How I Became a Location Independent Freelance Writer

Writing is what I love doing and I managed to turn it into my career. But that wouldn’t have been as enjoyable without having the freedom to work from anywhere and move to my favorite country. So after I became a freelance writer, I also took a few steps to become location independent.
Let me share how that journey looked like for me and maybe inspire you to take the leap and not just become a freelancer but also travel the world or just leave your home country and never look back.
Stage 1: Overcoming The Doubts
This article may contain affiliate links.
I believe all change happens on the inside first. In the case of becoming a freelance writer and a lifestyle designer, you’d first need to do a couple of things related to developing a strong mindset.
To begin with, define what you don’t like about your current lifestyle. Be clear about it and see yourself living a better life some time from now. This vision will also help you realize what you truly desire.
For me, it was freedom and independence but in a specific way.
I mean, I don’t really need to travel the world. It was enough to spend a few weeks in Thailand and to always have the chance to get back to a destination like that if I feel like. But what I truly desired was to leave my home country, Bulgaria, and instead move to the Netherlands.
However, my transformation started many years ago, before I even knew that’s where I wanted to live. First, I wasn’t satisfied with my life back then. I was already in my 20s and I always felt like I wasn’t spending my time right. So something had to be done.
Doubts are scary.
In fact, they are one of the reasons why so many people all over the world never start a business, end a relationship, travel or else.
Once you get through that stage though, you start having hope, you visualize a better life, and you finally take action. And once you take the first step, magical things begin to happen.
For me, that first step was to define my passion (personal development) and combine it with writing, which I simply loved doing and felt like it was the right way to spend my time.
English is just my second language. I had no official degree in what I’m doing. I wasn’t tech-savvy and had no idea how the Internet actually worked.
But the desire for a different life and more meaningful activities was stronger than any lack of knowledge or experience. So I dedicated the 4 years of my life during university to building the foundation of my online business and the lifestyle I enjoy today. What I did back then was the foundation of being able to do what I love now and earn over $4,000/month from my blog and business.
Stage 2: Getting The First Clients

I began writing, first on my blog (more on that below), then for others. But the magical ingredient here is reading.
I spent a ton of time (still do and probably always will) reading about people who were already living the life I was after. And that changed it all. I overcame all the doubts because I saw all that I wanted was possible. If other people were living like that and they all started from nothing, then it’s just a matter of time till I get there too.
That encouraged me. And my motivation never decreased because of some people I started following consistently and seeing their progress kept me action-oriented too.
It was time to earn my first dollars freelancing.
The good thing about the Internet is that you don’t have to be anyone in order to land your first gig. Once you do, the second one is easier. You just need someone to pay you for your freelance services so you can have confidence in your abilities and improve your skills.
Just last month I earned nearly $400 from one article for a freelance client. How awesome is that! But the early days were rough and that taught me valuable lessons.
I believe freelancing is the best way to start earning money online. That’s why I created a free course sharing the steps I took and what you should do today and over the next few weeks to land your first freelance client soon. Check out How to Make Your First Money Online Freelancing.
I never thought I’d be able to call myself a freelance writer, not to mention be location independent together with that. But I left the big picture behind for a while and focused on simpler things. Such as:
What can I do today to land my first client?
After researching, I realized there are sites for freelancers where employers post jobs and I can apply to each that seems like a good fit for me. And so I did.
I created my profiles, had low rates (because any money was good money for me then if it was online), and applied for a few jobs. I had no idea what to say exactly so I just went with what felt right.
I introduced myself when pitching clients and told them how I can help them with their project. Rejection here is normal as there’s a ton of competition.
Eventually, someone hired me for a job and I made my first $20 or so.
It was a short and sweet gig and I did a good job. The communication with the client was smooth.
It’s hard to land someone for the first time, especially in my case. On my profile they could see Bulgaria and that English isn’t my native language. Also, that I’m new to the site and have no previous feedback. Basically, not the most trustworthy freelance writer to hire.
But there are new employers to such platforms too and they are ready to hire you as long as you have something to offer them.
So if you want to make money online and eventually turn that into a business, become location independent and work remotely, or just want to do what you love freelancing, then create your profiles on sites like Upwork, Guru, Freelancer and PeoplePerHour and start pitching.
Stage 3: Building a Blog and a Brand

The 3rd crucial step in my journey to becoming a location independent freelance writer was this blog.
If you’re interested in starting your own blog, I created a quick tutorial showing you the right steps. Check out How to Start a Profitable Blog.
Let’s Reach Success started as a personal blog on self-improvement. But consistency was the key and I seemed to be good at this. It’s because I love writing too of course. It eventually turned into my biggest project and today it’s my portfolio.
There are more than 1700 articles in the archives, a whole bookstoree, proper design (thanks to this premium theme), authority, and a story behind it. Which makes me and Let’s Reach Success kind of a personal brand.
If you haven’t started a site yet, you’re wasting time. Whatever it is that you wanna do online, you need that one platform.
Blogging is a must for every freelance writer. Here’s why:
First, you get to showcase your work. You can write articles all the time and show them to clients. Whenever you want to start writing about a new topic, you’ll simply start covering it on your blog and then provide samples to employers.
You become known as an expert. If you stay consistent and provide unique and quality content frequently, people will know you’re the go-to blogger in the niche. Together with your unique voice and all other things you’re doing on the side, you can build a name for yourself. That means clients will start finding you soon.
Read also: 6 Free Online Resources to Help You Become a Better Blogger
Blogging is a learning experience. There’s a lot going on in the archives on my blog. If I go back, I can even see how I’ve grown over the years. Your writing will change too and that’s okay. Your site becomes your biggest project, especially if you’re a writer yourself. Also, it’s thanks to wanting to improve Let’s Reach Success that I’ve learned so much about optimizing content, making money from a blog, and more.
Here are some resources to help you when setting up your site and turning it into your portfolio on the way to becoming a location independent freelance writer:
How to Start a Profitable Blog– This step-by-step guide to starting a blog is a must for everyone who wants to start earning online and become self-employed.
Blogging Resources – To build a powerful site that turns visitors into buyers and monetize it well, you will need the right tools. In my Blogging Resources page, I’ve gathered the best of the best and the exact tools I’ve used to grow Let’s Reach Success and be able to make a full-time living as a location independent freelance writer.
Good hosting – If you want to start a WordPress site for cheap, then WPX Hosting would be ideal for your hosting needs. It’s currently my favorite hosting company (offering optimized hosting for WordPress sites) and I couldn’t be happier to host Let’s Reach Success with them. Here’s my honest WPX Hosting review.
My Monthly Income Reports – If you’re curious how bloggers make a living online, check out my income reports. I publish these monthly and share all the numbers together with the lessons I learned and the new things I’m working on.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – Michelle from Making Sense of Cents went from $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is the first online course I ever bought for a reason. Any writer and blogger should add this as an extra income stream and create useful content with affiliate links.
How to Write and Publish Your First Book in Less Than 30 Days – Check out my guide on how to become a self-published author in less than a month. I’ve published plenty of eBooks and have included all the steps you need to go through, from choosing your niche and word count and committing to writing the content to editing, formatting and marketing the book.
How I Make a Living with Sponsored Posts – My monthly income reports won’t be complete without sharing the how-to of sponsored posts. That’s how I earn half of my income. In this post, I share more about how I started with it and what I charge.
Now, let’s move onto the next step of becoming location independent while freelancing.
Stage 4: Setting Up an Online Business
Now that you’ve overcome the doubts, have landed your first freelance client, and have your own blog, you can turn that into an online business soon.
First, of course, you’ll need to have some decent income monthly to be a proper location independent freelance writer. Although plenty of people register a company from the beginning and then slowly grow their freelance business.
However, in the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing. I was paying taxes and fees for the freelancing platforms I worked with and that was enough. I wasn’t sure how much more I could make each month.
When I got to a few hundred dollars monthly, though, (which is an amount you can live with back in my home country if you aren’t paying rent), I decided to fix the legal part and register as an independent worker there and start paying my taxes.
Over the next months, I truly believed I’m now a freelance writer earning money from my craft and loved it. Of course, I also wanted to grow, build skills, land better clients, improve my site and see what else I could be doing online.
Stage 5: Choosing Your Ideal Destination and Moving There
When I was making $1000/month from my blog and freelance writing services, and because the business was online, I finally felt like I could soon move away and start a new life.
The country I wanted to live in was the Netherlands. I already had friends there and knew it was the place to be for me. So I booked a place in Amsterdam with AirBnB and dedicated these 10 days to finding my new home.
I needed it to be affordable and in a good neighborhood and that’s exactly what I got.
Because I wanted to be there so much and worked hard for it, there hasn’t been a day since I moved that I didn’t wake up with a smile on my face.
That’s one of the main aspects of lifestyle design. Doing work you love and making just enough to be able to live the way you like.
Of course, Amsterdam isn’t cheap so I had to limit my expenses and change things.
Stage 6: Living The Location Independent Lifestyle
I did some traveling too. Spending 5 weeks in Thailand cost me a lot in terms of money (although it could have been cheaper too but I didn’t prepare well) and focus. But it’s safe to say these weeks have been the craziest and most adventurous ones in my life.
I might go back there, but that’s not necessary. I love my daily life too and don’t need an escape from that. The important thing about being a location independent freelance writer is that you have to enjoy the freedom of being where you are. And if you earned your chance to get there, it tastes even better.
Stage 7: Mastering Working Remotely and From Home
Location independence and freelancing aren’t for everyone as it’s not easy, there are sacrifices to be made and plenty of challenges. One of them is getting distracted and not doing focused work on a daily basis.
One thing I did right though was to build some good productivity habits and eliminate procrastination and distractions early on. In fact, that was when I started making my first money as a freelance writer.
It’s nice to imagine how you can live and work from anywhere 6 months from now. But if you don’t build the discipline in advance and learn how to structure your day so you can do your best work, you won’t make it.
Here are some things that can help:
My Best Productivity Principles
How to Stay Productive While Living The Laptop Lifestyle
Stage 8: Growing The Freelance Writing Business
My focus is on increasing my income now. I got to over $4,000. These come from sponsored posts here on Let’s Reach Success and freelance writing for clients.
I’m working on other things too such as increasing book sales and building systems to earn passive income from affiliate marketing. But these don’t come naturally to me so it takes time.
So that’s how I became a location independent freelance writer and how you can do the same.
