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@Amy – If I’m going to tell people to be realistic, I have to be honest. And the truth is if not for the second income I wouldn’t have been able to leave my job. I have so much admiration and respect for you and others like you who go it alone.

@James – I agree we can’t put all our eggs in one basket. I’ve seen many writers put all their efforts into one client or content mill only to find themselves stuck when their client closes doors or has enough content.

@Sal – I began freelancing in 2000 but left work in 2002. So in the two years before I left my job I had one regular client and an online humor column – in addition to the occasional writing job for a local graphic design firm. I found some work on Internet job boards and others through local newspapers that catered to creatives such as the Village Voice.

@ Kori – It’s nice your husband works at home – and you get along. Many people can’t work with spouses. I’ve been watching your rise to success over the years and respect your work ethic.

@Ann – Just about all of my clients paid once a month. I thought about what I’d have to do if my husband didn’t have his job – but plenty of freelancers make it work through spreadsheets and budgeting. With the Internet age comes quick paying clients. When I started my job in publishing and there wasn’t Paypal – writers used to wait months for checks and had to truly struggle. I wish you lots of good luck!

I stumbled into mine and I’m still trying to work things out.

Eight months ago my husband called to say he’d quit his job and would be home later. HE was the only employed person in the house. Although I was dabbling in freelance I was not full time yet. Even now I’m not where I think I could have been if the pressure to “make more” hadn’t been piled up on me (and if I hadn’t been in shock).

I have found that budgeting freelance income is not as easy as it is when you know what the paycheck will be and when it will come, but we are learning (and even saving).

For the new writers – you just have to search for jobs through every possible (and even unlikely) means out there. Do a search for freelance jobs, hand out (or mail out) business cards to everyone you can think about, and continue to perfect your skills and talents (through classes and conferences).

For those of you who are considering the full-time freelance plunge – set up a savings account with enough funds to cover at least three months worth of bills. This will give you some buffer to help with your budget.

Even experience freelance writers can learn more about budgeting. Living without a salary does not mean you can’t still enjoy the better things in life, it just means you have to plan better to get there.

I also started a spreadsheet about 4 months ago that plots out my income potential (if everything hits), goals income (should be less than potential), and actual. Then for each I show the percentage of actual to my goal and total income needed. This really has motivated me and sort of acts as my boss–driving me to the finish line every month.

It took awhile to get established and I did make mistakes along the way, but that’s how I learn. In my family, it’s readily acknowledged that the “Jodee way” is the hard way to do things. But that’s OK.

Hindsight being what it is, would I do things differently? Some things, yes. But I can’t complain about where my choice have taken me so far, so they must have been the right ones (for me anyway).

Doing it Deb’s way makes a lot more sense, guys. Listen to her!

I’m on my own now, just as I was when I started this whole freelancing thing. In some ways I’m lucky — no babies to feed or husbands to make time for. In other ways, it has been very difficult. People who know me now but who didn’t know me when I first started freelancing — which is everyone I know online and most folks I know in real life — see me as someone who is lucky. I don’t see it as luck. I started with nothing, and I built what I have through trial and error, failure and success, living cheaply and going without health insurance and decent food (etc) because I was determined to make it on my own without going back to an office. If I had babies, there is no question I would have been back at an office job if only for the health insurance and to have a decent roof over my kids’ heads. On my own, the choice to struggle and do this thing only affected me. In that sense, yes, I was lucky.

I didn’t plan. I didn’t sit down and work out what I should have done or what it would take to quit my job. I quit my job because I was burnt out and fed up to the point where homelessness (seriously) was a path brighter than continuing the path I was on any longer. I left. I ran out of money. Then I decided to try freelancing. I am a big believer of learning from other peoples’ mistakes, and I am always telling people to learn from mine: don’t do it my way. Now I can say, “Don’t do it my way. Do it Deb’s way. [insert link here]”

My only caution would be against putting all your eggs in one basket. I know of several writers who put all their efforts into one online content mill only to have no source of income when the the website shut down or had enough content. Do keep your options open!

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

@ David – Welcome. I think we learn best by sharing ideas, don’t you? Thank you for coming and I’ll be sure to thank Liz for her tweet.

Thanks for sharing your success tips; keep up the great work.

ATB,
David

P.S. Referred by @lizstrauss on Twitter

Your success and your experience shines through in this site – and what you share with us are things I implement into my own plan for success. I already am doing better, getting better gigs and making more money since I found this site about a year or so ago.

Thank you!