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Need to Make Online Cash Now? Consider a Freelancing Business

superstar250Yup you read that right- if you are desperate to make an income right now. You have been told your job ends in two weeks and you don’t know how you will make next month’s mortgage repayments – then making passive income online won’t help you – yet.

I have been playing this website building game for two years – my income still fluctuates – I wrote that in July I had made $2000 online– I am yet to get past that approximate figure again – in fact my passive income was significantly down in October – but overall I was up because of a domain sale and some more freelance work. It swings-and-roundabouts – it doesn’t make me lose sleep at night. But it might – soon. My partner’s contract finishes at Christmas and we are moving back to New Zealand. My income suddenly becomes our only income – at least for a while – the pressure is definitely noticeable i.e. my partner now asks every month how I am doing LOL – see partners are interested when the money starts rolling in – or not!

So what do you do if you really,really need the income and you need it quickly? Well I’ve written about my Plan B previoulsy Another option is developing either a part or full time freelancing business.  Almost everyone has a skill they can sell online – be it writing, photography, designing websites, installing blogs. For a  lot of online beginners the skill is writing – we can all write right? So off you head to the usual forums or article writing content mills – and then you discover you are competing against people who will write a 400 word article for $1. You stop, you get depressed, you declare loudly to anyone who will listen that globalisation is evil, you can’t compete against the hoards of English-speakers living in third world countries writing for peanuts. You quit and get a job cleaning – well that’s what I did anyways. I found it all too hard and to be honest, I found that my writing skills were OK, but my procrastination skills were champion!

My friend Monika Mundell from sunny Queensland didn’t quit though. She kept on at it – she was desperate to get out of the hospitality industry with its Gordon Ramsey egos and unsociable hours. She persevered with freelance writing. She lives in Queensland, Australia – so a lot of the paying sites were not available to her (they don’t allow non-US-based writers). She had to find her own clients. And she is not an English native speaker. Two years later she is a successful online writer and internet marketer.

She has finally written the book Freelance SuperStar which explains how to reproduce her success. You just send $1000 to her email address and she will send you the secret to becoming a successful writer without doing any work…. OK sorry, not quite: bottom line this book a) costs money and b) will involve you doing a lot of work. Its also a step-by-step that anyone can use to launch a freelance business, if they do the work that is.

Freelance Superstar is focused on freelance writing – but you could use it get work in any related online field: programming, WordPress setup and customisation, SEO whatever. According to their own sales copy:

“The Freelance Superstar guide is a product aimed at new freelance writers and intermediate entrepreneurs who currently struggle to earn a decent income. The very affordable purchase price of USD 37 can easily be earned back if you follow my instructions in the guide. The idea is to start a business from scratch with little upfront expenses (You can get earning by spending less than $100 and this includes the guide).”

So what do you get for your US$37?

  • the 65 page eBook
  • WordPress templates for developing your own Portfolio site
  • email templates you can use to solicit for clients
  • sample writing agreements you can copy and use
  • step-by-step blogging video tutorials

This is review is only of the eBook – I have read the pre-release version of the ebook – but haven’t seen the other content. The images of the WordPress templates looked pretty cool though I imagine they would work just fine for anyone wanted to get started in business as soon as.

What I liked about the Freelance SuperStar eBook

  • nice clear layout of the ebook – type large enough to read easily but not so big I know you are artificially inflating the word count;
  • it focused on the important stuff: the chapter titled “Setting Up Your Office” had me worried – feng shui’ed interior design maybe, a quiet, private space as a pre-requisite to your business. Nope – a computer, an Internet connection, a chair and desk are nice to haves. Starting on the kitchen table is not a good reason not to start!;
  • from there on it got practical: from the basics: how to develop a develop writing samples, how to set up your own portfolio site, how to find a niche. how to set your rates. More advanced topics included are  how to manage clients, how to market your business, how to manage practical stuff like invoices, how to grow your business using outsourcing and other methods. Unless you are totally new to being online some of this will be known to you – but I found stuff I didn’t know. I partically like Monika’s practical approach to using  social media without it taking over your life.
  • review of 10 freelance bidding sites include pros/cons and costs involved- worth the price of the book alone in my opinion this could literally save you months of frustration of getting your business up and running. You can, and i have, spent days/weeks reading forum after forum trying to work out which site was best – here Monika has it all laid out in a few pages – value yoru time at $10/hour – you just justified the cost of this book!

What could have been improved

The book includes a 6 month road map chapter with steps to take each month to take your freelancing business from part-time to full-time. Now I liked the content – a lot. But I think the format could be jazzed up a bit – tick boxes, spaces to write notes of your own etc – this is the part of the book I think users should print out and post prominently above their kitchen table. Whether they succeed or fail is really up to following this time line – make it easy for them to do!

There are lots of the normal affiliate tools available – but no 125×125 banner and no non-gif banners? Easy to fix guys – please – not every site allows gifs you know and most blogs run 125 ads …

Who Should Buy Freelance Superstar

  • newcomers to online business who want/need to make several thousands of dollars a month within six months;
  • off-line writers who are trying to figure out what this online writing gig is all about and have just been made redundant from their local newspaper/magazine job;
  • students – journalism or otherwise who need to make a bit of cash on the side. Seriously this type of business is designed to fit the student lifestyle perfectly;
  • stay at home moms/mums who are struggling to make any meaningful money running Adsense on their (or their cat’s) personal blog.  This approach will make you real money in the same tiime you are wasting currently;
  • Internet marketers who are struggling with getting their affiliate income to a stable level and need some extra cash – although the book is written assuming you are starting a freelance business part-time around a real-world job, starting it part-time and/or keeping it part-time to fund your passive income websites will work as well. You never know when Google is going to throw a hissy fit and not like your sites anymore – this is a useful second string to your bow – which may well be more palatble,  than getting a dreaded “real job”.

Who Should NOT Buy Freelance Superstar

  • information junkies who have already bought 3 ebooks this week and read none of them. Well if you really want to give me the commission go ahead but really stop with the information overload and work out what you are actually trying to achieve with your business;
  • anyone who loves to dream the big dreams, and never gets around to the real work. Honestly if you can’t make back the cost of the book within your first month you pretty much bone-idle and you have wasted your money.

Just a note. This is not a paid review – I asked Monika for a review copy and she was kind enough to provide me with one. If you click on one of these links and buy the product I will get an affiliate commission. If I hadn’t thought the product delivered on its sale’s pitch and is a realistic way for pretty much anyone to start earning an online income I wouldn’t have reviewed it.And there’s a 30 day money back guarantee – so no risk on your part. Oh and here’s that low-down affiliate link again:

31 replies on “Need to Make Online Cash Now? Consider a Freelancing Business”

My ears went up as you wrote that “Monika is not a native English speaker”, now that is inspiring for somebody that didn’t start to write online because her English is not perfect 😉 Now, I am not looking for freelance writing gigs, I don’t want to get involved with deadlines again, but I will surely check her site out, thanks for the tip, SY

wow. I haven’t heard from Monika for ages. So this is what she has been up to. Writing an eBook.

Looks like her site is flooded. I get ‘connection reset error’ when I try to access. LOL. Will “Try again in a few moments.”

I’m on OK – might have just been momentary – yup looks likes she’s been busy doing some work -maybe that really is the key to making money online

is it so ! then i think i must surely go through this book if it can really boom up my business, i always wait for any new secrets to come in my way with which i can boost up my work. thanks for sharing it,

I definitely agree it’s the best way forward when you’re waiting for the passive income to kick in. It’s what I do alongside site flipping. I don’t use those content sites either since I’m from the UK. I find that, once you have a good base of clients, you barely need to promote as they will refer you to many of their internet marketer friends.

Thanks for sharing this feedback. I will recommend it to one of my friends who wants to start freelancing.

I recently started working freelancing and i found your article very interesting. Thanks for sharing the article.

Yes,i read all is god,the problem i have not money,i have with aw survey money earnd the system had nothings send,please help me i will not big money leard me any way the me 100 or 200 dollar give have 2 children and not any job please any people take my hand.

@Piyami
You don’t need money to start to make money online! You just need to work your b..t of. Start with a free google blog, write articles on hubpages, squidoo, infobarrel etc. I don’t think you will find here a lot of people that are willing to lent money to a complete stranger, but I am sure you will find a lot of people that are willing to point you in the right direction to earn money online, but you have to do your part also, it is called working, all the best, SY

If you’re doing great work, growing profits, and winning business for a company, you may or may not get the recognition you deserve. (Here’s a secret: companies only hire employees so they can use them to make a profit.)

When you freelance, you have the ability to give yourself a raise at any time. Simply raise your rates! When you land that big contract, you will profit from it.

Hi Lis,
Got to the party a bit late on this post but when I went to the site, it’s now a membership with multiple videos. Is Monika still selling the ebook elsewhere? I’m not a big fan of online video learning sites, if it’s not something I can print and highlight as I read..it’s wasting my time:)

Thank you

Its still an ebook as far as I can see the landing page hasn’t changed significantly. The video tuts refer to setting up wordpress – so if you are familar with that you won’t need them. The ebook is printable – you can always check it out and get the 30 day refund if you don’t like it!

Thanks Lis,
After I double checked, your suggestion is spot on. Just don’t want to get overwhelmed…again:)

Kudos to Monika for not being a native English speaker and publishing, what sounds like a great book. I’m going to school right now for Journalism and this really got me interested. I’ve always been able to just type out my feelings and make up short stories when I’m bored, but never thought about this avenue of my writing skills. I wrote several articles in my high school paper but just starting getting into writing on a serious level. Thank you for the ebook..do you think it would ever be published as hard copy?

I’m not sure why anyone would want an ebook published as hardcopy -the author gets so litttle from that – it makes no financial sense

Yeah lis you are so right that freelancing is the way to go, in particular freelance writing. I searched online for a way to earn money online for last 5 to six years. There alot of stuff online, like mystery shopping, paid to click programs, paid surveys,
tellecommuting jobs. The problems with some of these programs is, you cant earn a living online with most of these programs. Some do offer quick money but you cant pay all your bills, and the problem with internet marketing and blogging is that long learning curve , and it can takes months to earn a living like you said. I real dream is to earn a fulltime living being an internet marketer, but I think I should start with freelance writing first. I like your blog and your honesty.

Yes if you can write competently you can certainly make a good living online freelancing – its hardly passive income – but if you are prepared to work you will get there! I know heaps of Internet Marketers who started off as freelancers – did the same myself. Best of luck and thanks for commenting

I need to quit my job quickly.. I just became a member of The Keyword Academy.. Im reading through their information on how to become successful at passive income online with the keywords and everything.. I know that will take time.. I want to know this… is freelance writting centered around Adsense? I was deactivated from Adsense but I use Adbrite.. another program that pays per click.. but Im new to all of this.. I dont even know how to cut and paste the html in my browser as they tell me to do.. very confused with all of that tracking stuff.. that is the main reason for joining a group such as TKA .. as you can see I need help bad.. but I even hope that TKA is not centered around Adsense.. I mean I know Adsense is the main affiliate prgrm that pays out..but I guess what Im asking is… do I need Adsense to do all of the freelance work.. ? or will someone else be paying me. ?

Monique – what do you mean you are “deactivated” from Adsense – were you banned? How is that if you are new to making money online? TKA is a general program which will teach you how to pick keywords and ranks sites in the search engines- how you monetize the site is up to you – it could be private advertising, your own product, Amazon, eBay, Adsense.

Freelance writing is nothing to do with either TKA or Adsenes – its about selling your writing skills to others – usually on a per article basis.

Hi Lis, You said you did freelancing writing before getting into internet marketing, How long did it take you earn at least $1,000 a month consistantly freelance writing?

Hi Liz.
I’ve been reading your comments re freelance superstar and signed up. I’m not an experienced writer although have done three degrees with all the writing that requires. Do you think I would need to take a writing course to make a success of this course?

I’ve done a writing course in my life – if you have a uni education you can write just fine! Its all about practice really – like any muscle. Best of luck

Hi Lis,
I’m on your list and have a sorta-kinda weird situation. I like doing mini blogs and writing. So far so good, but I never seem to make any money with them so I take them down and start over (yeah, bad idea).

Do you know of a better way to make this work? Dumb huh. I’ve in the past been a member of Keyword Academy (not a big fan of watching videos) and it helped get me started. Readership for the mini blogs
was great, traffic stats were fine but no one bought anything. Any source you can recommend, I’m on it.

Thanks

Congrats Danica – you’ve discovered that some niches convert and some don’t – know if we could figure that out in advance we’d all be making lots more money!

I have probably an 80% fail rate – sometimes i take the blogs down – more usually I repurpose them and use them for links – particularly the free ones.

I am still a member of TKA – its gone to ebook format rather than videos – the course is evolving as the web evolves – really Mark cares deeply about TKA and provides the best info on the web as far as I am concerned

Thanks Lis for the encouragement. Maybe I’ll give TKA another shot because the information was excellent, the videos were simply too much ‘yak-yak-yak’ for my overworked brain:)

I haven’t given up on creating these little mini blogs and simply have to do a better job of converting. One thing I believe is part of the problem is staying too long working on them. I spent a year building up traffic for the last one before I pulled the plug. Now I know what to do with bombs.

Thank you Lis for this information. My son is picking up some freelance work for the summer, writing articles. There are different words of advice from different writers and I really enjoyed with you had to say and give here. I guess if you believe in yourself, nothing can get in the way. Thank you and I’ll share this with my son.

Hi Liz, I decided not to continue a few days after signing up and applied for a refund but after a few weeks haven’t had a response. Any advice for me?

Right now, Fiverr is one of the quickest ways to earn online. However, it’s just a few dollars per job so not really the kind of thing you might want to aim for if you have mouths to feed. I agree that writing is the best bet simply because we ‘we can all write’. Most of us just need the right guidance to be a good writer.

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