned about her from an interview on Graham Stephen’s Iced Coffee Hour. Long story short, while watching the interview I began to understand how exactly she did it and also doubt it.
I don’t think writers should take this approach to writing and I‘m not just being salty, I promise. At first, I was actually really happy that someone was able to make this kind of money by just writing.
But then I realized she’s selling fake hope.
Quantity vs. Quality
In the interview, Fasulo basically talks about how she casually started on Fiverr not making much money every month and not worrying about it. I’ve been there, we’ve all been there.
Then, she realized that she could use it as an escape from her day job and decided to write full-time on Fiverr. Bold move in my opinion, but it worked in her favor. Basically, she realized she could use her knowledge to write requests quickly on Fiverr and get paid.
She says it takes her 32 minutes to write 2,000 words. That’s impressive, but let’s be honest; it has to be quantity over quality at that point.
In the interview I watched, she even mentioned that “if her name was going on these stories then it would take her days to write them but since her name isn’t attached it takes her less than an hour.”
She’s pumping out content with the mindset of quantity over quality.
For the clients I write for, I try to take more time out of my day for more quality. I can’t just type thousands of works in an hour and expect it’ll be great. I have to go over it a few times.
Selling courses
This is where I started to get a little upset. She mentions selling courses, but she never mentions how much she makes and if it contributes to her writing income.
Let’s be real here, selling writing courses is marketing. Even though it involves writing, it’s just marketing to an audience. To include that in your income and then have other writers learn about you as if we have a chance to make that much money without selling a course is upsetting.
If I’m a new writer and I have no idea what I’m doing, I have a high chance of just blindly believing you and signing up for Fiverr. Now I’m wasting my time on a site that isn’t productive for me as a new writer. Then, I’m buying your courses trying to learn more. Finally, I’m landing at a point of defeat and giving up.
I don’t like the idea of selling writers — especially new ones — up the river by telling them how they can do everything you’re doing with little to no actionable steps.
It’s like saying your day job is a car salesman, but you actually make money selling bikes, planes, furniture, and drugs. You’re selling Jane Doe up the river by saying she too can make enough money to buy a mansion just by selling cars.
My Takeaway
If you’re a writer, try to read between the lines when it comes to learning about how much money other writers make from their work. I’m not simply saying every writer is stretching the truth, but some surely are.
If you’re a new writer, it can be difficult learning about what works and what doesn’t, but there are writers who actually write out every step of the process. These are the writers that you want to take notes from.
Or you could do what the rest of us do and by using a trial-and-error writing process until you figure out what works.