Are you a detail-orientated person? Do you find yourself noticing little grammatical errors throughout the day? Well, have we got news for you. You might be the perfect candidate to become a proofreader!

We know, can you imagine? You can get paid to proofread? Whaaaat! So, come on! Join us in this article and you can learn how to earn some cash dollars while doing something you’re already good at.

You might be wondering how you can make money proofreading. Well, actually quite simply.

After taking a proofreading course, you can set up a freelancing business and start attracting clients. From here, it’s all up to you, baby.

You can set your hours, decide how much you want to be paid, and the best part? You can work from anywhere. And yes, when we say anywhere, we truly mean anywhere. We’re talking about the bedroom, cafe, or heck, why not the beach?

Why Proofreading Is a Lucrative Opportunity

Why do we love proofreading as a career? You have the total freedom to decide if you want to make this a side hustle (ca-ching to extra cash) or turn it into a full-time profession.

Maybe you’re a student wanting some extra pocket money. Or perhaps you’ve climbed the corporate ladder and found it a bit lonely up top there. Who knows. You gotta do what feels best for you.

We do want to mention that with the rise of online work and online roles, proofreaders are becoming hot-on-demand jobs. Because of their flexibility and availability, especially working from home, a lot of companies are looking for proofreaders.

We know, it seems too good to be true, right? Well, the only way you can say for sure is to try it out.

Why Should I Start Proofreading?

As we mentioned before, proofreaders are wanted by most companies. Genuinely, when we say ‘most’ we actually mean it. Proofreading doesn’t only apply to novels – we know! Shock horror! You can proofread almost any written document. We’re talking books, articles, websites, academic papers, online marketing content – the list goes on.

Let’s give a hypothetical. You’ve been in corporate world for a while. But, you’re getting sick of your job. You just want to be at home with your dog all day. Perhaps you worked in marketing, so you’re familiar with social media marketing, as well as standard marketing. Now, maybe you don’t know this yet but you are an ideal proofreader.

Firstly, social media content creation is MASSIVE. Working as a freelance proofreader and social media specialist will land you some lucrative jobs for sure.

Why do we say this? Because you’ve got the whole package deal: marketing specialist with a niche in social media. Hello! What company wouldn’t want you? And with all your experience we don’t even doubt that your grammatical skills are strong.

Okay okay, we’re getting excited here. Maybe you’re coming from the other end of the scale, with no experience. Hey, we’ve all been there. No worries! There’s a reason you’re reading this article. You want to learn how to become a proofreader. And boy do we have the info for you.

To start, all you need is a good ability to spot grammatical errors. From there you can take a course, set up a business, find some clients, and Bob’s your uncle you’ve got a cash flow. Woah. That was quick.

Take it from Selina: being laid off during COVID with two kids to feed, she needed work ASAP. After completing our proofreading course with us at Proofread Anywhere, she feels completely able to provide for her family all from the comfort of her own home. Armed with proofreading and editing services, Selina is back to feeling financially confident. 

Free Guide

Learn how to start your proofreading business even if you’re a complete beginner!

GET FREE GUIDE

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

A Word From Our Founder

We also have a word from our founder Caitlin Pyle weighing in on the lucrative business of proofreading – read her thoughts below!

I recently had the privilege of interviewing THE Chandler Bolt of The King of Self-publishing — in the flesh.

Why did I want to chat with Chandler? Well, we just launched the brand-new General Proofreading: Theory and Practice course… …because our PA community members had been pushing me for what seemed like forever to create an alternative course that would help them create a business that helped them not proofread transcripts but books.

And it turns out that some folks love to proofread but (GASP!) don’t want to proofread transcripts.

Some folks do not want to invest 2-4 months into learning a more technical skill — they’d rather start with the basics first and build from there. In short, they wanted to develop their proofreading skills in a way that would get them paid for doing what they were already doing: reading books!

I kept this new course mostly under wraps. It was a big secret. A surprise. And because of that, I knew when we finally launched it that we’d have a lot of questions.

Questions like:

• Is proofreading for books really in demand?
• Do authors really hire proofreaders? Why?
• What makes a great book proofreader? Or a not so great proofreader?
• Can I really make money proofreading books?

So that’s why I decided to interview Chandler Bolt — I knew that if anyone could give me proof that general proofreaders were in demand, he could! And well… he delivered that proof. I recorded our interview, and it’s here for you to watch right now!

If you LOVE reading books and finding errors, you’ll want to watch this video with Chandler. Here’s the video of our interview (25 minutes).

(NOTE: You might notice Chandler uses “copy editing” and “proofreading” interchangeably. It’s common to mix these two up, and you’ll most likely see others doing the same thing when you start your proofreading businesses. Just know that he means “proofreading” in this interview. :-))

Don’t feel like watching the 25-minute interview? Download the transcript here. Interested in publishing a book yourself? Snag Chandler’s book on Amazon.

How Much Money Can You Make as a Proofreader?

Well, before we jump into exactly how much you can earn we want to emphasize that proofreading can be a freelancing job. And we’ll be real: freelancing isn’t always a stable income. BUT! If you build your proofreading business correctly, you could 100% be making decent money and even if you did have some work slumps, you’d be fine.

If you’re wanting to work from home, this is the avenue you should go down. But remember, you can also proofread for a company and be a salaried worker. Depends on your skillset and your goals. Whatever road you go down, we do suggest doing a proofreading course to level up yourself.  Then if you decide to start a proofreading and editing company, or start looking for freelance proofreading jobs, you’ll have the skills to do so.

Average Earnings by Niche

Okay, so proofreading isn’t just proofreading. We mean, proofreading involves a variety of different options. You could proofread legal documents, books, blogs, and even business docs. There is truly a laundry list of options. As Caitlin said earlier, some people don’t want to proofread transcripts but some want to read books!

So, how do you find the best proofreading jobs and make money? And how much can you make from each sector? Well, the legal sector offers a pretty decent salary (obviously, it’s the law, duh. Confidentiality and all that). There’s also proofreading for novels, online marketing, and even academic writing.

In 2024 (and likely to change over time), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics presented a pretty in-depth document with salaries per sector. For example, they suggested that if you’re in the advertising sector of proofreading you could earn up to $70,200 per year. Not too shabby.

However, on the flip side, if you’re in the book proofreading sector your yearly take-home might only be around $41,340.

In saying this, we don’t want you to be discouraged. Job opportunities are available, and remote jobs might even allow you time to work for yourself and a salaried company.

Factors That Influence Proofreader Pay Rates

Now, obviously we’ve given you some data from an official website that is drawing statistics from salaried roles. As a freelancer providing online proofreading services, you could be earning way differently.

Online proofreading jobs are a bit harder to track down salaries for because they vary so much depending on skill level, time, and client.

When it comes to online proofreading jobs you’ll want to be as prepared as possible. Taking online proofreading courses is always a good idea before you jump into the industry.

We know you’re detail-orientated, good with grammar, and love to correct spelling mistakes, but sometimes having the qualification does help. Just saying. To find the best online proofreading jobs, you’ll want to present your best self, which includes an awesome amount of proofreading skills.

Another factor that can influence your freelance proofreading career is the niche or specialization that you want to go into. Something we’ve mentioned a few times before (have you been paying attention?) is this: proofreading work for legal or medical organizations is going to result in a higher paycheck than that of social media marketing.

Also, the type of proofreading work you do can impact your paycheck. Maybe you’re only doing part-time proofreading jobs, which would naturally result in a smaller paycheck than a full-time one.

Similarly, the turnaround time of a job could affect your paycheck. Even if you’ve set your own rates, if you run over time or work more on your own hours, you could earn less. It all depends on you.

Types of Proofreading Work to Consider

We mentioned earlier that there is a difference between copy editing and proofreading. But what does it actually mean? Well, copyediting vs. proofreading isn’t too complicated to understand. In basic terms, copyediting is ensuring that the work is readable and flows well. Aka, how easy is it to understand, and does it make sense to the reader?

Proofreading, on the other hand, is all about cleaning up the grammatical errors. For example, if the work is in American English are words like “organize” spelled with a “z” or “s?” Similarly, as a proofreader, you’re looking for any incorrect punctuation marks, spelling errors, and typing mistakes.

Okay, now that you know what the differences are, let’s jump into the different types of documents you can proofread!

• Books and Ebooks: We like to think that this is the most accessible way to break into the proofreading industry. As mentioned earlier, it’s not the highest-paying way to earn money online, but you can still earn some decent cash. There will always be someone writing a book or an ebook, so take a look for job listings and you’ll be sorted!
• Transcripts: Alrighty, transcript proofreading. A fantastic business to go in if you’re a nosy person (just like us). Transcripts are a fun industry to get into because there is a range of them! For example, you could proofread for medical, legal, or research companies.

Honestly? We love proofreading transcripts because sometimes there are so many mistakes it makes us feel like we’re doing a really good job. You workaholics, you know what we mean. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of marking all the errors on Google Docs as “complete.” So satisfying.

Starting your own business as a transcript proofreader can also be fun because you can explore the different avenues of transcript proofreading and see which ones you prefer. This way, you can also market yourself to potential clients with a bit more clarity of your niche. Win-win.

• Web Content: Wow, the digital world. The demand for proofreaders in this space is crazy high. We mean it. When looking for online proofreading jobs online, starting here is a good idea.

As beginner proofreaders, you’ll want to maybe start easy with social media content. Say, find a local restaurant or store that you can be the social media person for. (We say person and not manager because as ambitious as we are, you will need a bit of experience). This is also a great way to build your portfolio and work on those skills.

• Academic Papers and Research: When it comes to academic papers, your proofreading skills need to be immaculate. Your understanding of the written language should be advanced, and you should have a proofreading workshop under your belt. Proofreading requires an intense capability for picking up errors, so get your glasses on and start nitpicking!
• Marketing and Business Content: A surprising mention, but the advertising industry is always in need of an experienced proofreader. Ad content is prolific, and job posts for online proofreaders are found on sites like Glassdoor quite often. Have you heard of press releases? No? Well, let’s tell you about them.

Press releases are those very official documents that you sometimes read on social media or news services. They can be read by government officials, celebrities, or anyone with something to say.

A press release just indicates a public announcement, with a formal nature to it. Now, obviously, these need to be proofread thoroughly. Like, properly thoroughly. Any punctuation errors and those internet trolls will be all over the post. Aaaand this is where you come in!

Steps to Start Making Money Proofreading

Build Your Skillset

• First things first! Invest in a training course to hone your skills. We have to toot our own horn here and recommend our own online proofreading courses. We have our General Proofreading Workshop and our Free 7-Day Transcript Proofreading eCourse. Need a bit more? Check out our website, Proofread Anywhere, and take a squizz at what we have to offer. Wink wink.
• Before you set up shop, we also suggest you dust your skills off with some free resources. After a quick Google search, you can find some grammar guides. A fun idea to involve friends and family is to ask them to write some pieces and you can proofread them for free!

Create a Portfolio

Regardless of what type of proofreading you go into, or what editing services you are offering, you’ll want a portfolio. This also helps with making you look like a super professional proofreader, which, of course, you are.

If you’ve got a bachelor’s degree, have done any proofreading courses (have we mentioned this general proofreading course yet? Hint hint, take it guys!), or have any sort of proofreading experience, pop it in your portfolio. Any kind of graduate degree is a bonus, so don’t be afraid to mention it on your CV.

If you’re just starting in the industry, maybe start with proofreading and editing. Whaaaat! Both! We promise it’s not too bad. Offer your skills at a relatively low price (not too low, you’ve still got to put food on your table!) but low enough that it will be attractive to certain clients.

Similarly, maybe give out some free work! Ugh, we know, more work for no pay. Tell us about it. But hear us out! Because finding online jobs can be hard as it’s such an over-saturated industry, having any work is better than none.

So reach out to those friends with businesses and see if they need a hand. Social media content? You can do it. Wannabe novelist friend? Start reading, baby!

However, if you have your eyes set on a particular proofreading job, you’ll want to alter your portfolio to make yourself suit the role better. What on earth do we mean by that? Well, your own proofreading business might be aimed at social media content marketers.

Maybe you’ve set your prices a bit lower because of that. However, if you want to level up and build some credibility to become a medical proofreader, you’ll want to adjust your portfolio to suit that.

So, maybe drop some of the editing jobs that you’ve done for social media and focus a bit more on corporate work, if you’ve done any.

Choose Your Path: Freelance vs. Employment

Now, when it comes to the type of employment you want that all depends on you. Different strokes for different folks. You might be someone who wants to move from a corporate life into a more chilled freelance lifestyle.

On the other hand, you could be a person who wants to jump straight into the business world, experience a 9-5, and have a salaried life. Either way, we encourage you to have fun.

For the sake of this article, we’re going to focus a bit more on the freelance side of things though (we see you work from home-rs). Starting a remote job that will provide proofreading services can seem daunting. Trust us, we know. But freelance jobs aren’t known to be easy, and you’ll have to put in the work.

Working from home as a freelancer can be super rewarding. You have flexibility, aka you can work from your bedroom in your pj’s or from your favorite coffee shop. You can also pick and choose your clients, which can be a huge bonus if you’re still figuring out which type of proofreading you like.

We do want to mention some cons though… We know! Agh! We shouldn’t but we have a moral obligation. Doing online proofreading jobs does come with an unstable income. While this works for some people, it obviously doesn’t for everyone.

Likewise, maybe having no structure like in an office freaks you out. All fair play. We’ve been there: working from home can lead to scrolling on your phone, doing the laundry, chatting with friends… Each to their own.

Where to Find Proofreading Jobs

Gosh, about time! You’ve read so much of this article and now we’re only finally getting to the good bits. We’re going to mention some of the places you can find online proofreading jobs so you can earn some money ASAP.

• Upwork
• Glassdoor
• Freelancer
• ProofreadingServices.com

These websites all post job listings and can connect you, a proofreader, to a job. Get cracking!

If you’re struggling with work on the above websites, or simply want to start with networking, head over to LinkedIn. As a networking site, you can reach out to companies, find jobs, and also see what others are doing. It’s a nice way to meet other people in the same industry as you, and also potentially find a job.

Similarly, Facebook can be a goldmine if you let it. Much like all social media, it can be used to sell yourself. So, put your fingers on your keyboard and get writing a nice little biography. Make some posts, and sell yourself! Your skills are invaluable, and someone wants you. We promise.

Common Challenges New Proofreaders Face & How to Overcome Them

• Difficulty finding first clients: Finding clients can be hard for a new proofreader. But fear not! Websites like Fiverr can seriously help. You can offer your services for whatever rate you want, and then whoever bites, you work for them. And also check out the sites we mentioned before.
• Managing time: Oh gosh, don’t we all know about working from home and managing our time? Oof. Now this can be tricky. We tend to use time management platforms like Pomodoro Timer as it helps section our day into manageable chunks. This way you have guaranteed breaks and guaranteed work time.

Top tip alert! Stay off your phone during the breaks. We know it’s easy to start scrolling. But then you scroll and scroll and scroll and it’s three hours later. Whoops. Rather go stretch your legs or take a sip of water. Keep that phone somewhere else if you can help it.

• Setting rates: Now this can be tricky. We have to say, start lower and gradually increase as your reputation grows. We know, you want to go in guns blazing, but relax. You need to build momentum and a reputation as a proofreader. Once you’re there, you can set your rates nice and high.

Proofreading Resources to Help You Get Started

While it’s recommended that you at least have an undergraduate degree, online proofreading jobs don’t require that. However, if you’ve been out of the academic/reading space for a while, you might want to brush up on your comprehension skills.

So, the number one and first thing we suggest you do is take a proofreading course! Here at Proofread Anywhere, we offer amazing guides that can help you strengthen your skills. From our Free 7-Day Transcript Proofreading eCourse, to our General Proofreading Workshop, you’ll gain invaluable skills.

When it comes to perfecting your grammatical skills, we have to mention Grammarly (literally such a lifesaver. This tool will help you in any writing capacity, truly).

Conclusion

And we’ve reached the end of our article. Congratulations to you, you now have all the information you could possibly need to start a proofreading business. Maybe you’ll even be excited and offer editing and proofreading services. Ooh.

To reiterate: if you love reading, are a detail-oriented person, and simply obsess over spelling errors, you should think about becoming a proofreader.

These are skills that you are naturally blessed with, so why not monetize them? You know that’s how the world turns.

Still curious? Gosh, you really are a natural. Head on over to our Proofread Anywhere blog where you can find even more informative posts like this one. We know you want to.

So, what to do now? Well, if you’ve been following along you’ll know that you have to take a proofreading course. We know! We’ve said it a million times and we’ll say it again!

Being more skilled is better than less. So for the final time, check out our General Proofreading Workshop and our Free 7-Day Transcript Proofreading eCourse.

Okay! We’ll say goodbye now. And good luck on your proofreading journey!

The post How to Make Money Proofreading: Top Strategies for Proofreaders appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

Writing a Romance Novel: A Unique and Profitable Side Hustle

Update: This post was originally written as an interview with Yuwanda Black. We at Proofread Anywhere were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Yuwanda. She was a truly notable writer, mentor, and friend. The links to her courses have been removed from this article, as they are no longer available. If you would like to support Yuwanda’s family, you can find more information here.

If you’ve been looking for a profitable side hustle that costs $0 to start and can be done from anywhere — if you love reading, writing, and telling stories — if you want to escape into other worlds where you control everything — writing romance novels is the side hustle for you! 

It’s an evergreen home-based business that’s really taken off in the last few years — allowing creatives who never dreamed that they could make a full-time living doing it, to quit jobs, save for retirement, and travel like never before.

What is it?

Writing & Self-Publishing Short Romance Novels

If you’ve never published, or even written, a romance novel before, that’s ok! There are so many writing courses and freelancer resources out there to help you on your journey. 

With the ease of self-publishing on Amazon, small writers have a much lower barrier to entry AND movements like BookTok have allowed unknown writers to become famous, or infamous, overnight (think Colleen Hoover)!

How Amazon’s Book Pricing Works

On Amazon, if you price your book between $2.99 and $9.99, you receive 70 percent of the sales price. Cassandra priced her romance novel at $2.99, which means she earned roughly $2.09 for each book sold.

For a first attempt, Cassandra was extremely successful and her book sold more than she could have hoped! 

The best part is, that you, as the author, have full control over how your book is marketed, sold, and discontinued (if you choose). Because the books can be purchased as PDFs, you don’t even have to worry about keeping inventory or shipping! 

How to Start Self-Publishing With No Experience

The best way to start self-publishing is by creating short novellas, around 10,000–30,000 words, and publish at least once a month. This will help readers to start recognizing your work and craving more!

If you don’t feel confident writing out a plot or using dialogue, services like Reedsy can get you in touch with freelance professionals that can help you elevate your work.

Here’s Yuwanda’s experience:

“The first thing I want to say is, before 2013, I’d never written a romance novel in my life. I’d read plenty of them, but it never occurred to me to write one.

You see, I’d written tons of how-to, non-fiction books, but writing fiction (romance genre) just seemed so far out of the realm of possibility that it had never really occurred to me.

So what happened? How did I start writing romance books? How did I earn almost $3,500 one month despite starting with no formal training, no fancy book covers, and no fan base — AT ALL?

Here’s my story.

I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993; and I started self-publishing non-fiction, how-to books in 2004. It wasn’t until almost a decade later (2013) that I wrote my first romance novel, and that happened very serendipitously.

What happened was, one of my sisters, who’s a writer also, wrote one. She uploaded it to Amazon and sold over 500 copies in like three weeks. She earned over $1,100 — from that one book!”

FYI, the book is Loving a Texan from New Orleans (by Cassandra Black) if you’re curious.

Why Yuwanda’s First Romance Novel Bombed (Badly!), and What She Did About It

Here’s more from Yuwanda’s story:

“I wrote my first romance novel in the spring of 2013. It promptly bombed. So I happily went back to self-publishing non-fiction, thinking, ‘Well, I gave it a shot.’

Fast forward one year. One day my sister said something to the effect of, ‘Why don’t you try writing an interracial romance?’ You see, my sister had written an interracial romance. My first one was a purely African American love story.

So I tried it. And boy am I glad I did!

What I came to learn was that niche matters — a lot — in romance. It’s not that African American romance novels don’t sell, mind you. They do, as author Brenda Jackson proves.

It’s just that some niches are easier to break into as a new author. Interracial romance proved to be easier — at least it was for me. So in the spring of 2014, I gave romance writing another shot. To my surprise and delight, my little novel sold.

I sold over 400 copies of that second novella in the first three months, earning almost $900. So I averaged about $300 per month — from that one book — the first few months it was out.

It also encouraged me to start venturing into historical romances and other romantic relationships that my readers craved. 

Before we go any further, one thing I can’t stress enough is how important niche is to becoming successful in writing and self-publishing romance. Proof?

Look at the difference between sales of my first romance novel (an African American love story) and my second one (a multicultural romance).”

“As the image shows, I sold 241 copies of my second romance the first month it came out. But what really surprised me was, that sales of the one I’d published almost a year before picked up too. I sold 9 copies of it!

In the second month, the book was still selling. I moved 159 copies. And lo and behold, copies of the first one I’d published a year earlier ticked up — I sold 11 copies of it that month.

I call this kind of sales “drag sales” because when you publish a new book, it will drag sales of your previously published titles along with it.

I’ve been hooked ever since (getting a sale really is like an addictive drug).” 

Why You Should Write Short Romance Novels

Most romance writers create novellas of 10,000 to 30,000 words because they are easier to write, easier to consume, and fit the price point of less than $5. 

Especially for inexperienced writers, a shorter romance novel is much more achievable and, if the first book does well, the confidence that you gain will help you to write longer pieces in the future. 

Writing contemporary romances can seem intimidating, especially if you feel more “vanilla” in your real life, but the beauty of romance fiction is that you can create whatever stories you feel comfortable with. 

From enemies to lovers storylines, fantasy romances, and other romance tropes, you don’t have to just follow Nicholas Sparks or Bridgerton cliches to be successful. 

If you are comfortable, you can tackle adult romance topics like erotic romance, or you can build more emotional depth by diving into Christian romance or stories with more character developments. 

Romance novels don’t have to only include intimate scenes. 

The Hardest Part of Writing & Self-Publishing Romance

The most difficult thing about writing short romance novels is that money is made by volume. Because you aren’t able to price the books very high, you need to sell more in order to make more money. You have to constantly pump out titles — especially when you first start.

While you could luck out and have a hit on your hands right away, for most indie authors (and traditionally published romance writers too), it just doesn’t happen that way.

The great thing is, that romance readers are prolific readers, with 64 percent reading romance more than once a month and over a third (35 percent) buying romance more than once a month, according to a 2014 Romance Writers of America survey.

What this means for you, as an author, is the more you write and self-publish, the more you can earn.

The more well-known you become, the more you can relax and the longer you can wait in between publishing new titles. 

If you want to build a larger following, you can also write novels that follow the same romantic leads with character arcs that create a more compelling romance. 

How Much Can a New Romance Writer Expect to Earn?

As we stated above, romance readers are prolific readers. So if you publish regularly (e.g., a book every month), you can earn $1,000 to $2,000 per month within six months.

There are a lot of factors that go into how much you can earn as a self-published romance author like:

• Genre
• How often you publish
• Competition
• Pricing
• Writing ability
• Which outlets you publish on

If you publish one to two novels per month and do that — consistently — for six to twelve months, you should easily be earning $3,000 to $5,000 per month.

Tips for Beginners in the Romance Industry

The best tip we have is to publish regularly until you make a name for yourself or build up loyal readers. As sales come with volume, the more pieces you have out, the more you can earn. 

Also, set a time frame. Do you want to be a full-time successful romance writer in six months, a year, two years, etc.? Whatever it is, set it and get on a publishing schedule to make it happen.

Conclusion

Making money writing romance is not hard, but it does take dedication and persistence.

Some authors complain that their favorite novels don’t sell well and the ones that they liked the least sell like hotcakes. It’s important to always be learning about your audience so you can write and publish novels that they will want. 

Not everyone knows what’s going to resonate with romance readers, so the more you publish, the greater your chance of having that breakout hit.

And, if you have a catalog of other titles, your income can leap from a few hundred bucks one month to a few thousand the next. 

So, if you want a tried-and-true side hustle that can earn you money for years, give writing a romance novel a shot.

The best thing about writing romance novels is that, once a novel is written and published, you never have to touch it again. And it can earn you money for years!

Fiction books have no “shelf life,” like, say, some non-fiction books. Hence, someone could discover your little romance novel 10, 15, or 20 years from now and buy it. That’s the beauty of publishing.

Hey, you just never know — writing and self-publishing romance could move from being your side hustle to your full-time career. How awesome would that be?

Happy writing!

The post Writing a Romance Novel appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

The following interview is a conversation between Reyné Pearson and Brooke Andrews. All opinions belong to the conversation participants and don’t necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Proofread Anywhere. 

Hello everyone! I’m so excited to share an interview with our Community and Customer Queen, Brooke! She has been with Proofread Anywhere for almost 5 years and is an essential member of our freelance team. 

Brooke is known for always raising her hand whenever someone asks for help, grading a mountain of student exams, and bringing a bright smile to every Zoom meeting!

I’m so happy that you all can get the opportunity to know her better. So, let’s dive in! 

Finding Proofread Anywhere 

Reyné: Hey Brooke, thanks for sitting down with me! To start out, can you talk a little bit about how you heard about Proofread Anywhere and what you do now? 

Brooke: I was just scrolling through my phone one day and saw an ad on Pinterest.  I’ve always been somewhat of a word nerd and I loved English and spelling in school. It’s just always been my thing. 

I wasn’t specifically good with grammar, but I loved writing and reading so when I saw the ad, it felt like a perfect fit. At the time, there was only a Transcript Proofreading course because General Proofreading hadn’t been made yet.

I remember reading an interview with a student and she was explaining how she felt going through the course. I felt intrigued right away. Immediately I looked up the course and thought “Yep, I’m just going to sign up”. I thought, worst-case scenario, it if doesn’t work out and I don’t find clients, it’s still really great information that I could apply to almost any career. 

Reyné: That sounds like a great way to start with the course.

From Side Hustle to Freelance Expert

Reyné: How did it feel once you started learning? 

Brooke: I just ate everything up.

After taking the course, I had a couple of clients, but I was also working a full-time job. At the time, I was working for the county as an administrative assistant, and I had four little kids. Life was a bit crazy! My initial goal, at the time, was to work from home full-time, but I didn’t think I could just do that with court transcript proofreading. 

I didn’t think I could fully replace my income, so I just did a bit of proofreading work on the side and kept an eye out for something else that would allow me to leave my full-time job completely. 

Then, when I saw the customer service job was open and saw that Caitlin was looking for somebody, I thought maybe I could do that too. I could answer some emails and earn a bit of extra money until I build up my proofreading clientele. 

So, I sent an application and got an email response asking me to take a personality quiz to see if I was a good fit. Haha! I got the job, and it has evolved into what I do now. 

At the time, this was back in late 2016, I had no idea what virtual assistants were or anything like that. The Transcript Proofreading course was the first step and it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of working online. 

Reyné: Absolutely! When I interview students, even if they aren’t working in proofreading, they are all still working as freelancers, and making money online, because the course was able to give them the skills, and the perspective, to make it in the online world.

You Don’t Have to Only Proofread

Reyné: Did you dabble in other kinds of online work? 

Brooke: I have an e-commerce business so I still dabble a little bit with that, but I currently mainly work as a freelance virtual assistant. 

Reyné: That’s so cool! I had no idea that you did e-commerce. What do you sell? 

Brooke: So, I have a women’s clothing boutique (I actually took a course to do that, too!), but I am phasing out of that as we speak and have my own blog that is currently in the works where I want to shed light on mental health issues, particularly anxiety and OCD. I have struggled with both my whole life, and I find writing and journaling to be therapeutic.

Being able to relate with others and make an impact on their lives by shining a light on anxiety with empathy and humor feels so incredibly fulfilling and meaningful. I will likely still weave some e-commerce into my business with relatable products; however, I am focusing on one thing at a time with that. 

I had always dabbled a bit in e-commerce, like selling on eBay when my oldest daughter was a baby, and I sold quite a bit on Poshmark, but I didn’t actually find success until I started my own boutique business.

During COVID, things really blew up with my shop. I was actually packing and shipping all of my own orders and things got so crazy for a while. I was doing everything by myself and still working with Proofread Anywhere. I had a little bit of everything going on. 

Reyné: Wow! That does sound busy! 

Brooke: Yeah, I did get a little bit burnt out from it, and I just wanted to narrow my focus a bit.  

Sometimes, when I do all of these different things, it’s like my mind never shuts off. 

Freelancing is perfect for me because I’m able to do a lot of different tasks, so there is a good variety.

Reyné: That totally makes sense.

A Diverse Work Background With One Common Thread

Reyné: So, before Proofread Anywhere, what was your background?

Brooke: Well, I did a lot of different jobs growing up. My first job as a teenager was in fast food, so I learned how to work with people right away, especially unhappy people. Defusing difficult situations was something that I became really good at early on, and simply having to get out there and talk to people I didn’t know really helped me come out of my shell as a shy and anxious kid. 

I was also a dental assistant for a little while, but after completing my schooling for that, I found that I liked working in the front office more than the back office. I liked doing all of the administrative stuff as opposed to working in the back office and being on my feet all day. 

Reyné: I know exactly what you mean. I had so many odd jobs in college. Do you feel like your educational background helped with these jobs? 

Brooke: Yes. For sure! I did also end up getting my bachelor’s degree online in psychology a few years later, and then I got my master’s degree in organizational leadership. 

Reyné: Wow! That’s impressive! 

From Lost to Freelance Boss

Reyné: How do you think Proofread Anywhere helped your career? 

Brooke: It really helped me launch my career as a freelancer.

I have been with PA since early 2017 and when I first started, it was only meant to be a very part-time customer service gig that I could do from home while I built my clientele as a transcript proofreader.

I had no real aspirations with PA beyond that other than to make a little extra money since I was still working full-time outside of the home. It turned into me doing a whole lot of other tasks on the backend of PA, and I absolutely loved it! I loved being part of a little virtual team and all of the opportunities that came with that. All of my foundational knowledge as a VA came from PA. 

I feel like Proofread Anywhere is where I have learned almost everything, and it really inspired me to keep going and think about what else I can learn. What else can I do?

It really just opened up a whole new world for me that I didn’t even know existed.

The world is your oyster and there’s so much opportunity out there that I would never have discovered without starting with Proofread Anywhere.

Reyné: I love that! It was your springboard into all things freelance! What is your favorite thing about being a freelancer? 

Brooke: The fact that I can be creative and come up with new ways to do things. I have duties at PA, of course, and repetitive tasks that are expected of me as a team member, but I love that I can come up with new ideas and contribute them to Proofread Anywhere. It inspires me to be creative in my own freelance ventures as well. 

I can also make my own schedule (for the most part). If I need to take a day off, I can do that and don’t need to ask permission. If I want/need to take a break midday for a couple of hours, I can do that too!

I have a really hard time setting work boundaries (the boundaries thing is a work in progress!), but I love that I can just be there for my kids. Even though my youngest is 13, if they need a ride somewhere or I need to drop something off at school, it’s no big deal. Little things like that are reminders of why I’m glad I don’t have to work a 9-5!

The Truth About Proofread Anywhere & The Future

Reyné: What is something that you wish more people knew about Proofread Anywhere? 

Brooke: That we have all been in their shoes, at one point. I mean, we are all freelancers too.

Some people take the course for different reasons, but I would say that the majority of people sign up because they want to be full-time freelancers. Some people also want a side hustle or something to help them after retirement but, whatever the reason, we have all been in their place too. 

We understand how overwhelming it can be, at first, and we just want everyone to succeed. 

Reyné: Absolutely! It feels even more personal when you get to help people that you relate to so closely. What are your dreams for the future of Proofread Anywhere? 

Brooke: I hope that we can keep branching out and offering more types of courses. 

I have been with PA since 2017 and seeing how much things have grown since then has just been amazing! It started out as a little blog with a small number of students and has exploded into this huge, awesome community full of students from all walks of life! I love seeing so many of our students realize that proofreading is just the beginning of so many more doors opening for them in the freelance world. 

I would also love to keep growing and keep doing more, myself, but overall I like seeing how we’ve been coming up with different courses where we can branch off from proofreading. Now we teach social media marketing in our Ideas to Impact course, and we just launched a freelance business course, Freelance Formula.

It’s perfect because so many people who take the proofreading course get inspired and start thinking about all of the other things that they can do. 

It’s not just about proofreading. You can do almost anything once you’re inspired to work from home. It’s a huge world that’s open for you. 

Reyné: I couldn’t agree more! I’m still learning about new remote jobs every day! 

Everyone Needs a Hand Sometimes

Reyné: What do you think your favorite memory from PA is? 

Brooke: When I’ve really gotten through to a student or someone who is struggling. Some people just need a little empathy. I might be able to talk them through a course issue, or it may not even be course-related. Sometimes we get people in our inbox who are just having a really rough time. 

Some people can be really unkind, but once you can acknowledge them and show them kindness, I find that a lot of the time, their attitude completely changes. So that really puts a smile on my face. Sometimes people just want to be heard and have some acknowledgment that they’re having a tough time. They just want someone to be empathetic with them. 

Those are the feel-good moments. It makes me so happy to brighten someone’s day or to help them in some way. 

Reyné: You definitely do! We’re always getting amazing reviews about how you and Rebecca make people feel so warm and reassured! 

If I Can Do it, You Can Do it!

Reyné: What is something that our students and graduates should know about you? 

Brooke: I think the biggest thing is just that I know where they’re at, and I want them to succeed. I know how desperate it feels at the time.

I used to have terrible self-esteem and just thought that there was no way I could do it and that I wasn’t good enough, but if I can gain the confidence to succeed, I really believe that you can too. It’s something I had to work really hard at, but you just have to jump in, trust the process, and you will get there. 

Reyné: Yes! You have done so so well in your career and it all started with a leap. Do you have any other words of advice? 

Brooke: Use your resources, and DO NOT give up! Ask for help and don’t be afraid, especially in the Facebook groups. They are amazing communities. You can search for any question in those groups and find incredible answers. 

We really want to teach you to be resourceful and use the tools that we give you. There are no dumb questions, and everyone starts from a different place, so don’t compare yourself to everyone else. Their journey will be different than yours.

Reyné: I haven’t spent a ton of time in the groups, but any time I need help or want to find information, I’m always surprised by how helpful everyone is.

Where Can I Find More of Brooke? 

Reyné: If people want to get in touch with you, where can they find you? 

Brooke: If somebody is having a really tough time or they have questions I can help them at brooke.a@proofreadanywhere.com.

If they have failed a test or an exam and they really need extra help, I would suggest tutoring, but if they just have a few questions, they can come to me.

You can always reach out and I’ll try my best to help because I really want everyone to succeed. I don’t want people to feel intimidated. Yes, the course can seem overwhelming at first, but with  

I still remember submitting my first exam and watching my email nervously for a reply. Now I’m on the other end, and I know exactly how they feel! We’re here to help!

The post Meet the Proofreading Posse: Brooke Interview appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

(The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewer and interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Proofread Anywhere)

In the internet space of freelance instructors and entrepreneurs, Colleen Welsch immediately jumps out as an example of genuine personality and industry transparency.

From her Youtube tutorials and TikTok FAQs to her freelance writing course and coaching services, Colleen is an internet powerhouse who manages to balance career guidance with the blunt honesty and holistic practices needed to make a mark as a successful freelance writer. 

Colleen is a breath of fresh air in the online publishing and work-from-home communities and is a joy to listen to. 

I hope that you find value and inspiration from this interview, just as I did. 

– Reyné

Meet Colleen Welsch — An Entrepreneur and Freelance Writing Coach

Reyné: Do you want to introduce a bit about yourself, your favorite hobbies, your educational experience, or any other personal information that you would like to share?

Colleen: My name is Colleen Welsch and I live in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. 

I’m an entrepreneur, so I have two businesses that I run. 

One is my freelance copywriting business, which I am currently in the process of turning into an agency — which is super exciting, but a lot of work. I think it’ll be worth it. 

I also have a coaching/educational business called The Freelance Writer’s Guide. In this business, I teach people how to become freelance copywriters, or if you’re already a freelance copywriter, how to upgrade your business and make it better. 

But it’s not just about freelancing. It’s also about creating a sustainable, chill business. I’m not about that grind lifestyle. I want to make it so that you have balance in your life and you work smarter, not harder — That’s what we’re all about at The Freelance Writer’s Guide. 

Outside of my businesses, I’m also a musician and music producer. So, I have music on all streaming platforms.

Colleen Welsch – Spotify

Colleen Welsch – Apple Music

Learning how to produce music is something I kind of picked up during the pandemic. I built a little studio in my house and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.

I also am a comedian. So I do improv and sketch comedy. I’m on an improv team and it’s fun.

Finding Jobs that Accommodate Demanding Schedules

Reyné: It seems like you really are creating businesses based on what you love instead of thinking, How can I find a corporation that will actually support something that I like?

Colleen: That’s really, in my opinion, the way you have to go about it. It just reminds me of that scene in Titanic — the greatest movie of all time — when Billy Zane is like, “A real man makes his own luck.” It’s true. You have to create your own opportunities. I have never had any luck with waiting for the right opportunity to come into my lap. 

I definitely tried the corporate lifestyle for years and never found it fulfilling, never found a good fit for me. That’s not the case for everyone, but that’s been my experience. If I want a certain experience, I need to take steps to create that.

Reyné: A lot of our students and graduates are moms or retirees that have schedules or working difficulties that prevent them from being able to work in a traditional office setting. It’s so hard to find companies that are willing to work with people that don’t fit the 9-to-5 mold. 

Colleen: I’m not a mother, but I certainly have experienced that my schedule doesn’t work with the corporate schedule, because I have insomnia. So, I sleep in every day. I have to or else I won’t get enough sleep. I could never be at work at 8:30 in the morning. I’m not even awake at 8:30. So, I can certainly relate to them. 

Now I have a job where I don’t have to work until one or two in the afternoon and I’m done at five. So, that’s great. 

How She Got into Writing

Reyné: I love that. So, you mentioned that you did some work in the corporate field before. Do you want to tell me a little bit about how you kind of got into copywriting, and how you got into entrepreneurship? Are there any resources or people that guided you in this position?

Colleen: So, I was always interested in writing. My favorite movie, when I was a little kid, was Harriet the Spy and I started keeping a diary in 1997. I still keep a diary to this day and I have stacks and stacks of them. 

I have always liked writing. You know when they do career aptitude tests, like in high school? They would always say, “You’ve got to work in a creative field,” but I was never given any kind of support around that from my family because most people in my family are not that creative.

Yeah, my family members have other gifts. They’re very intelligent, but they’re not artists. So, I never got any kind of encouragement that I could pursue a creative field or that there was money in that. 

It seemed like I needed to be a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or something. That was the only way that I was going to have stability and money. So, I just didn’t know. 

How an Accidental Double-Major Lead to the Internship of a Lifetime

When I went to college, I went to a very large university where I was just a number and I never saw an academic advisor or anything. I didn’t really know what to do, so I just took classes that I felt like taking. In the end, when I applied to graduate, they said, “Oh, you can have two degrees.” I thought, oh, how did that happen? I just took too many classes. So, I got a bachelor’s in English and another bachelor’s in anthropology with a minor in classics. 

People think that, because I have an English degree, studying English really contributed to my copywriting, but it really didn’t because I studied English literature. I have never taken a copywriting class in my life — not marketing or anything. 

Getting Her First Big Opportunity

The experience that I did get, which was really great, was an anthropology internship that I had when I was in college. I don’t even know how that happened. It was complete fate that the opportunity presented itself. I guess that kind of backtracks on what I was saying about opportunities falling into my lap. It’s been rare, but this one definitely did!

When I went in to do the interview (this is a really good origin story, I guess, that kind of created a pattern for the rest of my career so far), I made this crazy portfolio to go in for this internship and it was really uncalled for, but I just went all in on it.

The portfolio had nearly every project I’ve ever done, that was cool, in my life. I brought in these t-shirts that I made for the marching band and this anthropology project I did based on Hot or Not, if you remember that website. I brought in all these interesting projects that I had done, even if they weren’t completely relevant, just to say, “I do stuff. I can finish projects. I have good ideas.” They were blown away. 

It was supposed to be a summer internship, but I worked there part-time for two and a half years. Instead of it just being an internship, I worked at the advertising agency three days a week and I went to college two days a week. 

But, I didn’t do copywriting there, either. I was an ethnographic researcher, but I was still in an advertising agency environment, and talking to people who were copywriters. So I knew that it existed, but I never thought about doing it. 

Her First Corporate Job

After I graduated, I started working in fashion retail. I worked in e-commerce. 

Side note — I’ve always had a blog. Not always. I had a blog starting in 2009. I’ve always been on the Internet. I always really liked the Internet — made my first website when I was like in sixth grade. I was just into it. 

So, I started working on an e-commerce site. I was an assistant merchant. I hated it. I hated it. I was at the lowest point of my life, or one of them.

The director of the website just saw something in me and took me to lunch one day and was basically like, what is your problem? Not in those words, but I’m sure that’s what she meant and I just said, “I’m unhappy. I don’t like this work. It’s too much math. I’m more creative. Like, it’s just not a good fit.” So she said, “Okay, we’re going to move you to more of a copywriting role.” 

So, that’s where that started. It was the simplest stuff, though. It was very basic product copy. I just uploaded products to the website and then said — this was for Justice, by the way, the little girl’s store —

Reyné: No way. I loved that store. 

Colleen: — Yeah. I would just write, “unicorn, necklace, glitter.” It was like the simplest copy, but it was still practice. That kind of got me into copywriting, although I was more in digital merchandising at that point, and then kind of moved into just digital marketing over the course of a couple of jobs.

Finding Opportunities within Inefficient Systems

At the last job I had, they had a blog on their website and my boss knew that I had my own blog and she asked, “Do you want to write this? Nobody else wants to do it. Nobody has time for this.” So I said yes and I really liked doing that. 

Then I kind of realized that there must be so many other businesses out there that have these blogs on their websites, and nobody on their team — on the marketing team — can update it because marketing teams are very busy. Also, long-form copy isn’t a skill that people on marketing teams usually have. Even traditional copywriters don’t do long-form copy. So that’s something that gets outsourced, and I knew that from working in marketing and from working at an advertising agency. 

So, I just started emailing people that had a blog on their website that wasn’t updated and I just stuck to things I knew about. I knew about beauty and I knew about fashion. So, I only emailed those kinds of businesses. That’s how I started building my career. 

Resources and People that Shaped Her Career

As far as resources for how to do the business part of it, my then-roommate hooked me up with a couple of people that she knew through networking who had their own businesses in a similar field. She connected me with another beauty copywriter, who was a freelancer, who’d been doing it for like 30 years or something. We had a really great conversation and she gave me a lot of tips. 

Probably the best tip was that I was charging way too little because I was only charging $35 an hour at the time. She said that I needed to charge at least twice that because, when you’re a freelancer, you are in charge of buying your own health insurance and paying your own taxes, including self-employment tax. You’re also in charge of your own retirement accounts and stuff. So you’ve got to double it. Whatever you think you can make, you should ask for more. 

Another thing that she taught me was that, if you have a low price tag, businesses are going to assume that you’re not good. Having a more expensive rate creates the idea that your work is going to be better. Now, will your work actually be better? That’s up to you to level yourself up. It’s up to you to make yourself a copywriter that charges $200 an hour. You don’t wait for someone to tell you that you can charge that much.

She kind of reframed that for me, because I just had that money mentality that I had to work really hard and grind and that’s the only way to make good money and support myself. I didn’t think I deserved to charge $200 an hour because I just couldn’t conceptualize it. 

Another person that my roommate connected me with owned his own marketing agency and he recommended a book called Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port. I read that whole book, and I just started doing anything that resonated with me from that book… I also learned a lot from reading Elna Cain’s blog on freelance writing, and then Jorden Makelle’s Writing Revolt. I don’t know if that’s still active [our team checked, and these resources are active at the time of this interview], but I learned a lot of stuff from those blogs too. 

How Entrepreneurs Require Specific Skills

When you are building a business like this, it’s not just following a plan that somebody else has laid out step by step. That might work for some people, but that doesn’t work for me. I learned from a lot of resources, and then took notes on everything that resonated with me — stuff I felt like actually doing. I’m not going to do stuff I don’t feel like doing, you know? 

Then I just made a plan, put it in order, and then just executed it — step by step. 

What do I need to do?

What are the daily tasks that need to happen?

What needs to happen weekly?

What needs to happen monthly?

What are the other tasks, like the one-off tasks I need to complete?

Then you just build a plan and just do it.

That’s how I started my business.

Embracing Change and Improvement

Reyné: I feel like you’ve already kind of covered something similar to this, but is there anything specific that this career has taught you — the most important thing?

Colleen: Not even that change is always possible, but change is always constant. 

There are always going to be changes happening in your business, but you will also always be changing and keeping on top of that and just embracing it. I’m always trying to improve my business.

I’m always trying to improve the way I set up my day. I have reorganized my schedule and how I track what I’m doing and my productivity methods countless times. I’m always optimizing.

Besides that, I’m always working on myself because, being an entrepreneur, being a freelancer — if you’re a freelancer, you are an entrepreneur — part of your business is your brain. So you have to always be working on yourself, finding new paradigms, mentally. It’s even exploring spirituality and therapy. 

It’s about what you can do to improve your mental game, to make sure that you can show up the best you can for yourself, and for your own business. 

Reyné: That’s super holistic. I love that. 

Colleen: Absolutely. It is. 

It all ties into one thing because I’ve noticed that, depending on what I eat, it affects how my business goes, or when I work out and how I work out. It all goes into the same thing.

Reyné: Yeah, it makes sense. It’s not the way that we traditionally view work, but it’s absolutely how we should view work.

Colleen: It is and traditionally, you check all your personal stuff at the door and then you go to work. You’re just like a zombie — you have no feelings or physical needs or anything. Then when you leave, you can deal with that stuff. I don’t believe in that at all. 

The Benefits of Freelance

Reyné: You mentioned a little bit about working around insomnia and working around your values. Are there any other benefits that you feel freelance writing and being an entrepreneur provides to you that a traditional career wouldn’t?

Yeah. Well, there are two, maybe three, main benefits.

One is motivation.

I was never motivated at any job I had, because I was always working towards someone else’s dream. It’s not my dream. Justice wasn’t my dream. It was Les Wexner’s dream, and he’s a creep. I was just putting money into rich people’s pockets, whose values I didn’t align with. 

That wasn’t the case at every place that I worked at, but some were worse than others — just really bad people running it which is not very motivating. 

You also feel like you’re selling people crap they don’t need, that’s hurting the environment — And who knows what’s happening in the factories. 

I can be more intentional now about the types of brands that I work with. Even if I don’t like the CEO or something, at least I like the team that I’m working with, or I feel like it’s a good product, or I am charging enough to feel fine about it.

Another thing is, as a freelancer, you can make a lot more per hour than in a traditional nine-to-five work environment.

In my experience, when I was working in an office, I worked for two hours a day, maximum, and then I was just there for the rest of the day. Maybe I would be in a meeting, talking to my friends, or just online shopping or something but I wasn’t actually working.

Now if I work two or three hours a day, I’ve worked the same amount but then, when that’s done, I can go do something else, which is nice.

I don’t have to be at the office, but I still make the same amount of money. So I have more time to myself, and make the same amount of money. 

That leads to the third benefit, which is that I have time for hobbies, which I never really had before. 

I prefer this format because this is what people did for thousands of years when people had specialties. They got paid to do that one thing. They just sold their services, whether you were a blacksmith or a basket weaver. You just did that thing, you got paid, and you didn’t have to go into an office for eight to ten hours a day.

Who Would Make a Great Freelance Copywriter?

Reyné: Since you also teach people how to freelance and do copywriting, I wanted to ask: Are there people that are better suited for freelancing and copywriting, as opposed to people that probably shouldn’t consider it, in your experience? 

Colleen: Yeah. There’s definitely a certain personality type that I think thrives in this environment more. It’s not for everybody. 

As you can probably tell from everything I’ve said so far, I’m a person who doesn’t deal well with authority. I’m not a follower. I’m a leader or a lone wolf. I just don’t like having a boss. 

I think anyone who feels that way would do very well as a copywriter. Some people say that if you’re a freelancer then you have multiple bosses, but you can set up the boundaries so much better when you’re a freelancer. You’re really in charge of that, but you do need to have a certain amount of independence and grit. You can’t just throw in the towel easily because there are going to be trying circumstances.

There are going to be difficult months, especially in the beginning getting set up. You really have to have grit and just remember why you’re doing this and keep going. 

How to Learn and Find Resources

I think you do have to be a self-starter — which I hate that phrase because it’s on every job application — but you have to be a person who, when encountering a problem, can google how to fix it and then go fix it instead of just giving up or relying on someone to tell you what to do. 

I have had a lot of people, like a lot of people, just ask me the same questions over and over again. This is on my YouTube channel. I’ve done 100 TikToks on this. I have a playlist of FAQs on TikTok. It’s there. People will ask, “What’s your advice for someone starting out?” That’s what my whole channel is.

It’s great to ask questions and stuff, but ask questions after you’ve done some research.

I am grateful for everybody who watches my content and asks questions, but I do feel like, in order to succeed as an entrepreneur, you’re not always going to be able to ask people. This is not something that would happen at work or at school where you always have guidance. 

When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t always have guidance. You just have to figure it out by yourself.

I also think that learning to figure out stuff yourself is a learnable skill. I wasn’t always like that. You can learn that. Once you learn something small — from YouTube or something — and do it, and then you believe that you can do anything. It’s just on YouTube. Just learn how to do it.

If, at First, You Don’t Succeed

Reyné: Along with having hard times: I feel like a lot of people that start out, especially in freelance or a self-directed career, have a hard time dealing with criticism at the beginning because their confidence isn’t that high yet. Are there any times that you felt like your confidence was hit or like things went really poorly?

Colleen: Yeah. Things definitely went poorly. That’s for sure.

I used to be really, exceptionally bad with money. I just didn’t know anything about money at all. 

I have never been a big math person and I never learned about budgeting or how credit cards worked. I didn’t learn any of that stuff. I didn’t know how it worked. 

I failed at freelancing twice before I made it happen on the third try, so I can definitely relate to that.

The first two times I failed, it was because I just didn’t have a plan and I didn’t believe in myself enough to go for it. 

Part of it was because I had a drinking problem, too. I just didn’t have the time or the focus to sit down and work because I was always hungover. So, that was a big issue.

The third time when I did make freelancing work, I almost didn’t. I ran out of money really fast because I didn’t know how much to save or how to budget or how to even figure out how much I should save. 

I ran out of money so fast that I had to move in with my parents. I was incredibly privileged to even have that option. 

That did give me some courage during that period of my life because I thought, the worst thing that could happen is that I have to move in with my parents — and it happened.

Taking Chances and Chasing Dreams

I did one crazy thing before I started freelancing that kind of made everybody in my life shut up about the freelancing thing. I moved to LA when I was 25 and I had $3,000, no job, and no apartment. I just like put all my stuff in my car and then my mom and I drove out there.

I slept on my cousin’s couch for a couple of weeks until I got an apartment and I just moved in with a friend I barely knew and who had just moved to LA too. 

Everything turned out fine. I got a job. We got an apartment. There were some trying times while I was there but I figured it out and I think that gave my parents some confidence in me. But they have also always said that I could do anything I want.

… Everybody else in my family doesn’t understand me and what I’m doing anyways. So, that’s fine. 

Reyné: Thanksgiving is only once a year. It’s fine. 

— Both laugh — 

The Final Spark that Lead to Success

Reyné: I think a lot of people look to successful people and think that it’s never been hard for them. They’ve always done well. Look at them, they’re perfect. But, I think it’s great to realize that everyone is not great at the beginning, and sometimes not great all the time.

Colleen: I would say what made the biggest difference on my third try was that I was really clear about my “why.” 

I knew why I was doing this and I wasn’t going to quit because I wasn’t going to give up. 

Part of it was desperation. I was very depressed and I had significant alcoholism problems at the time. 

What changed everything for me was visiting China. I’d never really been outside of the US before besides Canada — barely counts, in my opinion. I thought, Oh my god there’s this whole world out here and I want to go see more of it.

I knew that I really wanted to become a digital nomad. So, I needed to transition into freelancing. I needed to make this much per month in order to make that happen and I had a timeline for myself because I actually knew I was going to get laid off.

So, I saved money, did a bunch of research, made a plan, and that was what really made a difference for me — just knowing why I was going to do it.

Once I moved in with my parents, who live in Ohio, I knew that I couldn’t give up on this, so I just did it.

Being Vulnerable and Honest About Imperfection

Reyné: I really appreciate you being so raw and open and honest about this, because I feel like, especially in the influencer space or the social media space, there is a lot of skimming over issues or avoiding them — especially eating disorders, especially drug problems, especially drinking problems — because people don’t want to make it seem like they’re not perfect. If they have issues that everyone has, then it might affect their business, but I really appreciate you being so real.

Colleen: Yeah, I mean, definitely keep in anything about having a drinking problem because I think that is an important part of the story. 

I always thought that I couldn’t have a drinking problem. I didn’t drink that much compared to other people I know and definitely not intervention-levels of drinking. I wasn’t drinking a gallon of vodka a day and laying on a mattress on the floor. I had a job and stuff, but if you feel like you have a problem, you probably do have a problem.

Even if you drink less than other people you know and they don’t have a problem, it’s personal. It’s not about how much you’re actually drinking.

Also, I’m not a drug counselor. That’s just my experience.

I’ve also read a lot of books on drinking and if your readers are curious about that subject, I would say Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker is a really good resource, not just for women — anyone can read it. 

That book completely changed my perspective on alcohol in general and now I’ll never drink again, because I feel like alcohol is a tool that “the man” uses to keep us down. I’ll never drink again. There’s no point to it.

I just wish someone would have said to me, when I was younger, “You don’t have to drink.”

That never occurred to me until I started seeing a therapist when I was 30.

Everyone should go to therapy. Even if you feel like you don’t have a problem, go to therapy — there’s probably something. There’s always something. I didn’t think I had any problems and oh, lord, I did.

Salary Estimates for Freelance Copywriters

Reyné: Do you have an estimate of what you think people would make in this job or an example that we can give people that might be interested? It doesn’t have to be your salary.

Colleen: I mean, as with anything, it’s what you make it.

If you think that all you’re worth is $0.01 a word, that’s all you’re going to make. It has a lot to do with your money mindset. 

Whatever experience you choose to have, that’s what you’re going to have, but I think it is helpful to know that there are people who make six figures in this field. There are people that make multiple six figures in this field.

I, personally, don’t make that much. I make between $6,000 to $8,000 a month but, as I said, I work for two or three hours a day.

So that’s my choice.

I could work more and I could probably make more money, honestly. That’s something that is a block that I’m up against — feeling like I can’t make more than $8,000 a month as a copywriter.

I know I could and that’s what I’m trying to figure out now.

That’s what I’m researching and making a plan and going for next. 

Where to Find More from Colleen Welsch (and Free Resources)

Reyné: Is there anything else that you want to throw in there — anything that we should know?

Colleen: Well, I have tons and tons of free content on my website, on my YouTube channel, and on TikTok. 

On my website, I also have some freebies, like a cold pitch kit. As I mentioned before, that’s how I started my business — cold pitching. 

So, I have the templates that I used to launch my business and the tracker that I used to track all the people that I was cold pitching to so I didn’t forget who they were or pitch them twice.

That is all available for free on my website, The Freelance Writer’s Guide.

I also have some digital products on there, like how to get started as a freelance copywriter.

I have an SEO workshop. I have a service menu template.

Those are all on my website and they’re all less than $40.

I have a course called The Freelance Writers Guide to the Galaxy, which is a self-guided course, step by step (Proofread Anywhere readers can get 20% off when you use the code “PROOFREAD” at checkout). You can learn what you need to do to be a freelance writer based on my experiments and trying to freelance. As part of the course, we have a monthly office hours call and anybody can sign up and ask questions. You can also submit your portfolio for review. The call is on Wednesday evenings once a month.

I have a one-on-one coaching program called Six Weeks to Launch, where I will help you and tell you what to do to be successful. There’s accountability, so I’ll check over everything that you’re doing, edit your portfolio pieces, and guide you along to get you to that place where you are ready to freelance and ready to have clients.

Also, you should stream my music on Spotify or Apple Music and, if you live in the Cleveland area, come to one of my improv shows!

Reyné: Thank you so much for this. You’ve been really fun to listen to. I feel like I also got a lot of great advice from this.

Coleen: Well, thank you.

Thanks for asking me and thanks for giving me the opportunity to just go off on a really long tangent.

Reyné: I enjoyed every minute of it.

Find Out More

If you want more information about Colleen or her business, you can follow her on Instagram:

The Freelance Writer’s Guide – Instagram

Colleen From The Internet – Instagram

The post From Unhappy Corporate Jobs to Entrepreneurial Excellence: An Interview with Colleen Welsch appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

Ever wondered what it takes to get better at grammar?

Worried that grammar apps have replaced human proofreaders?

Intrigued by how one becomes a grammarian?

We’re answering these questions and more today in our interview with Ellen Feld from Grammar Lion!

After becoming a mom, Ellen was looking for a career change and found a way to combine her love of teaching with her excellent grammar knowledge. She created an online grammar course to help people communicate better, and every day her students benefit from her passion.

I’m stoked to be able to collaborate with a fellow grammar nerd to bring you this interview. 

If you want to learn why grammar is so important, even in an age where grammar apps exist, keep reading!

Hi, Ellen! Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in your line of work.

Some people know me as a grammarian and online instructor, but I’m a creative writer too — poetry, fiction, personal essays, and children’s books. 

Right out of grad school, I taught developmental writing to college students. The first intimidating stack of student papers (and they were paper then) was the catalyst for my interest in teaching grammar. I had no idea how to comment constructively on essays written by students who hadn’t been taught basic writing skills. 

I’ve never believed writing is all about grammar. It’s not. Good grammar doesn’t make good writing, but good writing demands good grammar. 

I was lucky to have had an education that included grammar rights and wrongs. But I didn’t have a grammar language to share with students. I started studying the same textbook the college assigned to its students. Then I made grammar part of how we worked on refining writing. 

(As a writing instructor, I ask students to create first, free from the boundaries of rules. Grammar comes into the redrafting and editing stages.)

Fast forward — I was a mom exploring a career change. I enrolled in my first online course because I wanted to learn how to build web pages. Distance education was a new thing. I liked the medium so much that I knew I wanted to use it to teach. I found a platform and got to work developing my first online grammar course. 

That’s awesome! The internet has opened up so many opportunities for people to learn new skills without having to attend classes in person. What do you do now and whom do you help?

I’ve been teaching grammar online for 18 years, and I also work as a developmental editor.

Students come to my course from across the globe. They’re a truly diverse group. From teens to octogenarians, they represent a range of ages, education, and work experience. 

Most of us have to do some kind of writing, whatever our role or job title is. We have applications to fill out and forms to complete. We have to email bosses, patients, staff, teachers, government officials, family, or friends. We don’t have to write white papers to have reason to use our grammar smarts. We all want and need to be understood.

Our writing represents who we are. 

I couldn’t agree more. Anyone who writes anything can benefit from using good grammar. What’s your favorite part of your job?

I have two favorite parts: (1) I love the connection with students. It’s virtual but tangible; and (2) I’m gratified every time a student experiences pride and joy in learning something they can use in their real world, whether it’s mastering the apostrophe or understanding the difference between lay and lie. I tell them to celebrate. Small changes add up to a big change.

Is there a demand for people with good grammar skills? What kinds of companies are looking for people with good grammar skills? 

There sure is! What kind of company doesn’t value good grammar skills? Just this past week an HR manager of a relocation company told me she was seeing a lot of “nearly cringeworthy” email exchanges among staff. Nobody wants emails like those going out to clients.

Do you think it’s possible to use your grammar and punctuation skills to earn an income from home?

More and more of us work remotely. And it isn’t all phone and Zoom; it involves written communication. People need basic writing skills so they can communicate with confidence.

For any remote worker doing any kind of writing or editing — from fundraising to responding in a chat box to helping an indie author — good grammar will come into play. People with grammar skills are a tremendous asset.

If you’re just getting started with a home-based business, grammar skills can help you build your brand and show your communication strength. 

There are obvious benefits to having a foundation in grammar for work requiring transcribing, proofreading, or straightforward messaging. But there’s a broader need for good grammar. Employers expect their people to wear many hats. We’re supposed to create “publication-ready” writing. We need good grammar to accomplish that.

Even jobs that seem to have nothing to do with writing ultimately require writing and editing skills. A designer may have to proofread a blog. A virtual assistant may be asked to create sales copy.

What about all those grammar apps that are available now? Are people who are good at grammar not needed anymore?

Every day I use Word’s spelling and grammar check and the spell check in my email program. It’s hard for writers to see their own mistakes, and apps can help. 

In the future, artificial intelligence could surpass an editor’s abilities. Until then, people are better than apps at understanding context and meaning. We can process nuances. We can decide if something is right or wrong and judge the validity of an app’s decision. 

To do any of that, we need to know grammar rules and understand how to apply them. Grammar apps often fall short on application! 

I think apps are great for a quick first and/or final check. For that deeper round of edits, our human brains are best.

The robots haven’t taken over yet! Do you think you can learn how to be good at grammar, etc. or do you have to be born with eagle eyes? What kind of traits do people who are good at grammar have?

It helps to have an eagle eye and the patience for doing close detail work. But good grammar comes from knowledge and skills that anyone who wants to can develop. 

We often like what we’re good at and get gratification from being good at something. Not everyone loves grammar, but a lot of people are surprised by how much they enjoy it when they come to it today because they’re motivated to learn how to use it now, whatever they do. 

An eagle eye is a must-have! For those who are a good fit, how would you recommend they improve their grammar skills?

Be ready to learn, but be patient with yourself. We don’t earn our grammar black belts in an hour. We go to class and we practice. 

Use tools like books, quizzes, and online grammar courses. Read and question what you read.

Keep resources like an online dictionary at your fingertips. It’s free and will teach you about a whole lot more than spelling. 

Be discerning with online resources. There’s a lot of bad info floating around. Use reliable sites.

Don’t worry about memorizing. In my course, I encourage students to focus on comprehension. I equip them with the resources to research what they’re unsure of or don’t remember. This is part of grammar empowerment. 

I always say that! You don’t need to memorize every single rule; you just need to be aware of them and know how to find the answers. What makes your course different from other online grammar courses?

The truth is grammar books and courses all have pretty much the same material. 

The first difference is presentation. The course is comprehensive, straightforward, and serious. We get down to the nitty-gritty. It’s not lofty; it’s practical. There’s no passive video watching. Students in this course read their lessons — written words are the best medium for actively learning this subject. 

The biggest difference comes in my personal approach. I was a college instructor. I offer the distance learning equivalent of what I offered in the face-to-face classroom. I’m accessible. There’s a real person behind the screen who wants her students to succeed. I’m rooting for them. Really. And I think students know this.  

Students have options in my course. They can be entirely independent and complete their course without ever interacting with their classmates and me. Alternatively, anyone who wants support can get it. I’m always ready to help. Our course discussion board is for real questions seeking real answers. I respond to every message. Students who prefer a more private approach can email me. 

Everybody’s invited to Grammar Lion on Facebook, where the learning continues. My email door is always open to students. When their course time ends, I’m still here for them. 

Our Take

Ellen’s love of teaching really shines through in her words! You will definitely be in good hands if you sign up for her Grammar Lion: A Grammar Refresher course. I’ve gone through the course content and it is SOLID!

You might be wondering why I’m promoting someone else’s grammar course… 

Here’s why: There isn’t much overlap between the Proofread Anywhere courses and Grammar Lion. Grammar Lion isn’t a proofreading course; it’s an online grammar course. You’re not going to get the same information about how to use your resources, get practice, and start or grow a proofreading business. That’s what Proofread Anywhere courses are for! 

With Grammar Lion, you’ll fill in the gaps in your knowledge — those grammar concepts you never quite grasped. 

Our students are huge fans of the course!

Your Turn

If you’re struggling to improve your English grammar or you want to get into the nitty-gritty and learn the whys and wherefores of grammar rules, Grammar Lion: A Grammar Refresher is the course for you!

You better act fast: Grammar Lion is a steal right now, but I don’t know how long it will remain that price!

The post Get Better at Grammar appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

At this stage, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard every single objection to quitting your job and being your own boss. 

One that always sticks out in my mind is the fear of not having a pension. 

I get it; the thought of not being able to provide for yourself when you’re retired is scary!

Luckily, there are low-cost retirement plan options for self-employed individuals available. And I’ve asked R.J. Weiss from The Ways to Wealth to come on the blog today and share these options with us. 

Take it away, R.J.!

4 Low-Cost Retirement Plan Options for Self-Employed Individuals

There are many benefits to being self-employed. Unfortunately, a done-for-you 401(k) plan, where contributions are taken automatically from your paycheck and matched by an employer, isn’t one of them. 

That’s the bad news. 

The good news is that if you’re willing to navigate the slightly more complex choices of retirement plan options that exist for self-employed individuals, you can create a DIY retirement program that far outweighs what any employer can offer.

In this post, you’ll learn about four different retirement plan options available to the self-employed — some of which come with incredible tax advantages. 

#1. Traditional or Roth IRA

Best For: Those who plan to save less than $6,000 for retirement over the course of the year.

Quick Summary: An individual retirement account — more commonly referred to as an IRA — allows individuals to save money either tax-free or tax-deferred. 

For tax-free growth, you’ll want to make contributions to a type of IRA called a Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA, you’re contributing after-tax dollars into the account. Those funds, which you then invest, can grow and can be withdrawn tax-free during retirement. This is typically the best option for those who expect their tax rate to increase over time. 

For tax-deferred growth, you’ll want to open a traditional IRA. This allows you to make pre-tax contributions that grow tax-deferred — in other words, you’ll pay taxes upon withdrawal. A traditional account is typically better for those who plan on being in a lower tax bracket at the time of withdrawal.

While IRAs are not exclusive to the self-employed, they’re a great starter option due to their low costs and low minimums. 

Pros:

• Get tax-deferred or tax-free growth.
• Low-cost brokerages, like Betterment and SoFi, have no account minimums and limited fees.

Cons:

• The contribution limits for IRAs are on the lower side ($6,000 in 2020, or $7,00 if you’re over the age of 50).

#2. One-Participant 401(k)

Best For: Higher earning self-employed business owners, with no employees other than a spouse (independent contractors are OK).

Quick Summary: Officially called a one-participant 401(k) by the IRS, but commonly referred to as solo or individual 401(k), this type of account closely resembles an employer 401(k). 

What’s great about a one-participant 401(k) is that you get to contribute as both the employee and the employer. That means there’s significant potential for tax savings. 

In 2020, the total combined contributions (from both the employer and employee side) to a one-participant 401(k) cannot exceed $57,000 (or $63,000 for those over the age of 50). 

These contribution limits are on an individual basis. Therefore, spouses who work together and have no employees can contribute over $100,000 combined each year.

Pros:

• Can consistently adjust your contributions based on cash flow.
• Simple filing requirements you can handle on your own.
• Low-cost brokerage options are available.

Cons:

• Not available if you have any employees.

#3. SEP IRA

Best For: High-earning business owners, or business owners with a small number of employees.

Quick Summary: In 2020, with a simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA, you can contribute up to the lesser of 25% of your total income or $57,000. If you have employees, it’s required that you contribute an equal percentage to their accounts. 

For example, let’s say you make $100,000 a year and contribute 20% to your own SEP IRA. If you have an employee who makes $50,000 a year, you’ll have to contribute $10,000 to their account.

Pros:

• It’s not mandatory to make contributions to your account. That means you can contribute 0% in some years if needed, giving you a degree of flexibility with cash flow.
• Higher contribution limits than a one-participant 401(k) for high-income earners.
• Easy to start and administer.

Cons:

• You cannot contribute more than 25% of your income. As such, unless you’re earning a mid-six-figure income, the contribution limits of an SEP IRA will be lower than a one-participant 401(k).
• It’s mandatory that you match contributions to an employee account.

#4. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

Best For: Those with a high-deductible health plan.

Quick Summary: If you have a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), you can and probably should be contributing to a health savings account (HSA). The first and most common use of an HSA is to pay for medical expenses. 

With an HSA, you contribute pre-tax dollars. These contributions accumulate tax-free, and you can withdraw the money tax-free to pay for medical expenses in the current year.

However, it’s not required that you use the money you’ve saved for medical expenses. As such, many people use an HSA as an additional way to save for retirement. 

At the age of 65, you can withdraw the money you’ve saved tax-free. So, there’s actually a triple tax advantage: you’re getting a tax break today, your savings grow tax-free, and you can withdraw the money tax-free in retirement. 

Pros:

• Can use as a vehicle to both save for retirement or save today on medical expenses.
• Triple tax advantage.

Cons:

• You’re required to have a qualifying high-deductible health plan.

Final Thoughts

Working for someone else can have certain advantages. The free money you get with an employer match is certainly one of them — as is the fact that your contribution is withdrawn from your paycheck automatically. 

Ultimately, it’s making contribution after contribution, compounded over multiple years, that’s going to help you build significant wealth in your lifetime. 

As such, it’s important not to wait for the money to be left in your account. Instead, apply the same basic principle of “paying yourself first” that’s helped many people before you reach their financial goals. 

Ideally, set aside a certain percentage of your income and contribute that amount month after month to the retirement account of your choosing. Even if you can only contribute 5% as of today, the earlier you begin to let compound interest work for you the better off you’ll be. 

Tip: One book that has helped me and many others better manage cash flow is Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. If you ever struggle with how much to pay yourself, I can’t recommend it enough. 

Our Take

I love that book! Thanks for the recommendation and for all the retirement plan options you’ve shared with us today, R.J.! You’ve taken the mystery and overwhelm out of the equation and shown us that we don’t have to fear retirement. 

Your Turn

Not self-employed yet? Let me help you get started! Check out our FREE proofreading course to learn more about becoming a freelance proofreader!

R.J. Weiss is the founder and editor of The Ways To Wealth, a Certified Financial Planner, husband, and father of three. He’s spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications.

The post 4 Low-Cost Retirement Plan Options for Self-Employed Individuals appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

Are you nervous about giving up a regular paycheck for one that fluctuates month to month? Don’t know how to track your income and expenses? Not sure how to manage your freelance budget?

You’re not the only one! This uncertainty stops a lot of wannabe work-at-home heroes from starting their freelance businesses. You can make this change feel a lot less daunting if you plan for it. 

Eric Goldshein from Fundera is showing us how we can manage our freelance budget and make it work for us. 

Take it away, Eric!

How to make your freelance budget less of a guessing game

As a freelancer, you are your business. Because of this, your freelance budget is almost synonymous with your own personal budget. This overlap of the personal and the professional makes budgeting even more important than it would be if you weren’t self-employed. 

If you’re not keeping things tidy with your freelancing budget, your finances could soon unravel. Making your freelance budget less of a guessing game every month, quarter, and year is crucial to your long-term financial security.  

Once you master your freelance budget, you can focus on growing your freelance business and surpassing your expected revenues. But, first things first, let’s cover the tenets of making your freelance budget as predictable as possible:

Track your cash flow

As with any business, your freelancing career requires a broad snapshot of its financial health. Calculating and keeping an eye on your cash flow—the money coming in and out of your freelance budget in a given time frame—can help you do just that. Cash flow tells you what kind of money you have on hand and allows you to understand how, and when, money flows into and out of your freelance budget. 

To calculate your cash flow for a specific window of time, you subtract your total expenses from your total revenues within that time. Remember: The revenues you plug in need to be actual revenues, rather than projected revenues. For instance, if you have a few invoices outstanding, those amounts won’t factor into your total revenues for your cash flow calculation. 

Document your business expenses

Cash flow reports provide a helpful view of your freelance budget. But you’ll need to get a more detailed snapshot of your freelance expenses. 

Keeping a detailed log of your business expenses is crucial for tax reasons. In order to write off whatever purchases you have to make for your business come tax season, you’ll need to keep track of them. 

Many accounting software options that cater to freelancers offer deduction searches that sift through your bank statements, to help you find expenses that appear to be business expenses.

A more affordable alternative to tracking your business expenses is simply opening up a separate bank account, whether it’s a new business checking account or a new credit card account. Put all your business expenses on this new account, and you won’t have to do the work to sort them out later. 

This expense tracking can also help you keep an eye on just how much you’re spending on your freelancing projects. Check in regularly to see what your freelance expenses are adding up to, and make sure they line up with what you projected them to be. If they aren’t, then you should adjust your estimates and rates accordingly. 

Find an ongoing gig with an anchor client

Unfortunately, freelancing work can sometimes be an all-or-nothing situation. One month, you might turn away clients because you’re too busy. The next month, you might scrape the barrel for work. 

Getting ongoing projects with an anchor client or two can help offset the unpredictable nature of freelancing. Anchor clients are businesses and clients who offer you a steady flow of ongoing work, providing you with predictable income from month-to-month. Having an anchor gig can help even out your freelance budget and generally make your life a lot less stressful.

Set aside money for quarterly taxes

Don’t forget to set aside a solid portion of your freelance income for your quarterly taxes. Calculating your quarterly taxes for freelancers requires a bit of math, but setting aside around 30% of whatever you make should put you in a good position to afford those seasonal sums. 

When the time comes to pay the IRS, be sure to make exact calculations, though. If you need a little help, many accounting software options designed for freelancers can calculate your estimate for you. From there, you or your accountant can check the math and pay the appropriate sum online through the IRS payment portal.

Purchase business insurance

Finally, business insurance can help shore up your freelance budget for potential liabilities in the future. By buying business insurance policies like general liability insurance and professional liability insurance, you can protect your freelance and personal assets from business liabilities like lawsuits, injuries, or property damage. 

It’s unlikely that a proofreader, editor, or anyone else in the letters business will be the subject of a lawsuit based on an injury—which general liability insurance would cover. Professional liability insurance, however, can cover you in the event of a negligence-based lawsuit, or a contract dispute. Some clients may require you to have insurance. 

For more information and to see what types of insurance make sense for you, check out a resource like Insureon or Fundera.

Next steps for nailing your freelance budget

Now that you’re familiar with the best ways to make your freelance budget more predictable, what are your next steps? If there are any of these key steps you haven’t done yet, get ready to take action. 

Whether you need to open a new, business-specific spending account, or you want to find accounting software that offers quarterly tax estimate calculations, these steps are simple and low-cost. All that’s left is to make some moves. And you already know you’re good at that; it’s what made you a freelancer in the first place. 

Eric Goldschein is an editor and writer at Fundera, a marketplace for small business financial solutions such as small business loans. He has nearly a decade of experience in digital media and covers entrepreneurship, marketing, financing, and small business trends. 

Our take

There you have it! Your freelance budget doesn’t have to be a source of worry or overwhelm. If you put steps in place to manage your budget, you’ll feel a lot more confident every month and come tax time. 

Your turn

Haven’t started your freelance career yet? Check out our free Intro to Proofreading workshop to see if proofreading could be the right fit for you!

The post How to Make Your Freelance Budget appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

We all know why proofreaders are awesome. They help writers fix grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. That benefit is the main reason why so many writers hire proofreaders. 

But there are other more hidden benefits of hiring a proofreader! Not only can proofreaders help writers improve the quality of their work but they can also save them time and leave them with enough creative energy to pump out more content. 

When a writer can find the time to write more, they can earn more. And the more they write, the more they need to hire a proofreader. Win-win for everyone!

Today on the blog, Kevin from Freelanceaholics shares how hiring a proofreader nearly doubled his income as a freelance writer!

Take it away, Kevin!

How Hiring a Proofreader Nearly DOUBLED My Income

I’m not a good profreadr proofreader.  

I hate editing. Probably because I’m not any good at it.

Always have and always will.

And don’t even get me started on punctuation. Based on her rancor regarding the colon vs. semicolon debate (and her condemnation of misused apostrophes), Caitlin would probably go into cardiac arrest if she were my proofreader.

Source: Pinterest

I’m a writer. Not a proofreader. 

When the juices are flowing and my brain is cooking, the words basically write themselves. I can write a quality 1,000-word blog in a shade over 30 minutes.

But editing was always my biggest weakness.

As I was working my way up, I heard great feedback consistently… but always with a caveat:

 “Hey, Kevin. Great blog, but there were a few typos. Can you go back and fix that?”.

“Loved the blog, man, but the typos look VERY unprofessional”

“Hey, Kev. The content manager is on vacation this week so nobody will be there to check the work. DO. NOT. MAKE. ANY. MISTAKES. DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME!?!?”

I got you, man. Stop yelling…

But, actually… he was right. I didn’t get him. Didn’t work out much longer with me and that agency.

Looking back from where I am now, I realize the one “level-up” that helped me nearly double my income: MY PROOFREADER.

Ben is an awesome proofreader. He also happens to be one of my best friends and former roommate when we lived in Prague. We can totally relate to the value of personal connections in online business and safeguarding our work.

I see typos like a bat sees — well — anything.

But Ben has hawk eyes.

Now, instead of spending God knows how long proofreading 3,000–4,000 word mega posts (and destroying my brain), I just put a link in Trello, wait a bit, and BOOM it’s done perfectly.

My efficiency NOW compared to two years ago is basically night and day. 

Wait, Kevin. How Did a Proofreader Actually Help 2x Your Income?

Keeping track of everything in Trello is easy. Imagine how long it would take me to write all of this if I had to proofread it? **Shudders** NOTE: That’s not Ben’s real name. 

Imagine you’re a freelance writer like me.

You’re writing, researching, and cooking up new ideas constantly. And since you’re crazy creative, there’s a good chance you didn’t sleep well the night before.

Your brainpower is your biggest asset. Having a proofreader to care for my biggest, most time-consuming weakness has been a game changer in every sense of the word.

I can save my brainpower now…

You already know I hate editing (see above). 

Before, I would slog through each article and edit only because I had to. It’s tough to break into this business, and even harder to maintain a good reputation once you have it. 

Typos, poor punctuation, and repetitive writing will sink your career faster than (insert disgraced politician, actor, or comedian here).

By the time I’d finished editing a 2,000-word piece, I didn’t have enough brainpower to move on to the next one. I’d have to rest for a while, go for a run, read an interesting article, or play some music just to get the juices running again.

Now, BOOM: I send it off to Ben and I get RIGHT TO WORK on the next one with my brain intact. I can easily crank out 3,000–4,000 words a day (on multiple topics) now if I know the topic well. 

Before, I’d get to 2,000 words, stop, proofread, and then feel like “Nah, time to rest.”

It obviously saves time…

You work-at-home heroes don’t need me to say this, but proofreading takes a long time. 

I can write a 500-word blog post in 20 minutes or less. It might very well take me the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME TO PROOFREAD IT (OR MORE!).

And even then I STILL might not catch all the errors. Now, I just move right along to the next piece. In the time it used to take me to write a 500-word blog post and edit it, I can now write two 500-word posts. (Though I normally don’t even write at this length anymore.)

It increases the quality of my work…

Remember all that negative feedback from clients?

That pretty much never happens anymore.

Every client of mine gets high-quality work without punctuation, formatting, or spelling errors. And my proofreader catches me when I slip up and get lazy.

If he notices my quality slipping or poor word choice, he leaves notes or comments and notifies me immediately. Like this…

Notice the typo… I told you I’m not any good at this. Ignore the use of “ur”; this isn’t official documentation.

Now, I can churn out more work at higher quality. His proofreading might have helped me MORE than double my income.

OK cool, Kevin. So How Does That Help Us Work-at-Home Heroes?

Good question… I’ll explain.

The majority of freelance writers I know DON’T use a proofreader. Maybe I’m just not talking to the right people, but it seems to me like this is an untapped resource for proofreaders to break into the business.

I don’t know what rates are like across the board, but I know that Ben makes an easy couple of hundred dollars a month proofreading for me, and it doesn’t take him much time at all.

Closing thoughts on hiring a proofreader

Having a proofreader has been huge now that I’ve launched Freelanceaholics. I’ve been working on creating a resource for freelance writers online for quite a while, but it’s been hard to find the time.

Especially with the mega guides I’ve been writing, there’s no way I could possibly edit them on my own and still get enough work done.

So on behalf of all the writers out there, THANKS!

Without a proofreader, who knows where I would be today?

Our take

I love that Kevin realizes the value of having a proofreader! Book authors aren’t the only ones who need our help; let’s add freelance writers to our list of possible clients! If they have the time and creative energy to double their income, that means more work for you!

Your turn

Want to offer professional proofreading services to freelance writers and help boost their income (and yours!)? Check out our free Intro to Proofreading workshop to learn how you can get started as a proofreader. 

Hey, I’m Kevin, and I’m a guitar-playing vagabond and freelance writer with more than 5 years of experience writing e-commerce and high-value niche web content (legal, medical, dental content). I’ve recently gone on to launch Freelanceaholics, a learning resource for new writers. It covers my complete experience in this business from building a career from SCRATCH to earning more than $5,000 a month writing. And all while living on the road.

The post How Hiring a Proofreader Nearly DOUBLED My Income appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

Take a wild guess at what the number one fear of starting your own business is…

Fear of not being able to get clients!

I’ve heard it all!

I hate marketing.

I don’t know how to get clients.

The proofreading market is saturated. (Pssst… it’s not!)

It’s too hard to make money on Upwork.

R.J. Weiss from The Ways to Wealth is here to share his secrets to being successful on Upwork and prove to us that it’s possible to stand out from the crowd.

Take it away, R.J.!

How I Went from Earning $10 to $100 an Hour on Upwork

Most freelancers have a love-hate relationship with Upwork.

There are no doubt quality jobs on the platform, regardless of your profession and skill set. But the difficulty of landing your first few clients, the competition to win more clients, and the ever-changing fee structure have led many people to leave the platform before scoring their first contract.

In my case, Upwork helped kick start a full-time work-at-home career. On my first project, I made $50 writing a simple brochure, which took around five hours. By the time I stopped using Upwork as a freelancer, I had completed twenty-six jobs and was billing over $100 an hour.

How did I ramp up my hourly rate so quickly and become part of the minority that thrives on the platform? By implementing the two-part strategy that I outline below.

Whether you’re a proofreader, an editor, a writer, or belong to one of the dozens of other professions that can make money on Upwork, this formula can help you land more clients and increase your rates.

Let’s dive in…

Strategy #1: Have a Winning Profile and Proposal

As someone who now hires freelancers on Upwork, I can tell you that the majority of proposals I receive are bad ⁠– as in laugh-out-loud bad. Perhaps the most common mistake I see is the submission of a boiler-plate proposal that makes it obvious the applicant didn’t even read the job post.

This is good news for you as a freelancer because it means that putting in just a bit of effort allows you to stand out. Plus, “wowing” a prospective client ⁠by creating an Upwork proposal that’s far different than every other applicant is fairly easy.

Wowing a client is a two-part process:

1. Create a winning profile
2. Write a perfect proposal

Let’s dive into creating your profile…

Part #1: Setting up Your Profile

Before you apply for your first job, it’s important to separate yourself from the competition with a winning profile. Just like proposals, most Upwork profiles are quite poor. As such, going a bit above and beyond lets you separate yourself from the crowd.

Here’s how to stand out.

Use a Professional-Looking Photo

First things first: you want to have a professional-looking photo. You don’t need to get a professional head shot by any means ⁠– a good rule of thumb is to use a similar photo to what you’d use on LinkedIn.

Write a Benefit-Rich Job Title and Overview

Upwork allows you to customize both your job title and your overview. It’s natural to make this sound like a résumé, as in making it all about you ⁠– your skills, experience, qualifications, etc.

Instead, you should focus on making your profile all about your client. Specifically, how are you going to save your client time and/or make your client money?

For example, say you’re looking to get hired as a proofreader.

Instead of opting for a job title such as “proofreader,” you might say something like, “Meticulous Proofreader with a Fast Turnaround Time.”

The same concept should also be applied to the overview section.

A good shortcut for writing in this client-facing style is to take every skill, experience, and qualification you list on your résumé and ask yourself the following question:

So what?

For example, let’s use the example of having a B.A. in English.

Instead of listing this qualification, you might say something like:

“With a B.A. in English, I’m up to date on all the latest styles of writing, so you can be 100% confident the text you’re turning in will come back error-free and exactly to your specifications.”

Advanced Tip: Beyond a benefit-rich title and overview, it’s also important to include keywords ⁠in both sections. While this doesn’t help you much when you’re first getting started, once you start to deliver projects and get good ratings, this will help you get discovered and invited to job openings by potential clients.

As for what keywords to choose, aim to overlap what’s unique about you and what’s in demand on the Upwork platform. A good exercise is to simply look at a number of current job openings to see what keywords they use.

Example keywords you may want to include in your title or overview include:

• Book
• eBook
• Essays
• Application
• Résumé
• Manuscript

Part #2: Writing Your Proposal like a Pro

Once you have your profile set up, it’s time to start submitting proposals. When you’re just starting out, your #1 goal is earning three five-star ratings from clients. That means you want to focus on short-term projects where you can get quick feedback.

If that means bidding under what you normally charge, consider it an investment in your future. With higher ratings you can charge higher rates, so you’ll come out ahead in the long term.

Nonetheless, winning that first job without any feedback on your profile isn’t easy. Here are four tips to make it happen as soon as possible:

Tip #1: Read the Proposal Thoroughly

When applying for jobs on Upwork, think quality over quantity. Taking twenty minutes to craft a proposal that addresses the needs of the client better than everyone else is going to help you land that first gig.

Tip #2: Show Social Proof

If you’re brand new to Upwork, you lack the #1 form of social proof on the platform: client feedback. However, that doesn’t mean your proposal should lack proof demonstrating your skills.

Other forms of proof include samples from past projects, mentions of previous clients you worked with outside of Upwork, and even linking to your portfolio or website.

Tip #3: Aim to Continue the Conversation

When I would write a proposal, my goal wasn’t to win the job outright. Instead, my goal ⁠– once I demonstrated I understood the client’s needs ⁠– was to have a conversation.

To do that, I would include a question in my proposal that demonstrated I knew what I was talking about.

Here’s an example. Although I started out as a freelance writer, I eventually combined two skills (writing + design ⁠– more on this to come) to increase my rates. Therefore, I would ask a question along the lines of:

“Based on your job proposal, it sounds as if you’re looking for a design similar to example.com’s. That’s definitely something I can put together, but can you please confirm that something along those lines is what you’re looking for?”

Advanced Tip: Create a Customized Video Proposal

If there was a job I really wanted, I would take five minutes and create a customized video proposal for the client. The video was by no means professional. I used my computer’s webcam, would record for 2–3 minutes, and then upload it to YouTube (making sure to mark the video as private).

I’d then send the link over to the client, opening my proposal with something like:

Hey NAME,

I imagine you’re getting a lot of proposals looking and sounding exactly the same. To stand out, I created a quick video just so you can get to know me a bit more, and to show you how enthused I am about potentially working together.

{Insert link here}

Strategy #2: Acquire Skills in a Fast-Growing Niche

Having a profile and proposal that stands out will help you land quality jobs on Upwork. You might even earn a slightly above-average wage compared to others in your niche.

However, say your goal was to earn an hourly rate that puts you in the top 5% of freelancers in your field. How would you move from average to the top?

While there’s no surefire formula, there are certain principles you can use to help you achieve that goal.

Personally, I started out as a freelance writer on the platform. As someone who had worked in financial services for five years, I had a good knowledge of the field and was able to land a few clients.

At first, the earnings were less than life-changing. I earned $50 for my first job, spending hours writing a brochure. I continued to earn hourly rates within the $20 to $30 range on similar gigs once I gained positive feedback.

Where things really changed for me was when I heard of a concept called The Star Principle, developed by the author and investor Richard Koch. Koch got himself named to London’s Rich List (the London Times’ version of the Forbes 500), with a net worth of over $500 million, by investing in what he calls Star Businesses.

Unlike other investment philosophies, his method for finding Star Businesses was pretty simple. By his definition, a Star Business was a business that was in a fast-growing sector and was #1 in its market.

My thought was to take this same concept and apply it to freelancing. My goal was to become the #1 freelancer in a fast-growing niche.

At the time, there were a number of drag-and-drop landing page builders coming to the market. I noticed that on a few of my writing assignments, clients had uploaded the copy I had written into a landing page platform called Unbounce. And a brief search showed that no freelancer on Upwork was specializing in Unbounce landing page design.

As such, I signed up for a free trial and started to learn the basics of the software. I was then able to combine my skills in writing with a new skill: creating landing pages inside the Unbounce platform. From what I could see, few freelancers offered a combination of both writing and design, which allowed me to quickly stand out from the crowd.

Once I had a few gigs completed in this new niche ⁠– again working at a low hourly rate to build my portfolio ⁠– I started to quickly ramp-up my rates. This wasn’t gradual either: I was able to move from $25 to $75 an hour within just a few jobs. Soon, I was earning over $100 an hour. Even better, I stopped applying for jobs; instead, I was typically invited by clients.

As a proofreader, you can use the same principle to increase your rates. The idea is to add a new skill that, when combined with proofreading, can allow you to become the top freelancer in a fast-growing niche.

Good questions to ask here are:

• What skills can I add as a proofreader to make myself 10X more valuable to a client?
• What are some overall trends I’m aware of that are growing fast?

Summary

A good piece of career advice that I read a while ago came from Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert and author of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.

His advice isn’t to become the best at one thing. Instead, it’s to be very good at two things. For me, this made a lot of sense because becoming the best is hard. However, being in the top 25% in two things is something I could see myself doing.

There are many proofreaders out there vying for clients. That’s why being an expert in a certain niche ⁠– especially when that niche is growing in demand ⁠– can provide you with better pay and more job security.

If you’re interested in learning about a few other in-demand skills, you can check out this article I wrote highlighting some of the best part-time jobs for making money fast. These can also be solid, flexible options if you need to supplement your income while bidding low on your first few Upwork projects.

Our Take

Wow! Thank you for sharing that really helpful and actionable advice with us, R.J.! I really hope y’all are pumped to go out and implement these tips to get clients and make money on Upwork. A word of warning though: Make sure you’re 100% confident your proofreading skills are up to scratch before you search for clients or else you may not get those five-star ratings you’re hoping for!

Your Turn

Want to verify your skills before you look for clients? Find out how you can hone your proofreading skills by taking our FREE Intro to Proofreading workshop!

R.J. Weiss is the founder and editor of The Ways To Wealth, a Certified Financial Planner, husband, and father of three. He’s spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications.

The post How to Earn Over $100 an Hour on Upwork Proofreading appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.

Parlez-vous français?

¿Hablas español?

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Know what I’m sayin’? If so, then maybe translation is the perfect money-making opportunity for you!

If you know me at all, you know I’m a big language nerd! In 2007, I took two semesters off from my degree program to live abroad in Germany where I took German–English translation classes and traveled to thirteen different countries. This is where I started as a proofreader working remotely—proofreading college papers for German students and getting paid online.

This experience showed me that it’s possible to work remotely doing work you enjoy. And why stop at offering one service when you could offer two and earn more money!

On the blog today, Ofer Tirosh, CEO of Tomedes, an agency providing translation services for clients across the globe, is going to explain why translation is the perfect complementary service for multilingual proofreaders to offer.

Take it away, Ofer!

Proofreading and Translation — A Career Match Made in Heaven?

Want to boost your income? One of the most common pieces of advice you’ll find is to offer additional work or services to people. And if you know a second language, adding translation services into the mix, along with your proofreading abilities, could be key to boosting your workload and income.

It may sound daunting at first. After all, translating someone else’s work seems more intimidating than proofreading it in your native language. However, translators and proofreaders share many common skills and work styles, which can make translation and proofreading the perfect career match.

Read on to learn how translation could be the perfect additional source of income if you already have a proofreading career and speak a second language.

Proofreading and Translation — Shared Skills

Proofreaders and translators share many skills and traits. First among these is a love of language. If you already enjoy staring at words all day and working to craft them into something better, translation isn’t too far removed from what you already do. Both involve nurturing the very best of the language into the end product — one just happens to do it with a second language!

Beyond that, much of the attention to detail that proofreaders already possess is part of the inherent process of translation. Whether offering proofreading services or translation services, you’re looking at implementing correct punctuation and strong diction, while ensuring that the general feel of the piece works and that it evokes or explains precisely what it needs to.

Whether you’re adding a comma or inverted exclamation points in Spanish, it’s all part of the same language-loving family.

Translation Work: An Overview

Finding translation work need not be daunting. It’s actually very similar to finding proofreading work. You can find translation services gigs through bidder, profile and job sites. Some translators work directly through a translation company as well. You might also want to set up a website to advertise yourself as a translator (and proofreader).

You can also network with people you know to see if they might need a translator. This is often the easiest way to gain experience as a new translator. You could even volunteer to provide translation services for nonprofits or do unpaid self-directed projects to get started and build up your reputation (be sure to ask for a glowing testimonial for each voluntary job that you complete).

It’s common in the translation industry to maximize your profits by offering a specialism, such as legal or medical translation services. These are good options if you have work experience in a specific industry, as they pay higher rates than more general translation work.

Indeed.com estimates that average pay in the United States for a freelance translator comes out to about $3,577 per month. However, as with any profession, rates can vary for translators based on experience levels, the types of translations you provide, how fast you finish the work, and how much work you take on. Specialisms like legal and medical translation mean further earning potential.

The Translation Mindset

One thing that makes translation and proofreading work so well together is that those undertaking the work tend to work under very similar circumstances. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of editors were self-employed in 2016. Meanwhile, 22 percent of interpreters and translators were self-employed during the same year. This means that proofreading and translation can be very easy to combine as a self-directed freelance career since working freelance is quite common in both cases.

As such, both translation services and proofreading services combine essentially the same soft skills. Proofreaders and translators need to have the same levels of self-motivation to hit deadlines and make sure the quality of their work stays high. They both need the determination to market themselves to find the work and to maintain their client base by completing it on time and to high standards. An all-around good work ethic is also important, as freelance work requires long hours of keeping yourself motivated on your own.

If you feel you could use help with these soft skills, take a look here to find some motivational books. Whether you’re just starting out freelancing or have been at it for a while, we could all use some motivation and self-improvement tips now and again!

Time to Translate?

Curious yet? Feeling motivated to go out and get those extra clients?

The good news with proofreading and translation work is that they’re both project-based. So even if you’re just a little curious about how proofreading and translation could combine for you, maybe consider complementing your current proofreading services workload with a translation project or two initially.

By adding translation services work to your career, you essentially open yourself up to a whole new market and industry. With more work available to you, that could mean a more even stream of income, too.

Is it time to include professional translation in your career goals?

Our Take

My mantra has always been mo’ skills = mo’ money, so I’m all about finding new ways to use your word nerd skills to help people. Translation is the perfect complement to proofreading for language lovers!

Your Turn

Ready to start making money from your love of words? Check out our free intro to proofreading workshop to learn how you can become a freelance proofreader!

Ofer Tirosh is a part-time paper helper at Study Clerk and CEO of Tomedes, an agency providing translation services for clients across the globe. Ofer has headed up Tomedes for over a decade, building up a network of translators, proofreaders and other linguists from every continent.

The post Proofreading and Translation — A Career Match Made in Heaven? appeared first on Proofread Anywhere.