There are many sites for freelancers where anyone can build their portfolio, pitch clients and earn money. If you’ve been following my monthly income reports, you know that half of my income comes from sponsored posts on Let’s Reach Success while the other half is from freelance writing.
I’m mainly earning through Upwork which is a great website for newbies and a place where I managed to become a Top Rated freelancer.
However, they don’t pay much, there are a lot of freelancers from cheap countries there who’d charge just a few dollars per hour (or for a few thousand words). That means low-quality clients come there too and it’s hard for me to meet my hourly rate with businesses and individuals who don’t have a budget for content creation.
That made me look for better platforms and sites for freelance writers that pay more. I will be writing about all of them soon. While they aren’t for newbies, it never hurts to create your profile there when you’re starting out and slowly build your portfolio. Because one day you’ll get found on them and they will pay you hundreds of dollars for a single article.
My years of hard work paid off in a new way this month. I made $375 for a 2000-word article (that I enjoyed writing and which didn’t take more than 2 hours to complete). That happened on Clear Voice.
Let’s talk more about that site and how you too can get paid what you deserve.
Freelancing is the best way to get started online. That’s what I did and began without experience. Now, I’m earning over $4,000/month blogging and freelancing as you can see from my latest income report.
I wrote down all the steps I took to get there starting from $0 and created a blueprint: the free course How to Make Money Online Freelancing:
What is Clear Voice?
ClearVoice.com isn’t the traditional site for freelancers. It’s a great marketplace where you just create a profile, showcase your work (they have their own CV portfolio feature) and get found.
While you might not receive job opportunities when you haven’t been freelancing for long, it’s worth being there while improving your personal brand as a freelancer.
Of course, the best way for that to happen (which is how I did it too) is to have your own blog. Let’s Reach Success had hundreds of articles on it before I signed up for Clear Voice. So it served as my ultimate portfolio.
If you haven’t set up a site yet, I suggest doing it now. Here’s how to start a blog that will make money forever (not just by helping you land freelance clients).
The best thing about Clear Voice is that it gives access to quality brands, companies and individuals. As you know, in the blogging world it’s all about networking. But with sites like Upwork, that’s hard.
Big brands are elsewhere and Clear Voice is one example.
How Clear Voice Works for Freelancers
Clear Voice is all about content marketing and can connect creators with agencies and brands. But for the purpose of this post and all of you who are freelance writers and want to get paid more for your services, we’ll talk about how it works for us.
Their goals are to help freelancers showcase their best work, find high-quality clients, get paid what they deserve, build their brand, receive payments quickly, and secure better jobs.
If you think about it, these are all the things we struggle with on other platforms, especially those that include bidding.
Okay, let’s see how Clear Voice works.
For a start, it’s absolutely free to sign up and create your portfolio as a freelancer so go do it now.
From then on, you’ll receive an email with a notification whenever you have a writing opportunity. If it sounds like something you’d do, click the link in your email and hit ‘Apply’ next to the job description.
The rate you see is what you’ll earn after Clear Voice fees (which are around 25% and high but still you get paid to write more than expected).
My Experience with Clear Voice Over The Years
Now, let me tell you how I received $375 from Clear Voice, because I myself didn’t believe it until the money arrived to my PayPal account.
I’ve been registered with Clear Voice for a long time now. Because I’m making changes to my online business (focusing on more quality work and clients, charging more, eliminating old activities, etc.), I was also updating my profile on sites that had potential to get me freelance work.
It’s hard to put the effort when you haven’t landed a job with a certain platform, but I did it anyway.
I’ve been receiving email notifications from Clear Voice for job opportunities but never took them seriously (although I did apply to some).
After updating my profile and adding a ton of my best articles in my portfolio, I applied for one assignment on the topic of relationships. I could see who the client was, trusted Clear Voice for handling payments, and also thought it’s worth giving it a try to see if I can make my first money there.
There are instructions (not too long) with each assignment and you see when you’ve been hired for it. You can always contact support or message the client there, which is great.
Once he reviews it, or after the end date for the completion of the article is over, you receive your money.
Actually, while I was waiting for that client to react (he didn’t get back to me, by the way, but I still got paid as the Clear Voice system clears payments even if the client disappears), I applied for another assignment that seemed like a good fit for me. I wrote an article on how to start a business blog for one brand. It was for around $120 and was 800 words. They paid me immediately.
But the point of this post is to share the case about the other article. It’s not about the $375. It’s about believing freelance writers can make nearly $400 for one task thanks to their reputation in a niche for years.
It’s a common fact that freelancers underprice themselves. It took me years to find the courage to stop doing that and say ‘no’ to clients.
That resulted in doubling my blogging income, which I’ll write about more soon.
Once I got paid $375 for one article for a freelance client, I finally felt appreciated. For years I’ve been struggling with clients reluctant to pay more than $30 for a short article or an hour of my time. And to this day I accept lower rates just because the income of a freelancer is unstable.
This gig, however, helps me rethink it all. Just like when I made $250 from one sponsored post, I stopped accepting anything less than $50 and often ask for up to $100. That means rejecting many opportunities that could make me a few hundred dollars more each month. But thanks to these higher prices I get more serious clients and also increase my income.
PS, Clear Voice did a survey on what people pay or charge per project. You can check it out here.
What It Takes to Get High-Quality Freelance Clients on Clear Voice
Sign up now.
Fill in your profile and portfolio. Here’s how mine looks like.
Check out emails from Clear Voice. (It’s okay if the first one arrives weeks after signing up.)
Create your blog and start writing content like crazy in the niches you cover.
Next Level Tips for Succeeding on Clear Voice
Keep updating your portfolio.
Don’t apply for an assignment simply because of the money. It’s not fair.
Feel free to contact support and see how you can get found by clients sooner.
Here are some resources to help you with making it as a freelance writer on Clear Voice:
How I Became a Location Independent Freelance Writer – Want to use freelancing as a way to ditch the 9 to 5 and be location independent? Great. That’s what I did. Check out this article to see the steps I took to build a new mindset, start making money online, leave my country and design the life I want.
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 freelance writer.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – The income from freelancing is unstable so it’s worth diversifying it. One of the best ways to earn more is through affiliate marketing (it can happen by placing links on your blog, through Pinterest, your newsletter, or else). This step-by-step affiliate marketing strategy course shows you how to increase your affiliate income and make more money blogging. It’s by Michelle from Making Sense of Cents who went from $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month (and also the first online course I’ve ever taken).
Pin this post to inspire others to create profiles on more sites for freelancers like Clear Voice.